Black Sunday is the new Black Friday

So... When you live in Turkey, and you celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday, you go out and celebrate Black Friday on Sunday.  We considered going to sit out in front of our favourite stores at midnight, not because we have ever done that in America, nor have we ever had the urge, but because Black Sunday isn't a thing, and it would be silly to pretend it was.

Instead we celebrated a much more relaxing, comfortable, and pepper-spray free Black Sunday.  We slept in, ate a pie-filled breakfast, and sauntered over to the local Sunday Bazaar. (BTW Sunday in Turkish is Pazar.  Also market is Pazar.  Pazar Bazaar, or Pazar Pazar, either way it's fun to talk about.)

We didn't go with our sights set on a flat screen TV, a new lap top, or anything else big and expensive. We looked for and found some fairly basic and boring things: probably-fake-but-who-really-cares-Adidas track pants, fuzzy slippers, dried fruit, socks... I know.  Wondering why this is blog worthy? Me too.  But hang in there. 'Cus all of a sudden Black Sunday craziness took over, we ended up buying the most expensive thing we've owned since leaving America.  Something we didn't even know we wanted until we saw it.  Or more specifically, it's price.

Can you tell what it is?

Fringe...

Intricate patterning...

That's right.  We scored our very own, very beautiful, very handmade Turkish Rug.  For easily a quarter of what it's worth.  WooHoo! (Alan would be so bummed if I didn't mention that he talked the guy down 15 lira.  What a haggler.)

This rug is big. And heavy.  It is very likely that it will stay here in Turkey when we leave.  But then again, it may find a safe home in an extra suitcase sent home with some of our loving family members.  (hint hint)

Who will stuff me in their suitcase?

Pass the Gravy; and Other Things We're Thankful For

Oh Thanksgiving! What a wonderful holiday.  Though not every country and culture has a day dedicated to family, food, and being grateful for all of our blessings, it is a concept easy enough for everyone to get behind.  And this year we have so much to be thankful for.

1. Google:  Did you know that Google celebrates the holidays of many nations on it's home page? While you were probably all seeing a turkey or some pilgrims on yours, our home page was decorated with a classroom that had flowers and gifts on the teacher's desk. This year Öğretmenler Günü (Teachers' Day) fell on Thanksgiving Day.  It took me a while to figure out why Google was dressed up that way for Thanksgiving, but when I realized that Googlers don't only care about American holidays, my heart felt so happy.

Sonya receiving flowers and chocolates for Teachers' Day.

2. Öğretmenler Günü:  Walking into school on a day when all of our friends and family members are sleeping in or preparing for a day of feasting and fun was a bummer.  But we had no choice but to be happy on a day filled with so many treats.  The entrance of the school was transformed by a flower arch, violin and flute players serenading us, and the parent committee passing out chocolates and flowers.  Children arrived carrying even more flowers, and the school was decorated with portraits the students had done of us, poems they had written about us, and (best of all) movie posters they had photo-shopped our faces onto.

The Governator and Alan Stehli star in everyone's favourite classic...

 

Erin Moschetti is caught in a love triangle with a vampire and a werewolf... whose baby will she have??

3.  Being married:  Our first year of planning, cooking, baking, and decorating for Thanksgiving was delightful.  We are both so lucky to be married to such a great teammate. (Sorry: Gag stamp)

4.  In-laws/ parents (Stehli's):  Thank you for raising a boy who bakes, and cooks, and cleans.  I can't tell you how much it means to me to not be married to a man who thinks those are "girl jobs."  Being my Grandmother must have been EXHAUSTING.

5. In-laws/ parents (Moschetti's):  Thank you for teaching me the importance of tradition, but even more, the value of flexibility/adventurousness. Baking a turkey dinner in Turkey (where there are no turkey's, no cranberries, no yams, and no canned pumpkin) would have been impossible for an inflexible foodie.  But the 4 whole chickens, pomegranate/quince sauce, and whole pumpkin-turned-pie, turned out delish. 


