rebecca soble

April has been a busy month, in a mostly positive way.  Nevermind the broken waterheater and the visits to the Emniyet, here are some images of the fun moments…

Ilkbahar tatilinda, Emrah ile bir gün Eminönü’de dolaştık.  Arkasindaki cami “Suleymaniye Camii”. Önünde balıkcı tekneleri, orada taze balık ekmek falan yenir. Ortasinda otobüs durağı.

Over spring break, spent an afternoon wandering in Eminönü with Emrah.  In the background is the Suleymaniye Mosque and in the front are the boats where people can eat freshly caught and cooked fish.  In the middle is a bus depot.

İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi kampüsünde evim yakında küçük bir göldür. Emrah’in yardımıyla, sonunda yaya yollarını keşfettik.

Near my home on the Istanbul Technical University campus there is a small lake.  With Emrah’s help, I finally discovered the footpaths that lead to and around it.

Gölet yaninda güneş batmasıyı seyretmekten zevk aldık, ve mahalli arkadaşlarla ziyaret ettik.  Onlara kurabiyeyi verdik.  Emrah’in gölgesi görebilirsin…

We enjoyed watching the setting sun by the lake, and visited with some local friends.  We gave them our cookies.  You can see Emrah’s shadow…

Yeniköy’den Beykoz’a vapura bindik.

We took a ferry from Yeniköy to Beykoz.

Nisan Türkiye’de lale mevsimidir.  Beykoz Korusunda pek çok güzel çeşitleri vardı.

April is tulip season in Turkey.  In the Beykoz park there were many lovely varieties.

Ayrıca, biraz örgü yaptım, bebek battaniyeleri (Nasıl Türkçe ile örme açıklamaya bilmiyorum.)

I’ve also done some knitting this month, baby blankets.  All in garter stitch, but some Entrelac and some Log Cabin.

Doğum günüm bulutlu başladı….

My birthday started out cloudy…

…ama çok nefis sona erdi!  Kadıköy’deki  Çiya Lokantada Alinazik kebabı yedım.  Altındaki patlican+sarımsak ezmesi en iyi parça.

…but ended yummy!  I had Alinazik Kebab at Çiya in Kadıköy.  The best part is the eggplant+garlic paste underneath…

Çocuk Bayramında, Büyükada’da kalabalığa dayanıp yukarı manastıra tırmandık.

On Children’s Day we faced the crowds at Büyükada and climbed up to the monastery.

Insanlar bütün yolu iplik çekiyor, iyi şans için (zannedersem).

People were stringing thread the whole way, for good luck (I think).

Günün sonunda  vapurla eve geri döndüm.  Vapurlardan çok hoşlanıyorum.

At the end of the day I rode the ferry back home.  I love the ferries.

I’m blank. It’s been a difficult month and I don’t feel like explaining. But I want a new post, so here are some pics from my last trip to Mersin, Aug 20-30 2009.

Breakfast at a little place up in the hills outside Mersin.  Sat Aug 22.  It was a really good typical turkish breakfast.  Total 30tl for two people.

Emrah looking over the scenery.  I forget the name of the place, outside Mersin.  Gözde maybe.

A big cavernous hole in the ground at Cennet Cehennem (Heaven and Hell).  I think this hole was hell.

These pics are a bit out of order.  This is from another cavernous hole in the ground at a place called Kanlidevani, which means something like “bloody crazy”.  Apparently people were sent down into the recesses as punishment.

Emrah eating keci boynuzu (carob bean) which is supposedly an energy/aphrodisiac source.  He’s got a wild look in his eye.

Climbing the ancient stonework over large pits in the ground.  First E,

Then me.  I walked up and down a bit more cautiously than he did.

He likes climbing around old ruins.

And then snacking afterwards.  Kavurma is one of his favorites, and I rather like it too.

Inside the Cennet (Heaven) hole in the ground was an old Christian church.  Behind the church the hole in the ground (green, with trees etc) becomes a real cavern.

We also spent a lot of time at the beach.  This was at a place where we rented a tent and slept overnight.

Between the last post and this one, besides this difficult month, I also spent a lovely six weeks at home with my family.  Hopefully things will look up again soon.

Ona benzeyen bir adam gördüğüm zaman kalbım yerınden fırladı.

Havuza girmeden önce çabuk ve sabunsuz duş aldığım için iki yaşlılar bana söylendiler.
Onlara sinirlendiğim için daha hızlı ve hareketli yüzdüm (ve havuzda dalgaları yaptım).

Eve giderken minibüs şoförü çok öfkeli davranıyordu. Diğer minibüs şoförlerine acı acı bağırdı, freni çok sert kullandı, ve İKİ DEFA bağırmak için minibüsten indi! Ikinci defa, evimini yakin varmadığımız halde, ben de indim çünkü o minibüs güvenli degildi. Keşke plaka numarasını almayı düşünseydim ama alsaydım ne yapacaktım?

Canım seni çok özledim. öptüm.

Mersin’de çok güzel bir tatil yaptık…

Emrah Kız Kalesin önünde. Mayolarımız götürmedik, düşündük ki hava yeter sıcak değildi ama yanlıştık.

Pedal çevırerek Kız Kalesi etrafina gezdik.

Kız Kalesinde.

Merdivende en uygun grafiti.

Kız Kalesinin kapısındayım.

Kız Kalesinin dışardayım. Yüzmeye çok istedim.

Kale içindeyim.

Gezdikten sonra Adana kebab yedik.

Mersin sahilde çok uzun yuruyabilirsin.  O gün çok ruzgarlıydı, dalgalar çok hareketlıydı.

Outside the Mersin Archaeology Museum.

Detail on an ancient column

Playing along with the statues

Lovely palm tree view from the upstairs window of the museum.

Mersin marina, with floating fish restaurants

We had to take our own picture since there were no papparazzi around!

Rowing in the marina, with oars of two different lengths.  a bit tough!

I’m getting the hang of it!

And so is my sweetie.  xo!

Today Emrah turned 30.  He seemed relatively okay with it, though this morning he said “yarim yoldayim” which basically means he thinks he’ll die at 60.   Just one year ago I arrived back in Turkey to celebrate his 29th birthday after 3 months at home in the US, so today is a quasi-anniversary as well as a birthday.  While I’m missing my family more than usual these days, I’m also amazed at how quickly this year has passed.  And overall, it’s been really good.

Today was sunny and warm, something I never take for granted on the last day of November.  To celebrate both the birthday and the weather, we took the Banlio Tren out to the last stop (Gebze) and then hopped a quick dolmuş to the fishing village of Eskihisar (thanks RG for the idea).

On the train

The hisar in Eskihisar is not open to the public apparently. But here’s a closeup of a closed gate.

Another view of the eski hisar in Eskihisar.

I should have asked Emrah to open his mouth and pretend to eat the boat!

An old house. Emrah took this pic – he really likes old houses.

Hello – anybody home? Another old house.

Me with the fishermen. Notice the cats slinking nearby on the lookout for some fishy snacks.

There are a lot of fishermen in Eskihisar.

Seaside.

Together at the seaside. Thanks to the guy who took the picture.

Sunset.

In the evening, watching the boats.

Evening, a nice view of the marina with the hisar behind. Not sure what setting Emrah was using on the camera to get the nice graininess.

Another photo with nice graininess.