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.

Christmas in Turkey

Most of our snow melted for Christmas this year, but we enjoyed a wonderful weekend with friends.  The kiddo had great fun playing with friends from our neighborhood and going to another friend's home for Christmas dinner.  Thanks to buddies, we had a fun Christmas open house gathering in our neighborhood.  Hubby and I munched more holiday treats than is probably good for a reindeer, but it was darn tasty! Kido enjoyed playing with her buddies-and learning about the joys of climbing up and down bunk beds...they make great caves and adventure locations.

Another reason I love my husband...he doesn't ask why when I volunteer him to be Santa at the holiday party...he just does it.

For Christmas Eve, we decided to have one more Istanbul adventure.  We visited Kanlica in Istanbul.  It is a small village that sits on the Bosphorus and is famous for their yogurts.  The kido and hubby had yogurt with powered sugar while I munched yogurt with honey-it was amazing.  The yogurt was not super thick, but had a great tangy flavor and was great at soaking up all the sugar!

After our adventures, we put out an apple for the reindeer and some cookies for Santa.  The kido made sure to write down a list of what all the children wanted for Christmas (including her furry puppy friends who couldn't use a pencil): a baby doll for her; a duck for Pumpkin; a squirrel for Jackson.  Christmas morning, we woke up to kido discovering that Santa had indeed arrived in Turkey.  St. Nicolas originally is from a small village located in Turkey (modern day Demre), so I think he didn't have too far to travel this year.  

The kido's favorite toy of the year was the horse (Angus) from Brave and Merdia the princess.  It helps that they both came with a small plastic bow and arrow.  The kido enjoyed using the bow and arrow to chase her father and I around the house attempting to catch us with a rough bow.  Thus far, bows have been located in the Christmas cake, under the table, on top of the dogs, and in my shoe.  Lovely.

Pumpkin and Jackson recieved a stuffed squirrel and duck.  They busily squeaked through the house for the rest of the day. 

Hubby and I made Christmas day cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs to keep up our energy through all the present unwrapping.  Hubby was very sweet and successfully made a 16 hour (usually about an 8 hour trip but got a little crazy because of a change in road regulations) treck back from Ankara to stock us with all kinds of Christmas goodies.  

After presents and breakfast,  I attempted a little taste of home with a red velvet cake recipe from Gabriel's (a favorite bakery in Marietta).  I didn't have any veggie oil to create the cake with, so I sent the hubby out for olive oil-it worked perfectly! I was a little worried it might make the cake taste too olivey, but it ended up fruity, light, and delicious...and probably better for us...until I smeared the whole thing with pecan-vanilla-cream cheese frosting.  Yum!! Kido who usually ignores all cake and just eats the frosting, loved the cake.  

We enjoyed sharing the Christmas cake with buddies and hung out eating lots and drinking amazing cranberry/orange/cinnamon tea.  Kido enjoyed chasing her buddies around the house and playing with all their new Christmas toys.


Our yummy cake.  It was amazing!

Looking forward to a few last adventures before the hubby leaves next week...and looking forward to all the adventures of the upcoming year!  

Snow, in Istanbul

As I mentioned, we got hit with our first snow of the season last week. On Thursday morning, we woke up to a light snow that I assumed would stop by the time lunch rolled around.  The funny thing about Istanbul is that it does not have to be at freezing to actually snow.  The amount of moisture in the air because we are surrounded by two large bodies of water (the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea) means the air is often cooler than the actual temperature-hence, lots of unpredicable snow.
By lunch, the snow was still coming down and looked like it was starting to stick.  Fast forward a few hours, and the roads looked like this:

Lovely right?  Work decided to allow us to head home early.  Our usually quick commute turned into a 4x's as long adventure.  We were thrilled to be home.  Friends normal 45 min. drive home turned into a 5 hour driveathon.  Yuck.  Snow is fun to play in, but not awesome to drive in when roads have not been plowed and folks are getting stuck all over.  Bummer!

We finally made it home for snowball fun with the kido.  I've spent our extra snow days cooking plenty of treats for the holidays-including the newest brownie creation, peanut butter and chocolate.  Kido managed to get a haircut-and in Turkey, haircuts are always great entertainment on a snowy day.  She had 2 different guys working to cut, curl, and shampoo her fluff.  She emerged quite the snow pampered princess and we celebrated new fluff day with yummy Turkish breakfast (yep, told you it was our favorite).

