left my pants at the waffle shop.
Last Monday, I spent some time with our friend from South Africa, Layinah. It was her last day. We went shopping in Taksim and I bought some black jeans from Mango. Later, sat down at a waffle shop and had a waffle. The ladies working there were so nice. We told them we were learning Turkish and they smiled and we helped each other understand. We had our waffles, said good bye to Layinah, and got back on the metro to head home. I walked to my host mom’s preschool, and as soon as I sat down in her office, I looked at Yasemin and said, “I left my pants at the waffle shop.”
Being in this big city, simply going back to retrieve them just wasn’t an option. I would have to wait until the next time I was in Taksim.
So, on Wednesday, I met Laura in Taksim and before she got there, I went to the waffle shop. I asked them in Turkish if they had found black pants from Mango and pointed to the spot where I’d left them. She walked to the back room and came back with my pants!! I said thank you a million times and nearly skipped out of the shop so happy I could die. Haha. I guess that’s pretty silly.
I promise I have mostly been going to school. It’s just that this past week, they’ve had exams and I obviously don’t take the exams… so ya.
Thursday and Friday, school as usual, but Friday was the start of the weekend and a great start indeed. :)
After school, I walked to Levent to kill some time with Conor before I met with my friend, Deniz, for a birthday party. We had some coffee and börek at mado and then took the metro to Taksim since we just had a lot of time on our hands. In Taksim, we had more coffee and walked around near Galata Tower.
As soon as Deniz called, we hopped back on the metro to Levent. I walked to her house and met her mom. We had some dinner and then got ready for the party. It was really fun just meeting her friends and dancing all night long. And it was awesome that Deniz and I were finally able to hang out. Thank goodness that the exams are over for this semester. We went to sleep around 6 in the morning just talking and eating… haha we were not tired. I enjoyed getting to spend some time with my friend!! :) And I’m looking forward to hanging out more.
Despite going to sleep at 6, we woke up around 8:30 or 9 and got in a taksi to Bebek for breakfast and coffee at Starbucks on the Bosphorus. There, we just got to talk about everything. And it was so nice. The weather was awesome, too.
We said good bye when the taksi dropped me off at Akmerkez and from there, I walked to my host grandparents’ house where Yasemin was hanging out while my host mom was at the gym. When my host mom got to the house, we had some lunch and watched Ice Age 3. Of course, I fell asleep… for about an hour. Haha. When I woke up, the movie was over and Yasemin and my host mom were getting ready for Beylis’s birthday party. My host dad jokingly said, “good morning!” as I walked in to the room. Haha. And I was starting to feel a little refreshed. I was as ready as I was going to be, and we headed to Sarıyer for the party.
The party was at a horse-riding club, but they were celebrating in a building nearby. There was music and dancing and little organized games for the girls. Beylis brought me out on the dance floor several times while they were eating cake. And we danced to We No Speak Americano. A video camera guy recorded as I danced the Macarena with Naz. Haha. It was pretty fun. Some times, Yasemin and I would wander off and pet the horses or watch the jumping and riding. The weather was cool.
After the party, we took Naz and drove to Kemerburgaz to spend some time at Pelin’s. Laura doesn’t live there anymore, but she came over and we hung out for a little bit. The best part was just talking with my host mom, Pelin, and Merve. It’s always fun. They’re great. :) After Laura went home, I went upstairs to sit with the girls as they watched tv. Naz curled up next to me and we all fell asleep until my host mom came to wake us up so we could go home. I barely remember that actually. I must have still been sleeping…
The next morning, I woke up and my host mom asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with her and Yasemin. Definitely. She decided that we needed to exercise so we took the long way. Up the big hill. It was a really good walk. And I had a great time. But of course, it was exhausting. Haha. I felt good when it was over. We’ll certainly need to do that more often. Besides, it’s just really refreshing to walk and talk with the two of them. :)
After our walk, we had some breakfast at the table together. My host mom decided that we would each tell our favorite memory of the week.
Even though mine was probably within the conversations that I had with my host mom and spending time with Deniz, I said finding my pants at the waffle shop.
