The last book I bought was The Abyssinian Proof by Jenny White. Very enjoyable, linking the 1453 conquest of Constantinople with antiquities thefts and murders 400 years later, investigated by magistrate Kamil Pasha.  Jenny White has some other similar books but the only one I found here is still in hardcover and thus out of price range.

Total of 455 pages  @ 18 turkish lira price = equals 4 cents per page.  Not too bad, and I made it last for a week when I can normally read a book like this in a couple days.  But I decided I could do better, though it would mean a return to the classics.

That’s right, the master of long and dense (and entertaining!) literature, Charles Dickens. Actually, I can’t remember ever reading a complete C.D. novel, so it’s about time.  Total of 554 pages @ 16 turkish lira = a miniscule 2.8 cents per page. Score!

*Actually, when you do the conversion, the prices are not that much more than retail book prices in the US.  The problem is that in the US I often got books at libraries so I could read a much higher volume (and the things I truly wanted to read) without spending hardly any money.  Here, despite generous sharing among book-reading friends, it’s hard to find specific books and libraries are practically nonexistent so we naturally spend more money to read.  I’ve also adapted by intentionally reading slower!

The nicest part was that the bench I found to sit on in order to look at this view had rather short legs, which made it much more comfortable for me than normal city benches. My feet easily reached the ground!

After reading my book (The Thirty-Nine Steps, by John Buchan) and soaking up the sun and view for a while, I continued my wander north and ended up meeting up with Emrah in Beykoz. We went for dinner at my favorite fish restaurant, the Beykoz Balikci Barınağı (basically a fishsellers area with a big grill and outdoor seating – short tables and little square benches). As far as I can tell, there’s just one thing on the menu: ızgara uskumru (grilled mackerel) served with arugula, parsley, onion slices and bread. Best of all – no forks, just dig in with your fingers! If I hadn’t been so hungry I would have taken a picture before we ate almost everything…

The next day we stayed home and relaxed for the most part, just wandering near the local seaside in the evening, people and animal watching. On Tuesday (a work day for me but due to cancellations I had a big chunk of the day free), we went to Büyükada and rented bicycles for a couple hours.

Eventually I did have to leave and head to work… but it’s nice that the adalar (islands) are close enough that I can spend a few hours even on a workday.

Finally, last night, taking advantage of another cancellation I was able to leave work just before sunset so again decided to go up to Çengelköy because I wanted to watch the bridge at night. After dark (these days around 9pm) it is lit up with lights that change color in interesting patterns. Also last night there was a lovely crescent moon (waxing) just above the bridge. As it sunk lower in the sky it turned a lovely orange color. I unfortunately forgot to bring my camera so no pics this time, but if you want to see for yourself, try this google images link. I plan to go again before too long, with my camera.

I finished The Thirty-Nine Steps rather quickly (it’s a thin book) and started another called Balthasar’s Odyssey by Amin Maalouf, a new author for me. Jenney lent me four of his books while she is away and this first one is very enjoyable so I’m looking forward to the three others to follow… Here in Istanbul it can be hard to find good books in English without spending a fortune so teachers (who tend to also be readers) do a lot of sharing. Yay for book sharing!

The genesis of this bag was getting a large ball of beautiful lace-weight mohair as a gift from my mother. The first thing I made with it was a simple airy shoulder wrap, garter stitch knitting back and forth with increases at each edge and two in the middle. Well, I got tired of garter stitch after a while, so I bound it off and started wearing it, but the ball of yarn wasn’t quite used up. I intended for this lace pattern to be a matching scarf but – whoops, not enough yarn! – so I got creative and turned it into this bag. The knitting was blocked and sewn to a piece of leather using blanket stitch and the bag closes with a simple button. It’s currently holding school (teaching) supplies.

Current Thoughts:  preparing to return to Turkey, saying goodbyes and hellos. wizard of oz the dvd download magicians download free divx miss pettigrew lives for a day

Current Read: No God but God, by Reza Aslan.  An excellently written, educational, and balanced history of Islam.  I have 80 pages remaining. 

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Hi, good news! Some new pages on this site are photos license to wed dvdrip that are finally getting uploaded (I can hear cheers from the bleacher seats). For those who don’t know, I’m back in the US for a couple months of R&R before returning to Istanbul after Thanksgiving. More than just R&R, this has been an opportunity to catch up on a lot of loose ends that were just left dangling for about eight months because I was too busy working to tend to them.

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Current Thoughts: how to have a sane and healthy life when I return to Turkey (time for email and yoga) · crazy dangerous christian zionists · buying a new mac (waiting for leopard, and a paycheck)

Current Read: Time and Again, by Jack Finney. A man from modern day New York is sent back to New York of 1882. Will he want to return to the 20th century?

Photo: peonies, Naples NY, in summer. dead buried divx online download girl interrupted free  

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