It’s been a relatively calm weekend, proceeded by a relatively calm week. I only had to teach two days this week due to university exams and our own form of teacher training. This, combined with the fact that I’m trying very hard to take some time off from running due to some heel issues, means I’ve had a lot of energy left over at the end of the day and not many outlets for it. This isn’t to say I haven’t been busy.
Friday night was our tribute to Halloween. We all decided to celebrate it a week early because we have Thursday and Friday off this coming week, which of course translates into “everyone will be traveling.” We collectively held a party of sorts in our apartment building, which involved a parade of ridiculous costumes done on the cheap. It is, after all, the end of the month, and the wallets are looking a little thin. I saw it as an opportunity to use up some creative juices, so my friend Joe and I switched clothes and went as each other. As it turned out, we are amazingly close in size. Even our shoes were shareable. All night long my friends kept taking second glances to decide who I was (the shorter of my friends; shoulders and up it was rather obvious). Joe was a little more obvious in his tank top and skinny jeans, but the effect was nevertheless fairly hilarious.
I actually had to wake up Saturday morning to run a little race on campus. I had plenty of second thoughts as I laced up my running shoes; after all, who runs the morning after Halloween? It’s just like those New Year’s runs. You see all those runners lined up, generally looking fresh and healthy, and just know that they didn’t have that fantastic of a New Year’s Eve. I did have a pretty decent Halloween, and jogging to the starting line was not the most comfortable 400 meters I’ve ever run. But it was only 2.5 kilometers. And there weren’t many women. And all finishers would receive a free t-shirt. The deal sealer, however, was hearing that the top three men and women would receive medals. In other words, I ran it, highly motivated and with an unhappy tummy, and managed to come in second for women, directly behind Aisha. Joe came in first for men, and between us and our other friends no Turks were on the winners podium for our age group. Maybe Americans aren’t so unfit after all…
Saturday night was spent at a traditional Turkish restaurant celebrating our friend Selami’s birthday. He is Turkish and has many, many friends, so the night was filled with good food and good company. Musicians wandered around from table to table, serenading any and all who were willing to smile and clap along. I enjoyed a plate of assorted and somewhat odd mezzes, and raki floated around the table as if it were water. Raki, if you’re not familiar with it, is the national alcohol of Turkey. It’s very similar to the Greek Ouzo and tastes strongly like anise. The proper way to drink it is to first pour the raki in a glass, then add water and an ice cube, a process which creates a cool and cloudy glassful of strong, if diluted, liquor. This is something I learned throughout the night, along with the fact that it has a way of making people very happy and very talkative. There was no shortage of conversations, not in English, Turkish, French, Spanish, or even Polish. Like I said, Selami has many friends.
Other than that, my weekend has been filled with a sudden surge in my Turkish language studies and travel research. I will be going to Van this next Thursday through Sunday, a town on the far east of Turkey known for its breakfasts, lake, and proximity to Iran. (Note: I promise to stay on this side of the border. Really, Mom.) Today I made a trip to the American Embassy to see about getting a second passport to go to Syria in January. After filling out additional paper work and paying $76 and 11 YTL, the many Turkish people working there told me it should arrive in ten days. Excellent.
One other highlight of the week has been the arrival of mandarin season. Satsuma mandarins. They are just as good as at home and very cheap. I think I ate around seven today alone. I’m beginning to think I could live off of mandarins and Turkish coffee alone, which I make every morning on my stove with my very own little Turkish coffee pot. Oh Turkey, you may drive me crazy with all your many meat dishes, but I do love your coffee and fruit. And desserts, of course.
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