Two Posts in one day?!?! Get used to it... It just got REAL.

Dear friends...
The last four days have been a whirlwind of new experiences.  I'll try to do my best to fill you in on all of our adventures without overwhelming you with info. No promises though.

August 4th: SFO, USA- Our flight out of the country started rough, with us finding out at the ticked counter that every bag we had were over the weight limit (some by 20 lbs!) we asked what that might cost and the ticket taker said $500!!! AGH! Thanks to extremely resourceful family members that didn't just kiss us goodbye at the curb, we we're able to send back all of the non-necessities to, and reshuffle to make the weight limits.  Luckily Alan's Uke made it. Phew.  Tearful goodbyes at the airport, with the Moschetti's leading the pack in amount of tears shed, with the Stehli family holding it together amazingly (although, I'm sure they were crying on the inside).

August 4th/5th: Midnight: somewhere over Greenland- We had the surreal experience while on the flight of completely skipping night time.  As we flew East over the US the day sped towards sunset, but then we flew north over Greenland, which, like Alaska, is experiencing very little if any dark hours. While over Greenland, in the span of one movie, we watched the sun dip towards the horizon, sit just out of sight, and rise again. By this time we were speeding towards Europe and daytime.  Add up the amount of daylight hours we had in the US before the flight, the amount during our travels, and the amount in Turkey after landing, and you've got 30 straight hours of daytime. Whoa.  (See photo in web album)

August 5th: Alanya, Turkey
After 20ish hours of travel, we arrive safely in our new hometown.  We are greeted by our ultra friendly and helpful bosses, and the oppressive Turkey-in-August heat. Quick introduction to a world we are unfamiliar with (crazy drivers, beautiful mosques everywhere, and lights that will only work when a key is inserted into a little hole in the wall), then collapsing into bed with bellies full of butterflies.

August 6th: Alanya, Turkey (OK you can assume that location from here on out)
Bodies still on California time awake before five am.  Experience our first call to prayer out on our own private balcony while taking in the dark views of our new home.  Made our way down to the sea after the sun rose, delighted to find that even at 6:30 am the water was warm enough to swim in.  Let the water wash away the butterfly plague: commence complete bliss. Incidentally, in the past few days we continue to be in awe of how wonderfully different the Mediterranean is from the Pacific. Rather than the cold biting, punching slaps of waves beating you down, the Med seems to offer a warm hug, with high salinity that floats you effortlessly around.  Somehow it is reminiscent to floating in a warm bath as a little girl and pretending to be a mermaid. Total comfort. 


August 7th:
We tried out the Bazaar. Not too different from the markets in Mexico, a lot of people pushing the exact same products everyone else is selling for "a special deal just for me." We promised each other we wouldn't buy anything till we had an apartment (and maybe a paycheck) so it was reletively easy to say no.  But still they try.  Two different guys asked us if we were married (which we said yes to, because Jan said it would make things easier, and I had a feeling they were going to try and hit on me) at which point both started trying to sell us baby merchandise.  When we explaned that we didnt have children, one suggested we buy the stuff anyway, and go home and start reproducing tonight, and the other asked Alan if "it's broken?" Needless to say, next time we'll try out saying we're NOT married.  


Update on Jet-lag:
Our bodies seem unable to adjust to the time difference.  I have woken up before five every day (today 2:30!) unable to go back to sleep. This is lovely in some ways (starting my day with the beautiful call to prayer, and some moments of quiet reflection, being up earlier than the scorching sun for a workout at one of many outdoor gyms, a practically empty Mediterranean to swim in, and a shower all before breakfast on the pool deck= LOVELY). Unfortunately, by noon we've now been up for 7 to 10 hours and are in need of a nap.  So here comes the second four hour section of sleep for the day, waking up in time to shuffle out for a sunset dinner, after laying in bed and whining about the heat and my tired eyes. The only good side to this is that we currently sleep through the most unbearably hot hours of the day, and nothing in Alanya starts shutting down until midnight (even the public pools), so we dont miss too much action.


Sorry no pictures this time.  They were taking an obnoxious amount of time to load.  Check the Web album, and pretend they are intermixed in a lovely way.  
PS if you are wondering why so many of the pictures look grey, that isn't smog.  Its the "heat haze"! Heat you can see. Something to get used to.