Hmm what can I say? Everything about the past two weeks has just FLOWN by.
It was so incredibly wonderful having Mom and Dad here and getting to visit with Aunt Ann and Dougie. We had a nice balance of touristy things and just regular everyday stuff so they could get a better picture of what life is like here for me. We did a tour bus one day and stopped at Dalmabace Palace which was quite a site to see. (PS: D's father and mother got married in the palace down the street since D's dad's dad was such good friends with ATTATURK!)
We did all the bazaar's of course...Arasta, Spice, and Grand (several times), lots of eating out, Museum of Modern Art (where I discovered D had at least two of the artists' works hanging in our living room...).
But we also ran some errands to malls/grocery stores, had dinner here at the house one night, I took them to Bebek for a waffle, Orktakoy for a jacket potato, Patria's for tea which was lovely (Sidenote: she had some friends from New Zealand in who were backpacking for six months. They were a young married couple and it made me really want to do it...and wonder if I'd marry a man who would do such a thing with me and still like me when it was over haha)...etc. And aside from it taking over two hours to get here in the rain on public transportation and A throwing a hissy fit, dinner was quite nice. I hadn't seen the kids in three days and we had missed each other, they both sat by me at dinner and we talked pretty much the whole time. A had pulled out all the stops- candles, fancy place settings, appetizers, made the kids dress nice, wine, etc. The conversation was fairly comfortable and having my family there with me gave me the courage to show them a bit of the me they choose not to see... the sarcastic, sometimes loud, fairly outspoken girl from the states :) I hadn't realized how much of me is suppressed here until my family was here. But on the other hand, it has allowed a lot of other parts of me to emerge that I didn't know existed so I'm trying not to be bothered. Regardless, I think it was good for them to see I am someone's daughter, someone's neice, someone's somebody...not just someone who showed up at their doorstep to serve them.
I will say, I had no idea how starved I was for human contact...I was shameless when it came to forcing my dad into rubbing my back EVERY night (something I never even wanted before) and the last night, I made Mom sit beside me until I fell asleep. It was a little pathetic really but it's interesting to see how relational God has made us. We were not made to be alone.
Anyway, they left Thursday morning and it made me sadder than I expected. Though it was a long day, I was happy to have leaving for London the same day as a distraction. I apparently sucked it up in all things the whole day but it was amazing how little I cared. I just wanted to be getting on a plane with Mom and Dad to the states instead of to London with a family that wasn't mine. I didn't even really respond to A's "We're going on a trip now, you need to get your act together." I think she was surprised by my indifference and said, "You are sad you're parents left?" I only nodded because I didn't want to talk about it because I was afraid I'd get all girly. She just said, "I can tell that," and that was the end of it. She was perfectly nice from then on out.
I'll get to London later...now I must sleep. But I posted some pictures from Mom and Dad's visit on facebook just now.
Love to you.
It was so incredibly wonderful having Mom and Dad here and getting to visit with Aunt Ann and Dougie. We had a nice balance of touristy things and just regular everyday stuff so they could get a better picture of what life is like here for me. We did a tour bus one day and stopped at Dalmabace Palace which was quite a site to see. (PS: D's father and mother got married in the palace down the street since D's dad's dad was such good friends with ATTATURK!)
We did all the bazaar's of course...Arasta, Spice, and Grand (several times), lots of eating out, Museum of Modern Art (where I discovered D had at least two of the artists' works hanging in our living room...).
But we also ran some errands to malls/grocery stores, had dinner here at the house one night, I took them to Bebek for a waffle, Orktakoy for a jacket potato, Patria's for tea which was lovely (Sidenote: she had some friends from New Zealand in who were backpacking for six months. They were a young married couple and it made me really want to do it...and wonder if I'd marry a man who would do such a thing with me and still like me when it was over haha)...etc. And aside from it taking over two hours to get here in the rain on public transportation and A throwing a hissy fit, dinner was quite nice. I hadn't seen the kids in three days and we had missed each other, they both sat by me at dinner and we talked pretty much the whole time. A had pulled out all the stops- candles, fancy place settings, appetizers, made the kids dress nice, wine, etc. The conversation was fairly comfortable and having my family there with me gave me the courage to show them a bit of the me they choose not to see... the sarcastic, sometimes loud, fairly outspoken girl from the states :) I hadn't realized how much of me is suppressed here until my family was here. But on the other hand, it has allowed a lot of other parts of me to emerge that I didn't know existed so I'm trying not to be bothered. Regardless, I think it was good for them to see I am someone's daughter, someone's neice, someone's somebody...not just someone who showed up at their doorstep to serve them.
I will say, I had no idea how starved I was for human contact...I was shameless when it came to forcing my dad into rubbing my back EVERY night (something I never even wanted before) and the last night, I made Mom sit beside me until I fell asleep. It was a little pathetic really but it's interesting to see how relational God has made us. We were not made to be alone.
Anyway, they left Thursday morning and it made me sadder than I expected. Though it was a long day, I was happy to have leaving for London the same day as a distraction. I apparently sucked it up in all things the whole day but it was amazing how little I cared. I just wanted to be getting on a plane with Mom and Dad to the states instead of to London with a family that wasn't mine. I didn't even really respond to A's "We're going on a trip now, you need to get your act together." I think she was surprised by my indifference and said, "You are sad you're parents left?" I only nodded because I didn't want to talk about it because I was afraid I'd get all girly. She just said, "I can tell that," and that was the end of it. She was perfectly nice from then on out.
I'll get to London later...now I must sleep. But I posted some pictures from Mom and Dad's visit on facebook just now.
Love to you.
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