A New Coat!

Today, I woke up at one p.m. (anne told me she was worried I might have been dead) and had a delicious zucchini and white cheese omelette anne made for me. Then, Ilke picked us up and took us shopping at a HUGE mall in Ankara. It was very modern and beautiful. There was a really great Zara and many very trendy and chic international brands. We went to Inci (EEN-JEE, meaning pearl in Turkish), which was a very nice shoe store, similar to Nine West. I found out I'm a size 40 European. I tried on a cute pair of sandals, and when I tried taking them off/putting on new ones myself, an employee came over an took it off/put it on for me! It was wild. Apparently this is a very usual thing in Turkey. The service here is amazing.

I looked around in Zara first and then went back at the end to buy myself a winter coat, as I had stupidly lost both of the ones I had this winter. It is really nice! It is sort of a camel color, which I've never had before, and is a peacoat with a very beautiful, gathered neck. It was 200 TurkLira, which is actually only about $130 (don't worry, Mom!). I found out also that instead of adding on tax at checkout, the price on the tag already includes the tax. Woohoo! Also, as a foreigner, for any purchase over $100, I get a piece of paper showing how much I paid in tax, and in the airport at the end of my trip, they'll give me all of my tax back in cash. Sweet.

Ilke and I are getting very close, as her English is very good and we have very similar taste/personalities. She is very, very nice. She took me to see Going the Distance (an English film, with Drew Barrymore and Justin Long) in the same mall where we shopped. It was incredibly modern and nice. It was built so it wrapped around the interior of the second floor of the mall. It had lots of moving green lights and beautiful dark wooden sculpture. To buy tickets, there was a kiosk, or you could go up and talk to a person. Also, when you buy tickets, you specifically choose the seats you want on this little screen. Amazing. We got 6 & 7 J. They won't let you sit so that there are empty seats besides you, though. Ahh, and I left my cardigan thing on my seat! My baba is going to pick it up for me tomorrow, though. Ilke called.

I also got two of these weird long candy things. They are translucent brown and about ten inches long and are filled with nuts. Mine were pistachio and walnut. There is a central piece of twine it is strung on, and you sort of just chew it. It wasn't nearly as sweet as I thought, but much tougher and chewier, like jerky. I liked the pistachio the best. It might also be a comfort for you all to know that they still have the exact same disgusting nachos and popcorn, both of which we got.

Anne made meatballs, which I tried, and yummy grilled little peppers. There was also good yogurt and rice soup with mint and pepper. It turns out she makes her own yogurt. So amazing. Just now, I had a snack of kaymak with honey, a fig, and a really delicious little savory cookie with sesame that anne made to send to her son, Onur, in the army. I also had some seltzer water, which, like most drinks, came in a tiny little glass bottle I had to open with a bottle opener.

Going the Distance was really good, by the way. Best romantic comedy I've seen in a long time. Hilarious. Go see it. Here, it was in English with Turkish subtitles. The ad for Gulliver's Travels, with Jack Black, was dubbed over, though, and it was really funny and strange.

Oh, hah, and today, Ilke turned to talk to my anne, and we had just been talking in English. I had put my hair up in some ratty bun, but Ilke turned to anne and said "And this way she looks so beautiful as well!" She realized right away that she had spoken in English instead of Turkish, and she was very embarrassed and we all thought it was very funny. See how sweet she is?! Absurd.

I should go to bed now, it's nearly three and already the imams are drumming for people to get up and eat.

Iyi gece (ee-yee geh-jay, good night),

Natalia