Baby dear...

Here is our most recent ultrasound. I know it is a little small and hard to make out but it is real!!! We are having a baby oh my goodness! I am now at 16 weeks and showing just barely. Our good doctor, who speaks English very well thank goodness, says everything looks normal and healthy, inşallah! In the ultrasound we can see the heart beating, hands, feet, spine etc...good luck making it out.

Thanks to my friend Ayberk for the technical help in posting this!

"fixed"

We got our darling 11 month old spayed a few days ago. "fixed" is what they call it but she is so broken right now poor thing! Not a good term for it!


















As most know from my earlier posts that Tequila's heat cycle was a nightmare filled with blood and lurking male dogs. Since we are expecting a baby of our own we decided we didn't need Tequila to have any of her own. Although it was hard especially for my husband we took her to the vet and had her uterus and eggs taken out. The above photo she is knocked out strapped to the operating table. It is major surgery and our puppy is moving pretty slowly lately. She seems confused why she can't run and jump and bark like she once did. Her eyes look sadder because she must be in pain. Hopefully she will heal quickly with lots of good nurses around her! Geçmiş olsen Tekila!

Learning a language...

This photo is from a trip to the Black Sea coast, a remote spot close to Amasra and Bartin. Çok güzel!

A few years ago I decided to write one of those "Things to do before you die lists", or more positive way to think about it...What I want to do in my life. On the list I added "Learn a language" and now here I am living it...really forced to learn Turkish if I want to have a fulfilled life while living here and it is hard! I slowly learn more daily. As anyone who has tried to learn a language knows it is easier to understand more than to speak. I think I need to enroll in another course...

I found an interesting article in Today's Zaman by Charlotte Mcphereson, "Do you seem to be in a language rut?" The full article link HERE. Below is a description of what it is like to learn Turkish and a funny poem so you don't forget just how difficult English is...

Let's just briefly compare two languages: English and Turkish. The Turkish language is regular, with very few exceptions to the rules and only one irregular verb (the verb to be). The sentence construction is opposite to English, e.g. school to go I. Turkish uses agglutinative suffixes: endings added to a stem word to make a longer word. The English sentence "It appears that he said he would be unable to come" is just 2 words in Turkish! There are no grammatical genders. The pronouns he, she and it are all the same. In understanding the culture it is important to understand the special reported tense: a Turk will make a distinction between a fact which they know because they have witnessed it themselves and a piece of information which they have heard, or deduced, and are passing on to you secondhand or implied.

Turkish is a phonetic language, with every written letter being pronounced the same way no matter in which word it appears. The language displays vowel harmony. This means that the endings change so that if a word contains back vowels (a: undotted i-o-u) the ending will do the same, and if a word contains a front vowel (e: dotted i-o with an umlaut, u with an umlaut) the ending will do the same. This gives Turkish a melodic flow. The emphasis is on the last syllable, except for place names (second) and negatives (syllable before the negative).

The Turkish language has fewer words than English and is not rich in synonyms. Sometimes when an English speaker wants to express himself he may not find a word in Turkish that means the same (or his translator may struggle!).

How about English?

Why is English so hard?

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;

But the plural ox should be oxen, not oxes.

The one fowl is goose, but two are called geese;

Yet the plural for moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a whole lot of mice;

But the plural of house is houses not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,

Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

The cow in the plural may be cows or kine,

But the plural of vow is vows, not vine.

And I speak of a foot and you show me your feet,

But I give you a boot -- would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,

Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

If the singular is this and the plural is these,

Should the plural of kiss be nicknamed kese?

Then one may be that, and three may be those,

Yet the plural of hat would never be hose.

We speak of a brother, and also the brethren,

But though we say mother, we never say methren.

The masculine pronouns are he, his, and him,

But imagine the feminine she, shis, and shim!

So our English, I think you will all agree,

Is the trickiest language you ever did see!

(Anonymous poem, quoted from "Learning a Foreign Language" by Eugene Nida.)

No language is totally logical and regular but after just looking at the irregularities in English plurals, Turkish is looking fairly simple with just "ler" and "lar"!

Any attempt made by a foreigner to speak will be greeted with delight, especially by Turkish friends. If you are living in Turkey, don't fall into a rut. Try to learn at least survival Turkish and more to really share your heart!

Election time...

It is local election time in Turkey. I missed the campaign madness in the States for this last presidential election and forget all the tactics. In Turkey flags such as the above litter the sky line with party colors and logos, more heavily concentrated outside campaign headquarters and city centers. I thought this photo makes election time look peaceful as the sun was setting and the 'vans' were tucked away for the night. What I mean by 'vans' is that the daily attention getter is party 'vans' driving up and down every street...blaring and I mean blaring loud Turkish music from scratchy speakers on top of their heavily bannered 'vans'. I find it very obnoxious and think if I could vote in Turkish elections I would ALMOST vote for the party that didn't have a 'van'. This is of course not true and I still have lots to learn about the complexities and intricacies of modern Turkish politics and their multi-party system.

