Tis' the Christmas season...

Five days and it will be upon us... so taunts my pesky internal calender, or shall I say, my 'confused' internal calender. While in Colorado, I experienced a brief moment of commercial holiday excess, malls packed with early Christmas enthusiasts and merry, Christmas jingles rang (not yet too obnoxiously) everywhere from Target to sentimental adverts on television. I spent cozy evenings curled up on my parent's sofa, engrossed in bantery family drama and comfortable conversation. These moments felt like Christmas, as I baked with my mother and lunched with my father... yet the days were longer and the sun beat a little bit stronger than during the month of December.

While in Poland I fully embraced my winter wonderland of Christmas glee -strolled through the Christmas market, like a little girl, returning to her homeland. Wrapped up in Eastern European nostalgia, my heart pleaded with me to stay in this cold, winter drudgery for another year. 'Why would you leave this?' questioned my very core, down to my bones. I sighed and continued to walk past pottery stands, grilling osepik and mulled wine - welcoming in the familiar smells of Krakow in the winter, quickly, before hurrying off to a warmer location to chat and drink Sunday afternoon wine with friends. Ah, it was good to be back.

Nevertheless, I boarded a plane to Turkey, sat on the runway for over four hours and watched the first blizzard of the season tear into Eastern Europe from the comfort of my Turkish Airline's window seat. I landed and began my Turkish adventure – a new chapter, blank and staring me in the face like a lost puppy in a wind storm.

Ah, the Mediterranean... sounds romantic and enchanting, no? The sea does sparkle a heavenly hue of blue, the sun DID shine profusely for the first week after my arrival... however, someone must have informed the weather gods that I had come to escape the cold of winter and had only packed 'Mediterranean' style clothes. HAHA! The irony abounds as I sit, huddled up on my couch, wrapped in scarf, leg warmers and slippers – fingerless gloves and my only hoodie. I write to the glorious flicker of candle light as my computer's battery light flashes... yes, no electricity. So soon I will be sitting here, with no music and no outlit to express these grave concerns. I will scrounge for more candles so I can perhaps paint a dark, melancholic picture of my life thus far in my Mediterranean paradise. :-D

and the walls were made of windows

Ok – so let's cut to the chase here why don't we. You may be asking why I am sitting on the balcony of a sixth floor apartment in Antalya, Turkey. So, let me take a minute to explain.

I am currently staring out upon a slowly approaching storm as clouds swallow up the mountains and the sun sets heavy at the end of this productive-less, hungover Sunday. Groggy from a night of new-friend merry making, I clasp onto a cup of chamomile tea and stare out curiously at my new world below me. The storms here have been spoken of quite highly, so I await the coming moments, hours, (who knows) in anticipation – hoping for electrical volts of energy to transport and inspire. Watching a storm for the first time in a new location is always a magical experience – what will the thunder sound like? Crisp and sharp or deep and rumblely? Will the lightening crack with bright wonder and intensity or dance across the sky as if performing a waltz for the mesmerized onlookers below? I have front row seats and it's opening night – need I say more?

I am here on a 90 day tourist visa – one that is clearly marked with “NOT ALLOWED TO WORK” - yet work is exactly what I intend to do– starting tomorrow actually. I have no contract, just a mutual understanding and a handshake, which others may be distrustful of, yet I am relieved of any committal duties, so that brings me a strange sense of calm. No, I do not plan to stay here long – but I do plan to wake up every morning I am here and study the language, find short-cuts through winding, slopping alleys, play nice with the children, make friends not enemies and embrace a culture I know far too little about.

Why? Why not? In a time awash in fear, uncertainty and financial and political turmoil, why not? There are no certainties in life, so trying to surround myself in a false security blanket will only leave me naked when it inevitably comes undone. If the decisions you make really are what define you, I choose my identity to be carved with the lines of paths traversed curiously and courageously. I humbly try to leave trepidation behind, under the auspicious care of my past and baby-step my way to a more promising present. If you need further explanation – I am sorry, for I have none to give. You may find me flaky and careless, fearful for my tumbling fall from grace, but I promise you this; these steps only take me closer, not further from 'enlightenment'... if that is in fact what we are seeking. ;-)

Oh – in case you were wondering, they rumble beautifully.

Welcome to Turkey

1 December 2010

Well, here we begin the final month of 2010. I am beginning it in my fourth country to live in within four months. How is that for an impressive, or exhausting feet? This first of December I opened my eyes in Antalya, Turkey. (I actually opened them for the first time here on the 30th of November, but the day is but a very bazaar haze, so I am discounting it on premise of travel-brain inefficiency). Anyway, this morning was a beautiful morning in Antalya – however, I began the day in a bit of a jet-lagged, antibiotic-laden, pms delirium. Panic! I somehow managed to yoga, coffee and shower it away and continued my day with renewed vim and vigor. I walked down to the center of town, past alluring shoe shops, and other such consumer paraphernalia. I walked down to the cliffs where the land meets the sea and stared mesmerized out at the sparkling water – as the sun hit the surface just ever so glamorously. I strolled back into town, past ancient city gates and city wall fortifications that rival being some of the oldest structures I have ever laid eyes on.

Insights so far are brief and perhaps quite uninspiring – but here is one of my favorite things about Antalya thus far. There is a comical amount of cats and dogs that roam around the city. Yes, while they may be stray street creatures, they definitely do not act like any stray street creature that I have ever met. Instead of the feeble, skin and bone strays that I am use to seeing in Oman and Mexico - these are nicely fed and incredibly friendly! The dogs; goldens, labs, and a wide variety of mutty mixes will run right up to you – give you a wiggle and a smile, let you scratch him behind the ears and off he goes on a new smelling adventure. The greatest thing is the city catches them, spay and neuters them, makes sure they are healthy, then gives them a lovely plastic earing and releases them back on the streets to carry on with their carefree existence. Many shops have water dishes outside their doors where the dogs stop for a a brief refresher. You often see a pack of dogs of all shapes and sizes lounging about in parks that are littered up and down the coast. This afternoon while walking down a busy street, the dog that I had just parted ways with was rolling on it's back in the green grass of the median... it's a wonder they don't get hit, but they seem to look both ways and have a keen respect for the oncoming traffic.
As the cars are concerned, they are everywhere like squirrels. They weave their way in and out of restaurants and busily walking legs. If you give them a bit to nibble on they will reward the favor by curling up on your lap and purring themselves to sleep while you type on your computer at the nice little coffee shop down the street that offers free wifi... :-) The people seem to love their cuddly street creatures and respect and and pet them, perhaps even unconsciously, as they go about their day – letting their hands rest upon a furry head at a cross walk, or dropping a piece of food under their table as they are out for lunch.

While I will try my best not to invite any of these charming Mediterranean critters into my sixth floor apartment home (which has an elevator by the way), I make no promises. Either way, they make the perfect addition to this gorgeous Turkish city and are a welcome surprise as I have long missed the feel of fur gracing my fingertips.