Diplo-hubby has braved the cold and some snow to bring us back a stockpile of American goodies from Ankara (closest Commissary).  He insisted his girls have a stockpile before he returns to the States-love him!
Best Holiday wishes to all!
Enjoy a snowball from here...

Put on your dancing shoes, snowballs are here, and Christmas is coming!

Last week, the Diplo-hubby had his first going away lunch with most of his co-workers.  They presented him with a plaque and a wonderful Turkish carpet with his name created in the center.  It was a truly wonderful gift and a great way to say goodbye to friends he has made while he has been here.  I know he is happy that he will be able to return to Turkey during breaks from Afghanistan and visit with friends.

And, as his tour here winds down, Diplo-hubby and I had another grand adventure with friends out to a local restaurant and show last week.  We are usually not late-night owls, so we planned on being proud of ourselves if we managed to make it past 10-we made it ‘till 12:30ish...go us!   The location was chosen by one of our wonderful local staff members-and she picked a great spot. The restaurant specialized in Lebanese food and the interior was eclectically decorated with everything from large pink Christmas trees to beautiful pieces of Turkish glass/ceramic ware.

Dinner Date!

The food was amazing and much more than we could put in our tummies.  For appetizers, there were stuffed peppers, hummus, spicy pepper dips, rolled/stuffed grape leaves, cheeses, and plenty of "poufy" yummy bread.  For the main course, there were several different kinds of kebab, peppers, and tasty spiced roasted potatoes.  As if we were not all full after all the amazing food, they brought out dessert bowls overflowing with fruit and platters with several types of dessert. 

In between huge munching sessions, there were several different performance by belly dancers-including male belly dancers! Never thought I’d see that!  The restaurant would also play music between performances and food being delivered, so the place quickly turned into a dance party around all the tables.  One of my awesome Turkish co-workers (who is also an amazing dancing gal!) jumped up right away and pulled Diplo-hubby and I up to dance.  She was awesome and with much laughter, giggling, and I’m sure messing it up royally, I had my first Turkish dance lesson.  She was awesome and great fun to learn from. 

It was a wonderful evening with friends with plenty of laughter, dancing, and more food than I could comprehend.  I know the hubby will miss everyone and all our hilarious adventuring when he leaves in two weeks-it was the perfect night-out send off.

Our current week has gone by in the blink of an eye, but I’m happy to report that we woke up to snow this morning.  I love the first snow of the season and I can’t wait to see the snow whirl around the Bosphorus.  I’m looking forward to settling in for the holiday long weekend and can’t wait to get started with some holiday baking.    

Where are we going next?

I have no idea where I will live in a year.  It is the funny thing about this job.  You have no idea which State, Country, or region you may find yourself in next.  Our bidding season will kick off this winter and we can't wait to see what the possiblities might be.  For now, we know that diplo-kid and I will be staying in Turkey for an extra year.  It allows me to keep my current position and allows the diplo-kid to start school with friends.  For the diplo-hubby it will mean a year in Afghanistan.  Like I said, it will be an interesting year for all the Ragan crew.

Diplo-hubby is wrapping up his time at Post this week.  Friends and co-workers are taking him out to final lunches and evening adventures.  It's hard to believe he has wrapped up his time at Post-two years goes by quick!  But, I know he is also glad he can come visit his second home-Turkey-during his time off from Afghanistan.  In some ways, we hope this year goes by fast.  In others, it will be hard to say goodbye to Turkey when the time comes, so I hope we slow down and enjoy the cups of tea while we still have time.

The Food

The Food.  Usually when I talk to friends back home, the one thing they want to know about is the food in Turkey.  The food is easy to summarize: Amazing.  Our favorite by far is Turkish breakfast.  The snack carts and markets are also awesome and we will miss the weekly selection of fruits and veggies when we leave.


Turkish breakfast usually involves a selection of yummy jams, honey, cheeses, meat, eggs, fruit, veggies, olives, and a huge variety of breads.  Tea is served all over Turkey any time of day and typically comes in the tiny tulip glasses pictured.  Hungry yet?






If breakfast isn't enough for you, there are always snacks-our favorites are Simits (kinda like a sesame

covered bagle) and roasted chestnuts-yum!

 Stacked Simits on Istikal

Roasting Chestnuts in winter

And if all that wasn't enough, there are plenty of markets full of fresh veggies, fruits, and plenty of other treats:

A typical summer haul from our market down the street-yum!