Ignorant Historian

Yesterday I left work early and hopped on a plane.  Of course it was planned (who do you think I am?  I plan EVERYTHING), but it’s still nice to get away.

So where I am?

Nowhere exciting (at least not to you all).  I’m in the land of the sunflower, wheat, tornadoes, good highways (at least that’s what everyone who drives through it says), and Ronnica.

What, you didn’t know that Kansas was famous for producing me?

I’m visiting family for a long weekend.  I even get to go visit the bro and SIL at their new home.

I’m looking forward to a feet-up, fun, family-filled weekend!

1. What is your favorite sport?

To watch: football.  To play: tennis (and about the only sport I’d play).

2. Which day of the week do you look forward to most?

During tax season, it was Tuesdays (my late start day).  Now, I’m not sure.  I actually prefer the structure of weekdays to the weekend (I know, weird), so maybe Mondays?  I do spend time with 2 of my favorite people every other Monday, so that’d make sense.

3. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

If it’s a secret, how would I know?  But not that I know of, no.

4. Do you like your eggs scrambled or sunny side up?

Scrambled (or hard-boiled).  Once tried sunny side up because it looked good, but I was VERY mistaken.  If I make them myself, I like to add cheddar cheese and ranch dressing…yum!

5. What was the first plane ride you took?

To Chicago, when I was 16.  It was for Science Olympiad, when we were going to Nationals for my first time.  We actually waited around in the small Wichita airport for 7 hours (this was pre-9/11) because they kept delaying our flight and then switched us.  It was quite bumpy, too, since there were a lot of storms, but I didn’t know better at the time.  Now, turbulence bothers me more than I’d like to admit (though I’m a big roller coaster junkie–go figure).  And though I got started flying late, I’ve not stopped, and now routinely fly 4 times a year.

I can’t believe how quickly the week went.  I was about to say my first full-week back went quickly, but I forgot that I’m off tomorrow (again).  Even after realizing that it was only 4 days, it still seems fast.

Tax season begins a week from tomorrow.  Eek.  Even though I’ve been preparing for it for months, there still is a lot that I have to do in the next week to get ready.  I’ve been working hard to find every (free! we’re a non-profit) way I can to promote this free service.  Sometimes I think it would be easier to sell if it was in fact something we were selling and not just giving away.

Once someone has come in and realized that there is no catch, they will come back and often bring several friends in, too.  Word of mouth was the primary reason we were able to double the amount of returns we did last year!  If you’re local (Wake County), and make less than $49,000 or know someone that does, please spread the word!  You can find all the information about the various sites throughout the county on our website.

Enough tax talk.  On the more immediate horizon, my good friend April is getting married Saturday.  I tried my dress on on Monday…I was having scary thoughts about it not fitting, and not realizing it until Saturday morning!  I think I’m all set to brave the snow as we drive down to Georgia…very thankful that the trace to 1 inch we’re expecting  is coming overnight (if at all) and not while I’m driving.  It’s also all interstate (from about 2 minutes from our door) and my roommate will be with me, so don’t worry (Mom, G. Zoe…I’m talking to you).

This is my first time as a bridesmaid, so that’s something new.  I just hope I don’t trip over my slightly-too-long dress in my high heels!

I’m back.  Primarily to tell you that I’m extending this bloggy break until January 4th.  I’m just enjoying a break from the ordinary too much not too.  I promise some trip- and holiday-inspired highlights when I get back.

The trip back from Kansas was rather lacking in anything to make it special.  As far as air travel goes, that’s always a good thing!  I’m back safe and sound and looking forward to a day of catching up at work and a few days of cleaning, organizing, and all-around preparing for a month of weddings and a season of tax-induced craziness.   I hope you had a blessed Christmas and will have a safe and fun New Year’s!

Stopped even before I had started

Didn’t expect to hear from me so early considering I’m taking a bloggy break, huh?  Well, I had a significant change in my itinerary, so I thought I’d update you.

About lunchtime today, it started flurry-ing here in Raleigh (it was hardly snow) which lasted about 45 minutes.  A couple of hours later, my flight in the wee hours Saturday was cancelled due to weather.

This is the 3rd year in a row that my Christmas trip was delayed.  Two years ago, it was a brief tour of Arkansas followed by a night in Atlanta.  Last year was my 48-hour Chicago stay, including waking up Christmas morn to a snowy Chicago.  I’m just hoping not to be posting another post in a day that says “Welcome to Minneapolis!”

I must say, if I have to be delayed, this is the way to go.  Now I can stay home and sleep in, and start my travels fresh.  Hope to have nothing more to report!

Oh, and it did snow further, though it still hasn’t frozen.  They were probably safe by cancelling it tomorrow, and I’m glad they did it earlier rather than later!

