No longer a teenager, not yet an adult?

How Much Can I Cram Into One Post?

First of all, you should know that there will not be a post (or at least a long post) for at least the next 12 days.

I know, I know the world is ending.  ;)

Michael and I somehow got covered in the clay while we were making pots and flowers.  Thought I would share my detailed moustache!

The other day michael and I went shopping, because I am STILL in need of some clothes.

I came home with one tank top which I love.

I also know that a certain friend of mine, DK, loves orange and will most likely be permanently "borrowing" it from me once I get home!  :P

Love you Koko!

We walked a lot that day, it was excersize that was needed.

The following day, I was, again, not feeling good in the morning.  This heat + sinuses = Super painful

Happily, toward the afternoon the heat was less, so I decided that I was in much need of jogging!

I said I would be jogging everyday... that was before I felt the exhaustion and dizziness that the sinus pressure is causing me.

SO I am happy to AT LEAST say that I went jogging once!!

AND I went a whole mile in the 85 degree weather!

*bow*

Michael didn't like jogging very much...

we stopped at one of the many "work out" areas along the track...

apparently, moving your arms in tiny circles is an extreme work out.

I'm glad that I have been kick boxing and jogging many miles at home all this time, when all I needed to do was stand in place and move about 2 inches to each side in order to be fit.

I guess its hard to explain.  Easier?  The "work out equipment" fails at working anything out, except my brain.  I spent way too much time trying to figure out how to work each one and what I must be doing wrong since I felt no "burn".

OOF..

When we continues jogging I came across some adorable furry friends.

PRECIOUS.  The black one was following me so I HAD to stop.

I was carrying a water bottle with me so I poured a little on the track and apparently they were very thirsty.  They drank half my bottle!!

I ended up pouring a ton of water into a leaf contraption that I, so smartly ;), created and they went to town.

I felt so bad for them.  Apparently, it is kitten season. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.

After I gave them water, I think I became their mommy.  A very unsuccessful game of following the leader began when I started jogging again.

Sad!

When Michael and I got home we were pooped.

I convinced him to play skip-bo with me and when Mo got home we taught him to play too.

Have you ever noticed that when you love a game, and you try to teach someone, you HAVE to make their experience fun, otherwise they will never want to play with you again?

I failed.

This is what happened to Mo his first time playing Skip-Bo.

9. 9. 9.. 9...9... 9.

Needless to say, he never wants to play again.

Speaking of 9's, July 9th happened to be my birthday.

20 years old

No longer a teenager, not yet legally an adult.

I'm not yet sure what I'm classified as.

Michael and I went first to his college, he had a meeting, and I met one of his friends.

Then we walked to Agora Mall and I went shopping.

More shirts.

I ate Sabarro!!  Is that how you spell it?

PIZZA!

It was delicious.

But I also helped myself to some of Michael's Popeye's chicken.

How could I resist!?

After the mall we went home where I was surprised by Emily returning home!

I went to change my clothes and when I came back Emily grabbed me and pushed me into the family room.  They set up a little party for me!  It was so cute!

Anne made me a homemade birthday cake, scone chocolate chip cookies, something made from grape leaves and rice, and a type of buscuit with cheese in it.  Emily also pointed out that she tried to decorate the living room for me.

:)

I love them!

I then spent the remainder of my night working on the puzzle I got from the mall.

PUZZLE!

I was/am so excited!

Currently, I am about... 1/8th of the way through the puzzle.  I said I wanted a hard one.  I overestimated my puzzle making skills.

Tomorrow, early in the morning, Michael, Emily, Anne and I are all leaving for the summer house!  I finally get to go swimming, yay!  But I also have a lack of internet connection.  Internet cafes, here I come!

Time for some fun in the sun!

<3

First week of July

We have been home from Cappadocia for about a week now.

Mission: go on adventures = slow go.

I have had terrible sinus pressure...pain.

We have gotten out a few times when it wasn't as hot.

HA!  Who am I kidding, it is always hot in Izmir!

I hear there is a drought at home...  we haven't had a drop of rain since I came here either.

I thought that I would be cooking a lot while I was here,

the problem is that most of the ingredients that I need, I have been unable to find them in stores...

Basil for one.  I love basil.

So the other day I had a major american junk food craving.

I needed pizza.

Last time I got pizza in Turkey, we got some from Dominos in Istanbul.

It.Was.Awful.

This time we again ordered Dominos, hoping that Izmir's restaurant would actually know how to peel an onion and not just throw the whole thing on the pizza.

Lucky me, the pizza was a success!!

It was delicious for an american dying for grease.

In the past week we have also managed to make our way the WHOLE 2 blocks to the fair area.

Hooray!

We went on the roller coaster, where they did NOT check seat belts or harnesses.  There was one tiny loop-de-loop on the ride so I was pretty concerned.

