I'm HOME!

I know, it seems silly, but I finally feel like I have a home after six months of being homeless. Yeah, six months. I had a homebase at one of my best friend's place (thank you Melanie and Vikram!), but still I haven't had my own place since I left Denver. Once I moved here I was living in a guesthouse (hotel) for two months. I haven't cooked my own meal since I moved here--and I LOVE to cook.

But now Fielding and I finally moved into our own home, made specially for us. It has working heating now, it's big and spacious, and it has a beautiful view of the city. I have to take photos still, but I wanted to share with you the part that I'm most excited about. I get to have my special breakfast again! Fruit, nuts, yogurt and granola...I'm so happy! I had to include a picture here to entice you. Okay, maybe you need several.

Hey, sometimes it's the small things that make you feel at home. For me, it's my morning fruit salad and a cup of tea.

Lovely hike

It's been chilly here, but Fielding and I decided to go on a hike with her friend Onur. This small mountain/large hill is just near our home, so here are a couple of pics from our journey, plus some pics from moving into our new home!

It's really cold in here

I'm really, really cold. It's 65 degrees in my new house (18 degrees Celsius) and I'm writing this while sitting on a yoga mat on top of a plastic trash bag, leaning against a pillow because we don't have any couches to sit on in our living room (and the living room is the only place with internet).

On Thursday afternoon, one of our department heads insisted the house was ready to go. Fielding and I moved in that evening, finally, after two months of living in the "guest house" which was basically a hotel...a nice, warm hotel (I miss you, sweet guest house!).

Since our colleagues knew we were getting really, really frustrated with our housing situation, they were all very excited for us. You're house is ready to go! It's okay for you to move in now! They all said with huge grins on their faces. I was in the middle of prepping for mid-term exams and totally exhausted from a long day of teaching, but I rallied a student and his friend and a car, and they helped me move my things.

At first, it was exciting to have our own home, even it was barren (there is little furniture here). My student noticed it was a bit chilly, but I figured that the temperature was right and the heaters were off. Then it started to feel cold, really cold. The temperature sunk down to about 60 degrees F, or 17 degrees C. It kept plummeting. Fielding and I shivered under our wool blankets, wearing wool sweaters and two pairs of pants...and we were still cold.

Then the shower didn't work. The toilet broke. We couldn't turn the stove on to heat water for tea to warm ourselves. We are still missing lots of furniture. I walked to work on Friday without having showered and with no idea how I looked because I didn't have a mirror. I had to use our Turkish squat toilet in the morning. The squat toilet hadn't been used in years and I could see a spider in it...

The next day, they "fixed" everything. It was all working, and we bought groceries to stock the house with. So exciting! (See our happy pic above!) But now, I'm writing this blog and freezing again. The heater's off again and the methods they taught us to fix it aren't working. The toilet's broken again, so we're using a bucket of water to flush it. I think the shower works though...

It's like the Turkish version of The Money Pit without the love story...

It's one of those moments where I have to count my blessings again, remember what I'm grateful for to keep myself from going nuts. But I think I'll make some tea, get under the covers, and grade papers first...

Sagalassos!

No, it's not a battle cry...it's the name of the ancient city (or antique city, as they call it here) that Fielding and I visited today. (Yes, Franny, it was çok, çok eski!) Here are some pics (and an explanation). Enjoy!



p.s. Entire cost of the entire 8 hour trip, including a fish dinner: $15 USD!

Under Six Minutes

I am getting ready to launch my short-film club, and was looking for examples of what can be done in a short film, and how. I found this sweet short that I wanted to share that moved me deeply. I can't wait to share the films my students make with you all! Keep an eye out next spring...

Anyway, here's the film, The Story of a Sign. A great example of how much you can say in under six minutes.



If you would like to see more great short films, see this website (scroll down past the ad at the top, I promise the films are there).

Things I'm Grateful For

One of my favorite nonfiction writers, Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) suggests that people make a list of at least three things they're grateful for before they go to bed.

To handle my lonely moments, or the times I'm feeling frustrated or homesick, I've developed a new habit of gratitude, inspired a bit by Gilbert's idea. Whenever I'm in a bad space, I try to think of as many positive things as possible that I'm grateful for to change my state of mind. I'll just sit there now--while I'm waiting for the bus in the rain, when I'm at home and feeling sad---and list the things I'm grateful for. I try to do it every night before bed as well, in my journal. Even if it doesn't always change my mood, it definitely changes my perspective.

Since this is a part of my life here in Turkey, I wanted to share today's list. So, here you go. I'm grateful for:

• My dad and my brothers, whom I feel so much love for and admire and adore so much.
• My friends and family (both in Turkey and all over the world) who have been such a huge support for me, helping me feel strong while I'm out here taking risks and experiencing the world.
• Guido, who has been a huge emotional support, friend, spiritual guide, and joy.
• The incredible community of my colleagues who look out for me, invite me to dinner, push their English skills to the max to converse with me, and treat me with such immense hospitality.
• My students--I could go on and on about them. They're the most incredible students ever--so loving, so respectful, so funny, so intelligent, so strong.
• My novel--I started what I hope is my final revision of it, and I am so happy with the changes I'm making and that I'm following through on my commitment to completing it. It's such a nice creative outlet for me as well.
• The short-film club I'll be starting tomorrow (kick-off meeting at 4pm)! I am nervous and so excited at the same time. My students will be writing scripts, filming short films, editing them, and then having a fim festival in the spring. Woo hoo!
• The Shakespeare Film club I started where we watch his plays on film--I have just fallen in love with Shakespeare and his timeless, moving stories all over again. So brilliant. So powerful. What a writer.
• This opportunity to be here in Turkey and do things as an college instructor that I never would have been able to do back home. It pays well, and I love my organization. I'm so blessed.
• Little things like the scent of orange peels and of fall, pumpkins, warm soup, drinking tea on a cloudy day, reading a great novel, dried apricots, dark chocolate, dried autumn leaves, awesome six-year-olds that teach me Turkish and draw me pictures... (specifically Aras, my new friend pictured above).
  
• The challenges I face that make me stronger every day--they humble me, teach me, and make me full of gratitude that my challenges are so small compared to so many people in the world.

What are you grateful for? I'd love to know. Hugs to all!