Update at 1 AM, Central: Flights went smoothly.  My new flight was to land at 11:37, and I was hoping to pick up my rental car, though they close at midnight.  I made it with 5 minutes to spare.  Added bonus: my bag came, too.  This is definitely not like my past Christmas trips!  So blessed!

Did you think that I’d forget about the last of the Turkey posts?  Nah, I’ve just been too busy/lazy to grab the pictures I needed to tell the stories.  Today I thought I’d share a funny story that happened our first full day in Turkey.

The street that we stayed at was a pretty typical, busy Turkish street.  One of our friends was picking us up, and so he had parallel parked on the side of the street.  Keep in mind it was a Sunday morning, and Turkey has the same weekend as we do.  I wouldn’t expect they’d go to church or anything, but you still don’t expect heavy construction, either.

Yet, while we were there, they were doing some construction on the street…looked kinda like they were replacing some pipe.  And this construction started Sunday morning.

After he parked and we hung out for a bit, we went out to the van.  This is what we found:

Except that 2-foot wide, 6-inch deep moat was all down the side of our car, blocking us completely from the street.  There had been no effort to block off these spots from people parking in them, they just did the construction anyway, blocking lots of cars in.

The sidewalk wasn’t wide enough to drive on, so what are you to do?

Well, here’s what we did.

We moved rocks into the ditch (“rocks” really being the concrete that had already been cleared out.

See, we’re slowly building a bridge for the wheels!  Of course, by “we” I mean a few of the others…I was too busy laughing inside the van!

And then what made us laugh the hardest happened:

One guy decided he’d just go pick up a big piece of concrete and haul it the 50 feet to our vehicle.  From the way he was straining, it had to weigh 80 pounds!

There were also several Turks standing around helping and gawking!  So that’s our very-Turkish problem, and our equally-Turkish solution.

I thank God He’s given me food on my table in abundance.

I thank God that He’s given me family and friends who love me and show me more grace than I deserve.

I thank God for giving us quick travel that I may visit my family who’s over 1,000 miles away on this day.

I thank God for giving me not only a well-paying job in these times, but a job that I like.

I thank God for allowing me to be part of a church who, though not perfect, is seeking to grow together towards christlikeness.

Most of all, I thank God for giving His Son to save a wretch like me.

So happy Thanksgiving, and remember to thank God for the many blessings he’s given you…no matter how many or how few, they’re more than we deserve.

Photos by CarbonNYC, Julie McLeod,  aka Kath, me, Phillie Casablanca, and DrGBB

I find it interesting that my big blog days fall on days when blogging is naturally at a low.  Five hundred posts was Christmas, and now 800 posts is the day before Thanksgiving.  No problem though…I may have posted 800 times, but it’s not like they’re all of substance!

I know that many of you will be traveling today, so please stay safe!  I’m not traveling yet, as I prefer to fly on Thanksgiving morning…MUCH cheaper that way and less stressful, too.  While I’m in Kansas not only will I be enjoying Thanksgiving with the family, but I also will be hosting my first shower for my favoritest brother and sister.  Should be a lot of fun!

So, thanks for being with me for 800 posts…and here’s to 800 more!

Photo by inkelv1122

By request, I’m going to talk about Turkish food today.  Turkish food is very Mediterranean (though I have never had Greek–I know!–it looks the same), and doesn’t have a lot of variety (all restaurants basically serve the same thing).

Here are my favorite Turkish foods:

1.  Tavuk Döner (Tavuk is chicken)

This is actually a popular dish that’s been exported throughout Europe, and is originally of Greek or Turkish origin (they fight over it like everything else).  It’s made on a spit like this:

The meat is then cut off and served with veggies on a sandwich or in a wrap (the bread is like pita bread).  This was my favorite meal in Ankara, but it doesn’t seem to be served the same in Izmir, the city I’ve visited on my last 2 trips.  It’s also super cheap…a meal including a drink (usually ayran, see below) would be just 2 or 3 dollars.  The rest of Turkish food is a bit cheaper than our food, but not a ton.

2. Kaşarlı pide (the “ş” makes an “sh” sound and the “i” without a dot is an “uh” sound instead of an “eye” sound)

Kaşar is the cheese that they use, and pide is a pizza-like dish (they have “real” pizza as well, that’s not a whole lot different than ours).  The crust is more like pita bread, and there is no tomato sauce on it.  My favorite has just cheese, or cheese and egg (sounds weird, but is good).

