If I were a rich man...

It's hard not to want to have a lot of frivolous money and spend that money shopping after a few hours cruising Istiklal Caddesi (Brad luckily stayed home to work on his paper for Friday's conference). Yet with the up bring Brad and I have been blessed with the realization of need vs. want runs through my head thankfully settling my shopaholic impulses and grounding me to our budget. Regardless I do enjoy window shopping especially when it comes to shoes. I'm debating between these in particular- I need some black dress sandals that I can wear to work so no stilletos. My others just broke after a good ten years of wear so I guess that abides with moms phrase drilled in my head "use it up, wear it out, fix it up, or do without." Angie also requested pictures of the shops. My favorites were two I've never heard of before Coquet (a darling 2 story accessory shop and Mango. They may be in the states but I don't go to the mall to much so they were new to me. What shoes do you vote for?

2 of 30 in an LDS branch

Here are our first weeks pictures. The apartment pics didn't turn out so well on the slide show so I will post them separately. So today we set out for church a 40 minute walk and on the seventh floor of an old building which you get to on an elevator that would make anyone feel claustraphobic and we found a multicultural group of saints. Some Turks, some Ethiopians, Some Fillipinos, some Americans and some Norweigan people all gathering for an LDS church service. However due to the language barriers and few translators most of us just tried to feel the spirit and it only lasted 2 hours instead of the regular 3 hour block. The branch president who is Turkish spoke in sacrement meeting and it was very moving. What would that be like to love the people of your country but not be able to share the gospel or have your church legally recognised. The pain was on his face and also the hope of when the day will come that he can share his joy in the gospel with his people freely. It was very moving. There was even a senior missionary couple that just got here from Bountiful, UT doing a humanitarian mission. The sister missionary agreed with me about the change in environment from back home- especially all of the walking we do here. I made friends with a Turkish girl who is investigating the church. She does not speak English very well but she did understand my invitation of going shopping together and then Brad translated the details for both of us. We might have to bring Brad along on our shopping excursion as a translator- I'm sure he would love that:) Tonight in the spirit of keeping the sabbath day holy we made dinner from scratch! Well at least the sauce- onions, tomatoes, olive oil, and tyme with a bit of sugar, salt, and pepper made a delicious spaghetti sauce. And I have to write about Brad's victory tonight with Frog Juice. After dozens of times of me taking the win and Brad getting frustrated (we are a very competitive couple when it comes to trivial games) he finally won tonight and went to bed proud- and I really didn't LET him win (or did I...).

Here are some pictures of our apartment

Turkish Baklava vs. Bad's Baklava

So today we took it easy and hung out at our apartment most of the day. I figured out how to do laundry in a Turkish washing machine and found it takes quadruple the time of the washing machine I have at home. And instead of a dryer we have a huge rack that takes up most of the space. It would have been kind of fun to have a line outside connecting to the next building like most of the locals. It would probably dry faster too. I am discovering the joy of fresh baked bread every day- sometimes even a couple times every day. A loaf cost about 25 cents and is delicious with fresh fruit and veggies. Apparently tomatoes and cucumbers grow like weeds over here and so you eat them a lot because they are so cheep. We put together a Greek salad complete with olive oil and feta type (sharp!) cheese. Brad has been working on a paper he presents next week and I have been planning out the sites I want to see as well as studying the latest research in my field- I was told once in a conference "Professionals never stop educating themselves." Anyhow I think I am getting more used to Istanbul including the time change! and am really coming to enjoy the food and nightlife. I tried a new pasta cheese dish for dinner and discovered dark chocolate/nutella filled borek (a filo pastry)-Angie you would love this! Then we cruised Istiklal with the rest of the Turks and tourists and discovered a dessert bar. Just looking in the windows made your mouth water. I tried the Turkish baklava but was somewhat dissapointed as it was made with Pistachios instead of almonds or walnuts. Brad's baklava is still my favorite.

The Joy of Jet Lag -Day 3

So it is now almost 12:00 in Istanbul and thanks to my 4 hour afternoon nap, because my body could just not move anymore without sleep, I am wide awake listening to Jason Mraz while Brad is sleeping. I've been exploring more of the area and reading up on the history of Turkey which helps me understand a lot of the sites and culture. I even had a vigorous conversation with Brad about the concept of nationalism in the middle east which is something he has studied for the past 3 years and I have studied for 2 days. I think that is pretty good. He got his info from PhD classes and lots of work while I got my info from a quick read in The Lonely Planet Guide Book. Well studying the guide book has made me more excited about our apartment location- as we are right by Istiklal Caddesi "the heart of modern Turkey." Seriously this is the street/shop/restaurant hangout of the whole city. Great location!

Well as it does life happened and I guess on the plane due to a sleeping pill/makeup issue I got something lodged in my eye creating a minor eye infection. So yesterday afternoon we walked to a Hospital and I saw an eye doctor where I was told to wear my glasses and use drops for five days. What an experience- I'm sure glad Brad knows how to take care of situations like this. After the doctors visit we cruised the street like the rest of the Turks and tourists and found the most charming restaurant where we dined outside with a view of a huge famous old tower- called Galato and has something to do with the Galation people.

