The Saddest Day...

The day that I ran out of money. [[Param yok!]] But aside from that fact, today was really not sad at all. More like, anti-sad actually. So I lied in my title, but whatever. You'll get over it.

What happened?? (you may be wondering) Well, the girls and I met up with Saba, our new Turkish friend and went to the most fabulous place for breakfast. It's called Malta Kosku and (from what I understood) it was one of the homes of a sultan. It is where the women and children stayed but now it is a city forest reserve. It was so neat because we riding in a taxi (along the normal, busy streets of Istanbul) when the driver turned and suddenly we were surrounded by lush forest. The breakfast was SO luxurious. We ate on a veranda outside this old home that has a great view of the Bosphorus. We even got to look around the place. After breakfast we walked around Ortakoy (the neighborhood nearby) with Saba and she helped us shop. Anneliese got this great dress and I bought some movies that are "essential to Turkish cinema" Saba said. After parting ways with Saba we went to the Grand Bazar and shopped, not until we dropped, but close.

Look, you're over already.

Oh my goodness, the most delightful thing just happened to me at the cornerstore market! Anneliese and I were standing in front of the very small meat section discussing dinner and if we should buy chicken this time. But we don't have any spices and what if the chicken is bland. Sick, we might as well not buy it. We might as well get kofte or iskender again because we can be sure that it will be flavorful. Blah, blah, blah. When suddenly we noticed these two little girls watching us curiously. They whispered amongst themselves. I smiled and said "Merhaba" to them. They smiled back at me and the younger of the two girls (in this sweet small voice) said, "Ne konusuyorsun?" I didn't quite understand her at first, partly because she spoke really softly and partly because when someone speaks Turkish to me, even a small child, I tend to tense up a bit. I think because I feel this pressure to understand and be able to communicate with them, or maybe I'm worried they think I'm a Turk, but anyway... What she asked me was "What are you speaking?". So I said, "Ingilizce" And they smiled and said "Aah" with this sort of amazed look on their faces. And that was it. It was a simple interaction, but a great victory. We communicated. And they were so precious, you should have seen them.

Okay so, enough about me. Let's talk about you for a minute. What was the best thing that happened to you this week? What has blessed you lately? I wanna know... so tell me.

Your friend,
Jessica SusanWright