Wales

I recently went on a trip to Wales to interview for a ph.d program. When I told the kids I was going to Wales, Anna replied, "Daddy, that's silly. wales live in the ocean. Are you going in the ocean?" I didn't go "in" the ocean. But I went to ocean. Wales was a beautiful place, and I met some wonderful people. Here are a couple shots.

My Little One-Year-Old

She walks. Although her first official steps were over a month and a half ago, she finally got it together about two weeks ago. Her very slow deliberate toddle is getting smoother every day, sometimes she almost runs. She falls alot too, I guess that goes with the territory. It doesn't phase her. She's got a dare-devil streak. Before she really could walk she figured out how to climb onto Anna toddler bike and stand--yes stand--herself up on the seat. Her legs weren't even long enough to ride it yet.

She talks. Her favorite word--and clearest--is Daddy. She also says Ma and Anne (An-nay, Turkish for mom) sometimes. Her first word was likely "this," evidence in my slacking off in using good language with her. But when she babble it sounds just like little sentences, and she's so serious about what she's telling you.

She is a people person. By that I mean she is really in-tune to the people around her, wants to communicate, understands them, is generally sensitive. In that way she's more like Matthew than Anna was at the same age. On the other hand, she is more than ready to get up and go, walk, crawl, climb, dive--much more like Anna. Right now she barely tolerates anyone other than Mommy or Daddy holding her. And there's no sneaking away, she knows when I'm gone.

Her favorite game is moving things, small household items, from one place in the house to the other.

Her favorite foods are spicy and savory, clearly reflecting her city of birth.

She loves her siblings, and probably her favorite thing to do is tag along with them. I can almost hear her saying "I can do it too!"

In spite of all her get up and go, she still likes to cuddle when she's tired or sick. She's even still willing to fall asleep in my arms if we're out long enough. I love that. I love my Sara Joy :)

Sometimes it doesn't go as planned

This Saturday we headed out to the north/northwest to see if we could find a tourist spot a friend had described. The description was sketchy at best, a ferryboat, maybe a lake or island, some sort of castle... Directions were sketchy too: head on the "El. road" until you see the sign for "Eg--" and then turn left. The place is supposed to be 20 minutes away. What's to lose? We like to explore. Sometimes it pays off, as readers have seen from previous blog posts about fun stuff we've seen.

We load into our converted cargo van. Have I ever mentioned that getting into our van feels a little like being a circus sideshow? All the neighborhood kids (and sometimes adults) gather to watch the foreign family (a rare sight) get into the large white van with three small kids (another rare sight) and buckle three car seats (an extremely rare sight). We're off.

We find the sign for "Eg--" and drive through the middle of beautiful nowhere until we get to the town of "Eg--". It's a small town, no major stores, no women on the streets. And not sign of water much less a ferryboat. Matthew and Anna are asking, of course, "where's the ferryboat?" the whole time. We wind through the town, and up a steep hill, and around the corner, and--wow. The hill drops away on the other side down to a river. And apparently a ferry. We drive slowly down the road the switches back on it self to get to the bottom of the mountain, and we see the...

Ferryboats? Think rusty pontoon-style boats that are arguable not a whole lot bigger than some row boats I've seen. Some have metal benches and a thin metal railing, others have no railing but are furnished with plastic lawn chairs. Two kids are bailing water out of one that has "tours taken" painted on the side. There are maybe five or six boats altogether. Not inspiring.

The view, however is. The river winds though a canyon, and on the bend just above us is a castle, hewn out of the rock near the level of the river, clearly a ruin now, but once an impress work of human ingenuity. The sky and clouds and water are beautiful too.

Mike hops out and chats with some guys in uniform who are hanging out. They're friendly and seem trustworthy. In the end, we opt not to hire a boat to see the castle from the river. I'm trying to picture fun on a boat with three small kids (one newly walking)... no. We drive back up the hill and through the town, trying to explain to the kids why we didn't want to take a rusty boat out on a lonely river with three kids. In exchange we pull over at some random spot for them to get out and play in the grass. Random, I know, but at least they got out. But within about three minutes those beautiful cloud decide to shower on us. So we drive on.

And this is the highlight of the whole trip: still in the middle of nowhere Mike lets all the kids pile in the front seat and take turns "driving." Plus we see two horses and a donkey! Finally everyone gets buckled in and we drive back into the city for lunch at Burger King.

