my merhaba

hey this is a great site for anyone living in Turkey for a while
you can meet people
find out about events
learn more about Turkey
and basically help with any questions or needs about Turkey
its really great.

http://www.mymerhaba.com/

kahvaltı better known as Breakfast

Turkish breakfast is different than anything i was ever used to. None of the pancakes, bacon, waffles or other things i usually cook up for my morning meal.
Traditional Turkish Breakfast consists of usually fresh breads such as simit, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, many different cheeses, jams, honey, borek, olives, eggs, sausage, fresh squeezed orange juice, and of course tea.
delicious and nutritious is the  kahvaltı  which literally means before coffee. Here take a look at some photos of breakfast in Cesme at the summer home.

Ramazan

Or better known to us as Ramadan is a big fast in the Muslim culture that i was so excited to experience while i was here! instead of trying to explain it all i am just going  to copy and paste and let Wikipedia do it :) the classic 21st century way of learning!
Ramazan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamicmonth of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexwith their partners^[2] during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God. Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic: الله‎, trans: Allah) and to offer more prayer than usual. The dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon; thus, a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year in 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.


Now for what i have observed....
unfortunately i have not been as involved in it as i wish i could have. The family i live with does not practice the Ramazan fast except for the last day. Which Derin was excited about because they kiss their elders hands and get gold coins, money. Once we had someone over for dinner who was fasting and we had to wait until 8:30 when the sun went down to eat. When i was staying at a hostel near Takism Square i would stay up late talking to people and such and around 2 or 3am there would be a guy who would go around the streets banging a drum to wake everyone up so that they could eat before sunrise. My friend got a video of it but i didnt get one sadly, maybe she will send it to me. The restaurants all have things going on for the fast, specials or they are just open all night. In all the main places there are big areas with booth with shops (different arts and trades and things to sell) and places to eat. This is where i got to try the art of Ebru (also known as paper marbling) which is so cool!
What it is is a sort of bowl full of plain water or sometimes they add this stuff called size to it. You dip a rough paintbrush in the paint and then lightly tap it on the soft part of your hand between your thumb and index finger. The splashes of color spread in the water and once you have enough splatters of the colors you want you draw through it making a marble pattern. (its like baking where you draw a knife through the two mixtures of cake to make a pattern or with the icing). Then you dip the end of a tool in a different paint and when you dip it into the water it spreads out in a circle, the more times you dip the darker the color will be. you used different colors and techniques to make different designs. the easiest is the tulip which is made. if you want to learn the technical stuff about it here is the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_marbling.
here are a couple of cool videos about it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYGkGm6SaeU&feature=related
this one is long but it shows you alot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQSWmkt6-Hk&feature=related

What an amazing experience and time to be in Turkey! I love it!
Here are a few pics!

Manti

This is my favorite Turkish food, even though all of it is amazing!!! It is a kind of Turkish ravioli. It is usually hand made and takes a lot of time but it is delicious! It can either be fried or boiled although  I have only had it fried once and boiled is much better. You usually top it with Greek yogurt and then a blend of spices, tomato paste, and melted butter. Or you can eat it plain which is still amazing and i like it if the water has a bullion cube in it.

here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon water, or as needed 2 onions, peeled 1/2 pound ground beef

salt and pepper to taste 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 (8 ounce) container plain yogurt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and water, mixing well with your hands. Add more water, if needed, to form a soft dough. Cover and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
2.	Shred the onions and place them in a colander or sieve set over a bowl; drain the juice and discard. Combine the onion, ground beef, salt, and pepper; mix the meat well with a spoon until mashed.
3.	Divide the dough into two portions and lightly flour a work surface. Keep one piece of dough covered while you roll out the second portion into a rectangle, rolling the dough as thin as you can. Cut the rectangle into 2-inch squares with a knife or pastry wheel.
4.	Place about 2 teaspoons of the meat filling in the center of each square. Seal the dumplings by gathering the edges of the dough and pinching them together at the top to form a bundle. Transfer the finished manti to a floured plate, and sprinkle more flour over the manti to prevent sticking. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
5.	Heat the oil and red pepper flakes in a small skillet over low heat just until the pepper flakes have started to color the oil; don't let them burn. Remove from the heat and keep warm. Stir the minced garlic into the yogurt and set aside.
6.	Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook the manti until the filling is no longer pink, and the dough is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain well. Divide the manti among four plates. Spoon the yogurt sauce over the manti and drizzle each serving with the hot pepper oil. I got this one from all recipes but there are a lot of different versions of it. Try it you wont be sorry! :)