6. Friends to act as our stand in family:  When we announced that we would be hosting Thanksgiving with out other American friend Sonya, ALL of our coworkers promised to be there. No questions asked.  "We don't want you to be alone on your special day."  Thank you all for being such wonderful friends.  Even with both our table and Sonya's, with the leaves fully extended on both of them, and every chair and stool we have in our combined apartments, we still had to seat people on the couches.  18 guests in total, including 4 children.  It really felt like Thanksgiving.

















7. Gravy: All of our Turkish friends politely tried our "meat sauce,"  and then politely helped themselves to seconds, and politely asked for the recipe while politely pouring thirds straight into their glasses. "It's not exactly a health food," we warned.  "Yes.  Is there oil in it?  Butter?" "Well... so you cook the chicken, and then when it's finished you take the pan it was cooking in and pour all the fatty goodness into --" "Stop, don't say anymore. I don't want to know." (licking plate)

Cansu and Gözde: "We're not drinking gravy, we're drinking wine."

The Netheregions (Part 4): My New Windmill House

Does any one know what the job of "wind-farmer" entails?  I may be down for a career change if it means getting to live in one of these bad-boys.

On another note: after hangin' with the Windmills we headed to "The Best Bar In The World" (according to... someone in some book, I think).  Now we're famous by association.

The Netheregions (Part 3): Transportation of the Future

There's this new form of transportation out there, and it's rapidly becoming THE way to travel.  It's called the bicycle. You may have heard of it, but really, you MUST try it.

Some of you may be familiar with the late 80's/ early 90's version of the "bike ride."  The one where you had to wear the huge and uncomfortable helmet and pads before your parents deemed you fully protected.  In this same version you may have also been forced to participate in hundred mile rides across the salt marshes every Saturday morning at the crack of dawn.  Also you may have inexplicably had SUPER ITCHY hands the whole time.  I'm not talking about that version.

I'm also not talking about Bike 2.0.  The version that came out around the same time all your friends got cars, but you hadn't saved up the money yet.  In this version, biking was a forced means of transportation to many necessary places (school, your super cool job, and the mall).  This version came with frizzy wind-blown hair, a grease mark on your jeans, and a lingering smell of sweat where ever you went. 

The latest version of biking has worked out all the kinks of the previous models, and has quickly become my FAVOURITE way to spend a day. In case you're considering trying it out yourself, I've provided a list of updated features:

Biking is no longer solely for the dorky and poor.  It's now for the eco-conscious and active lifestyle, both of which are so trendy right now.

Replace "heading to the mall" with the lovely scenery of Den Haag, Catalina, or anywhere else awesome, and suddenly the journey is more important than the destination.  

Notice the backpack.  Bryan's got the goods.

 Replace obnoxious protective gear with a backpack (or better yet, a basket) filled with cheese, salami, bread, chocolate and a bottle of wine. (Or maybe DON'T ditch the protective gear. I'm not actually condoning reckless behavior, I'm just a little better at not falling now.)



When you're feeling winded, stop for a picnic. 




















Or better yet, hop on a bicycle built for two with someone stronger than you.

From our honeymoon in Catalina.  I don't know why Alan was so grumbley and exhausted.  I had a lovely time.

The Netheregions (Part 2): Amsterdam

On our first day in Holland, running on only a few hours of sleep over the past few days, we trained our selves over to the capital, and one of the most famous cities in Europe: Amsterdam.

Known for it's LOVELY canals, and bridges, Amsterdam is a city built on water.  The stunning architecture of all the old homes and shops only highlights the beauty of the canals.   Well those and the quaint boats.  And the swans.

