8 Years!

So, today is our 8th anniversary and I'm feeling sappy about it so I thought I would write. It has been a wonderful crazy adventure and life has never turned out the way I expected. But, my plans for life are generally drab in comparison to what actually happens and I'm grateful for all the adventures, twists and turns and chaos that make up my life. Yes, I am so glad I decided to marry Eric eight years ago today. Life is good and we are even closer friends today than we were 8 years ago. Sap, sap, sap. I know. But I do love the him.

Playdough and lexapro

We managed to find a pharmacy this morning and we were able to get some drug that is the same as lexapro (some euro brand) and they gave it to us without a prescription. What a beautiful thing. We went to Rumi's tomb this morning which was really cool except cedar decided to run through the graveyard. Ooops! We decided to head to Aladdin's Hill (it's really called that) for lunch. I had seen a McDonalds there on the way into town and I decided it was time to break down and eat american food. Cedar got a cheeseburger and an ice cream cone and we all had burgers and cokes with ice. It was lovely. To complete the cedar spoiling experience we went to a toystore (cedar is still alive) and purchased some really over-priced play-doh. We are having a grand old time playing with it on the floor of the hotel room while daddy takes a break. It seems he has some intestinal problems. Poor thing:( He had a great birthday. We are headed to the organic farm tomorrow which I think will be good. The kids are starting to get worn out and we are down to 4 chaperones-the lowest point of the trip and the men in this town are shall we say grabby. Ah, Middle Eastern men. I'm excited to go to the farm. I think it will be really fun for cedar. Our guide does not understand why we want to go to a farm. He needs some serious Walden indoctrination. He really does not think outside the box. Apparently in his two year guide course they didn't teach him about weird Americans who want to stay on farms. I guess he usually guides rich old europeans. I can see how we would be a surprise to him. Cedar is currently reminiscing about Mexico. I must admit, I have really enjoyed Turkey but my heart is Latin America. Did I mention we are going to Mexico for Eric's Foundry Photo Workshop that he has created and is putting on in Mexico City. We will be there from June 10-July 1st. Should be fun and I'm glad we will have a couple of months at home first. And, it will be very cheap. Turkey is much more expensive than we had ever imagined. Apparently the dollar is really hurting. I miss pesos.........Well, I have written a book. I will go now and play with play-doh

Konya

Wahoo for wireless internet in our hotel room. And the use of an english keyboard. We are in Konya one of the most "muslim" cities in the world. I really like it. It is the birthplace of Rumi the mystic poet and tomorrow we will go to a museum in his honor. Konya is a city of many religious pilgrims and is known for its tender mutton. We were able to find some really nice head scarves and several prayer rugs for our collection. Today is Eric's birthday (#34). Happy Birthday to Eric! We were able to arrange with the help of our trusty guide Firat a private whirling dervish show. It was amazing. I don't know how they do it. Cedar fell asleep which was the best birthday present of all. Tomorrow we are going to go to museums and attempt to procure prescription medication and tampons in a very conservative town. It should be very interesting. The food is good here but we are getting sick of meat and bread. Okay just meat for me and many, many aberguines. But our hotel room has a refrigerator (Firat hooked us up with the posh hotel room-sort of Holiday inn like) and my Diet Coke's are cold. Why do they drink soda hot? That is just plain awful. The kids are being pretty good. They bought baklava and put candles in it for Eric's birthday then told him something they liked about him. We recently heard gunshots out the window. Bachelor party? I'm not even phased by it. Eric is making fun of my blog's title. I thought buzz was clever!

random thoughts agaın from turkey

i have so much to say and so lıttle access to the ınternet so here goes
turkey ıs amazıngly sımılıar ın clımate and geography to utah
ı feel lıke we are ın escalante or arches natıonal park
cedar should never have sugar soda ever
squat toılets are alrıght....most of the tıme
ıf you son gets locked ın a bathroom stall ın turkey your guıde wıll start swearıng
our turkısh guıde ıs a crazy lıttle man who does not understand that teenagers do not get up early or ever arrıve anywhere on tıme
the turks take theır shoes on and off more than the japanese
cedar ıs not afraıd of clıffs
ı am
our bus ıs well....cozy
havıng our own room ıs awesome
ı dont lıke turkısh keyboards
aberguınes are quıte tastey
dıet cola ıs expensıve and um not cold here
thıs ıs a very safe country
ı hate cıgarette smoke
the kıds are really good most of the tıme
ı mıss bananas
the cave dwellıngs are amazıng and everythıng ıs very very old

More from the land of the Turks

We had a really busy day yesterday. We walked across the Galata Bridge to the Galata Tower and up to a very cosmopolitan shopping area. It was a bit of a challenge for Cedar. But, he has charmed some of the female students into carrying him anytime he wants:) The Turks are quite fascinated with Cedar's hair. It is so curly in this climate. We had a rough night sleeping last night (there was a lot of drama in the middle of the night). Why can't they just go to bed? So, today was a mellow day. We went to the Haga Sofia this morning which was totally amazing. It's such an interesting mix of West and East--Islam and Christianity. I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was actually visiting the place I studied in so many different classes (during my brief stint as a Near Eastern Studies major). Cedar loved the Haga Sofia as well. He learned what a mosaic is. He is a good kid. Well, needs to send some emails to his "Photog" friend so I will write more later.