To the Villages

Road Trip

So I have absolutely no pictures from Easter this year. We did celebrate it, really! I guess I was just to busy celebrating to use the camera. Actually, part of what we did was host a brunch with a few close friends. It's our first time for that--hosting brunch--but it was an excellent way to start off Easter, a bright and cheery tone-setter.

Anyway, Friday/Saturday before Easter we took a little one night get away. We drove several hours into the mountains to see a very large and beautiful lake and another smaller crater lake on top of a mountain. The crater lake was inaccessible--snow hadn't melted enough yet. But we had fun anyway, just hanging out and goofing off as a family. Here's the view through my camera. Mike will have to chime in with the gorgeous artistic shots; mine are just for

memories :)

Bee hives all along the side of the road in the mountains--fresh honey for sale everywhere.

Yup, cow crossing the road. You can kinda see a shadow to the left. That's from a tour bus driving in the other lane to avoid the cow.

The town we stayed in had one mall, at the top of which was one restaurant. But one was enough, 'cause the food was really good. There was alot of it, and it was cheap too.

Sara Joy loves spicy food. Here she is getting into some lahmacun, one of her favorites.

Another perk of this restaurant--a play area for the kids. Lots of restaurants around here cater to the kids this way.

Sara doesn't need the play area; she found the sugar! Doesn't she look excited!

Service, service, service. Not only do they clear the used dishes so you can have your tea at a clean table, out came the dustbuster to whisk away our numerous crumbs. I love that waiters here aren't annoyed at our three young kids and their inevitable mess. We're really spoiled.

After that huge lunch, this was dinner later that night. Baklava and tea and bananas from a little corner store for the kids.

We walked along the lake, found a park, watch a helicopter land (way cool for Matthew!), did a little shopping, and then headed to our hotel. Fun memories made in simple ways--dancing in the closet.

A Day in the Life...

It's Thursday, which means Mike will spend most of the day looking after the store. He'll also meet with some friends at lunch, and with some other friends for English practice in the afternoon for a few hours.

8:00 -- We're all up, I'm nursing Sara and the kids are getting themselves dressed--mostly. They're ideas of what's appropriate to wear out of the house can be creative. Breakfast is French toast casserole that I put together before bed last night to use up some stale bread.

9:00 -- The hour-long process of getting out the door begins. Shoes. Check. Jackets. Check. Pants for Anna. Extra diaper. Check. Tissues for Sara's runny nose. Check. Keys. Ummm, where are they? I turn the house upside down while the kids sit ready by the door for a half hour. Finally I call Mike. Don't worry, they'll turn up, he says. Just before walking out the door I on a whim pull the washing machine out. It sits by the door and usually my keys live on top. I had checked on it and all around it, but there they were, wedged all the way underneath. We get the stroller out of the back of the van and head over to the store to give Mike the keys to the van and pick up his phone (just in case--I lost mine over a week ago).

10:00 -- We make it to the store, and stop in to visit Mike, the girls who work there, and R's little four month old baby. We talk about educating our kids and how unique their personalies are. I learn new words--the word for "spoiled" and the word for "personalities." We also pick up our jackets which we had left there. It's cooler than I thought outside.

11:00 -- We cross the big street, walk two blocks, cross the other big street, and arrive at the park. The kids play while Sara sleeps in her stroller. We wander around the park a bit. We encounter some rowdy teenagers, cute kids, and a gazillion kids just getting out from morning session school. The sun finally comes out, so Sara gets to play in the grass. The hedges are blooming just like the one at the farm house where I grew up.

12:30 -- We start the trek home before the kids get tired enough to make walking miserable. On the way we buy doner sandwiches (chicken roasted on a spit--think a light sub) and orange soda to take home for lunch. We run into Daddy on his way back from lunch.

1:30 -- Lunch is finished, the kids play on the balcony while I nurse Sara, then they enjoy a little "Finding Nemo" before nap time.

3:15 -- All three are asleep and I'm doing some housework and computer work. Peace and Quiet!

4:14 -- Sara wakes up and she gets her sippy cup of milk. We play together on the floor while I watch a local cooking show. Mabye I'll get inspired for dinner...

5:00 -- I start defrosting the chicken for dinner, and the doorbell rings. My neighbor across the hall stops by. We talk and visit for a little less than an hour.

