More snooooooow!

How campus looked this afternoon (Photo: Kelly Nielsen)

Tomorrow is a snow day!  I'm so happy that I know this now rather than getting up at 6am for nothing. Alex had a bit of an adventure getting home. One of the buses got stuck going up a steep hill, and when he got off the bus to walk the rest of the way, he had to quickly get out of the way of a fight (!), perhaps about a car accident... Yikes! Later, after he got off the last bus close to home, there was a crazy flash of lightning followed by thunder and hail. What a day...

Here is the scene on Wednesday morning:

Brrrrrrrrr!

 

Just Hanging Out in the Neighborhood

Can you see the minaret in the background? Our apartment building is just to the right.

 

For the first time (since August 2013), there is a place to hang out in our neighborhood! It's a cafe, Robert's Coffee, that opened up in one of the new apartment complexes. Not the best, not the worst, but good enough to have a decent cappuccino and a snack. It may even serve as a place for Alex to work on his research when he doesn't trek out to the archives.

End of Vacation Art

Spring? HA!

Just in time for the first week of classes...

Hint of Spring

Walking from the university gate to campus this morning, it sure felt like spring. It's a temporary condition; the cold rain is supposed to return next week. I was walking because the minibus was ridiculously crowded, and the driver was less mindful of his passengers than usual, so I just got out at the gate. The 10-minute walk was much more pleasant indeed!

One fifteenth of 2015

1.  We welcomed the New Year with a modest celebration--Doctor Who followed by prosecco at midnight. 

 

40 seconds into the New Year!

2. I found a superbly unhelpful sign about the demise of "akbil," which was a popular method for paying the fare on public transportation:

The sign says: 

NO AKBIL

We don't know where you can find it!

3. Margaret and Jason visited! Poor things stayed for the coldest, wettest, snowiest days of the winter!! Thank you so much for coming!!!

Intrepid travellers we!

 

4. The holiday decorations were still up on January 7!

5. Aya Sofya is as amazing as ever, and I spied another graffiti detail (new to me, anyway).

6. The restaurant staff took pity on us and brought over a brazier to warm our frozen feet.

7. A gentle sunrise seen from the living room window.

8.  The frozen landscape in Gezi Park.

9. Topkapı Palace in the relentless rain.

10. No electricity when we got back to the apartment!

11.  A beautiful day to go to Asia (Kadıköy).

12.  Art! Architecture!

13. Sigh, all good things must come to an end. Margaret and Jason went back to the states. I went back to work to proctor and grade proficiency exams. The bright spot was this cat who decided to park on my lap in the cafeteria in the university.

14. Now that I am officially on vacation, I've gotten back out and about to see more of the old city.

15. Yesterday, after wandering for nearly an hour to find an Ethiopian restaurant, we were rewarded with a scrumptious meal, mesmerizing music videos (serious shoulder dancing!), and after dinner coffee with popcorn and incense, of course.

Odds and Ends for the End of 2014

Well, December has been a bit of a slog... weather-wise and work-wise! Classes and exams are over, and later this morning I'll submit the final grades [cue anticipation drumroll] and then.... another round of proficiency exams [cue sad trombone]. On the bright side, Margaret and Jason are coming to visit the following week, and that is sooo exciting! I CAN'T WAIT...

So, here are a few odds and ends from some fun things we have done lately:

Christmas tour of nearby villages

 

Pylons for the Third Bridge

 Fishing boat frenzy

 Chickens among the ruins

 The beach at Kilyos

 Random ivy covered remains of an arch or wall in Kilyos

 Approaching more monster pylons for the highway that will connect with the Third Bridge, 

taken from inside the minibus

A tiny glimpse of the madness that was the Istanbul Coffee Festival

Someone's homemade scooter, pretty much held together with packing tape

 Holiday day lights at the apartment complex