so how does it feel to be back?

I think that question, along with "so, how was your trip?!?!", should be banned from ever being asked. AGH! I feel like ripping my hair out just thinking about how many times i've been asked that question...

Maybe in an effort to thwart people from asking, I'll just try and give an answer here:

Well, it’s been just over a month since I’ve been back. Getting ready to come back was such a whirlwind, I barely remember the return. The flights were fine, though changing terminals at Heathrow was a mess. I kinda really despise that place:

I had an early flight from Ankara to London and I wasn’t feeling well, so lugging my over-packed carry-ons to the other side of Heathrow was not exactly something I looked forward to doing. But, the transition was pretty easy…until I got into the security area of the new terminal. At the entrance to security, a man was posted to tell all incoming people that they were only allowed one carry-on, so those with more bags had to either a) fit them all together in one or b) check one of the bags.

Well, given that I was coming back from nine months away and I had already checked three overweight bags, I had multiple carry-ons. I spent much too much time trying to fit them together; it was really a futile task. And then, oh, and then! I had the most genius of plans:

I tied the two bags together by their handles to create—ta-da—one bag! And it fit into the little bin that sizes carry-on bags. So, all huzzah-like, I walked over to security, put my "bag" on the conveyor, and successfully made it through. In my excitement, however, I nearly left my laptop behind on the belt. Whoops. But, then, in full view of all the security guys, I just untied the bags and continued my walk with two. Hoorah.

But so much for my genius…

I got to JFK and stood around the baggage carousel for an extra 45-minutes waiting for my last bag. Of course, I can never get away with traveling easily…I have a nasty history of either being stuck with excessive delays or losing my baggage.

At that point, it was 10 pm [5 am Turkey time] and I hadn't slept a wink. So, I gave up and went to report my lost bag. I wasn’t too concerned about it until a few days later when it still hadn’t shown up and I realized that I had put all my photos and all my negatives in that bag. Of course, the things I most desperately wanted and needed were lost lost LOST! Egad.

Well, after a week of constantly calling the USAir baggage peeps, they finally located the bag. Apparently, the bag was so heavy that the router tag got stuck on something and was ripped off [you thought that glue was infallible didn’t you].

Consequently, my bag hadn’t even made it out of Ankara. Then, to top it off, USAir located the bag but had to wait for British Airways to acknowledge that they had it. Part of the problem was that they kept reading the contact info wrongly and kept calling the wrong number. They found it while I was visiting the Brother and left a message with Psticker when she was dogsitting. Apparently, the guy told her that he was going to file a complaint about the utter stupidity of the people dealing with it.

Anyhow, for three or four days there was no new news as we waited for British Airways. Eventually, after a week had passed, I was referred to another fella who, lo and behold, still had nothing to tell me. And then, all of a sudden, the phone rang and he said

“oh, well, turns out your bag’s at JFK now. Nobody told us. But, cool.”

So a few days later, circa midnight, some guy comes to the door with his arm nearly ripped out of its socket, dragging my uberheavy duffel bag behind him. Even dad had trouble bringing it up the stairs [you should have seen my cousin Ebru in her high heels trying to walk with it through the airport in Ankara, poor gal].

In the end, I am happy to report that the bag made it [though it was pretty well destroyed] and my pictures are all in good health. The only thing I found missing was my Singing in the Rain DVD. Odd.

And now it’s back to the grind of my “old” life. While it may be comparatively unexciting, I have to say that overall it’s been good to be back. Busy. The days flit by and I don’t exactly know where they go. It’s not like I’m waking up late—6:45 am is not late, at least according to mother dearest—so I should have lots of time to fill up. I mean, I should be bored sometimes, with nothing to do.

Somehow, though, this just isn’t the case. My days are inexplicably full. Until this morning, I didn’t even realize that the last time I posted was in October. It feels like I came home just yesterday.

I guess I just haven’t had a lot of time for lollygagging around:

Two days after my return to home I was back in the car with the parental units on our way to visit the Brother for the weekend. The ride was nice, unlike down back home the leaves had changed color and the woods along the route flooded us with a pretty fall palette.

It was great to see the Brother; he was definitely surprised to see me. He’s so happy and comfortable living his own life, having fun, working hard, and making friends. Nowadays, he’s all too ready for us to leave and to get back to his own life. Ironically, it’s nice to see. It’s such a different experience from when he’d go to summer camp…you’d think mum and dad had abandoned him in some prison! Actually, those were his words, so perhaps I’m biased.

Upon returning, it was time to unpack…not so much fun as it was time consuming. And that is when the great purge began! All of my clothes when out the door to the thrift store. I regret that I didn’t just get rid of them in Turkey and I don’t know why I didn’t. There were plenty of needy people and I would have had a lot more space to bring things back for people…I didn’t even bring back most of the stuff I wanted for myself…and the one thing I did bring back for myself ended up breaking. Gah!

After the great purge, I was literally left with a few ratty gym shirts, some skirts, jeans, and a couple of sweaters. It felt good to get rid of all the stuff I couldn’t bear to look at another day…that is, it felt good until the next morning when I realized I had absolutely nothing to wear. So, filling up various days through the month has been the requisite clothes buying and returning…a pain when you go to the faraway/always trafficked mall at the beginning of the holiday season.

At least now, to everyone’s delight and sighs of relief, I am re-clothed. Hooray hooray.

