"And you want resizing, but darling dear, get a grip." -Cute Is What We Aim For

That song was in my head when I got up.
I certainly hope God wasn't trying to tell me something haha.

So the past couple of days have been a whirlwind...I'll just try to give you a scatterbrained version of the high points. The other night (Tuesday night) D got out of bed and came into where A and I were to inform us that he had forgotten she had a dress rehearsal Thursday (today) and would need her costume by then instead of Monday. Bad. News. So A, who would have no time to go shopping for the things we needed the next day, stayed up for half an hour calling all the stores that would possibly have what we needed and asking them to hold them in her name. She asked me if I could go and pick them up. I tried to respond carefully, "Yes, I would be more than happy to pick them up just know I won't be able to talk to any of the salesclerks." She decided to send Yilmus, thank God. So we made a game plan, and by we made a game play, I mean we talked about what I would do to make this happen the next day. I asked her how to say "Show me" (I even made her write it down) because I've needed to say that several times to Sheeren and Vala. I told her they must think I'm complete idiot because when they're doing something and I point to myself, indicating I'd like to learn, they think I mean I'd like to do it myself and they say OK and walk away to which I respond with quick "No no! Come backs!" and then everyone is confused. She laughed.
"You laugh now, but I bet if you asked them, 'Hey guys, what do you think of the new au pair?' They'd say, 'you hired quite the American idiot'" and she cracked up! So obviously, I thought, I should continue this haha.
"So when the chance arises, if you could kindly tell them I am in fact, not an idiot, I just don't know Turkish."
She laughed again! "Well, I don't really know..."
"Fair enough, I've only been here a week...you haven't had enough time to make an educated decision on whether or not I'm competent, but I assure you, I am a pretty intelligent person" She died laughing! She grabbed her stomach and everything! Two birds with one stone! I assured her I am competent AND I might have made her like me a little! "That eez so funny." Then we talked about how I had been saying "Bon Appetit" for "thank you" the last couple of days because whenever I say "thank you" to Vala when she's giving me food, she says "Oviltolsum" which I assumed meant thank you. "You've been saying that?!" Again, she died. "This will be fun" "I'm determined to learn! I'm going to write down 'thank you'" and I ran from the room. She said she'd get me a dictionary. I hope she means it. It kills me that I can't ask Sheeren and Cavit and Vala about their lives...I want to know if they're married, have kids, visit their parents often, worked here long, etc. I hate it. So then I went to bed, got the D up at 7, which is getting easier. I think we're getting into a routine. I hadn't gotten E up because he was supposed to stay home but the poor kid walked out because he was supposed to stay home (if I'm repeating things I'm sorry) because he was still sick but the poor kid walked out at 7:10 and said, "Why you not wake me up?" "You're staying home, buddy. You're sick, remember?" "No no! I feel very good! Today is show and tell!" And got so upset that A came out and said if he wanted to go that bad we would let him. So we sent him off with some medicine in his bag and he promised me he would "run very very slowly" when he played outside. I can't remember what else happened that day... oh, yeah. So Eren, I believe I like but he is very much a typical young Turkish man. He said, "You know, E is just like me? I am so proud of him." "How so?" "In Kindergarten they called him Terrorist." "Why?" "Because when kids would fight with him he wouldn't resond or argue back or anything..." and just when I was about to be impressed with E's maturity, Eren completed the sentence with... "he would just turn around and punch them." "What?! I will not encourage that!" "No no, it's great! That's life!" Christine and I just looked at each other, kind of puzzled. So there's a little tid bit for you. Yesterday...kids were up and off to school. A and I went over the stuff that Yilmus had dropped off and I got started on that. I did that most of the morning I think than was ready at quarter to two for Yilmus to pick me up to get E from school and then go to D's volleyball match. I enjoy drives with Yilmus because he tries to speak his broken English to me and when he's given up, we sit comfortably in silence and I look out the window as we wind all over the place. It just feels so good to be out of the house. So we got E from school, it's in a complex right next to D's and this place is HUGE! It has all kinds of sports facilities too! Then we went to the gym and played around while we waited for D to come out. Yilmus bought us some cookies which was fun and it was very encouraging when D came out and saw me and yelled my name and ran and gave me a hug. I was glad she was glad I was there. The match was pretty intense! They lost...badly. And D only played for MAYBE two minutes and reminded me a lot of myself in that she got a little timid when the ball came her way. But when she hit it, she scored a point for her team :) She was very excited. Then we headed home, got home late because of traffic and it was crazy from then on out. I had no idea how I was supposed to do it, A was gone all night (she takes a class til 10:30 or so on Wednesdays) and D is out of town so I was unsure how to best get them through dinner (sometimes a challenge when E refuses to eat), bathe E, help D with her homework, finish her costume (which was not even half way done at this point), and get them ready/put them to bed...on time. Cavit helped me with E at dinner...he was beside himself. Not only did he not like the food but I kept fussing at them to speak in English and when he wouldn't D helps me sometimes by responding to his Turkish with, "Sorry, I don't understand. What are you saying?" until he speaks in English. Usually it works but last night it just pissed him off. "We are in Turkey. We will speak Turkish" he said in the whiney voice that I can't stand. "But you know Caitlin can't understand Turkish". When I told him it was bathe time it got even worse... So I sent D to go practice piano and coerced E into bathe time with the promise of playing with bath toys. It wasn't too bad, he tried my patience a couple of times but nothing a normal five year old wouldn't do. When it came time for bed though all hell broke loose. He wanted to sleep with D but wasn't allowed because they were both still a little sick. He wanted to call his Dad to get permission but didn't understand that he couldn't call him because he was in Switzerland. So then he wanted to call A because he was upset about going to bed without seeing her