Some sort of confusion

In Turkish they use some words and phrases that cause confusion for me. I just want to clear up a few for those who share my feelings.

pasta means cake
corn flakes is just cereal in general
toast is grilled cheese
sic means dick
macaroni is pasta in general

thats all i can think of for now... i always seem to have so much more i want to say until i finally sit down to write it. i guess thats life. :)

take care!

Here's the sitch.

i have not been able to get on since we still do not have internet at the house and so every precious moment i get to get on i use for the really important stuff like family, school, and emails. Sorry for the let down but i am catching up! i still have tons to post about the boat trip, eges simit, and my trip to Bulgaria but i will get to that eventually i promise! right now i will do a quick catch up of my life...so fun.....

This is my last week with Zeynep. Its really sad and hard but i think it is for the best. Havva does not want to see me go and i am not sure if Zeynep knows what is going on but if not she will soon. all her friends already know from their moms or aupairs. Yudum told me not to say anything to her and her last plan of telling her i am going to the states for my sisters wedding (which was called off) is crumbling fast. I have spent the majority of my time at Zeyneps tennis tournament which consists of me sitting for hours in the hot sun and humidity watching a bunch of kids. I think i might shoot myself but it is the last day and tonight i am planning a dinner and shopping with some of the other aupairs. Hopefully they can all come!
Since i have been back from Bulgaria I have not had much time for anything. Basically I am with Zeynep 12 hours everyday which sucks. Yudum have been much more pleasant since i gave her my two weeks notice which was not what i expected but defiantly good. Kelly my bast friend here and the aupair for zeyneps friend Erin is leaving earlyer than planned. She was planning to stay until september but things worked out that her mom came to visit and now she is traveling with her and then leaving with her next week. I am really sad. I basically spent every day with her and now i wont see her anymore. she arrived in Turkey the day before i did and from the moment we met we were besties! so many good times. We are planning to spend her last day together (on MOnday) which also happens to be the 25th, a month before my birthday. She will not be here for it like we were planning on so we will have a early celebration which will include an amazing cake, the whole day to enjoy together (her mom is letting us have this last day to ourselves), and i am sure much crying as well. Last week i spent a day with her and her mom. We went again to the cistern and sultanamet area where we had the worst lunch ever (it took over an hour to get our food and they didnt even have my manti which i have been craving for two weeks!) and then we went to the grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. I came home that night to find myself locked out so i called April and hung out at her house and spent the night which was really nice. Since then I have met some great new friends in Kemer. Sarah, Roxie, and Monique and Maggie came back from vacations. Zeyneps cousin is here Seven who is really cool. She is 16 and really chill. Its been fun having her here and i think she will come out with us tonight.

so interesting thing happened. Yudum is planning to go to Bodrum with everyone on Monday, the day i was planning to move to my new family but my new family changed plans and they are going on vacation all next week and want me to start on the 1st so now i have a whole week free, work for one week, and then they leave to the states for another week. My plan now is to spend monday with kelly, and hostel it with Monique who is also quitting early. we might take a trip to Ephesus or some other cool ruins or something. idk it will be an adventure :)
well thats all for now.
take care!

Fun Fact of the Day

Turkish People call all cereal corn flakes.
this caused a bit of a mix up one day when Zeynep asked for some corn flakes and i literally brought her a bowl of cornflakes. it took me a min to figure out why she was upset, i did bring her what she asked for but what she really wanted was the coco puff cereal. I am starting to now say corn flakes for cereal but i am also starting to convert zeynep into calling corn flakes by their rightful name, cereal. :)