It was, without hesitation, the absolute WORST ride I have EVER been on.

You thought the Iron Wolf was bad?!  Try this ride that is over 15 years old and obviously has never had any maintenance testing done.

I thought my head was going to pop clear off my shoulders.

I'm just saying, I wouldn't be shocked if there have been several concussions.

Rant over, photo below.

After the painful ride, we decided to go on something more... calm.

We went in the fun house.  Let me just say, even after 5 years of haunt experience, I have never seen more... disgusting props.  Rooms were complete with naked women and molesting vampires... I won't continue.  Note: if you ever see a haunted house is Turkey (not likely, but still) do not go in.

We decided to save our last tickets... for later.  I wasn't really in the mood to go on more rides after that.

The following day, Michael and I went shopping at the bazaar.  I came home without any new clothes (sad face) but we did end up buying a toe nail clipper and some clay!

What great finds!

Yesterday, we began making marvelous creations out of the clay.  Michael worked hard on a decorative vase and I... worked on keeping the clay from sticking to my hands.

I did manage to make a little jar, or something, with a lid.  Also, a heart with a cicek (flower) on it for his mother, Anne.  She LOVES flowers.

That was my 4th of July!

Today I made dinner, chicken salad :)

Easy, delicious, and healthy. (no Cesar dressing in sight)

Michael and I then went on a date to see The Amazing Spiderman.

I give it 3.5/5 stars.  Not bad, I liked the actors, but Spiderman made me angry...  I kept saying "What a brat!  I want to smack him!"

Taxi home where we sat on the balcony, as always, and a HUGE moth flew in the house.  Adventures in trying to capture it with a dust pan....

pics later as I said.

Time for bed!

Goodnight!

Bellydancing in the Living room

Last post for June 2012!

Welcome July!

Recap of last night's events.

After the tour and exploring Urgup, Michael and I headed to the bus station, back to Metro.

There were three buses for Metro lined up.  Two really nice Mercedes and the last one was, of course, the one that broke down a million times.

Guess which bus we were told to get on.

Our seats were also broken and the tv's wouldn't turn on.

LUCKILY

We were transferred to another bus.

to add to this... luck of ours
The nice bus's tv's didn't work either.

Oof.

When we got back to Izmir I passed out and slept almost all day.

When I finally rose from the dead, Emily was waiting impatiently.

"I Cok Bored!"

Apparently this inspired Michael to teach me to belly dance.

There is a video too, but I'm not allowed to post it apparently.

We hung around the rest of the day putting cucumbers on my sunburn and playing Go Fish with Mo.

Perfect day back home in Izmir :)

Yes, I eat ships... don't you?!

Today was project: get out and have some fun.

Challenge Accepted.

Emily (Michael's sister (abla) came with us.  She is too fun!

We went to a street where they sold jewlery, books (kitaplar), and spices.

I checked out some of the jewlery and bought a few little knick knacks for my brothers.

Michael thought it was funny that there were stars on the path "just like Hollywood!"

We all walked around, visted some stores and ended up, like always, at the sea.

:)

We listened to some live music (musik) and watched the sun (gunes) go down.

We also had some fun taking photos.

I'll write back soon!

Terrible Tourist

June 24th -

It has been a few days since I ventured out into the heat for more then a walk.  But today we finally decided that an adventure was needed.

We began by bowling.

To me, this is an adventure.

I have only gotten over 100 once in my life.

This is the sad truth.

The bowling here is the same although the balls were not smooth which (I SERIOUSLY BELIEVE) caused them to curve more then they should have.  I mean, how can I throw so many straight down the middle just to have them magically end up in the gutter just before they meet the pins?

Michael won.  He adds a "Woo-Hoo!" to that statement.

At least someone passed the 100 mark...

After bowling we got our favorite drink, lemonade poweraid, and made our way to the sea.

We sat on large rocks and enjoyed it whenever a random wave was able to splash enough to make a slight mist.

There are many people who try to sell things

it becomes quite irritating.

Any time we sit by the sea we are surrounded by women selling roses, complimenting Michaels "rose" (me) and when we say no (yok sal), about 6 times, they always stop and stare and click their tongues at us as if we came there that day planning to dissapoint them by not paying an outrageous amount for a single wilted rose.

This time we had a man (adam) who was selling kleenax...

while we were sitting he pushed himself in between Michael and myself and threw the tissues on my lap.

He apprently didn't realize that this was only going to make us upset.

I really don't understand why it's okay to do such a thing.  Besides, he looked much better fed and dressed then some of the people around him.

Rant over.

We decided to randomly hop on a ferry boat and head to the other side of Izmir, which I have never been to.

How fun!

There wasn't much to see on the other side and Michael's side was obviously nicer but there was a very busy street that was fun to walk down.  We ended up just walking around until we were tired and then we stopped for dinner at KFC... I'm a bad tourist (turist).

