Making new holiday traditions?

Well, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous here next to the Aegean Sea. How can it possibly be December without a snow flake in sight or an obnoxious/fabulous scene of consumerism? Merry Christmas anyone?

How do you celebrate holidays in a country that doesn't celebrate the ones that are dear to your heart?

This will be my first Christmas away from my family in 31 years but it will be my first with my hubby, second with our baby girl and first together as a little family...

How can I bring Santa to Turkey? How can I get my husband who has never celebrated this before and has no idea the colossal scale of it stateside/ familyside into it?

Where is my father to go chop down the tree?

Well I'm starting out by decorating our cafe...



Since everywhere you look there is green popping up all around. The vibrancy of new green, new growth(filiz) is gorgeous. There are many of the green trimmings around the neighborhood that my mother would get from my auntie working at the greenhouse to decorate with; huge pepper berry trees, vines, different types of pines. So I will start there...I love gathering, scavenging...



There are lots of pines cones to work with too, fabulous ones of different shapes and sizes... and there is my best little helper, who needs rudolph:)

I've been singing her lots of Christmas carols as we gather.

I made some wreathes today with pictures to follow.

P.S. super annoying that again blogger host of private domains is banned in Turkey because they didn't like one then the rest get banned too??? So I can post my blog but can't look at it...uggg...get it together people! Any suggestions on moving my blog? etc?

Our Gezgin Cafe in Sahte Cennet

We have slowly been adding to our family owned and operated Gezgin Cafe, Traveler's cafe since we opened last October. We are located in Sahte Cennet area between Didim and Akbük. You just follow the big road running parrellel to the sea that takes you from Didim to Akbük. Follow the "Y" to the right, continuing down the road past Uslu sitesi, past Çamkent Sitesi, go right again at the next "Y" and past Adnan Menderes Universitesi. There will be a strip of cafes. We are the 4th one down...keep a look out for our blue direction pointer! It is before the big Club Sahte Cennet.


















We still have lots of Turkish and English books and magazines as well as games; Monopoly, Uno, Jenga, lots of Tavla(backgammon) of course and more! We recently purchased new, even comfier white cushioned benches with tables. Come in and relax! We are open all year but the garden is the place to be at this time of the year!













Here is our bar...the Efes draft is always cold and to give it that extra chill we have frosted mugs ready in the freezer! We also have bottled beer, Efes and Miller light if you prefer. We have a cappuccino machine also ready to make espressos, lattes and cappuccinos. We have a full bar with vodka, gin, whiskey, tequila and scotch. A full array of mixers; red bull, soda, fruit juices and colas. Things for the kiddies too...


















We have gourmet Carte d'Or ice cream. The flavors are always changing and everyone has their favorite; walnut, pistachio, lemon, Mulberry, Strawberry, cappuccino, chocolate to name a few!


















Lots of hammocks, big pillows, lounge chairs and benches for relaxing or just taking a break from swimming!













Our beach is perfect for swimming! The water is very shallow, calm and clean! It is nice break from Altinkum because it is not so crowded, which I love! Kids welcome also!


















Also we have the best trees on the block. My favorite is the beautiful pine tree on the left. A wonderful natural umbrella from the hot sun. We have a sound system out under the trees with relaxing music during the day for sun lounging and snacking then more up-beat music at night...













Good for a little dancing under the pine tree!













Night is the best to be outside in the summer! The weather is perfect right next to the sea! Relax, chat, and have a cocktail with your friends! We love all sizes of groups. We have had sünnets, birthdays, anniversaries and can accommodate any parties you would like! I am always checking my email so leave your contact info or call the cafe directly...I will write the info at the end.













Lots of fun to be had! Come visit us at Our Gezgin Cafe in Sahte Cennet...

Fevzipaşa mah. Cennet cad. No:7/35
Didim/ Aydin

Tel: 0.256.846.2218

Check my blog's labels on the right for "Our Gezgin Cafe" to read more about our remodeling story! My husband and I worked really hard with lots of help and some funny stories!

Food pictures to come later! We have homemade Köfte(meatballs) with chips(french fries), Gözleme(Turkish crepes) with cheese or potatoes inside, Töst (grilled cheese sandwiches) and Turkish kavaltı(breakfast with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, cheese, an egg, bread and jam)

Gezgin garden remodel...

We have been working hard landscaping our Gezgin cafe's garden with the help of two gardener's and our beloved university student helpers. So far we added spruce? tree "fences" on both sides to really distinguish our area from the neighbors. They will look great once they grow in a bit.


