Rakı ve balık

This is one of my favorite food traditions in Turkey. Restaurants called mehanes are dedicated to rakı, the anise flavored liqueur similar to a Greek ouzo and the many wonderful foods it is paired with. I never thought I would acquire a taste for this black-liquorish flavor but it happened when accompanied with the right food and right company on a warm night. It flows well with the food but be careful because it will hit you hard! It is usually served in those tall thin glasses paired with a water. The alcohol itself is clear and becomes cloudy when water or ice is added. This is one of the few drinks that always seem to take ice in Turkey(the ice situation is another entry). The above course starts with sweet luscious melon and white feta-like cheese, eaten together then followed with a sip of rakı, amazing!


















Another reason I love eating at this type of restaurant is the mezes, the tapas style small plates. You share with everyone and get little tastes of things like(forgive me I don't know all their Turkish names yet) eggplant salad, seaweed, spiced yogurt, white beans, spinach, roasted red peppers, okra and much more. All prepared simply but delicious.













This night we were enjoying the balık pazaar, a side street off Taksim's beyoğlu in Istanbul famous for its mehanes trying to keyhole you into their establishment. Especially on a warm night the streets are bursting with life. Sit outside and the people watching is just as good as the food.













There is a huge variety of fish to choose from since Turkey is surrounded by three bodies of water; Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. This night we had one of my small favorites, hamsı from the sardine family. (Trinea- I remember this photo was taken for you since you "love" fish with the bones in and head on...he he...come visit soon!)

Islak hamburger

Islak means wet so...wet hamburgers which doesn't sound that appealing when translated for some reason. I promise these are yummy though! There is a whole corner dedicated to this Istanbul fast food at the end of Taksim's Beyoğlu. The buns are soaked in tomato sauce but not soggy, more sticky I guess. You sprinkle some red pepper flakes inside(I like to add pickles inside-yes, I'm a little obsessed) wash all this down with fresh squeezed juice of almost any variety, orange, pomegranate, carrot, grapefruit, but my favorite is the mixed. My husband and I always go there at least once(if not more) and stand in the square people watching with our hamburgers. There are a bunch of stands with basically the same products competing for your business but probably the best if you do decide to sit is Bambi Cafe. These fast food stands have other tasty fast foods too but you have to try an Islak hamburger!

Turşuci=The pickle man

My love of pickles stretches my whole life. My grandpa used to make pickles from his garden's cucumbers and dill(side note about how fun it was to race pickle boats we had carved from the huge overgrown cucs). I loved creeping down the basement stairs to peek at the process, picking the plate up of the huge crock and checking if they were ready yet. One of my in-laws told me that we are having a girl since I have been craving lots and lots of salty, vinegary turşu. In Turkey there are whole little stores dedicated to the art of pickled this and pickled that. It is a dying art though since many shops have switched to Turşu fabrikası, factory pickles. But I am trying to not let that ruin it for me...


















We have been in Istanbul for a few days now, exploring this dirty, crazy, crowded city that I do love. Çağlar's auntie lives in the heart of Beşiktaş, an amazing location for exploration. We kept walking by the pickle shop with it's bright colors and preserved veggies. I am so impressed by how many things they decide to pickle in Turkey and even more excited that you can go into the shop and buy a cup full of turşu water and a sampling of the delights. There are 4 types of peppers, cabbage both white and red, cucumbers is all different sizes, tomatillos, carrots, green tomatoes, garlic, olives, eggplant, squash, beets and dolmas. Mini cucs will forever be my favorite but the white cabbage and the beets are tied for a close second.


















The pickle man was quite a chatter and asked us if we wanted it spicy or not. We decided for the middle. He filled the glass with a beautiful assortment of colors and textures then topped it off with turşu water and spicy red pepper paste for the kick. People drink the pickle water often here, I think it's great. It reminded me of a bloody mary minus the vodka and tomato juice of course. Mmmm, I miss those things. I notice they never add dill although there is tons of it in Turkey? Also does anyone know about the canning process? They never can things here. It sits in plastic or glass unsealed brewing on the floor in the corner. Any thought on this? Now although this was a factory made pickle shop I still love the idea of these colorful little stores dedicated to the art of the pickle...yummmmers! I am on a quest for the best shop now that I realize you can go into the stores and just order a cup of pickle water with all the fixings.