I turned 40 years old on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. It would be a perfect place for reflection on a half-lived life had I not had the two tiny tots nipping at my ankles the entire day. Oh well, I will ponder the meaning of my existence another day. For now I am just focusing on living in the moment and enjoying these gifts of un-interrupted time with family and new experiences. - That and beaches and figs of course.
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| The celebration spot |
Alan made sure I celebrated the day appropriately. He surprised me with dinner out with the other Georgetown professors and families as well as Nese, the director of the program here. The restaurant was like a tiny oasis in our neighborhood of European tourist spots. It did not open until eight and there was no menu nor waiters. No, the restaurant was run entirely by the husband and wife owners and we ate whatever they had decided to cook that night. The food was tapas style and after we were settled, we sat and talked and tasted, sipping Raki, the anise flavored alcohol that is the "national alcoholic beverage of Turkey." I'm here to tell you its quite potent, an acquired taste I imagine, like bourbon. Appetizers of humus, mashed okra, eggplant (patlican salatasi), pickled apricots, babaganoosh, cheeses, olives and bread started the meal. Then we had a fried, breaded ground meat dish, perhaps some sort of kofte. Finally we had sautéed fish. I don't know the type but is was salty and prepared such that the fish was cut crossways, bone in and all parts save the head were served. It was all so good. The kids were adventurous and found several things they liked. Brewer loved the pickled apricots and Ruby was all about the fish.
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| The crew, minus Ruby and Nese |
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| Not sure what happened to this picture |
After our meal, Bryan and Mary and their kids (Bryan is one of the other professors) surprised me with a cake they had brought from a bakery on our street. It was white and covered with whipped cream, white chocolate in shapes of flower petals and wonderfully juicy nectarine slices. After a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday lead by Ruby and the Ute player it was promptly sliced and devoured. In typical Turkish fashion the meal was slow and likely was even slower than normal due to 15-minute storm that blew through and took our power (we ate by candlelight), so we did not get home until 10:30. The kids were tired, but troopers- no meltdowns were had.
As if that wasn't enough, Alan then treated me the next day to a Turkish Bath, or Hamam, at one of the more upscale hotels on our street. I have nothing to compare it to, but I feel certain it was a bit watered down for the tourist set. Nonetheless, after a month of running around with the kids (Why, oh why didn't I have kids when I was younger?), I did thoroughly enjoy it. I plan to seek out a more traditional bath experience though in the coming weeks. This one started with a sauna, exfoliation bath (I was clothed in a bikini), followed by a period of relaxation, then a 30 minute massage and finally, a facial and tea. Lovely, especially for 70 Turkish Lira (a little less than $35 U.S. dollars).
Happy birthday to me! - Kelly
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