Istanbul

On Friday evening we flew to Istanbul. I had read that if babies are eating/sucking during the altitude changes during take-off and landing that their ears pop and they don't have much pain. So, I fed Ilkan during these times and his was a perfect flier. I feel relieved since we have a 13 hour flight ahead of us in 6 weeks from Istanbul to Chicago. When we got to Istanbul, Erman was there to pick us up and we stayed at he and Rachael's house in Kartal (neighborhood in Istanbul on the Asian side) for the weekend. Another of our friends from Northwest, Erman Ayvaz, came to visit also on Friday night. It was so incredible to be together in Turkey with people we hung out with so regularly in Maryville! On Saturday morning we all left to go to the European side of Istanbul. It takes about an hour to cross over because of all the traffic. Something like 20 million people live in Istanbul! The guys dropped Rachael and I off with the babies at the mall for the day. It was just like being in the states! We had such a good time walking around, talking, drinking Starbuck's, and eating Arby's for lunch. Around 4pm, Erman came to pick us up and bring us to the education fair that he and Kaan were at. They were there recruiting students to attend Northwest. After the fair ended at 6 we went back to the mall to eat Arby's for dinner again. Plus, we got Ilkan a few clothes and a toy that lights up and plays lullabies. On Sunday, Erman and Kaan again went to the fair for the day, but Rachael and I stayed at home. We were so tired from a long day out with two babies we couldn't take another one, so we just hung around the house talking. It's so nice to be able to hang out with someone here that is in a similar situation and that I have so much in common with. That night we ate Domino's for dinner! Yesterday we went and walked around Bagdat Street (famous for shopping and restaurants) for a few hours before we had to go to the airport to return to Mersin. I even got to drink another Starbucks! (If you can't tell or I haven't mentioned, the only American restaurants we have in Mersin/Adana are Burger King and McDonald's so it is really exciting to go to Istanbul and have more to choose from. They have KFC, TGIFriday's, Schlotsky's, as well as the other's I have mentioned.) It was such a fun weekend! Now we are back and home to recover from the excitement. I think we really wore out the baby!!