Other bits of my time have been spent grocery shopping and cooking, which has resulted in two new and very delicious recipes. The first, apple cider and pomegranate sorbet, was a big hit at the impromptu cake-and-ice cream Halloween party Psticker and I threw.

Here are some party pictures [alas, none of Psticker and me as "bees" or our guests...maybe someone else has some?], followed by the recipe:

Even the Pupster is dressed for the occasion! She's officially won the "super original design" award by wearing this fantastic dog ear get-up:

As for the cakes, Psticker and I are fabulous Icing Appliers [real job title]:

Superb Halloween-themed icing by Psticker.

The Paleobotanist sent me a skull shaped cake pan, so it had to get used! Icing by Ay. Plastic rat placed cleverly by Psticker [with love from Target].

Apple Cider and Pomegranate Sorbet

for the simple syrup:
1 c water
1 1/4 c sugar
peel of one orange, cut into strips
2 cinnamon sticks broken in half
1 tsp whole clove

6 c apple cider [unspiced]
juice of 1 pomegranate*
1/3 c simple syrup

1. make the simple syrup:

a. place water and sugar in a saucepan. over medium-low heat, dissolve sugar. when sugar is dissolved, raise the heat and boil for one minute.

b. add orange peel, cinnamon sticks, and cloves to the syrup. boil another 3-5 minutes. set aside.


2. make sorbet:

a. place apple cider, pomegranate juice, and 1/3 c of the simple syrup in a saucepan. over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil and boil down to approximately 4 cups of liquid.

b. let liquid cool to room temperature.


3. process and freeze:

a. put mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions and then put in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

or

b. pour the mixture into a large square cake pan and place in the freezer. leave in freezer for 2 hours. after 2 hours, mix the mush with a fork or whisk every hour until icy and chunky in consistency.

*pomegranates are easy to juice--you can do it just like a lemon! cut it in half then, using a lemon juicer, juice each half. if you don't have a lemon juicer, you can use a fork: place the fork in one section of the half and turn the pomegranate, keeping the fork still. repeat this with the fork in different sections until it's all juiced. strain the result to get the seeds out*

The second recipe was initially supposed to be a soup adapted from the Best American Recipes 2005-2006, but it ended up as a puree because I didn’t add enough liquid. Adding more water or broth after pureeing can make it into a soup, but mother dearest was so delighted by the puree that she insisted that it stay that way and then had me make it for Thanksgiving, too!

Puree of Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, and Carrot

1 1/2 lbs of butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
3 c chicken broth
1 tbsp heavy cream [optional]
salt and pepper
olive oil

1. preheat oven to 400 F. toss squash, potatoes, and carrots with olive oil and place in oven to roast until soft.

note: you may want to put the different vegetables in separate pans to roast as some cook faster than others. otherwise, keep an eye on them and pick out pieces as they are done and put them aside.

2. in a large pot, cook onions in olive oil until soft. do not brown them.

3. add bay leaf and thyme. cook, while stirring, 30 seconds. add roasted veggies and cook 2-3 minutes, taking care not to scorch the veggies.

4. add the chicken stock and simmer for approximately 15 minutes.

5. transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and season with salt and pepper. if desired, add heavy cream while processing.

6. puree until smooth and thick.

7. if you want soup instead of a puree, return the mixture to the pot and add water or chicken broth until the desired consistency is achieved.

Let’s see, what else has been sucking up my life? Well, other than the trip to the Brother’s estate, there have been a couple of side vacays:

One, in early November, was to New York where I met up with dear Yvonne, visiting from California. That was yet another wonderful Yvonne + Ayla crazy day, filled with loads of fun and loads of food. Mmm cuban corn! It’s good that we can still manage to have nutso traveling experiences without being in a foreign country. I’ll put up pictures sometime soon.

Then there was the Boston trip with Psticker, another great time [though it may have involved too many headstones, jellyfish and penguins]. Again, pictures are forthcoming.

Oh, yeaaaaaah...there was also a Thanksgiving feast comprised of 46 people, 4 turkeys and 3 types of cheesecake. Usually we average in the 30s and have 3 turkeys and 1 cheesecake, but this was outta control! Definitely a record. Somehow, we still managed to have leftovers…ugh.

Whew!

When I think about it, I guess my time back has really been a bit of a whirlwind. I guess I’ve been reading a lot, too…like, I mean, a ridiculous lot. That can eat up a hearty chunk o' time. But, It’s been a long time since I’ve done really significant reading and picked up one book after another after another. Of course, I have always made sure I read a book [not schoolwork or articles or that kind of stuff, but an enjoyable book] before I go to bed, but the rate of getting through books has been pretty slow until now.

And I am quite happy about that little change in my life.

But, you know, I don’t think I’ve really had the chance…or maybe, I just haven’t allowed myself to take the time…to think and decompress from Turkey yet. I mean, I think about it a lot and, oftentimes, I still think in Turkish, continuing to have trouble conjuring up words in English [it’s really bad when I’m with a group of people, oddly enough]. There are also definite changes in my life, often subtle, that I don’t even notice sometimes.

There are a lot of things about Turkey and my time there that I never came to terms with. Hopefully, as I get back in to writing about my life there the process will force me to confront some of those things. Maybe now that I’m back in the groove I’ll finally sit down and hash out where the experience has actually affected me, why it has, and what role I want it to play in my life now…because I know that it is definitely affecting the way I’m thinking about my immediate future.

My my. I do sound awful floofy these days...

But, next post I promise to be better: back to Turkey travels!