Amsterdam is also known for Tulips, and Tulip Mania of the 1600's. (Tulips became a highly sought after commodity, going for the equivalent of multiple thousands of U.S. dollars for just one bulb.  Similar to the California housing bubble, the Tulip bubble burst one day, leaving people with... just tulips. And DEBT.)  Thanks to the Dutch tulip fame, we got to enjoy strolling through the delightful bloemenmarkts. 

I know those aren't tulips.  It's not tulip season.  But look what IS in bloom!

Don't forget the cheese! Dutch cheese shops are heaven on earth. A treat for the eyes, nose, and taste-buds thanks to the abundance of sampling. I love sampling. Especially when it involves cheese. Oh, and you can probably buy your weight in cheese. We did. 

I sampled EVERY kind.

Museums:  Amsterdam is home to many famous museums, including the Anne Frank house (which we missed due to outrageously long lines), and the Van Gogh museum, which we didn't miss, but raced through rather speedily. 

The Red Light District:  (How many of you skimmed this post until you got here?) This part of town is truly an interesting mix of lovely architecture, homey cafes, and stuff that makes an American's jaw hit the floor. As a way to learn a bit more we took a "History of the Red Light District" walking tour. Here's what we learned:

 

Notice the Red.

• The first church in town is built right at the heart of the Red Light District, which pre-dates the church.
• The CHURCH was the main backer for allowing prostitution. "Ever castle needs an outhouse,"  aka: there needs to be a place in every city where people can commit the sins they're going to commit.  It actually sounds much less corrupt than I was expecting it to sound. Really it just sounded accepting.  
• Prostitutes in Amsterdam rent out an "office" one 8 hour shift at a time.  The front of the "office" has a window for her to dance in, and a curtain to cover the window, because right behind the dancing spot is a bed. Eek. 
• Prostitution is taxed just like every other occupation.
• With hundreds of "offices," and maybe thousands of sex workers aging between 18 and 90+, NONE... NONE! of them are men.  Apparently the district has tried opening up the market, and hired many men willing to do the job, but got little more than women giggling at the doors.  No one interested in... going the distance. 
• Over 80% of women in Amsterdam don't consider it cheating for a husband to "spend time" in the Red Light District. 
• You can't get coffee at "coffee shops" in Amsterdam.
•  Not everyone in Amsterdam is high. In an informal, 2 minute, interview I did with a guy who works at a "coffee shop" his response to my "WHOA those sound scary," was "I don't know, I've never tried them."  Hmmm... there goes that stereo-type.  

 
All in all Amsterdam really kind of reminded me of another city I love. San Francisco. The hustle and bustle, the brisk air, the taboo mixed with the every day, the street performers dressed in ridiculous costumes, even the Occupy Movement in a few different parks.  We loved it all. 

I hear "spirit fingers" mean "I agree."  In which case, those are totally spirit fingers. 

Come back tomorrow to read all about our bicycle tour of Den Haag.  And to look through some of Alan's most BEAUTIFUL pictures.

The Netheregions (Part 1): The Journey

With 5 days of freedom upon us, and some of our favourite people on this side of the Atlantic, Alan and I planned a speedy, and excitement filled trip to Holland to stay with Danielle and Bryan. Danielle is in month 3 of a 5 month (uber-prestigious) law internship with the Yugoslavian War Crimes Tribunal, in Den Haag, or The Hague. Luckily the U.N. gave them the day off for Bayram, so we got to spend three full days with both of them before Danielle had to head back to work.

So.  Back to the journey.  Our plan seemed easy enough:  We had managed to book a flight straight from Antalya to Amterdam (woohoo!) which would cut out the Istanbul leg all together. Danielle had sent us an amazingly long and thorough checklist, and Bryan had sent very clear instructions on how to get to their house from the airport. What could go wrong?  Well, a few things...

1.  TURKEY! Grrr Turkey and their need to do EVERYTHING last minute! Our residence visas expired the day before we left on our trip.  You can't leave or re-enter with expired visas.  We knew this. So months ago we started pestering our school about resubmitting. The pestering continued until in a panic we were rushed to the police station to fill out our paper work at 3:30 on THE DAY OF EXPIRATION! Which meant rushing back to the police station twice on the day of our flight to finalize and pick up our visas.  But we made it.

