home sweet home
After all of the traveling we have done, I have never been more happy to set foot back in good ‘ol New York City than yesterday. We arrived around 9p (4a to our bodies) at JFK and as soon as we entered the airport I felt home again. I could read every sign, I could fully understand what people were saying, I had cell phone reception on my phone again, and voicemails from friends asking if were in yet. There was a big permanent smile on my face… I was home again.
And what better way to be welcomed home than to sit down to a big meal of food that you’ve missed? Well that’s what our good friend Irina had prepared for us. She and her husband, who are graciously hosting us in Brooklyn for part of our stay, had a full meal prepared at their apartment (and at 10pm no less!).
Let’s start off with perhaps the most exciting thing awaiting us – homemade macaroni & cheese! Yes, I have to say that this may very well be some of the best mac & cheese I’ve had. Four cheeses, including one surprise cheese that remains a mystery and for a good reason. It was made with love… and lots of butter and cream and cheese. Mmmm, my favorite kind of mac & cheese!
And this post cannot go without mention of the other main surprise of the dinner. Yes, oh yes, chicken wings. You can imagine my excitement when I spotted the bowls of hot sauce and blue cheese. Let’s just say I was beyond excited. They were the good ‘ol nyc chicken wings we missed so much, with a slight crisp on the outside – which I love – and with a little extra kick of spice – which I really love. And she had them paired with a wine that went well with bbq’d foods… so lovely!
Thank you, Irina, for preparing a welcome home meal we won’t forget! And yes, I may have a little bit of the mac & cheese for breakfast.
Salivate here: Brooklyn welcome home dinner
one month reflection
Saturday 9/6 marked our first full month living here in Istanbul, if you can believe it! Onur’s new company is doing great. He recently won a big, new project, and if all goes well the company will be fully staffed up by next month. His current projects, which are very interesting and attention-grabbing buildings, are underway and keeping him busy. I’ve been keeping busy decorating the apartment, exploring and adjusting to life here. I am missing daily socialization with others and the feeling like I’m doing something worthwhile outside the home, so I’ll be looking for a job after we get back from our upcoming travels to NY and Germany.
While the past month has not been peachy 100% of the time, overall the transition to life in Istanbul has not been as difficult as we anticipated, thankfully (knock on wood). The frequent phone and Skype calls, texts, emails, Facebook messages and blog comments from our friends that we miss so much have made each day that much easier of a transition for us (thank you and please keep it up!).
Here is a look back at some of our experiences thus far… some of which we are still trying to adjust to.
* a box of Splenda costs $12
* an awesome loaf of bread costs 85 cents
* good saran wrap, aluminum foil and zip lock bags just do not exist
* Turks are generally very encouraging when you try to speak the language
* every good meal is accompanied by or has yogurt as one of the main ingredients
* fireworks go off in the city every single night in the summer
* having a driver, a housekeeper and someone who cooks for you is not uncommon 
* very personal subjects and often taboo topics are open for discussion no matter how big or small the group 
* those porcelain holes in the ground they call toilets gotta go
* Turkish phone conversations are generally loud, intense, and often sounds like someone is mad
* street signs – there basically are none, but even if there were no one would pay attention to them anyway
* there is no ginger ale here
* the stray kitties, oh the stray kitties
* people work out and talk on their cellphones at the same time
* nothing can replace the friends and family you have back home
* Istanbul needs an introduction to good buffalo hot wings
* those roosters… I still hear those damn roosters every day
just another day at the bazaar
My new favorite place to be is the Grand Bazaar. It’s in the old part of town, so I’ve been riding with Onur halfway on his way to work and then taking the tram the rest of the way. I can spend hours there and am pretty good with negotiating with the vendors. In fact, I’ve made myself a lot of friends there by trying to speak the language. It’s quite funny to see their initial reaction when a very American looking girl starts speaking Turkish. But I successfully negotiated my way from an original price of 780 lira for some items down to 225 lira. That might possibly be my best negotiation to date at the GB.
So I’ve got my set of friends at the bazaar now, so if anyone needs any carpets, porcelain, plates/bowls, copper goods, lamps, jewelry, wraps, pillow cases, throws or other home goods, just let me know! I’m building up my network of good vendors there that give me what I think it the “real price” so that when you all come to visit, I can take you to my guys.
I didn’t do a good job taking pictures on these trips so far because I’m trying to look like a native instead of a tourist, but I’ll be going back next week again and will make it a mission to post pictures. In the meantime, here is me in one of the lamp vendor’s shop and then a picture of all of the fishermen (hundreds of them) on the Galata Bridge, which connects the old city to the new city.
total disappointment
At the grocery store last week I was so excited to find in the meat section a package of chicken wings labeled “Buffalo Wings”. Yes, hot buffalo wings! I thought for sure these would be close to the real thing since they looked like they were pre-cooked in some sort of hot sauce and they also came with their own side of “aci sos” (hot sauce). The folks at Keskinoglu (the Purdue of Turkey) took the time and effort to perfect buffalo wing sauce and bring it to life in their little chicken wings for those of us Americans missing our favorite hot wings… or so I thought.
These wings were a total disappointment. The sauce was more of a tangy barbecue – I can’t even classify it as hot. The wings were small, as you can see, and they were prepared in too much of something… butter, grease, who knows??
They rank 1 on the Chicken Wing Scale of Loveliness. Let the search for good hot wings in Istanbul continue…
flags, flags everywhere!
And the Patriotism Award goes to… Turkey! Saturday, August 30th was Turkey’s Zafer Bayrami (Victory Day). This official holiday is dedicated to the Turkish Armed Forces and commemorates the victory at the final battle in Dumlupınar which led to the defeat of the invading Greek army, and eventually led to the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923.
It’s crazy – everywhere, I mean EVERYwhere, Turkish flags are flying. Flags down the side of buildings, in apartment windows, in the windows of Gucci, Prada, Zara stores, hanging above the streets, out of car windows, off of city buses. It was a sight you could not miss. Painting the town red took on a new definition for me on Saturday.
See for yourself: Zafer Bayrami – flags everywhere
