Visitors and Christmas Prep

Ami:

In the last month we've had a barrage of visitors (ok, maybe only 2, but that's more than I expected!) and have been settling into a the recently arrived cold weather.

Gia came to visit with her parents during a luckily, slow week at work and we were able to go do some interesting sightseeing with them. We went to the archeology museum and got to hear the perspective of an art historian (Gia and their guide), and visit with the many cats that live in the museum's courtyard.

 I also went to the Cemberlitas Hamam with them, one of the oldest bath houses in Istanbul. The bathing room has a huge, round heated marble slab for lounging in the steam and looking up at the stone ceiling pierced by dozens of small, star like aperatures to let in some natural light. The women there soap you up with large pillow case type cloths that can trap air inside and push out soap bubbles when you squeeze. You get scrubbed with coarse mitts that take look black with dead skin cells and dirt once you're finished. We also ate tons and tons of wonderful food (in true Pisto style) and it was really wonderful to see Gia.

Last week our friend Mitch came to visit in the midst of his cross-Asia-and-Europe travels. Unlike during Gia's visit, Mitch was here over a particularly hectic weekend, but we did get to hang out and do some relaxing around Bakirkoy and Istanbul. During one of the walks we took to go find this big outlet mall, we passed blocks and blocks of fur shops. Apparently the whole fur district. There were coats and pelts of so many animals, some recognizable, others less so, some dyed hideous unnatural colors (an apple green fur coat!), and some racks with only tails hung in long heavy rows. There were even some raccoons. One the streets outside the shops were little bits of fur and I really think I saw a tiny little flattened nose next to a pile of trash from the sewing rooms. Then Mitch headed off for the rest of his adventures, which I've got to say I'm a little jealous of!

Recently I've been preparing a package to send home for Christmas. Shopping for gifts, trying to imagine what to avoid that will get the package caught in customs, and fumbling through finding a place to get a plain, brown shipping box – but I'm almost done and it'll be on it's way very soon! It's funny to realize it's almost Thanksgiving and there's not been a hint of turkeys or pilgrims let alone the oppressive launch of Christmas season shopping in the malls. I doubt we'll do anything for Thanksgiving, but I'm lobbying for a Christmas / Hannukah / Holiday event. I will say that I've already seen a Christmas tree in someone's flat here in Bakirkoy! That was a surprise!

(NOTE! At the moment it is impossible to get photos posted here, I'm not sure why but it's got something to do with Vox running really erratically on our end. There are lots of beautiful and interesting new photos on our flickr though - go look!)