2.  Time differences.... We got these weird tickets from the travel-agent that only said departure time and duration of flight, no arrival time.  So we did the math.  Wrong.  And arrived over an hour earlier that anticipated.  That's OK. We'll just be early.

3.  Crazy street names and taxi drivers with no GPS...  When the train that took us from Amsterdam to Den Haag arrived, we were so confident.  All we have to do is give this guy our super clear directions from Bryan.  Hmmm.... Not so easy. He had no idea where this street name with a million letters, and far too many vowels was.  So he asked a bunch of buddies, and we were on our way.  Once we got there he did a few u-turns, and then pulled into a parking lot and said "This is it."  Naive and excited Erin: "Okie-doke! Super, I'm so happy... la-di-dah!"  Wise and suspicious Alan: "Wait.  This isn't the right street name."  Cab driver:  "Go down that way. It's the next street, I can't drive you there."  Erin: "Yippee!" Alan: "The next street?  Are you sure?" Lying cab driver: "Yes."  So we go.  And he was wrong.  And now we are LOST in some residential neighborhood with no working phone, and no computers AT 4:00 AM! So we walk to the only open place we can find, and ask the guy working there if he can help.  He has no idea where this street is (panic), but he checks a map.  Luckily it was just a few blocks down.  Phew.

Not their door, or their cat, but probably the house of one of the neighbors whose sleep we ruined. Also, NOT the amount of sunshine on us when we arrived.  Cus that was zero.

4.  Miscommunications and heavy sleepers...  The night before we flew out, Danielle was getting all pushy with questions.  She needed so many details that I was too lazy to get up and find.  Like when we would be arriving and such.  Geeze.  I thought Alan had already sent her our itinerary (he's usually responsible like that), so I pretty much told her to mind her own business. Ha. So she figured we would be there around 8 based on the completely inaccurate and half-assed info I gave her.  Well 8 is close to 4.  Kind of.  So when we arrived at their house 4 hours early and started knocking, I pretty much only had myself to blame for them sleeping right through it.  30 minutes of knocking and light rain later, a very groggy Bryan answered the door. B: "Why are you so early?"  E and A: "Woohoo! Day-o-fun! Day-o-fun!"

And so it began...

Check back tomorrow, when we explore Amsterdam.

Day-O-Fun: A History Lesson

Four years ago a friendship was forged over cheap tacos, beer, and a Tuesday night tradition. Over the past four years the friendship has witnessed the marriage of both couples, graduations, new jobs, grad school, and big moves.  Somehow in the midst of the craziness of life, the four friends have kept up a hugely loved tradition:  Day-O-Fun.

Day-O-Fun started with Alan's suggestion that we all take a road trip down to Santa Barbara to see Ryan Adams in concert.  Thinking he meant Bryan Adams we were all totally down. Wine tasting eating and shopping along the way, none of us ended up minding that the person we were actually seeing was not the long haired musical wonder of the early 90's, but rather a pretty weird guy with a wedgie. Year 1:

Bryan was too cool for wine tasting, and we were too cool to take any more pictures once he got there. 

We decided to keep up the trend of lesser known, small venue concerts the next year, and road tripped to San Francisco to see Donavon Frankenreiter.  More wine tasting, (garlic wine is NOT a good idea), lots of rain and Danielle's favourite Tapas restaurant.  Day-O-Fun Year 2, becomes Weekend-O-Fun:

Donavon concert.  No seats, Lots of hippies.

Year 3 we skipped out on the concerts in favour of Cirque Du Soleil, and modern art.  Back to San Francisco we go.  We had such a good time we decided to focus the rest of our free time on training for Cirque.