6:00 -- Just after she leaves, I ring her doorbell to mention something else. She insists I come in, and since the kids are awake now we all go over. The kids play well together, we talk about a little of everything from bedroom furniture to the New Testament.

7:00 -- I come home, stick the still frozen chicken back in the freezer and start heating up leftover chicken dinner from last night (we eat alot of chicken). Mike heads out to get fresh bread and Coke (a must for this garlicy olive oil baked chicken). I heat up some noodles for the kids.

8:00 -- Mike is gone to pick up friends from the airport. Sara is getting into everything. I'm giving Anna a bath and cleaning up from dinner, and doing neither particularly thoroughly. Sara nurses one more time. Who knows what Matthew's doing :)

8:45 -- Kids ask to watch a Cosby show. Matthew is really into Cosby right now. Just after I turn it on the doorbell rings--another neighbor. We visit with the kids; she reads "Goodnight Moon" and "Go, Dogs, Go." She's really been working on her English lately. I put the kids to bed and then she asks me to teach her how to play piano. After some discussion about how you can't really learn to play piano all at once, it takes years, etc, we settle for learning a little tune from Beethoven -- Ode to Joy. I tell her I'll try to find the words in Turkish. She's tickled and heads home to practice.

10:00 -- Mike is on the phone doing business with airlines, I hang the laundry outside for the first time this spring. Ahh, fresh air! I clean up the rest of the kitchen and run the full dishwasher.

11:00 -- Mike and I talk about everything under the sun and hang out while I put things away in our room, mostly aiming for clearing off the bed. I check email, we discuss the update email he's writing.

Midnight -- lights out!

Girl Hair

Usually brushing/washing/styling Anna's hair is at best an event to be tolerated, at worst a crying mess. But after a recent bath she was for some strange reason content to let me braid it after I brushed it (with the help of a generous dose of leave-conditioner, as always). The results:

The Case of the Missing Books

I have a few new research interests so I ordered some books from Amazon, and I even paid a little extra so they would get here in a reasonable time. The books actually made it into our building yesterday, but left our building because the delivery man couldn't find me. He actually knocked on our neighbor's door asking for me. She told him where I live. But, the books never made it in my house.

So, today I went looking for them. First I went to the post office. No books. They I realized that they were sent via DHL cargo company. Both myself and a friend thought there was a DHL in our city, but I couldn't find it. So, I decided to ask one of the many other cargo companies were it was. One guy said that there was one, and one say there wasn’t. But, both agreed that DHL sometimes uses them. So, they checked for my name in their system. And, to my delight, they found it. But finding one's package in the system and finding one's package in real life are two different ball games. Thus began the mass search of the building for "Meek Kryeeest"'s package. We didn't find it.

But eager to help a foreigner, the manager was determined to find my package. He had me sit in the back, while he got on his cell phone. After about five minutes, he came back to get me with a big grin on his face--he had found my books. He brought me out of the store and pointed across a field to a dusty, poor section of town and began to describe a building. What? I thought. My theology books are in that random building in that section of town? This I couldn't believe. So I insisted that I didn't understand him, and I wanted him to show me. We walked across the hot field and into the dusty neighborhood. And, wouldn't you know it, there was a guy walking briskly towards me carrying a package--from Amazon. My books were lost, but now they are found.

After thanking both men profusely, I walked back to my car. When I opened my package I found two things. One was a packing slip for a Weber Premium cover for Weber Genesis Gas Gril, to be sent to Yosyf in St. Paul Minnesota. The other was my books.

Whether or not there is a DHL in my city, why the books didn't come to me in the first place, why there was a guy walking around in the poor part of the city carrying my books, and who in the world is Yosyf...I don't know. But, I got the books.

Mike's Recent Trip

I went on a trip recently with some new friends. I had a great time. Here are some shots. They are in reverse order. You might do best going to the bottom and scrolling up.

This man sold 100% organic stuff.

Steps to the castle

Translation: Bitlis Castle.

I think this used to be a volcano.

Three guys from a neighboring country also visited the mountains. I couldn't understand a word they said, but my friends spoke their language. This was helpful because when we got stuck in the snow, they helped push us out.

Two covered ladies enjoy the view. One lady in our group commented that the woman must feel safe to be outside during the day.

The children play along lake Van. Their parents trail behind.

