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!

Birthday Memories

We have had a lot of fun since Christmas and not so much fun as you can tell by the picture of the grease fire which as turned out to be just fine and a good growing experience for our marriage. January flew by all too fast and February brought my favorite holiday Valentines day. I'm not sure why but this has always been my favorite holiday- probably because it precedes my birthday. Seriously ever since I was a kid I've loved making valentines boxes for school and passing out Valentines. However, I must say I do not like all the commercialism of Valentines and prefer simple acts of showing friends and family you love them. Needless to say it was a lovely Valentines for us newlyweds. Then came my Birthday, and I guess I'm one of those people who believe more in a birthday week than a day and that in your week you are granted to do, eat, and enjoy all of the things that you love. So to celebrate my golden birthday (I turned 26 on the 26th) we went on a road trip to Vegas. We stayed with my friend Marci in Toquerville and then cousin Maisy and Blair in Vegas. What a fun trip I got to do so many things I loved and be with people I love. By the way I now have been in 3 out of the 8 or so Margaritaville's and plan on visiting all 8 in my life. I guess that makes me a true Parrothead. If you haven't been yet, what are you waiting for.

Christmas 2008 Memories

Laughs, Inside jokes, spending time with family, Good Food (mmmm roladins, ham, turkey, baklava, toffee, fudge, mud pie) Caroling, Singing, Cooking & Baking, Movies, Shopping, Visiting family in town, and out of town, Rediscovering the guitar after losing the last pick, Celebrating for 2 weeks straight no work and finishing the semester, Jon and Laura's wedding (mmmm cake and soup), organizing the office (all of brad's papers are in a file!), driving here and there safely in some terrible storms- What a great Christmas 2008!

Christmas Trees and Decorations

So this is our first Christmas married. Last Christmas we got our Christmas tree (yes a fake) together- well I bought it and Brad carried it. My mom said she knew he really loved me when he got up at 4:30 the day after Thanksgiving to carry my Christmas Tree. So it's our little joke that our Christmas tree symbolizes our love. This was the first year we decorated it and other parts of our condo with our few Christmas decorations. We had hot chocolate and listened to Christmas music while we decorated. What a fun tradition to start. Our Christmas tree is biased with my ornaments. When I asked Brad about having any he looked at me incredulously and said "Do I look like the kind of guy that would have ornaments." So as another tradition to start this year we will pick out our first ornament together and it will probably be a star for the top of our tree. What fun memories for our first Christmas!

Thanksgiving Memories

A good book

I've always wanted to write book reviews after I finish my books like my cousin Lynn and sister Angie. They however have majored in English and so this will be somewhat amateur but alas here are my thoughts on East of Eden. The concept of duality in man, or man versus self, is quite common in literature. Hugo, Dostoevsky, Dickens, and I'm sure lots others have explored this. However, in this book Steinbeck has been the first to personalize the idea to me and all people for that matter. The protagonists are painted as colorful characters with evil and good in them. The antagonists are painted more one sided with black and white type thinking all selfish and evil or all pure and good. The entire book is centered around the word "Timshalt " and whoever reads this book will never forget it ( though they might forget the correct spelling). I honestly did not realize I liked this book so much until the last page. Their are painful moments in this book where the protagonists disappoint you and you wonder who are you really cheering for. Yet in the end the magnanimity of man shines through with the strength and power to choose his character and destiny. I reccomend this book to all those who like books that make them think (this is not a light novel) and if you start to read it push yourself through the painful parts because in the end it will not dissapoint.