My sister-in-law and I worked hard painting our picket fences and all the bricks around the garden beds. Now it seems to be more hurry up and wait. The pace is just different in this country. We are waiting for the gardener's to come back to plant a bunch of lemon trees around the corners and to bring the flowers for the beds. Hey, Master gardner's club...could you guys please fly out to give us some good advice...he he...if only it was closer huh? We are still trying to decide which carpenter to use to make new chairs, tables and benches. We are looking for new lights to border our area and lights to hang from our trees. I think we are going to put a small bar out under my favorite huge pine tree. It is going to be good we hope and of course the natural view of the sea is the real prize!!! Come and have a cold beer or a smoothie(I'm going to start making ice cream and fruit yummies for this hot weather)! Will post completed pics later...


Gezgin Cafe
Seaside bar and cafe
Fevsipaşa Mah.
Cennet Cad. No 28/A
Sahte Cennet/ Didim/ Aydin
Turkey

Tel: 0.256.846.2218

I have plans to make our website just need to figure out how first???? Any suggestions?

Winter showers have brought April flowers...

The seasons in Didim are a bit different than the rhythm I an used to...April showers bring May flowers. There have been flowers popping up everywhere for weeks helped by the previously rainy winter season and all this sun we have been having. I am pretty sure the rain is finished and the temperature will escalate from here on out! I am going to be a hot pregnant momma...whew! The above tree is fabulous right now with it's playful pops of yellow puff balls. I like the light in this photo too. It was dusk and Çağlar and I were out for a nice romantic dinner :)...


















One of my favorite passed times recently is walking Tequila and picking bouquets of flowers to stick anywhere people will let me. There is always some new bud or variety to notice. These I placed on the cafe tables outside. I think it is a welcoming touch.


















The wild poppies with there vibrant red hue and translucent paper like leaves still impress me every year! The grow all over the Aegean seaside this time of year. The above photo is from one of my husband and I's first road trips together two years ago(how time flys) through Ephesus historical site and after it was on to meet his parents for the first time. The funny thing was my hair had streaks of red about as vibrant as those poppies from my first encounter with a Turkish hair dresser, (seriously funny other story!), but his parents still welcomed me, the punk rock American girl with open arms.

First of December...

I can't really believe that it is December first 2008...almost 2009. Here is the view from the beach of the cafe. As you can see the weather is still quite(really) nice here. Everyone has been wondering how the cafe has been going...well. Pinar my sister in law is the manager. She has been running the show at the cafe while Caglar works his many other jobs. I have been filling in when needed but it is hard since my Turkish is still not perfect to be left by myself. During the winter time we have been relying on the university for buisness. Everyone keeps saying how the summer is going to be crazy busy because that is when all the tourists, Turkish and foreign are in the area. So for now it is a quiet opening and a good job for Pinar...

It is interesting living in a predominatly muslim country for many reasons but now I am thinking about Christmas. I went to Starbucks the other day in a different city, there isn't one in didim, and saw christmas decorations. I got so excited. In a way it is nice that when I go back to the States I will really enjoy the decorations and won't be burnt out from the holiday pressers of giving and shopping that is shoved in your face every year. I wish my husband could come though to understand the spirit of christmas; family time, the big Johnson family christmas tree, santa claus, christmas carols, mistletoe, etc...I have been teaching him christmas carols(he is so cute!). But there's always next year and who knows he is full of surprises! My nephew and I were coloring last night. I was drawing him pictures of christmas time and he drew a wonderful snowman(karden adam)...It will be fun to play in the snow soon.

cafe and social club continued...

The chairs and tables are grouped. I picked some greenery from around our area, pepper berry trees, olive branches and some other flowers of which names I do not know. They look pretty but a little big on the table when lots of people are sitting. The vases are the bottoms of old hookahs, a little akward but ok.


















Pinar taking a little break to read the paper.














Our wall of books and magazines, a mix of English and Turkish. I want to start a book exchange later.


















Kitchen view with everything unpacked.


















Second kitchen view with the tea machine and little oven. Teas is the staple/ coffee of Turkish culture so that little machine is important. We have one lady working for us. Every morning she makes the tea, helps with cleaning, cooking whatever needs to be done. Then Caglar has it set up that students come and work 4 or so hours at a time also helping with cleaning and serving. (Ask me later what we pay them...)














This is the outside of our beautiful toilets. I know that toilets don't sound exciting but the previous toilet was disgusting. It was located where the bar is now, on the patio and it smelled disgusting. Our new toilets, first there are two of them, boys and girls. Secondly they are not Turkish style, which is a hole in the ground that you squat over, they are real toilets. We have plans for seat covers and will always have toilet paper which is reason enough for me to come to our cafe since I have unwillingly gotten used to carrying toilet paper in my pocket. Also there are 4 sinks and plenty of soap. They will always be clean. I love our toilets.














