spring break
Spring break for my school started on Monday.
It’s been nice, but I wish my family was off school, too. Although, I’ve definitely been enjoying myself.
Yesterday, the first day of the break, I woke up a little later and caught a ride with my host dad to the European side. I met Laura in Taksim and we had lunch at a decent chinese restaurant. It was recommended to us by our Taiwanese friend, Yu-Shiang. Yum! A little break from the Turkish food, but we got back to it quickly. :)
We talked for a long time there, then we hopped on a bus to Bebek to get dessert and coffee at the Starbucks there. It was raining so we couldn’t enjoy the lovely seating on the Bosphorus, but it was good to just catch up and stay warm with a cup of coffee in our hands.
Later, we took the tramvay to the grand bazaar to meet up with Nancy and her dad and Conor. We looked everywhere to find Nancy some Turkish pants, but we just couldn’t find the right ones. Haha. You know, the big poofy ones that tie on both legs. And she got to try out her bargaining skills for the first time. Success.
Around 6:30, I headed back to Levent to catch a ride from Cengiz who was taking Yasemin home from her private lesson. We came home and fixed us some dinner, watched a movie and headed to bed. My host dad and brother came home around 10. My host mom was at the hospital for the night staying with her sister who was having an operation.
The next morning, I woke up really early with Yasemin and Erim who were going to school, and caught a ride with them to Europe. I took the metro to Mecidiyekoy and had myself a wonderful breakfast. Sometimes I think, maybe I shouldn’t be eating this much, but then I remember, I’m not going to have any of this in 12 weeks… I better eat as much as I can while I still have it available to me… cause I know I’m going to miss it.
It was nice just chilling at that restaurant. I wrote my Rotary speech and listened to some music.
Since it was still early, I decided to head to the Grand Bazaar. The real crowds don’t get there until after lunch. So, I hoped on a bus and arrived in Çemberlitaş in a decent amount of time.
I started looking around. It was much easier to focus without the crowds of tourists and relentless salespeople. As I glanced at different items, different people from back home popped in to my head. I decided to sit down at a cafe, have some tea, and make a list. Who gets what. Then, I went back out to the shops and asked about the prices. I compared different shops. One guy wanted a 100 lira for a little tea set. I said, haydi ya, and bargained it down to 35. Now that was an accomplishment. Unfortunately for him… I wasn’t looking to buy a tea set at that moment. I moved on. I did all this in Turkish, though I struggled more than usual today for some reason. Eh, off and on.
After buying just a few small gifts, I left the Bazaar and went to Taksim to meet Logan and Kerem. We had Starbucks and then went with Nancy and her dad for lahmacun. Laura and Alex got out of their Rotary meeting and met up with us, but I had to leave shortly after.
Yasemin and I went to the gym to work out. Some treadmill, biking, and crunches. Then, my host mom picked us up. We bought some salmon for dinner, and headed home.
Now, I’m trying to figure out how to load my host mom’s cds on to her new memory drive. We’ll see how that goes.
Not counting the days I have left. Just reminding myself to enjoy absolutely every moment. Friday, Maroon 5 concert. Saturday, Rotary Assembly. Gotta speak Turkish in front of a hundred Turks. I’m nervous enough in front of my host family. This is going to be super. Haha. No sweat.