Once we were back on our side of Izmir, we stopped an got a soft serve ice cream cone.

Very nice evening over all.

We have begun making plans for a trip, as well!

Another Sick Day

I think all this travelling caught up to me.

I was sick in bed again today.

Exciting news is, Emily, Michaels sister, came home today!

She is learning english, I am learning turkish... this works out well.

Today I studied a lot and found out that I now know a total of 78 words/phrases and I have learned to count.  Michael also taught me how to use words plural (not as easy as it is for us to just add an "S") and I'm beginning to learn verbs. 

Oof.  This isn't easy.

I didn't take any pictures today... sorry!

But please enjoy this diagram that explains how to brush your teeth... like a man.

Life now makes sense.

Have a nice night! <3

New for Bucket List: Learn to make Lentil Meatballs

There isn't much to say about today.

I woke up, ate breakfast, studied my Turkish and cleaned up for the day.

Plan: go to zoo

Reality: Katrina feels sick

Michael was so sweet and brought me a wonderful meal home from work

(I ate (yemek) most of it before I took the picture)

Lentil "meat"balls, "chicken stew", rice, and salad (salud).

With a side of lemonade (Limon).

We then spent the afternoon by my mini fan playing Farkle and I read a new book (kitap), "Branded"

I did manage to get some laundry done, though

And for dinner we went to, where else for an American, McDonalds!

Bebek Bunny

Breakfast time!

"Cicek Ekmek" - flower bread, as we called it.

It has been a very hot day, as usual.  I'm getting used to it now but we could definitely use some rain!

Today was a day for air conditioning so Michael and I went to a archaeology museum.

A lot of people might find this boring, but that is my place to be!

This is a statue of a man, it was found in Ephesos. Roman period. Second century A.D.

Look at the amazing detail!  It looks as if they draped fabric rather than stone!

I don't know much about this piece but I could swear someone went to town with it with a sword or knife.  If you look close, there appears to be slash marks across the whole face, only three even stroke across the neck, and multiple going downwards on the chest.  Also, on the upper and lower forehead there are two slightly deeper gashes that are, to me, shaped like a cross.  I walked around the statue and found these marks were no where else but the face and chest.

This is a statue of the Priest of the Imperial Cult.  Roman period. Second century A.D.

This was also found in Ephesos.

The detail on this statue is just amazing.  So smooth and beautiful!

He even still had his ring in perfect condition.  The only park of this statue that didn't make it all the way to the museum were parts of this priests face.

I was a little freaked out to go near this exhibit.  There were a bunch of tombs and when we saw this, we realized that it is a newborn babies tomb.  If you look closely, you can see all the little bones, almost perfectly preserved.  It is from the Byzantine Necropolis, on the left side of the Athena Temple.  8th Century A.D.

We then went into a museum with artifacts such as clothing, fabrics, and weapons.  This specific exhibit made me laugh.out.loud.  Look at the little boys face!  I am not sure why they had an exhibit to show the circumcision room... but I couldn't resist!

And I may have had a little too much fun playing with the statues!

Michael and I then walked around the city and shopped a little, got subway for dinner, and headed home.

He has a picture of me as a toddler on his wall where I was dressed as a bunny for Halloween...

DRESS UP TIME!

His family had a laugh.

Goodnight!

Mustached Kediler

Michael had work this morning so we went out in the afternoon after it cooled down a little.

First stop, Alsancak (al-san-jak)

A famous street with never ending shops and restaurants!

I went there once before but it was nearly empty and most of the stores were closed since it was cold.

Today it was thriving!

(keep in mind also it was about 93 degrees today and look what everyone was wearing!)

I then could not resist shopping.  My wardrobe is seriously lacking pants since my shorts are considered too short for Izmir.  I bought an adorable pair of pants and a pretty tulle skirt! (looks like a tutu to me but very much in style!!) 

We went a little further till we came to the sea.  This was a photo that Michael took of a statue on the coast.

I don't know the history of this statue but it is very interesting to look at the scene.

Last time I was here, Emily, Moe, Michael and I went for a walk and saw a cat which I swore had a mustache.  I went back and took a picture of it to prove it and we all got a big kick out of it.

Today, while walking home, we found the same cat!  Look how prominent that mustache (biyik) is!  He is so distinguished! 

I have not seen any squirrels here but there are plenty of wild pigeons, cats (kedi) and dogs.  They all roam the streets and lounge wherever they please.

It's very hard not to go up to an adorable kitten or a puppy whose tail is wagging and pet them.

HOW CAN I RESIST IT?!

I just keep remembering that they are wild and could bite me if they saw reason.

But I can't help feeling bad.

Today Michael and I ate chicken so I brought the puppies (kopekler) the bones.

I hope they liked them and didn't take it personally that I cannot pet them.