Today, my friends, I finished my contract at English Time. Well, not exactly, but I'll get to that in a minute.
But it's not as if I've finished here in Istanbul, oh no. I'm only taking a hiatus between contracts. As some of you already know and others have anticipated, I have already signed another contract to continue working at English Time in January, albeit for 6 months only. I haven't any idea what I'll do after that, but I anticipate I'll need a change at that time, and to be honest I don't really care to experience another Ramadan. Neyse, at the moment, I'm finished my long-haul contract; I've done my time for the moment, and I'm taking a much needed holiday in between. My work has allowed me a liberal amount of time for a holiday, so I'm looking forward to traveling, relaxing, and collecting money, of course. I envy real teachers; at least they get 3 months off every year. And weekends as well. God I'm so glad I don't have to work weekends anymore.
So on November 24th I'll be leaving the country for the first time in ten months, which will be nice. Istanbul is a modern and fairly"Western" city, but I miss the West, normality. I haven't traveled much throughout Turkey while I've been here because I've always been so busy, which really is a shame, and on my time off I won't be travelling here either, which is even more of a shame. Hopefully next year I can do that, but at the moment I have too much of the need to go home, see my family, sponge up a good dose of American-ness, and visit a few other countries in the process (my obsession with chalking the countries up in my passport prevails).
So on the 24th I'll be off to London to pass Thanksgiving (in England, ironically) with my cousins, one of whom just had a baby. So at the moment I'm trying to figure out what this little guy's relation is to me: Second cousin? Third? Neph-sin? Well, at any rate, he sure is cute, and I can't wait to meet him. Many congratulations to the parents and to Paula, who is now a grandmother (Eek!).
The Next Generation
After my London vacation I'll be off to New York (finally!!) on the 29th - home again, home again, jiggity-jig! As much as I love Istanbul and everyone here, I have had the itch to get back to the island and visit the City again for a while (when people talk about how Istanbul is the most beautiful city in the world, I snigger in the back of my mind), so I am counting the days. Plus, I miss my family. I look forward to visiting Margaret upstate and seeing her new digs, and going back to DE to see Dad and bask in the wintery emptiness of Bethany Beach. I hope it will be as nice as I've built it up to be and, hopefully hopefully, it will snow. But not as much as last year before I left. Was that really almost a year ago already??? How frightening....
On my way back to Istanbul, I'll be returning via Italy to visit amore mio in her idyllic Alpine village of Bormio in Northern Italy for a few days, and hopefully stuff myself on decadantly delicious food and wine in the process. I've never been to Italy before, and although going to Italy never really crossed my mind in the past, I am very curious and excited about going. Hopefully during Bayram I can improve my Italian to a functional level.
After my Italian interlude I'll be back in Istanbul on January 7th to resume working at English Time. Although I told this to my students, they were nevertheless quite upset about my departure today. I seem to be well liked among the students in Sirinevler, and they regretted losing me as a teacher and seeing me go. Nonetheless, they were kind enough today to surprise me with a cake and "Ice Tea" during the lesson today, which was terribly sweet (the cake and the gesture) and I have to confess I felt a bit emotional after that.
So now I am finished for the moment with English Time, even though my contract is not finished until the 22nd. How is this possible, you may ask? Well, as luck would have it my contract happens to finish the first day after a week-long religious holiday here in Turkey, so I needn't return to work after this holiday. The Gods are in my favor. Because of Bayram (holiday), my classes are all finished, and I can wash my hands and be on my way.
Well, what's this holiday you ask? Kurban Bayram, or, the Festival of the Sacrifice, is the Muslim holiday which commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to his god. In remembrence of this, people purchase a sheep, goat, or, for the monied individuals, a cow which they slaughter by cutting the neck. Once the animal has breathed its bloody last, a butcher carves it up and it is tradition to share a good part of the animal with the poor. It is a time to remember god and share one's wealth with the less fortunate in Islam. Apparantly this is not done in the street or open public places, but nonetheless I don't think I'll leave the house on Tuesday.
Precluding this holiday, it's funny to see all of the advertisements and newspapers with pictures of children lovingly hugging the fuzzy horned sheep and complacent cows that will soon be put to the knife ("For the Sacrifice Offering, sharing is plenty - 300 TL ").
Don't bother questioning this, because they say, "But you eat kebaps and McDonald's, and you don't think twice about where it comes from, do you?" And they're right. So even though the Sacrifice Festival is a disturbing thought, it makes me think about where food comes from, and even though I feel a pang of guilt, I'm thankful to all those complacent cows and fuzzy sheep.
But for me the religious aspect is a different story. I'll withhold the snide comments for the sake of thankfulness for a long holiday, but I have to slip one in - on this holiday, it'll be a sheep for the sheep. Hasn't come far from the ancients, has it?
On my way back to Istanbul, I'll be returning via Italy to visit amore mio in her idyllic Alpine village of Bormio in Northern Italy for a few days, and hopefully stuff myself on decadantly delicious food and wine in the process. I've never been to Italy before, and although going to Italy never really crossed my mind in the past, I am very curious and excited about going. Hopefully during Bayram I can improve my Italian to a functional level.
Anna, amore mio, for those who are curious
After my Italian interlude I'll be back in Istanbul on January 7th to resume working at English Time. Although I told this to my students, they were nevertheless quite upset about my departure today. I seem to be well liked among the students in Sirinevler, and they regretted losing me as a teacher and seeing me go. Nonetheless, they were kind enough today to surprise me with a cake and "Ice Tea" during the lesson today, which was terribly sweet (the cake and the gesture) and I have to confess I felt a bit emotional after that.
So now I am finished for the moment with English Time, even though my contract is not finished until the 22nd. How is this possible, you may ask? Well, as luck would have it my contract happens to finish the first day after a week-long religious holiday here in Turkey, so I needn't return to work after this holiday. The Gods are in my favor. Because of Bayram (holiday), my classes are all finished, and I can wash my hands and be on my way.
Well, what's this holiday you ask? Kurban Bayram, or, the Festival of the Sacrifice, is the Muslim holiday which commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to his god. In remembrence of this, people purchase a sheep, goat, or, for the monied individuals, a cow which they slaughter by cutting the neck. Once the animal has breathed its bloody last, a butcher carves it up and it is tradition to share a good part of the animal with the poor. It is a time to remember god and share one's wealth with the less fortunate in Islam. Apparantly this is not done in the street or open public places, but nonetheless I don't think I'll leave the house on Tuesday.
Precluding this holiday, it's funny to see all of the advertisements and newspapers with pictures of children lovingly hugging the fuzzy horned sheep and complacent cows that will soon be put to the knife ("For the Sacrifice Offering, sharing is plenty - 300 TL ").
Don't bother questioning this, because they say, "But you eat kebaps and McDonald's, and you don't think twice about where it comes from, do you?" And they're right. So even though the Sacrifice Festival is a disturbing thought, it makes me think about where food comes from, and even though I feel a pang of guilt, I'm thankful to all those complacent cows and fuzzy sheep.
But for me the religious aspect is a different story. I'll withhold the snide comments for the sake of thankfulness for a long holiday, but I have to slip one in - on this holiday, it'll be a sheep for the sheep. Hasn't come far from the ancients, has it?
