Handmade treasures and neighborhood adventures

While the Hubby has been gone, the girls have been busy.  Kido and I made a trek to a new store located just off of Istikal Caddesi called Nihal.  If you are ever in the area, this place is worth turning down the small alley to find. It sells handmade items and also operates as a second-hand clothing store.   Money from the store goes back to fund continued development, schools, and activities of these ladies.  The handmade items are made by Turkish women in underdeveloped regions of Turkey.  There is everything from beautiful handcrafted soaps tucked into embroidered pouches to beautiful felt house decorations.

Many of the decorations include a brief story about the legend of the Anatolian bell.  Apparently, in some parts of Turkey, the sound of a sheep bell is suppose to bring happiness and good wishes.  Little bells have been sewn into several decorations you can hang from windows or doors.  Our favorites included a small felt house complete with a twinkling blue eyeball bead (a nazar in Turkish).

The "evil eye" is part of another legend in this area of the world. According to the stories, the little blue beads     or decorations shaped like blue eyeballs ward off ill wishes and can protect the owner or wearer from evil.  We have also heard that the blue eyes must be given as gifts in order to work.  The little eyeballs are in everything here from jewelry to tiles, to plates.

The Kido also enjoyed wandering down Istikal and munching some gelato from a small ice cream shop down the street.  We peaked in the window of Ipek, another favorite shop on the street.  Ipek is known for their silk scarves, ties, and handmade wraps.  It is a fun barrage of color and textures just to peek in the window.  The Kido loved a brown, white, and cream scarf that was embroidered with textured flowers and birds.

I love wandering Istikal and the Beyolu area.  Even though we have been here for 2 years, there are always new places to discover and treasures to be found.


Two trolleys like this run up and down Istikal.  We got this shot over the summer.  Kido loves the trolleys and would spend all her time looking at them if she could!

The New Year-Unaccompanied...again

Happy New Year! Our New Year started with the hubby packing his bags.  Hubby left this week for training in the States prior to his onward assignment.  This is the second time we have done an unaccompanied tour, and I'm happy to report it is much easier this round.  This time, not only did I know what to expect, I'm also surrounded by a huge group of co-workers and friends that know exactly where the hubby is, what he is doing, why he is doing it, and are very supportive.  Having a 4 year old vs. a 4 month old also helps!

I'm grateful that this time we do not have to go through an overwhelming amount of changes all at once.  The first time we did an unaccompanied tour, I quit my job, left my house, rented my house, moved in with my family, had a baby, and said goodbye to my spouse who was going to a place that 6 months earlier I had never heard of-Lagos, Nigeria.  I'd say any one of those changes are enough to make a person a little nuts.  Getting hit with all of them at once was overwhelming to say the least.  I had a wonderfully supportive family that let me blow off steam/stress/the general crazies by getting back into running.  Nonetheless, not something I wanted to repeat.

This time around, we are lucky to keep our housing, Nat's school, my job, and no one has to pack up other than the spouse.  We will only be about a 5 hour plan ride apart and an 1 1/2 hour difference in time zones. Plus, I don't have to spend time explaining to folks here why we are doing what we are doing-it is accepted as a sacrifice that many State employees make and supported.  

That said, we know this is not going to be easy.  Hubby is going to a war zone.  I'm juggling a job, a kido, and 2 crazy pups in a foreign country.   I was reminded of this the other night when we randomly had about 6 inches of snow dumped on us during a rare winter snowstorm.  Juggling 2 dogs (one of which is the size of a large human) and 1 very excited kido in the snow in the dark makes for a major adventure.  I'm also reminded that we are very lucky to be where we are-I've been overwhelmed with offers of dinners, playdates (for the kido), shopping trips, and general adventures around town.  Even if we don't take you up on them right away, know that we appreciate all of the offers.

We will get through it and, I very much hope, have some great adventures along the way.

Here's to the New Year and new adventures.