This year is Year 4. Best year yet.  Because Day-O-Fun will be a two part Extravaganza! This week we met up in Amsterdam, and in late December we will continue our Fun in Turkey.  I hate to use such a popular and cliche word, but this year Day-o-Fun is epic.

Check back tomorrow for the first in a series of posts about the Netherregions.

The Knifer

It's that time of year again... Iyi Bayramlar! The sacrifice holiday is upon us again, and our town's empty lots are now full of makeshift livestock pens.  In case you missed learning all about the wonders of Kurban Bayram last year, check out this post: Lamb Chops Don't Grow on Trees. You wont be disappointed. Spoiler alert: there are sheep testicles involved. 

This is a rewind story.  It's one of my favourite memories from last year's holiday, but in trying to keep that post under a million words, it got cut. Many of the best phrases in this story come from our favourite friend Zeynep.  You should know that Zeynep is a "Newer." Newer? Huh? This word (coined by Zeynep) refers to people who make new words. She's made the connection that adding -er to the end of some words, turns the word into the the title of an occupation: writer, teacher, singer, NEWER.  So expect a few new words.  Or at least one. In the title.

The Knifer

Once upon a time two Americans, and their newly adopted Turkish family headed out to do some pre-bayram shopping.  As they sped down a busy street listening to Beyonce, the driver pulled over suddenly, next to a little old man on the side of the road.  The little man was sitting at some sort of ancient spinning wheel, made of what must have been the world's first stone wheel. Our driver jumped out of the car and grabbed a bag out of the trunk, thrusting it at the little old man.  Then he got back in the car and they sped off again.  

This is not the actual wheel.  This is a Van Gogh (a little bit of foreshadowing for the posts to come.)

"What are you doing?" asked the drivers wife. After some fast talking and eye rolling, the translation was  that the man was a "knifer,"  and he had just been given ALL of their knives to be sharpened. With the sacrifice holiday only days away, the driver figured now was the time to have really sharp knives.  The women in the car were less than supportive.  "You just gave ALL OF OUR KNIVES to that guy," says his wife.  "Don't worry, Canim (my dear), he's a knifer. Now our knives will be sharp." More eye rolling.

Fast forward to the next day. After the sheep had sacrificed his life for dinner, the group drives home to start the cooking process.  The one that requires many sharp knives.  "Don't forget to stop at the knifer to get our knives" reminds the driver's wife.

But as the group nears the corner that the knifer occupied yesterday, all they see is corner. No spinning wheel.  No knifer.  No knives. The driver gets out, and scratches his head, while looking around and willing the knives return. To his dismay the little man had vanished with his whole collection of knives.  Commence MORE eye rolling.

Moral:  Don't leave your personal possessions with some guy on the side of the road.  No matter what kind of _______er he is.

Zeynep, Necan, and Mustafa, Thank you so much for the lovely Bayram experience, and for all the lovely memories.


PS. Alan and I were so lucky to spend this year's Bayram with a different, amazing group of friends in a different AWESOME location.  Check back with us all week for the highlights. 

Autumn in Alanya

I don't really get Jack-o-lanterns... Pumpkins are so lovely just the way they are. 

Happy Halloween Friends! I hope you all had a fun and safe, costume and candy filled night.  Halloween isn't a thing here, but we wore orange and Alan's mom sent us some candy corn, so we were a bit festive.

Fall has arrived big time.  Out of no where, the temperature has plummeted, night time is coming at 5:00, and the tourists are gone.  I am usually NOT a fan of Fall, because it means Summer is over and Loathsome Winter is just around the corner. Boo.

But right now I'm enjoying the newness of my winter coats, the snuggley feel of my comforter, and mostly the colours. Oh the colours of Fall...

Crazy tie-dyed peppers

Figs, persimmons, and avocados

Pomegranates are ridiculously cheap here.  That's per kilo. 

Plums and green tangerines!

Happy Autumn everyone!