3.  Kaşarlı tost

If you’ve been paying attention, I bet you can figure out what this is.  Yep, it’s grilled cheese, but oh so delicious.  It was actually a humorous point of contention in our group as those of us who have been to Turkey before argued if this is a respectable dish or not.  After all, you wouldn’t expect a foreigner to come to America and order grilled cheese, would you?  Still, this is good as it’s made on a panini press with kaşar cheese.  It also is frequently served with tomatoes on it, but I don’t eat it that way.

4.  Tavuk şiş

That’s “shish” as in “shish kebab” for good reason.  Tavuk şiş is what we would call chicken shish kebab, made on a stick.  It may or may not be served on the stick, but that’s how it’s made.  I have no idea what spices they put on it, but it’s really good.  It’s frequently served with veggies: pepper, tomato, cucumber, and onion (the main veggies you see served).

And now for some things that I don’t love, but represent Turkey and so I have a fondness for:

1.  Çay (pronounced “chai”)

Çay is Turkish tea, something that you drink all the time in Turkey.  It’s served in little glasses like these (they might have a pattern of some sort, but often are just plain glass) and with a couple of sugar cubes.  Most meals end with it, of course you drink it during tea time, and you will be offered it anytime you visit someone’s shop or home.  There’s really nothing special about the tea other than the way it’s made, but it’s incredibly Turkish.

2.  Ayran

This is a drink that Turks drink with a lot of meals.  It’s cold, and is basically watered-down, salty yogurt.  It’s not pleasant to Western taste buds, but I can tolerate it, if not enjoy it.

3.  Turkish breakfast

Turkish breakfast is much heavier than what we’re used to.  Often has meats of unknown origin (hey, if something looks like it’s pork and you know it’s not, you have no idea what to think), hard-boiled eggs, cheeses, and breads.    Oh, and the traditional veggies of tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.

4. Gözleme

Gözleme has various ingredients in between layers of thin dough.  Might be meats, veggies, or cheeses.  The best one that I had this last time was spinach and cheese…who knew that I’d like it? (I’m not a fan of spinach.)  You have to go specific restaurants to get it, and are often served traditionally, sitting on cushions at a low table.

5.  Simit

Simit looks like a pretzel, but isn’t salty or buttery.  Instead, it’s covered with sesame seeds.  You can buy it at vendors on the street for half a lira (about 35 cents).

I’m sure there are things that I have overlooked and even things I haven’t tried.  They don’t eat a ton of beef (though they eat some), but eat a lot of lamb and chicken.  American fast food can be found all over the cities, and they regularly eat fries with most things.  Feel free to ask any questions!

Photos by ccarlstead, mawel, and Penny

I suppose you want to hear more about Turkey, don’t you?  I haven’t been meaning to drag my feet, but it’s hard to know what I should say.  As I alluded to yesterday, I’ve been highly emotional lately (partly trip related, partly personal, partly interpersonal), which sends me into a contemplative melancholy mood.  Nothing wrong with that, it just doesn’t lend itself to retellings of grand adventures.

Please let me know if there are specific things you want to hear about.  I won’t be going through the trip day by day, but rather thematically.  I hope to do a post on the food, a post on Ephesus (maybe), a post of a very Turkish situation we found ourselves in, and a post on an emotional afternoon (what I was referring to yesterday…didn’t want to do two emotional posts back-to-back).  And of course, I’ll be posting about the toilets, which is today’s topic.

I got a kick out of all the comments you guys left about the squaty potties.  I did visit the toilet at that place again, but they’ve remodeled (I don’t know if I should call replacing a outhouse with a 4-toilet structure “remodeling”) so my first squatty potty is no longer in existence.

So, for you squaty potty virgins out there, this is what they look like (I have no idea why the cover is falling off the TP…many won’t even have TP though):

Is that intimidating?  I got to walk 3 of my teammates through their first experience when we were out shopping.  There was only one stall so I felt bad because a Turkish lady came up who clearly really had to go.  There was also anther lady waiting in line who really wanted to talk to us as she kept saying, “Turkce? Turkce?” (“Turkish” in Turkish) over and over again.  I think they all found our excitement and concern over using the squatty potty humorous, as well they ought.

So here’s how one uses a squaty potty:

1.  Place your feet on either side of the hole (where those grips are…keeps you from slipping, I suppose), face towards the left in this picture (usually it’s the door).

2.  Pull your pants down to around your ankles.  I like to put them down as far as they can go…don’t want to take any chances.

3.  Do the Asian squat, with your rear down low behind your heels.

4.  Make sure your pants are completely out of the way (this would be MUCH easier in a skirt, but I’ve never been wearing one), and do your business!

5.  Clean up (always carry Kleenex with you in case there isn’t TP!) and flush if it’s a modern one (usually a chain on the wall).

So now…are there any more questions?  I feel like I talk WAY too much about toilets on this blog!