This view is as you walk in the door.














The first day we opened Caglar walked me outside past the cafe and then back to it. He says look at the cafe...we both thought it looked cool and like we would want to visit so that is good. This is the night view. The photo doesn't do it justice. Caglar is sitting in the front playing tavla(backgammon) which is the national board game of Turkey, I don't think officially but maybe. They play it so freaking fast!

So this is our cafe so far. We opened it in hopes that later Pinar can run it and Caglar and I can travel and then eventually live in U.S of A at least part of the year. As most people who read this blog know that I supported myself for years on the bar and restauraunt biz because American culture says tip, it can be really good money. In Turkey tips are rare especially from students(fancy restaurants yes but only like 10%). It is strange for me still not to tip, I over tipped for years and years- good karma for servers. Also my minimal Turkish language skills make it hard. I want to work. I like working and I don't mind serving but can't do it very well now because I try and then the people start talking fast and I need Caglar to come over. I am learning though slowly.

One funny thing...I got a new nickname since we've been working on the cafe, Irouk(spelling???). The carpenter gave it to me. How I understand it is there are this subculture of mountain people in Turkey. The women work really hard on the mountain and they are called Irouk. Anyways I couldn't speak to the workmen so I was trying to always clean and was sometimes heavy lifting whatever needed to be done. Funny nickname, mountain woman, Emily.

There are tons of English people that have bought property in Turkey, especially Didim. This is a plus for us since I can speak to them. We can advertise in the local English paper, etc.

Slowly we will add more little details to the inside but the next big project is our beautiful seaside garden. The days seem to be slow but last night was good. Lots of students came to drink beer or nescafe. Hopefully the word will spread!

Cafe...

So we are open! Today was our first day. But let me show you some more pics leading up to it...


















Here is a photo from when we went to Izmir, a different bigger city, I wish I had more. We went and stayed at his auntie Necla's house (sounds like Nejla). She is hilarious. Her and her husband, Mehmet helped us around Izmir on our search for the older style wooden chairs in the above photo. One things about Turkey is there are VERY few second hand shops because they hold on to everything until it wears out. None of this redecorating your house every few years just because. Also if we found a second hand store it was kind of expensive. Also no one has garage sales. First off there are so few garages and secondly again they don't get rid of stuff. Back to our Izmir adventure...we drove all around the city hitting the potential second hand shops and finally we were creeping around these factories and found a guy who had made/refurbished the chairs we wanted. So we found them but with out pillows.


















We worked on varnishing the floor. Initially we had gotten a clear varnish but then the second coat was a walnut and we are happy with the results.














Caglar checking out the kitchen. It has black counter tops with a little sparkle. The cabinets are a dark brown with cream trim. Caglar did a good job picking them out!














Although we have been working on the cafe for almost a month it really came together yesterday. We got the kitchen, toilets and sinks were installed, the bar came we finished varnishing the floor so here's a photo from last night seeing how everything will look. Starting to bring the furniture in. Oh yes and we got lights which was a huge part so we could work at night. Note the electrician kid on the side! Thanks!


















Pinar(Caglar's sister) and I worked hard yesterday cleaning and putting away all the little things that certainly add up but you need, plates, spoons, tea glasses, bar glasses, etc, etc, etc.














Here is Pinar working away. I'm glad we did an open cupboard to see our colorful plates and cups.


















Caglar's friend sent us some flags for a cafe. Still lots of bugs to work out but really we are proud of our new cafe. Gezgin means traveler in Turkish. I need to get back to work and will post more pics tomorrow!

wood floor

The wood man came today with his three boys in tow to install the floor. They are doing a good job, piece by piece, with hammer and nails. I don't think he is very nice to his sons though, yells a lot. I think that they must be learning the trade rather than going to school.

Should we do a dark stain or light?

kolay gelsin...

Direct translation: easy come you. Every single Turkish person says this to other people who are obviously working, no matter the job, stranger or not. Basically, 'may your work come easy' would be it's real meaning. So I have heard this a ton as we work outside on the cafe.

We started painting the patio three days before. We decided to paint the metal beams a dark brown. I felt like I was painting with milk chocolate, yum. Then the rest of the plywood ceiling we varnished, natural. We started out just Caglar, me and the peanut gallery. The peanut gallery being all the neighbors that would come, drink tea, smoke cigarettes and tell us where we missed a spot. I wanted to point out our extra brushes but alas did not. Oh family, how I missed you even more than usual because I think I could have talked you into helping!he-he. Not just physically but with design ideas and painting tips.

