My Great Perhaps: June 2014

I had an eventful night. I began by going through my clothes to get rid of a ton before moving out of my apartment (LESS THAN TWO WEEKS), but then the US v. Germany game began so I had to switch gears. I never made it back to my clothes, and they are all over my floor at the moment. There's a reason why I haven't updated in a while... I've been easily distracted lately. After the game I opened this page up to finalllly upload new pictures, but then I started reading about the social issues in Brazil, and before I knew it I was reading all about placentas. People actually eat their own placentas. W.T.F. It makes me want to gag just thinking about it.

So I went to the dentist a couple of days ago. I've gone twice now in Turkey, and I'll share my thoughts, starting with the good:

1. Inexpensive. The first time I had my teeth cleaned, and had a chipped tooth fixed (well I chipped it a long time ago and had it fixed, but the fixer stuff was starting to chip). 200 Liras / $100, without insurance. This time, I had them cleaned, and then some extra cleaning stuff / shield for my teeth that ran another 200 Liras.

2. Quick. I had my coworker call the day before and they were able to get me in, no problem. The entire process lasted about 20 minutes.

3. The dentist actually does all the work, unlike in the States where you only see the dentist for about 5 minutes while she/he checks for cavities.

And the bad:
1. Well, I can't say this for all of Turkey, and the first time I had no complaints at all. But this time, it was the same location but a different dentist, my gums were TORN UP. The polisher thingy was on super mode or something, and he kept slipping and getting my gums! I was bleeding! I've never had sensitive gums, and I floss every day, so it wasn't on my end. This guy was nice, but geez oh pete I was a little worried I'd need stitches afterwards. My gums still hurt and I haven't been able to properly brush, or eat hard foods, or drink anything too hot or cold.

2. They don't floss for you! Both times I got my teeth cleaned, then didn't floss! Isn't that standard practice?

3. This time around, the dentist told me I only have to get my teeth cleaned once a year. Uh... I think I'll stick with every six months.

So overall, this experience was okay. The last two "bad" reasons weren't even really bad, just surprising. My teeth were DEFINITELY cleaned, it was quick, and inexpensive. As long as I don't get an infection from my gums being ripped open, I'll be happy.

Tomorrow is my last day at work for a while... We are finished with classes and I'm taking a much deserved 4-week vacation. I will go back to work for August to finish my contract, but there won't be any classes so I'm sure I'll be doing lots of... crocheting? origami? I'll probably work on my Korean since that's where I'm headed next (to live), but I wish I could do that from the comfort of my bed where I don't have to get dressed, instead of actually having to go to the campus.

Since I'm leaving for basically all of July, and my lease is up July 24, I'm going to have to move out early and move my stuff to a friend's apartment. Which means I have tomorrow and the weekend to finish packing my clothes and life possessions into two suitcases. Maybe that's the real reason I've come back to blog.

No post is complete without pictures, so here are a few randos from the past few weeks.

Alex is home, btw. Safe and sound and
running around. Here he is at the
start of a 10k.

This last weekend I took a spontaneous trip to Gaziantep with Miki, a friend and coworker. Well, it wasn’t “let’s go right now” spontaneous… more like “hey wanna go with me to Antep in a few weeks?” I guess it wasn’t spontaneous at all. First things first: Gaziantep, or Antep, is located in the southeast area of the country. It is also one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities not just in the Turkey, but also the world, going back to the Hittite Empire from about 1600 BCE. Just as important… the FOOD. I don’t think anything consumable exists in Antep that doesn’t satisfy the ol’ tasting mechanisms.

Miki worked here last year, and she’s made a few trips this year. I was lucky to get to tag along with her this time! We only went for a weekend, and traveled by night bus, so the commuting was rough. I don’t think Turks sleep, even on 10-hour night buses… The driver blasted his radio the entire drive down, and the driver on the way back kept opening his window so there was a constant whistling. OY VEY. I am aware that the driver should be awake at all times, but some dude was listening to music WITHOUT headphones, and we stopped every few hours for potty breaks. I’m also a light sleeper so that didn’t help.

Despite this, Antep is a historian’s dream! (and archeologists, anthropologists, geologists, and culinary artists) I wish we could have stayed longer, just to walk around and explore more. But we managed to fill our days with the time we did have. …That sentence doesn’t really make sense because every day is filled with the same amount of time. We made the most of our time.

On the first day, we began with Katmer: thin pasty dough filled with pistachios and sugar. And I think cheese (but not a strong cheese… it just held everything together). It was so good. Oh, Antep is basically the pistachio capital of the world, and every meal included something with pistachios even though I was already planning on… GOING NUTS that weekend.

After we ate as much as possible, we wandered around the city. We made sure to stop for lunch: nohut durum, which is cooked chickpeas wrapped up with spices and vegetables. Soooo good.

My favorite of this day was the Armenian quarter, just because it was a little different than everything else. Miki took me to this charming Armenian mansion that was turned into a quiet café filled with backgammon (I learned from a champ!), tea, and all kinds of flora. We sat in the courtyard, which was covered with vines to keep the sun out. The mansion part is bittersweet; it’s what’s left of the family that lived there, before the Armenian Genocide (which is NOT talked about by Turks).

The next part of our agenda consisted of walking around some more, followed by a quick nap, and then dinner. I had the beyti sarma: baked dough filled with meat, served with vegetables and yogurt (Turkish yogurt is more like sour cream). I shouldn’t even have to tell you how it tasted since it was made in Antep. Of course, we ended the night with pistachio baklava.

For day two, we first visited the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, the largest mosaic museum in the world. These expansive and incredible mosaics were unearthed in Zeugma, an ancient city near Antep, which was founded by one of Alexander the Great’s generals (Seleucus I Nicator). The prized possession of the museum is a piece of a larger mosaic titled, “Gypsy Girl.” Because, well, it looks like a gypsy girl. Some say it’s ATG in disguise. I think it could easily be a gypsy boy. There’s not much known about it because many parts of the mural were stolen by vandals and hooligans. Those poopheads.

After a few hours there, we headed back to the city center for pistachio coffee. Yeah. It’s the same thing as regular Turkish coffee, but using roasted pistachios instead of coffee beans. So no, no caffeine. But it was definitely a unique taste and texture. At the café where we got the coffee, we asked our waiter if they had baklava. He replied that they do not, but he would run next door and get some for us. We (mostly me) really wanted some, so we said that was okay with us if it was okay with him, and asked for one or two pieces. He returned with a plateful. I feel stuffed just thinking of how much baklava I ate that weekend. I’m still paying for it, but it was definitely worth it.

Once we could move, and after a few rounds of Tavla (backgammon), we headed out for more wandering—this time the bazaar area. Usually EVERYONE tried to sell you something or invite you in to their shop, and it’s quite annoying, but we only got two or three. I think it was a mixture of not yet tourist season and Sunday.

The afternoon consisted of meeting up with Miki’s friend, eating lunch, more baklava, coffee, and more coffee. Perfect Sunday, perfect weekend.

We then headed to the bus station for our return night bus, and went straight to “work.” For the record, also after our Morocco trip, Miki and I returned to work straight from the airport. Just part of the adventure.