It’s review week here on the blog; after my look back at this most recent year abroad, I find myself at the end of January and due for a different sort of wrap-up. This month has moved in fits and starts; it’s been a time of reorientation after a month in California. I love Istanbul most when I return to it and see all its charms with clear eyes. Inevitably, the difficulties of this city creep in—traffic, politics, gray skies—but they are easily managed when I also see how special this place is. Plus, the end of January means spring is around the corner… right?
Best Of The Month
This month was all about getting back into the swing of things. After a slow start, my Istanbul life kicked back into gear, with new friends, new opportunities, and new adventures all tumbling in. We had our first trade of The Mixup, a collaborative art show I am working on at a gallery in Karakoy. I attended dinner parties and coffee dates and long lazy Turkish breakfasts. I spent a week cat-sitting an adorably naughty kitten who snuggled her way into my heart. It was a slow-burn of beautiful things.
I did speak to a study abroad group from New York about my experience in Istanbul, which was awesome—I love public speaking and it’s a nice way to remind myself that my life here is actually splendid, and that I have actually accomplished terrific things since I moved here.
Yes, there were so many little joys throughout the whole month.
Worst Of The Month
I was so excited to go to Selcuk for the annual Camel Wrestling Festival, which has become a joyful (if strange) tradition for me every January. Apparently third time’s a wash, because a torrential storm completely drowned out the festival. This wasn’t so bad, really; we all spent the day lounging in our adorable pansiyon, reading books and playing games and napping. The problem was getting back home, because though it was raining in Izmir, it was snowing in Istanbul and flights were being cancelled left and right. Mine was delayed an hour… and then two… and then three… at last, we boarded around midnight.
I thought it was all clear, but at 2am I awoke to a tap on my shoulder from the flight attendant who informed me that the plane would not be landing in Istanbul. Instead, we were landing in Ankara.
Whaaaaaat.
I’ve never been to Ankara and wasn’t looking forward to a first visit at 2am on a Sunday night, hours after I should have already been home in bed in Istanbul. We landed, and after a half-hour of refueling ended up taking off again, eventually (FINALLY) landing in Istanbul around 3:30am. I got home at 5am. Luckily I’m good at keeping high spirits during these sorts of travel misadventures, but yeah, that weekend did not go as planned.
Oh yeah, and a bomb went off in Istanbul. Already wrote about it and don’t want to think about it.
What I’m Loving
Reads: I’m in the middle of Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon. His book Istanbul Passage was possibly the most purely enjoyable thing I read last year, so when I found this novel in The Last Bookstore for $5, I couldn’t resist. It takes place in East Berlin in 1949 and everything is intrigue and spies and subterfuge. It’s candy, basically.
Music: I started listening to Leon Bridges soon after my last monthly review went up, and I was all set for Shine to be the song of the month—it’s easily my favorite, and I listened to it on repeat…
…until David Bowie died, and then I’ve been listening to his discography on a continuous loop. Like many other people, I had deep personal memories tied to his music. The album Ziggy Stardust has been particularly meaningful; at a time in my life when I was feeling quite upset, I remember a friend badly singing his song Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide to me (“You’re not alone! Give me your hand, ‘cause you’re wonderful!”) and it was everything I needed to hear. So I was truly upset that he died. It also made his new album even more glorious; listen to this song Lazarus. It’s my favorite, and somehow deeper and sadder when you realize it was a way to say goodbye.
The Film Files
I spent a lot of time this month sorting through the 14 rolls of film I’d shot from late November to early January. It still makes me gleeful to get all these photographic memories at once.
And since then I’ve been too cold and lazy to drop off this month’s film. Oh well, I’ll get over to my film lab soon.
Ephemera
This was in the works before this month, but it finally became public knowledge: I’ve recently become the co-coordinator of Professional American Women of Istanbul (PAWI). This is pretty cool! The group has been a great resource for me during my three years in the city, and it felt like an honor to be asked to take over this role.
I’ve recommitted this year to filling my room with fresh flowers. I bought a beautiful yellow bouquet right after I returned from California and recently I got some luscious purple flowers. They make my work space so much lovelier.
Upcoming
I’m going to Berlin! I’ll be there for a work trip, but I’m looking forward to spending some in-depth time in the city—though I’ve been to Berlin twice, I’ve never been for more than 48 hours at a time and both visits were marred by various things. (I was so sick the first time I visited that I couldn’t swallow.) I’ll also take a quick detour to Prague after my work obligations are done to visit my heart city and my darling Czech friends. Otherwise, I’m expecting quite a few visitors in February, so this upcoming month should be an adventure!
How about you? What do you have planned for this next month? It’s a short one, we have to pack it in!
No Comments