Happy Holidays! (Iyi Bayramlar!)

At long last I can publish my holiday mega-post, encompassing the good times, good meals, and all the fun experiences that I had this 2012 holiday season.

First, I apologize that I didn't take more pictures, but Colin and I really went all-out on decorating the apartment. We got these cheap stockings (2 tl) at Kipa and then I used some glitter paint to personalize them. Also at Kipa, we splurged on some very festive rainbow tinsel, which hung above our table in the living room. There were Christmas lights around the kitchen breakfast nook, and we had more garlands hanging in the entryway/hall, where we also had some of the Christmas cards that I saved from last year and the ones we got from family and friends this year. More of the cards were hung around our little coffee-table Christmas tree, happily festooned in blinking lights and red, gold and silver orbs.

The first major event in our holiday schedule was Lucia Day, December 13.  To prepare, Colin and I bussed to our nearest IKEA, happily just 45 minutes away at the Bursa Otogar, where we bought Swedish meatballs, lingon berry jam, gravy, knacke brod, and 2 kilos of pepparkakor. I made a little slide show about the Scandinavian traditions of Lucia Dagen to present to my class on the big day, and then I surprised them by passing out pepparkakor. They were totally enchanted, and said thank you thank you thank you, a million times. A few even wished me "Happy Lucia Day" in Swedish! (Okay, it wasn't that shocking because I taught them how, but still--I was impressed!)

After I got done with work, I hurried home to help Colin ready the house for our guests. We served all our IKEA goodies, a peynir and pastrami plate, popcorn, as well as boiled potatoes with fresh dill, steamed veggies, soft fresh bread, and, of course, plenty of holiday Glogg. 
We had a total of 6 guests at our little party--the other 3 Fulbrighters and Clive, Laurel and Firat from Dilko. It was a great group, and after dinner we played a couple fun rounds of Salad Bowl--a great memory/charades game.

From the 13th to the 24th, we did normal stuff--work, grocery shopping, loving the puppies in our back yard--with a little extra festivity. Aka, we listened to a lot of holidays music and we drank a lot of hot buttered rums. What a great time of year.

On Christmas Eve, I didn't have work, so we went to Istanbul to pick up some way-layed presents from America, and then we were treated to a beautiful Christmas dinner at Danielle, Mari and Sarah's house. They had everything, from Mac n Cheese, to roasted chicken, to stuffed grape leaves, to garlicy brussel sprouts. It was quite a spread, and so delicious!  After eating ourselves to near-stupor, we exchanged gifts, then headed home to beds where visions of sugar plums (or was it Turkish delight?) danced in our heads.

When Christmas morning dawned, it was a Tuesday and we had stockings stuffed with goodies and a little tree surrounded by gifts. 

I did have work on the 25th, but not until the afternoon, so we got to sleep in, have a classic Tohlen Christmas breakfast (egg kake, fresh fruit and tea), and still have time for opening presents with Steve and Mar in Kabul before I had to change and get ready for work.  I also got a great little Christmas gift in that I only had to teach 2 hours and then I had the pleasure of announcing to my students that they had the rest of the day off.  They acted like they'd never imagined a better Christmas gift before. Literally, they jumped up out of their seats--"Woo hooo! Merry Christmas, teacher! We love you so much!"
 I felt like a regular, Old St. Nick.

(Below: Christmas Breakfast)

After work, I practically skipped home. My students loved me, I had already gotten great presents from Colin and his parents, they had liked mine, plus I would get to open more later in the evening when I would talk with my whole family in America, AND, Colin and I were going to have a raki table Christmas supper. What could be better, or more Turkish?

So, and by the way this should count as a Turkish Tuesday, Colin and I cooked and chopped and grated and mixed (and went shopping) all afternoon and by the end of it, we had a beautiful table.  Below, from top right corner, clockwise, fresh french bread, ezme (spicy tomato paste), feta cheese, my mint-yogurt carrot salad, Patlican Salatasi (roasted eggplant and peppers tossed in garlic yogurt), fresh melon, Yaprak Sarma (grape leaves), Patlican Soslu (fried eggplant in a fantastcally tomatoey, garlicy sauce), Russian Salad (diced carrots, peas and potatoes in a mayo/yogurt dressing), roasted pickled peppers, and an empty raki glass. Soon to be filled with some Beyoglu Rakisi--the first bottle of non-Yeni Raki that I've ever bought. It was crisp, refreshing and perfect with all the things on our table.

After enjoying our meal to the fullest, Colin and I settled in on the love seat to call family and friends. We got to catch the end of the Tohlen breakfast, and then see them open all their Turkish Christmas gifts. There were a few accidental hang-ups, but it was a great time with the whole family. --Even the Reg!!
We later chatted with Indiana from the comfort and social hotspot of the mimosa station corner. Mick and Gene were taking good care of us, Korhan and Judy made some lengthy appearances, and it really felt like we were part of the holiday chaos. Family time is the best time.

Friend time is pretty great, too, though, as we had demonstrated to us on New Years Eve. Colin and I went with Laurel and Clive to Istanbul for a very memorable night cruising the Bosphorus, dancing to hardcore Euro techno, taking photos and making videos, enjoying variously priced Efes', and trekking back to Taksim from Ortakoy (mostly) by foot.

 Above: First cheers of the night! 

Below: The dance floor on our Erasmus Student Boat Party boat. Tres international!

Above: Another passing boat party.

Below: Colin points to something very important for Clive. Laurel does something sneaky in the bottom right corner. 

 Above: Me and the boys in front of the first Bosphorus bridge. The same one we ran across a couple months ago! 

Below:  The second Bosphorus Bridge and Rumeli Hisari by night. Breathtaking history.

The holidays officially came to a close for us this week when Mom's big Christmas box finally arrived in Yalova. Colin and I tore through the PTT packaging tape to find that, despite all odds, everything was still there! We put all the gifts under our tree...just long enough to take a couplf of quick pictures. Then, with mom on factime, we got straight to work. We found hot cocoa, new work shoes, a travel book for our upcoming Spain trip, and, of course, plenty of socks. Colin really loved his "Martin" name socks. Yes! I really loved my new Hawthorne bridge top. Wore it out on Friday night. When the tissue was all opened, and mom headed on her way to work, we finally took down our tree. A holiday season well-enjoyed.