conundrum.

I enjoy doing my laundry in Turkey. It takes forever—1.5 hours for one load—but afterwards I get to hang it out on the line to dry. Dryers? Not a big thing here.

Putting clothes out to dry is always quite an event for me. I’m on the top floor of my building and it manages to be eternally windy out on my balcony. Until recently, it’s also been incredibly cold. So, when I’m hanging clothes not only do I have to constantly chase after them, but I’m generally concurrently freezing my butt off. In March, I had to wear gloves because my fingers would clamp up Pamukcuitis style.

Nonetheless, I get some kind of sick pleasure out of hanging my clothes out to dry. It's just so satisfying when I manage to complete the task without dying [I bet you never would have guessed that hanging your clothes out to dry could be fatal]! I expect this enjoyment will die soon, but it has been 3 months already…

I pay particular attention and care in organizing my lines. I first pin all the main clothes up by color. By the time that's done I’ve usually run out of line space and clothespins. But, I've still got socks, etc., to deal with. So, like an exciting little brainteaser, I try to match sock colors up with clothes. It never works out, but it’s a seriously effective way of procrastinating.

Oh dear. I’ve revealed too much haven’t I? You think I’m a freak, don’t you? Well, I'm sorry if I've scared you, but I just can't hide the truth any longer!

It took me a bit to figure out the best way to hang things. I was apparently doing it wrong for awhile, pinning my shirts at the sleeves. One day I looked around and noticed that all the pros, i.e. my neighbors, were hanging their shirts from the bottom seam. So, I did that and, let me say, it actually did make some kind of a difference. It might be a mental thing, but I'm pretty sure this was an important thing to learn...maybe.

Now, there are definite pros and cons to the line dry.

PROS:

1. Everything comes out virtually wrinkle free, so no ironing is necessary.

2. If I put my clothes out in the morning they are dry by late afternoon/early evening [thank you dry Ankara air]. Consequently, I don’t have to worry about not having dry clothes the next day…that is, if it doesn’t rain/sleet/snow/hail as it did a few weeks ago.

CONS:

1. Sheets and towels come out pretty scratchy and so not fluffy. Pants also end up being stiff as a board. This can often be remedied by using a low heat iron on them…negating the 'no ironing necessary' aspect of the line dry. Dap naggit.

2. I haven’t really perfected the clothes hanging skill, which oftentimes creates a conundrum:

Every time I’ve put out my clothes, no matter how many clothespins I use, I’ve ended up with underwear or socks stuck in a tree below. And, of course, it’s on a branch I can’t reach. Thus, I end up sitting there shaking the tree, with some dopey fake smile on my face, while people look at me like I’m crazy. Really, though, that’s not so much of a problem...

But, what about when this happens? When your sock falls to the balcony below. WHAT DO I DO?!

Or, how about this, as happened two weeks ago:

My sweater fell. It caught the edge of the balcony below me and was hanging from the wrist area of the sleeve. [it looked like an invisible person was hanging on for dear life, actually] Now, I thought, one of two things could happen. One, the person would find it on her balcony and hang it on my doorknob, as she once before. Two, it would fall.

I was sure it would just fall off to the ground eventually. But no, neither of these options occurred. Instead, the wind caught my sweater and managed to move it 20 feet to the side and down...onto another person’s balcony.

When this happens, I usually spend the remainder of the day constantly praying that some divine intervention will cause it to fall to the ground. That’s what happened with my sock.

That is not what happened with my sweater. ah! now what?! Do I just forget the sweater because I'm too scared of making a fool of myself to get it back? Or do I suck it up and go talk to the people?!

Well, it was one of my favorite sweaters...

So [GASP] I decided to go talk to the people.

I rehearsed what I’d say over and over again. Then, around 11:45 am, I went downstairs. A man opened the door and stared at me like I was an alien. This stare continued for the duration of my time there.

I stuttered through what I planned to say and the man looked entirely flabbergasted. But, then the woman of the house came over and was much more understanding, though she too gave me a strange look. As she brought me to the balcony to collect my sweater, I noticed that 7 or 8 people were living in this tiny apartment. Most of them were still in bed. I knew because they had their doors open and pulled up the covers when I walked past. That is, except for the one’s who were sleeping on the couches, they couldn’t really hide.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn't just a normal apartment. I’ve seen a number of mentally and physically disabled people going up and down the stairs and stopping at that door, but I’m not sure if it’s some kind of organized system or if it’s just a family. I'm interested in finding out more, especially if it isn't just a plain old apartment. It seemed somewhat sketchy...or maybe just a bit unfortunate.

In any case, the whole experience was a little awkward.

But, hey, I got my sweater back! I’m thinking of trying to make orange bars next week—like lemon bars, but with orange instead! Maybe I’ll bring them some to thank them. It was one of my favorite sweaters, after all.

Slowly slowly I'm beginning to perfect the Art of Clothes Hanging. It’s kind of embarrassing. All these women around me just know how to hang and it’s easy peasy puddin' 'n' pie. No one but me ever has things fallen to the ground. Hopefully, one day, I can be as great as them. If only. Gotta dream big, Ay! Oh, what a dream…