Independence Squared

Happy Turkish Victory Day everybody! On this day in 1922, Turkey won the final battle in a war for Independence from the Allies who took over after the Ottoman defeat in WWI. Lead by the country's hero, Ataturk, the country officially became the Republic of Turkey a modern, secular nation-state on the political front.  Turkis people are generally very patriotic, and proud of their country, and everywhere we go statues and paintings of Ataturk remind us of how beloved their hero is.  (That's his big head carved into the side of a mountain Mt. Rushmore-style.)

Here's where the coinsidental squaring of Independence comes in... Today is ALSO our first day in our own apartment!!!  We are back in Alanya and finally, finally, Maşallah (Turkish for "Allah made it so") we have settled into our own place.  For those of you who may have forgotten how long it's been, Alan and I have been homeless-drifters-living-out-of-suitcases since JUNE! I can't even tell you how good it feels to finally hang our clothes on hangers.  We swept and mopped and cleaned up a dead bird corpse with the joy that can only come from feeling "home at last." 

Perfectly preserved bird carcass on our balcony. Alan dealt with this guy, But I tackled TWO moths! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitchen, (in case you couldn't tell)

Our appartment is located near our hotel, a short walk from the beach, the mall, and the local farmers' market.  We have two bedrooms (one for you!), two bathrooms (one for you!), two balconeys (can you guess who one is for?), a kitchen, and a living room.  We spent most of the day making it all sparkeley clean because in Turkey the person moving in is in charge of that, not the owner, and because for some reason cleaning your own home is so much fun! (For the first time at least.)

Living Room/Dining Room

Your Room! Ready and waiting for you.

Balcony #2

We went back to the Monday Market today and this time got to buy all the delishious food that we wanted, and have a fridge filled with produce. We also had our first successful bargaining experience, getting a huge set of spices AND an adorable spice grinder for 15 lira rather than 25.  WooHoo.  The walk away method really worked.

Time hurry off to bed, because we have our first day of work tomorrow! We'll let you know how it goes. 
You let us know when you'd like to book a week at Hotel Erin-and-Alan.