Today we treked to the Archives (probably a 4 mile walk up and down cobblestone streets). When we finally got there we we were told it has been moved. So we walked some more blocks and found it amongst a bunch of gated governement buildings guarded by a soldier carrying a machine gun. This was somewhat a shock - you are used to officers carrying hand guns but a machine gun was alot more intimidating. Brad got his new ID badge at the Archives and then we headed back to the apartment - this time on the Metro. Istanbul has a very well developed Metro system and my brother Jon would be truly impressed with the huge pulley that gets the metro up those steep hills. Waking back to the apartment we stopped at a cafe for borek a most delicious pastry filled with cheese or meet -somewhat like a sausage roll. Back at the apartment - exhausted I took a 4-5 hour nap- which would have been 1 am Salt Lake time while Brad worked. The weather has been just lovely, mostly because we are located by the sea with a nice cross breeze. For dinner we checked out the corner market and I was pleased to find some familiar vegetables and cooking ingredients. We got these cookies called Biscotti (short bread cookies filled with rich dark chocolate). I will have to bring some home for people to try. They were just delicious. With the help of the guidebook I am now making a list of all the things I want to see and do here in Istanbul seeing a "football" game and shopping are on the list, while I am also trying to have an adventuresome view of trying new foods. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Welcome to Istanbul Day 1 & 2

Warning: Long post with Lots of Details
We left Salt Lake City 2 pm June 16 and arrived in Istanbul June 17th 6pm. That included a 9 hour time difference (So in Salt Lake it would have been June 18th 3am) and 2 layovers in Calgary and Amsterdam. The flight was long but went as planned except for a small lighting storm in Calgary. On the flight from Amsterdam to Istanbul Brad and I had separate seats and I sat next to a Turkish man who had been living in Texas the past while and was now returning home. When we landed in Turkey he gave me his contact information and said his family would be pleased to offer us a Turkish meal during our stay. Brad commented, "that's Turkish hospitality for you." We hopped on the metro (which is above ground) and made 1 transfer and then arrived an hour later at the stop "right by" our hotel. All the while I was looking out of the window like a fish out of water. My first impressions of Istanbul were a mixture of NYC, San Francisco (bay area), and pictures I have seen of Greece. The stop "right by" our hotel translated to a half our hike up a huge bustling hill with bikes, cars, and kids playing soccer (yes on the hill) zooming up and down and out of side streets. We checked into our hotel and happily I washed off all of the traveling while Brad made arrangements to meet with our possible landlord. So we were off again walking to meet our contact and culture shock hit me as I started asking Brad "why are there so many people?" "why are there cats everywhere?" and "how do all these little shops stay in business?" At this point we came across the steepest hill ever and another city came into mind to describe Istanbul- Jerusalem or at least what I have heard of it. For all of you Salt Lakers this was literally like hiking Ensign peak. Steep!! So to sum up the evening from there- we met our contact, saw the apartment, and arranged to move in the next day. Our landlord then took us on a short tour of the area. At this point the best I could compare it to was Soho in Manhattan- shops everywhere, outside restaurants everywhere, clubs everywhere, Taxis in traffic jams everywhere, and people walking everywhere. During this tour the realization of living here for two months hit me and I experienced these feelings in order: overwhelmed, afraid, homesick, shocked, and then lucky for Brad, while he was working out the rent agreement I saw a makeup shop and looked up and saw the familiar label MAC. It was my makeup shop just the same as found in a Nordstroms at home. Only this wasn't just a kiosk but a huge store- imagine Sephora. Funny how the MAC brought me back to reality but seeing something familiar gave me a sense of relief and then excitement as I looked around with a sense of wonder instead of fear. With more hope in my eyes and heart we tried to find our way back to our hotel and then once again hiked up the steepest hill ever to get something to eat. We stopped at a soup cafe which was just delicious and then walked back to the hotel where we crashed. I don't think I've been more mentally or physically exhausted since pioneer trek. 4:30 am we awoke (mostly because of jet lag) to people talking outside our window, birds yaking, and then this siren of something like "Yah sha ra la ma la...." going off. Brad said this happens five times a day. It is the Islam call to prayer. I heard it the night before also but despite the stereotype of everyone dropping and praying towards Mecca, most people ignored it and kept about there bustling. Thankfully we fell back asleep for a few more hours. Our hotel served a traditional Turkish breakfast of watermelon, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, real olives and fresh bread. We packed up hiked up the steepest hill ever this time with some of our luggage and moved into the apartment. I am now sitting in our nice air-conditioned apartment writing this blog while Brad hikes back down to the hotel and hikes back with the rest of the luggage. What a sweet husband! I will post pictures of the apartment later but it is a chic furnished one bedroom apartment that even has a washer-no dryer. This will work out just great. And the air conditioning and wireless internet is probably the greatest part.

A Summer Adventure...

The past 3 months have zoomed by and here we are no longer newly weds but going on our second year of marriage. What an adventure is has been and continues to be. In March we doubled with my parents at the Gold and Green Ball (any chance to dance is worth it). My parents danced circles around us. I told Brad we need some practice since the was the first time dancing since our wedding! We had a blast dancing the night away to 80s music.
In April we enjoyed the rain and Brad worked hard studying for his Comprehensive Exams (12 hours of writing and then oraly defending his resonses in front of a group of Professors) In May we celebrated Brad's 29th birthday, the passing of his Comprehensive exams, and...

then our 1st Anniversary May 27 2009
which we will really CELEBRATE this summer in...

Istanbul (mainly for dissertation research) and then...
10 days in ITALY!!!!!
What an amazing husband I have to make one of my childhood dreams come true.
We fly out June 16th and I get back Aug 11th just in time for work on the 12th.
Arrivaderci Utah, Hello Europe!