I, on the other hand, am sleeping HORRIBLY. It started with Amelia waking up at 3am looking for Morning Doggy and then me not being able to fall back asleep. Now, I wake up around midnight, don't fall back asleep until 2am and then am awake again by 4! This has happened the last 3 nights and it's starting to take its toll. My eyes burn with tiredness all day and I crash by 8pm. Hopefully this will change soon. I've even tried taking Unisom, but it just makes me groggy. Argh. On the bright side, if this keeps happening I'll be quite fit since, with nothing else to do, I do yoga from 4:30-6 followed by a quick run on the treadmill (the gym doesn't open until 9am, but since no one is there that early, I haven't been caught). Then I'm showered, fed and ready for the day before anyone is awake. It's nice to have all that "me time," but I'd rather be sleeping...
Other than no sleep, the last couple of days have been fabulous! On Tuesday, a friend from our church branch, JoAnne Dillard, and her 3-year-old daughter, Allison, who lives only a few blocks away, walked with us to a play-place called Mohini. It's full of fun rooms for kids to play around in with stages, games, Wii's, ice cream, toy stores, and more! And it's all FREE! We will definitely be going there again and again. That is, if I dare cross the two very crazy streets by myself while wearing Chase and pushing a stroller. Not an easy task here in Istanbul where cars don't yield to pedestrians and the curbs are a foot high.
Although we had a fun day that day, it was one of Amelia's roughest with missing home. In the morning she asked if her dear friend Kate could come play with her in Turkey and when I told her she would have to make new friends, she burst into tears saying she just wanted to play with Kate. And after playing at Mohini, I told her we were going "home" and when we walked up to the apartment building, she again burst into tears saying she didn't want to go to Turkey, she wanted to go to our "empty house." It made me really sad. The poor kid misses home. I had no idea she would have such a hard time, but all in all she has fun here too, it's just different.
Wednesday was a Turkish sport holiday - still don't know exactly why - but the important thing is that Matt didn't have to go to work. Yay! We decided to go to a park not far from here called Bebek Parki. With the help of GPS, we made our way there in the car, and actually found the ideal parking spot which was amazing since everyone else decided to go to Bebek Park that day too :) We had a wonderful time! We had a picnic and the kids loved playing on the play structure. Amelia could finally CLIMB!!! She was so happy. And on the way home, we passed through a great little street full of cute shops and cafes that we plan to walk to this weekend. We even saw a Chili's Restaurant and a McDonald's WITH an HUGE outdoor play area. Amelia will be so happy :) French fries, fry sauce and a play structure are all she needs to be happy (oh, and Kate).
Speaking of fry sauce, that is Amelia's new obsession. She loves making it and dips EVERYTHING in it. This morning she even asked to dip strawberries in it. I let her knowing she would never want to do it again. But she actually liked it. Yuk. In adidition to fry sauce, her new faves are mustard and peanut butter - two things she despised until now. Yesterday, she ate bread with peanut butter for breakfast (plus some strawberries and milk), bread with mustard for lunch (along with some Pringles), and flatbread and green beans dipped in fry sauce for dinner. As much as I hate to admit it, this is what she ate. She won't eat meat or eggs, or anything NOT dipped in fry sauce :)
Well, I'm off to enjoy another action-packed day of...hmmm...not quite sure what we'll do today. All I know is it's time to turn the DVD player off and get out and enjoy this beautiful country we are in!!
7 comments:
So glad you found a park AND Matt had the day off! The play place sounded like fun too. Are there a good amount of kids Amelia's age at church? Hopefully she isn't homesick for too long. That is so sad and would make me sad too!
Sounds like a great play-place and what cute pictures of you in the park. It looks like you guys are going to have so much fun! I'm sorry that Amelia misses home so much. That would be hard. It's so fun to see what you guys are doing there. And that language sounds crazy.
Hi Angie! I'm so excited for you guys, expat life is the best...even more so if the company is picking up the tab!
I'm really sad that our time here in London is coming to a close, and I'm already trying to figure out when and where we can be shipped off to again. It's exciting learning the ins and outs of a new place.
Love the updates on the blog. I wish we could come visit before our return to the states (yes, that was me inviting myself) but right now the UK has our passports for work visa shenanigans, for who knows how long.
Keep in touch! This "comment" was way too long.
I was thinking there would be one or two play places max, but McDees and parks galore! That is awesome.
Glad you guys are doing so well. Sorry, Millie isn't adjusting very well. If it makes her feel better, Harry asks for her to come play pretty much every other day. Geography a little far-fetched for the them.
Sorry your not sleeping. That makes it all worse.
It's SO much fun to read what you're doing over there in Turkey! You are so brave, different language, crazy traffic, new everything... no wonder you're not sleeping, you're probably trying to wrap your mind around your new life. Being alone in the morning sounds like a blessing. Hard not to be sleeping I'm sure, but, a time to get your bearings and be calm. That must help some. You'll adapt and adjust beautifully. Keep writing.xoxo
Angie, you are a darling! I love hearing about your life so much -- I can't believe how brave you are. I would probably get lost all the time (now, where are we?) :) I love you so much. Hope Amelia gets used to it quickly. That would be hard for her. I'm sure Chase hasn't skipped a beat, that little cutie pie.
That is crazy about the streets in Istanbul! I wouldn't want to cross them by myself either. Good luck!
Have you tried Ambien? I've used it and it doesn't make you feel groggy in the morning. Again, good luck!
Love that you are updating your blog so much!
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