My Friends Are WINNERS!

Alan and I thought the rock on the right looked like a fish.  Sitting on a rock.  Little Mermaid style.  There is no Turkish name for this one.  5 points to Stephen.  Very poetic.

 

 

No Turkish name for these, but come on! Chris, Hilarious.  5 points. 

Turkish people call this a rock family.  Father, mother, and child in between. Points to Stephen for accuracy, and extra points for a great idea.  I will make sure to suggest to the tour guides that they play "Circle of Life" from their tour bus, while tourists gaze at this one.   

Points all around.  Your euphemisms were so entertaining. And a special shout out to delinquent nephew Oliver for "God's happy moment." 

Turkish Cultural Experiences

Now that we have been here for a while, we are beginning to feel what we really wanted to feel from this experience. We wanted to experience different cultures and build relationships with different people. In the past few months I have been able to participate in a few events that really gave me a flavor for the culture.

First of all I got a haircut. I know what you're think "whoopty doo Alan." I didn't expect it to be that different either, but it was. Because unlike my normal trips to Supercuts in America this is full service care for less than a simple cut at Supercuts. Full service includes a wash, dry (usually with a blow dryer which makes my hair look similar to a 70's Disco star), and a fire show. Check it out...

Then after that they did this:

That wasn't it, because then the guy massaged my arms and shoulders, not knowing this was coming did make me a little uncomfortable. All I could think was "Dude is rubbin' me, Dude is rubbin' me!!! Did I go to the wrong place? Was something lost in the translation? Do I have to pay more for this service?" Luckily after the shoulder rub he was done and I had to need to worry. When it was all done it totaled up to about $10 American!!! One of the many reason I love Turkey.

The second event was Culture Day (Kültür günü). Like most schools the schools here love to put their children on display and show what they can do. This show was a Cultural show so the children had worked for months with the folklore teacher ( How cool is it that they have a teacher who only teaches the children the traditional dances, songs and stories of their culture) on several different types of shows ranging from groups of children clapping while another takes a solo to an entire play depicting the traditional Turkish wedding party. As always the day was filled with great moments of seeing your kids perform and have a great time. Dance is a very important part of the Turkish culture. From belly dancing to something that looks similar to the River dance, everyone knows about the dances and where they originated. You can see at an early age that children have incorporated the styles of dance into their child like moves. So many of my young girls shake their hips and move their bellies like the girls I have seen at the Turkish night shows, moves that Erin has difficulty doing because she hasn't been doing them from birth.

When approached by the Turkish teacher at the kindergarten with the idea of dancing on the stage I was dead set on avoiding that by any means possible. The means of avoidance turned out to be a compromise in the form of singing in a chorus of teachers, which I figured provided a little more anonymity for the only male on the staff (boy was I wrong). As we started our practices they were all giddily excited about how quickly I was learning some of the songs and they decided Wouldn't it be great if he had a solo!?! It has happened several times in my time here that I am not being told anything in English but am somehow agreeing to things, like having a Turkish solo in front of every single Kindergarten parent at Culture Day. So we practiced for months and I was very comfortable with the songs and ready for the show. During one of our rehearsals just before the show it was decided that the music in the auditorium was too loud to hear us so a microphone was needed. Guess who got to hold that microphone. So now not only was I singing a solo in Turkish, but I was now singing into a microphone...so much for hiding in the crowd. To top it all, not only did we do this show, we did it in costume, I had a traditional Alanya villager costume on including a hat borrowed from the school owner's father. Somewhat unfortunately there were no pictures of me taken in my outfit that show it all, but when Erin came to watch the show she did happen to take this video, Enjoy:

All in all it was a great experience and I have enjoyed wowing some of our Turkish friends with the songs I know. And I did slightly regret not learning the dance moves, but I'm sure there will be another opportunity for that. Many of the parents commented on how they expect even more from me next time... Next time Shakespeare in Turkish.

Time is running out!!!

Thank you to all of you who participated in the contest so far. With only 3 contestants so far it is a close battle. For those of you who can't post on this page for some reason we will also accept email submissions. So you still have one day left because honestly I don't know what time is 11:59 GMT in Turkey and I don't want to google it. Hope to see a late rush of contestants.

A little game we like to call "What does that rock look like?"

Alan, Sonya and I went to an area of Turkey called Kapadokya this past week.  Kapadokya is similar to the Grand Canyon in many ways (old rocks cut by rivers a bajillion years ago to make interesting shapes, hundreds of turists taking pictures of every single thing, etc) except WAY cooler. Cooler than the Grand Canyon? Can it be? I know.  I'm SO unpatriotic.  But here's why it's better: nearly 2000 years ago people dug super elaborate cave dwellings into these rocks, and some people still live there.  In fact, I could live there, cus some of them are for SALE! If I can convince Alan you'll be getting mail from a cave from now on.

Satılık means "For Sale"

But on to the part where you can win prizes. Cus that's why you're here. For the give-aways.  I'm no idiot.


