We’ve been camping in Izmir, Turkey for about four days. The Boy and i crashing on sofas in the living room in the fairly small apartment The Girl shares with one of her fellow teachers here. Although she was able to get a substantial chunk of time off work to babysit entertain us, she had to go to work this afternoon.
She’s been a fabulous guide for the past two weeks, showing us some amazing sites while teaching the basics of life in Turkey. The plan for today? The Boy and i would have a “down day” in the apartment while she and her roomie went to work. Plus, it’s definitely time to do some laundry.
The Girl was scared shitless about leaving us alone.
This morning, she fussed over every detail. How to open the doors. Which keys go where. How to lock the doors. How to close the doors without making a terrible noise and annoying the neighbors. How to run the washing machine.
Our plan was to go to the grocery store next door, buy some basics, and spend the afternoon cleaning the apartment top to bottom. She coached us again on how to say “I don’t speak Turkish”, and that the cashier would ask if we wanted a store loyalty card. Reminded us how to say “No”.
As she was preparing to leave, The Boy and i noted that we felt like latch-key children, being left on their own for the first time.
The Girl: Yeah… Kinda like two giant toddlers who like beer and cigarettes.
As she left, we prepared our game plan, and grocery list, for the day. Venturing out, we were going over roles and responsibilities. It’s my job to work the conversational bits, and he’s got the key/door thing down.
The Boy: Between the two of us, we’re like one functional person.
daisyfae: Almost…
But we did it. Remembering the type of cheese The Girl likes. Sorting through the aisle of cleaning supplies and figuring out which is for windows and which is for countertops (cleverly marked with pictures of windows and countertops, by the way). Me asking for cigarettes at the checkout… Picked up a store loyalty card, and was even able to take advantage of a special on bananas! 2kg* for 1 Turkish Lire!
The Boy fixed lunch while i started cleaning. “Start at the top and work your way down”. Didn’t take too long, and we were pretty proud of the results. Plenty of time to shower and relax before we make our way to the bus stop, and wait for the 209 this evening… Hopefully finding our way to her office to meet her after work for drinks!
Two very enterprising toddlers at Ephesus yesterday. Home to some seriously old shit…
* And that’s a metric shit ton of bananas, by the way…
Trailer Park Refugee 
Glad it’s going so well – nothing like having an insider to guide you round a bit. Was she warning you *against* a loyalty card though? Have you unwittingly joined some thousand year-old blood feud between two warring houses as an accidental consequence of buying bananas?
They must have knocked off several zeros from the Lire. When I went there a few years ago a newspaper cost 18.6 million and a hat would set you back 79.6 trillion.
But i saved 6.50 Turkish Lire on our purchases today? How can that be bad? The shop is literally 25 m from my daughters apartment (which i part of the reason we didn’t get lost), and she shops there often. Figured it would be a good plan. i provided no personal information, so as far as i can tell, they can’t even track us down… probably.
at the moment, the exchange rate is about 1.9TL for 1.0 USD. Fairly easy to do the math. A 50ml glass of Efes beer costs about 7 TL. This is about $3.50, and a bargain…
what a fantastic time! enjoy your holidays and all the best for the coming year
Thank you! We’re having a blast! Wishing you the very best for the new year!
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!
Sounds like a great time.
Thanks for sharing!
Goodness, I sound like a spambot.
You are the sweetest spambot ever! Merry Christmas to you and the entire clan!
now let’s not go all overboard in assuming you’re now a functional adult. wait and see if the apartment is still habitable at the end of the day. that, and you and The Boy are still accounted for and unindicted.
Yeah a lot can happen between now and midnight
We made it to town – by ourselves. We even managed to navigate through town on foot to find our destination. The Girl had suggested a taxi, but we braved the 20 minute walk. With no indictments. No incidents. And no standing on street corners and crying.
@nursemyra – and we made it back. after midnight. drinking a hot toddy expertly prepared by my daughters Brit roommate! yay!!
Aww …… the first time leaving the ‘kids’!
*sniff*
Toddlers are way smarter than they ever get credit for! 😉
So glad you’re having such a fabulous time! 🙂
She was worried. Especially because we didn’t have e-connectivity. But it was good for all of us! Hope you’re healing, and that you are being spoiled by the family over the holiday!
I’m worried about the store loyalty card as well. I think you might have made a HUGE mistake.
But…. i saved 6.50 turkish lire! that’s almost $3.00! how could i walk away from that?
Cheap bananas. In winter. In Turkey.
You have skilz.
She offered them up! i had been looking at bananas, but decided they’d be too pricey. at the checkout, she had two bunches for 1TL. i couldn’t pass it up. i DID pass on the mushroom special…
Wow. And another one for good measure.
Thank you! And good wishes headed your way as well!
I love bananas. I am bananas.
Me too! Me too!
Does The Girl want another house guest? You know how I like to travel to far-off places to meet the ladies.
It’s a lovely apartment, but a bit crowded with 2 extra people in it… suspect she’d welcome visitors, but i recommend waiting til summer. There is no heat….
Is it possible to date your daughter? i’m just asking, i want in to your family, i sure as hell hope my boyos want to hang out with their old man when they get to be that age, of course i’ll offer to take them to Amsterdam and i’m sure shit will be fine.
She’s available at the moment, but i’ve got dibs on you, sir! Hope you have as much fun with your adult spawn as i’m having with mine! Someday, The Boy and i could conceivably do Amsterdam…
I am jealous. That is all.