This Thursday night, Margot, Clayton and I accompanied Megan to Istanbul for a bittersweet goodbye Thirsty Thursday. Harkening back to our first Istanbul trips, we all stayed together at World House hostel, we ate at Balik Furreya, and we went to Nevizade for drinks.
We still had new experiences together, though. We went to the Algerian Street for over-priced hookah and "Greek" veggie curry, then got full with a delicious fully-loaded Kumpir from Istiklal. We had some great chats. We did some good sight seeing. Though we went to Nevizade, we didn't go to Aslanim--but instead went to a little side street with upbeat, non-sleepy music. We got 3 big Efes' and saw a show--both live music and drama-rama involving two couples at the bar next door.
We got to the city late, and ended up staying out until about 1:30 (how? I was so tired all week!), then went back to our hostel to crash. Megan only had a few hours of sleep since she had to get back up to Taksim to catch the 6:30 Havatas to Ataturk. She made it (I think--I hope!! Megan, facebook me back so that I know you made it!), and luckily our 14-person dorm was super quiet so we were all able to sleep in until after 9.
Margot and I took the 11:30 ferry back to Yalova, ate lunch at the new Orient Cafe (delicious tiramisu!--for free!!), and then I went apartment shopping with Deven and Firat. No apartments were to be had, but now I have a better idea of how the system works, I've dropped my name with a bunch of real estate agents, and I feel a lot better about just waiting until September and searching together with Colin.
This weekend (actually, basically counting all the way back to my return from Minnesota) has had perfect, perfect weather. I slept in this morning, and when I got up, I said, "Yep, it's a day for laying out." So, I tanned on my closed balcony and graded my papers. I took a brunch break when I got too hot, and made some French toast. --Using the end of my Oregon raspberry jam (thanks, Mom!) and about half of my Canadian maple syrup (thanks, Hunters!! Miss you, Meg!).
When the sun left my side of the building, I didn't have to worry because with 3 balconies, there's almost always one with direct sunlight. I moved around to the front, and got distracted by people watching, the kiddie bumper boats and the bog park next door, but still made good progress with my exams--finishing as much today as I'd hoped to. {Students, if any of you are reading this, no, I haven't tallied the results yet, but I think that you did better, on average, than you do on an average exam. I will have all the results for these on Monday. Inshallah, also the reflection papers or the Unit 6 writings.} Ooof, I have a lot of grading to do in the next week!
This week coming up is actually our last one of classes. Which means, I have 19 hours of teaching Hazirlik at Yalova University this year! Whoa! That's nuts!!! Did I mention I have so much grading to do?? (Looks like this is what I'll be doing tomorrow, too. Good thing it's just supposed to be warmer tomorrow! The high of 84 F sounds pretty nice for balcony-sitting (and productivity?).)It's amazing to think, but these upcoming days are my last weekend days in my beautiful apartment on the water, with its balconies and amazing view. I think that's why I don't care that I've been staying at home so much the last couple of days. I really like home! As I was sitting outside today, I was thinking, really, where could I go to get a view like this, with food as good and cheap as I can make it? The answer was nowhere, so I used most of the end of my Tillamook cheese and made a big ol' batch of comfort food--some homemade spiral mac n cheese, accompanied by a glass of red wine and the sunset over the Marmara. My belated Turkish Tuesday recommendation for you: enjoy this combo (mac n cheese, wine, sunset) soon. It's a great one, in Turkey or America.
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