When we were at the painting store I asked for sand paper for pre-sanding- oh you don't need it. I asked for dust masks-oh you don't need it. Then we all had a laugh about my American idea of super safety construction and turkey's- oh you don't need it this is Turkey approach.(see previous post). I did finally get some gloves and had to talk my husband into wearing them. Thank goodness we got Hussein Abi to help us! He is a local handyman and hard worker. The above photo is after the first day. Me and our pile of brushes and tiner(thinner- th is really hard for Turks to say, not in their vocabulary. It's really funny when Caglar does it but of course I am funny when I try to pronounce most Turkish words.) The sunset over the sea so we had to stop for the day.














The next day Hussein Abi came back to help. YES! We still had lots to paint! One of the students who lives upstairs started helping and then a bunch of his friends came. I must have thanked them a million times!


















Caglar in action. mauh!














The tile brothers(three brothers- I love it!) did a great job tiling and grouting the kitchen area. It is fully tiled to protect against water damage and mold. There was lots of mold previously-ewww! We have gotten a few estimates to build kitchen cabinets. The money always goes so quickly!














The toilet tiles have been grouted. Also doors! The stickers need to be removed from the doors. We still need to install the toilets and sinks.














Thank you everyone! We took a beer and pide(Turkish pizza) break after a hard days work. I have decided to wear those clothes until we finish. This photo was day 2.

DAY 3: color!!


















This is the left view from the street into the patio. We chose a bright color. We mixed red, yellow and a little white. It is a bright orangy pink as you can see. We like it! And the ceiling looks nice. I like the coral color with the chocolate. We need to paint the lamp wires(well we need lamps too but still haven't made it to Izmir- YET).














Middle patio view, that is where the bar is going to be. Whoop whoop!


















This is the right view. The white wall will be covered and the white doors take you down into the cafe/ kitchen/ toilet area.

We are getting there! Tomorrow the wood floor, patio windows and doors should be installed.

Happy birthday aunt Polly (Sorry might not be the exact day but luv u)!

cafe progress

The bathrooms are now tiled. They need grout, fixtures and of course doors. The outside walls have also been tiled as well. That is where the sinks will go. And the floor has been tiled with an off-white.














Most of the debris has been hauled away and the floor has been evened out. Before there was a huge step in the middle of the patio. The hardwood comes next...what stain? light or dark?


















The patio ceiling???? We are trying to decide how to tackle it. It is so freaking ugly now with plywood and poorly painted metal bars. We thought to cover the whole thing with more wood but then we loose a lot of head space. Also we can paint it but how will that turn out? Color? Or fabric covering? If anyone has any ides please comment????

This is getting exciting and I am starting to envision it as a whole not just a big mess. The walls are smoothing out, and my husband says the next part in mine, picking the paints, decorating etc. He keeps saying your the artist...oh yeah that's right? I feel slightly intimidated and at the same time enjoying it. I want to work and the work is for us. We plan to tackle the garden more this winter. We are going to izmir tomorrow to search for old wooden chairs, light fixtures, wall accesories, music system, plates, glasses etc. etc...We still have tons to do! Money is running thin so we need to be thrifty and creative.

moving the toilets...

The photo above is initially where the one toilet was located. It was on the patio in a really awkward spot. So we decided to move it down inside the cafe where the kitchen was (see previous post) and make two toilets, bay/bayan = men/women.














So they tore out the kitchen cabinets, cleared out the space and started constructing walls out of these extruded clay bricks. These and concrete seem to be the bread and butter of Turkish construction.


















So all the buildings are made from these materials. They pour a concrete frames then fill in the areas with these bricks. If they need a smaller brick they just chip it down the fit in the area. They are hallow so are easy to manipulate. When they started the plumbing work they chipped out areas to put in the pipes. They are using a PVC piping- no metal I am sure because it is way cheaper. Also they use these bricks because there is not much wood in Turkey for building. I wonder if there used to be alot of wood and has been depleted after so many civilizations???? The old ottoman houses were made from wood. Caglar really wants a wood floor but wood is really expensive here.


















The walls are almost complete in the back. I know they will be stable and this construction is used all the time but I have also seen them quickly knock down these walls with a sledge hammer and they seem a bit precarious.


















A sewage pipe in the floor. They had the jack hammer out for that one.


















Finished constructing the walls and now started tiling. Notice how a space for the wiring and piping is jack hammered into the concrete and then will be filled with cement.














The stone/cement floor has been torn up on the patio. It will be evened out to make way for the new wood floor. Still a lot of work ahead. The foreman/my husband is on it! We will be going to Izmir at the end of the week to do the fun stuff...search for chairs, tables, accessories etc.