but didn't understand that she couldn't answer because she was in a class and poor Sheeren was trying so hard to reason with him and he just yelled and yelled (he's a yeller) so finally, I'm not quite sure how it happened but I got him in his bathroom, brushed his teeth, and in bed. He certainly didn't want to stay there but I told him I would come check on him after he was asleep. So then I went into D's room, went over spelling with her (which she did perfectly, she's so smart), and then we went over her costume. The problem was that the brown shirt had the store's name across it in sparkles and we were going to put a "tummy" over it to cover it. Yilmus was supposed to get felt but got two white hankerchiefs instead. I tried to die one of them with tea but someone threw it out. D said if we used the white one she would look like a bear and I agreed so we decided to deal with that later. So I put her to bed and shed asked me to stay with her for a little bit, as is becoming normal, and we talked about her volleyball match until I told her goodnight. Then I was back to the costume, hoping really hard to get it done before A got home. E called me in twice, once to say, "You said you were going to come look at me!" "I said I was going to check on you AFTER you were asleep" "Oh ok" Then another time I heard from the other room, "Clake lin!" "What is it buddy?" "We forgot to do something today." I panicked. "What did we forget?" "You said we had to paint." "What?" Then I remembered that the other day I saw some of his paintings in the upstairs play room and had said he was a great painter and I wanted him to paint me a picture for my wall and we should do that soon. He's known for having a great memory apparently. "Oh yeah, I did say that. Do you want to paint tomorrow?" "Yes." "Ok well, you have to sleep now." "Ok. I want to kiss you first." "Ok buddy" So I came in and he kissed my cheek and wrapped his little arms around me. "Thank you, that was a perfect hug." It's moments like those when I know everything will be okay. Thankfully, Dad could skpye from work so I got to talk to him all the way! I hung the microphone from my ear so I could still use both hands (silly but effective) and set the video up infront of me and we could talk at a normal volume and everything! He was so cute! Someone had decorated his office for his birthday and he had on a hat! I felt like an awful daughter, I completely forgot. I don't ever know what time it is (I have seen a total of ONE clock in this house and it's not even right), let alone the day. Anyway, I was glad I caught him. So by then, I had done the tail (an old dress sock of A's stuffed with cotten) and sewed it to the brown leggings and made matching paw toes and sewed them to her brown socks (she painted on the black nails). Stuffed cheap old socks for the muscles in her long-sleeved brown shirt and was only about 1/4 of the way done with the mane...gold and silver ribbon tied in loops around a hat (an idea I found off the internet). It was ridiculous. The other day while I was doing this, Christine had walked in and said, "Oh my god! You can sew too?!" "No, I can't sew! I've never sewn anything in my life! I can't even sew a button!" But here I was making this absurd lion costume. I told mom, I just do things here. It's like I'm this whole different person. I don't know how to explain it. Then one time, A was working while I was sewing the paws and I muttered, "Lion toes were never in my job description"then all of the sudden she was cracking up. "Why are you laughing at me?" "I was just thinking. I am picturing you, a student, studying for exams, getting coffee with your friends...now, you are in Turkey and you are sewing a lion costume" "You have no idea" "This is certainly an interesting chapter in your life." "You're definitely right about that, and aren't you so glad you're a part of it?" I joked. She laughed, "I am. Very glad." These are good signs. She came home while I was talking to Dad and introduced herself to him. She said he had raised a wonderful girl and I was very sweet. Though I'm sure she kind of meant those things, I will inform you all when I know I've gotten a real compliment that didn't come from a place of manners and obligation. She also told him if they ever missed me too much, they should come visit. That's a green light! I think they should do it! Anyway, I left after that and A gave me her stamp of approval on the costume. She said she was very impressed and she laughed when I told her she better not look like at the inside of any of the cloth because my stitching would show what a faker I am. "I can't sew a stitch, so to me it is fine work." Good enough. I kept working then I'm not sure what happened...Christine and Eren came home, left again then I heard yelling and A was downstairs. I am accustomed to yelling now (Turkish people are loud, basically) so I wasn't alarmed until she ran back up with both the house phone and her cell phone in her hand. "Sheeren fainted and she won't wake up!" I have only been here a week so it would silly for me to say it was the most vulnerable/panicked I have ever seen her, but I would venture to guess I won't see it again for a very long time. I stood up, "Okay, have you called the paramedics?" "Yes! But they aren't responding so I'm calling D to see who else I should call!" Vala ran up and called her again "A, please come!" One look and I knew she was scared shitless. Excuse my language. She ran back stairs and I waited, completely unsure of what to do now. I went down one flight and stood above the last staircase into the kitchen. I heard A yelling on a phone and between the pauses I heard Cavit and Vala saying Sheeren's name over and over again. Then I heard it. My new WORST sound in the world (next to the sound of utter hopelessness, in someone's voice when they have completely given up). The sound of someone slapping the cheek of a completely unresponsive face. It was sickening. I couldn't tell you why, by it made my stomach turn. A saw me at the stairs and asked me to come hold the door open while she went to see if the paramedics were here, completely calm now. The panic had vanished as quickly as it had came. After I did that, I walked back into the kitched where I saw Sheeren propped up on Cavit's leg while he said her name gently over and over again, slapping her face. I've been trying to decide if Cavit is just a dopey kind of happy man (if that makes sense) or what, but after hearing his voice in that moment I am sure that he has a strength and a genuine kindness about him I have seen in few other people. Vala was waving some smelly stuff uner Sheeren's nose and kept saying, "Sheeren, please talk (or it could have have been 'wake up')" over and over again. The fear in her voice was heartbreaking, her voice yelled "please" (lutfen) with such desperation I just wanted to hold her. Cavit glanced up at me and I could tell by his