This is a university built in the 1500's. Unfortunately it was locked, so we couldn't go in.
One hundred years, of something. I'm not sure what. This was opposite the university.

The first thing we saw was a 500 year old Mosque and a grave yard attached. Interestingly there was a much bigger one down the road, built 1,000 years ago.

Tuz Ruhu

"What do I use to clean the grout?" (I had made it part way across the floor with a basic kitchen cleaner and toothbrush, but the stuff was black as black.) "Tuz Ruhu." "Tuz Ruhu, is that like bleach?" "No, it's Tuz Ruhu, go get some and I'll show you, go ahead." So I go to the corner convenience store and say, "I need Tuz Ruhu." The girl at the store pulls a blue bottle off the shelf next to the bleach and demonstrates, pouring a few drops onto the store's own black grout. It fizzes, and in 15 seconds the area is white. Cool! It cost about 2 dollars. I take it home, and my cleaning lady spreads it on the kitchen floor. But boy the stuff stinks. Really stinks. No... it burns. Hmm, I read the label, "Hydrochloric Acid." That sounds bad. I google it. Definitely bad. The kids and I evacuate to the balcony, and I wonder what the cleaning lady is doing in there behind the closed kitchen door. She survives, and is very proud of the newly-white grout. I, on the other hand, wait 'till dinner time to approach the kitchen.

Fast Forward. New cleaning lady.

"How do you think I can get this black stain off my shower (I'm thinking it's mildew, but not sure). I tried bleach, and it didn't do anything" "Tuz Ruhu will take if off." Shoulda guessed. Fifteen minutes later she also was very proud of the shiny shower corner. However, she explained that I shouldn't use it too often because the grout will erode and water will run under the tile. Don't worry, I'm not touching the stuff. She asks for some fruit juice for her throat, and I ask if this stuff is dangerous. "Yes, it's very dangerous. We fainted one time because we used it and didn't know there was bleach." "You did?" "Me and a friend. We were cleaning at a new construction site, and we didn't know they had used bleach, and we passed out. When the home owner came back she found us and took us the to the hospital. They cleaned out our stomachs, and the doctor said if the home owner hadn't brought us right away, we could have died. It's very dangerous, very acidic."

Thanks anyway. I think I'll stick with my toothbrush.

Making Cookies

We made 412. A regional youth conference was held in our city. The plan was to feed the young people cookies with their tea every day for five days (about 50 young people). Apparently we foreigners know how to make good cookies, so we each got asked to contribute to the cookie cause. Then I volunteered, for some crazy reason, to make all 400. I actually did very little baking myself, thanks to my helpers pictured below.

Anna's Tower

Looking for Snow

After it snowed last week, Anna has been saying how much she liked snow and asking when would it snow again. In a city that has maybe one snow per year, the forecast wasn't very promising for her. So, this past Saturday we get in the car and drove into the mountains looking for snow. Finding the snow wasn't very difficult (as you can see from the first picture), but finding a place where the kids could play proved to be a little more challenging. About 20 miles from anywhere, we found a place to play. The only other people within 20 miles or so were shepherds and soldiers doing some sort of military operation (Probably just training, I think). The kids loved the snow. We built a snow man out of chunks ice we found on the side or the road, and we had a snow ball fight. Well, it wasn't exactly a fight. I kept hearing, "Daddy I'm going to throw a snow ball at you, so you better run. Can you run over here so I can throw a snow ball at you."

Sara's New Game, longer version

Sara Joy's New Game

Sara discovered walking while holding hands this afternoon, and she's crazy about it--wants to be and do with Matthew and Anna. The video doesn't even capture all of her enthusiasm.

Fun Pics

Sara experienced her first snow. She didn't quite know what to do with it, but she had a blast. It started snowing around 9 PM. Becky suggested we go out. Good thing we did, because by morning it was pretty much gone. Snow ball fights are quite popular, and we found ourselves in the middle of a few. This made taking pictures with the new SLR a little risky.

Although it might be a little hard to make out, this is Anna and one of her friends. Old Monasteries are excellent places for learning, tourism, appreciating old cultures...and kids to run and play.

Our Christmas in Pictures:

Making Christmas cookies

Making cookie plates for neighbors

Matthew in the Christmas Pageant, dutifully "maaa-ing"



A Skit--Part of the Christmas Celebration

Sara Joy

Our Christmas Morning

Matthew wawnted to take pictures for himself; this is our nativity