So here's how the contest works: Alan and I took lots-o-pictures of rocks.  Pictures that no one would be interested in looking at if it weren't for cut throat competition. Take a good look at the pictures and tell us what each one looks like.  Some of them are already named by the Turks for their particular shape, but we aren't telling.  Get creative, cus points will be awarded based on accuracy, but also on imagination. We know a lot of these shapes are... let's say r-rated, but get REALLY creative about naming those, because a) reading the same guess over and over is boring, and b) our grandma's read this blog.

Prizes: If you get the most points we will mail you an awesome  Kapadokya souvenir! We aren't telling what it is, but it might be one of the following:

hahahahah

Most hilarious post card EVER

Kapadokya magnet (spelled the English way)

Here it goes:

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3: The part we're looking at is the highest, skinniest, darkest rock.  

Number 4

Number 5: I'm a clue in this one. 

Number 7: Creativity or euphemism please

Number 6

Number 8: Come on.  We ALL see those.  Think harder.

Number 9

Number 10: This one's a celebrity sighting

Ok. There you go. It's your turn. Just make sure to read the fine print first.

Not-so-fine-fine-print (cus this is a contest for all ages yo): 1.  All guesses must be posted as comments to this blog, so we can all read and enjoy your ideas.  2.  All comments must be posted by 11:59 pm February 18th GMT ( I don't know what that means for you, google it). That gives you only a week.  Get on it. 3. Points will be given on the whim of the blogger (me) and fiancee. No arguing. I don't like sore losers.  4.  It is entirely possible you are the only person reading this and can win simply by making a few guesses, so come on, play!

Prague, where beer flows like water.

Is there anyone still out there? I realize that of our 38 followers it is possible that we allowed so much time between posts that we lost some of you. I hope you have stayed around. If you did, thanks we love you too.

Now to update you on recent events will take several different posts and quite a bit of time so lets discuss the most recent trip to Prague first and then we can back track in time a little to catch you up.

Prague is a beautiful city. Around every corner is another centuries-old building with a tall spire and a well kept facade hinting at the beauty of what was destroyed so many times and then rebuilt. We had a fantastic time.

Here are the highlights:

On our first day out, after bundling in all of the layers we owned we ventured out to find some sights. Within 20 we got lost trying to find a change shop from our hotel. At -6 C we were both a little bit frozen by the time we did so we immediately ducked into Starbuck in Wenceslas Square to thaw a little bit. We realized that, similar to Alanya in August it was important to know when it was time to get inside. We continued our walking tour and I had my first run in with Goulash and Czech beer: yum. A great lunch and 2 beers all for about $10. Literally the beer was often either the same price or cheaper than water. The best way to counter the next few days of below freezing temps. Oh yeah and pork products too, including bacon!

We went to the Ballet at the National theater ( I know, pretty classy right). That was cool.

We went on a 6 hour tour that included a boat ride on the river and a tram ride up to the castle, but the best part was when the snow started to fall. Having rarely, if ever, seen snow falling this heavily I was so excited. The British girls and our tour guide couldn't understand why we stopped listening to the information and were making snowballs and stuff. I moved from California's Central coast to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, snow is a novelty in my life.

With the snow came warmer weather. It seemed counter intuitive but there is a logical scientific explanation that I will withhold in fear of boring you all. Regardless it was no longer below freezing and we no longer needed to add so many layers that getting in the elevator felt like a squeeze.

Prague was a lovely city. Funny enough though the nicest person we met in Prague was a Turkish jeweler. We were in this neighbor's shop and she was playing Turkish pop music, we commented on it and she called him over to talk to us about Turkey. If he had ordered tea for us we would have felt like we were home in the Bazaar.

Of course Prague will always hold a special place in our heart as it is where we were engaged. I had it planned. We would go to a nice dinner then to the ballet and afterword we would walk out on an island that looked toward the Charles bridge all lit up at night and I would do it there, perfect...Unless after you go to dinner you go to the theater and realize that the Ballet was actually the next day...Ok no big deal tomorrow will still work... Ballet at the National theater then stroll to the spot...unless Erin is dressed in heals and nylons rather than 5 pars of pants and boots, and it is - 8 C outside. I know what it is like when she is cold and I don't want to put her through that, not the right moment. So I carried that ring around with me for another day waiting for the moment which came at a lovely little restaurant in lesser town. Everyone had cleared out of the section we were in and we were all alone. Erin, having sensed the proposal was going to happen on the trip but saw the days disappearing, was growing impatient and asked "So what's next for us?"

Hint Hint...Wink Wink...basically a message to say Hey Jackass get it together!!!

I got the ring out of my jacket got on one knee and said "I am loving the adventures we have been on and I want to share all of life's adventures with you." She started crying so I gave her a hug and sat down...then I realized I didn't actually pop any questions. Me: "I didn't actually ask you did I?..Will you marry me?"  Her:"That's ok because I didn't say yes either." Feisty. One of the many reasons I love her.

 

There it is, the story of our trip to Prague, without a doubt a trip that will never be forgotten.