First Day Off or Initiation By Fire

Today was my first day off and it was great! First of all I was able to sleep late and it was great! Then I got ready and my Patron took me across the harbor to an area of town known as Bebek. Armed with my ferry schedule and tourist guidebook I was off. I walked around until I found a bench over looking the water. No boats. It was a perfect view. I sat, listened to my ipod. Then I took a bus to the other end of town to Besiktas where I caught the ferry to Karakoy. My first day out and I went all over town and figured out how to put money on my transportation card. I was very proud of myself. So was everyone at the house. You see it took one of their other nannies about a month to figure out the system and leave the house. At least that is how Mother Hen told it to me. Mother Hen is the servant who knows all at our house. Her husband, Java we’ll call him, works here also and is great. In all fairness though the buss is somewhat tricky because not only can you not communicate with the people around you or read where you are going but the busses don’t really stop. Twice today I jumped off a moving the bus. I got off the bus at the wrong stop on the way to catch the ferry, which was silly, and on the way home I was up to get off and he drove past my stop. That was annoying. But it all added to the grand adventure that was today.

As a side note, a man today selling a paper and talking at me very quickly in Turkish approached me. I just gave him the “deer in the headlights” look and then he realized,

“You don’t speak Turkish do you?”

Nope.

“Oh. Pardon.”

As silly as it sounds I was excited to be mistaken for a native person. I don’t really like sticking out like a sore thumb all the time. But my hair and eyes tend to give me away.

I made the trip to Karakoy to meet some of Caitlin’s friends for dinner. I met Carolina and the Graphic Designer. They cooked me dinner at their apartment and we ate ice cream. I felt so loved and welcomed. My spirits were boosted tremendously. We talked about living in Turkey as Americans, Turkish Politics, the Lord, and the bowling cats that live upstairs. You see the people above them have cats who roll stuff across the floor in the middle of the night and knock other things down. I laughed a lot and it was great. They are believers and I can’t tell you how much it meant to pray before we ate. I almost cried. We take it for granted so often in the states but it is a privilege like all our other prayers. They invited me back any time and offered me their guest room for an escape if needed.

Back at home I brought cokes for Cinderella, Mother Hen, and Java. So that was good. Discussed the plan with my patron for the weekend while she and Baba are at a boat show. Pray that I will love this time and I will be able to bond with the kids. Pray he will give me creative things to do with them. Pray that I will not be lazy and just stick them in front of the television. Today was a blessing from the Lord and an answer to prayer. I am excited for tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers and love.