We are in Kusadasi for Kurban Bayram. The holiday fell on a Saturday, so we only were scheduled to have Monday and Tuesday off for the four-day holiday - but then in the last week, the government gave Friday off as well.
It's hard to plan vacations based on the changing vacation days - but for this holiday - Tolga and I were much more flexible. We had initially planned on going to Bolu for only two nights smack in the middle of the holiday. Bolu is in the mountains and only 2-3 hours away. However, with the additional day granted, with Teoman talking about Kusadasi and the sea and his Baba anne (grandmother) we decided in the end to make the long trip for Teoman.
We were both a bit worried about Tomris. Of course they both love Kusdasi and their grandparents and the garden. But the car ride is another story. The trip is 700 km, taking between 8-9 hours. The highways in the major cities (Ankara and Izmir) are wide and fast. In between the cities are split roads - two lanes going west, and two lanes going east. It isn't a freeway, but it's relatively well kept. The major differences are: very few street lamps guide the way, the highway only has a few on/off ramps - otherwise it's direct access, passing through towns means a slower speed limits and lights, and anywhere on the road you have to expect anything. Especially farm vehicles.
I was thinking about how people don't really have hobbies here. People work hard in America, they gain money and increase their positions in life, and buy toys. Skis, golf clubs, ATVs, sports' clubs, boats...we invest a lot in leisure. And while life is more leisurely here in some ways, people don't seem to have the time or money for hobbies. Motorcycles have small motors and are usually utility vehicles:delivery for restaurants, a side cart for working and carrying goods, a cheap means to get somewhere. Tractors and trailers are always functional, rarely flashy. The sights on the road are farmers, sheep, sometimes goats or cows, and always harvesting. Olives, grapes, turnips, figs, mandarins, watermelons ... It is a worker's life on the roads to and from the cities. Shops set up to sell what they took from the fields in make-shift shanties. It's simple, and beautiful, and sad. I feel silly about the things we've filled our lives with when I look at the daily life of what seems to be the rest of the "modern" world.
When we travel this road with the kids, it takes us 10-12 hours. We take it leisurely, and stop when the kids can't take their car seats any longer. This time the trip went well, but took 11 hours. We left at 4:30 am - but meant to leave at 3. The kids were excited, and eventually slept - waking up just as we arrived in Afyon. We stopped their for coffee and to let the kids run around and eat the snacks I had packed. We continued on the road and stopped 3 hours later in Sahili where we had breakfast even though it was noon. There is a restaurant connected to a gas station. We filled up on gas, washed the car, adjusted the tire air pressures and filled the car with oil (are car warning lights were popping up on the road), and sat down while the kids played on the playground in the back. They were both sandy by the end - a mess to clean up, but they were okay to get back on the road. We had children's music playing that they sang too, short shows for them to watch, snacks and lollipops for emergencies. They needed lollipops at this point, but it was enough to distract them and for them to sleep once again.
We arrived in Kusadasi to beautiful weather. Teoman ran to his Baba anne and gave her a big hug. Tomris was more shy. She's been at my side most of the vacation. There were three rams tied near our home. Rams for the holiday - people "sacrifice" the rams on bayram and I'm usually disgusted by this and have a strong urge to free the poor animals. But these days I'm not so sure - what we do to the animals in mass production is worse. Maybe killing our own meat is what we should do regularly in order to appreciate, honor, and be thankful for our bounty. The first morning those three rams were being strung up. Their throats already cut and the community butcher skinning them and cutting the meat. You could hear the hacking from the butcher knives throughout the day as they swung and partitioned the bones and meat. It sounded like people were cutting down trees ... but they weren't
Teoman and Tomris were both excited to rediscover the toys we had left here, and snack on the mandarins and pomegranates from the trees in our yard. Our house doesn't have heat, and while the nights are cooling down, the rooms are still comfortable. The showers aren't so hot - but our big bathroom and shower they love because it's like another play room. They walk around in it with their toys, playing with the water as I spray them off and wash the sand and sweat from them.
We went to the beach, and the playgrounds in the community, we played with the toys, picked up the toys, dumped the toys out, picked them up and dumped them all out again. It's just always hard to put Teoman to sleep here. He lays in bed, staring at the ceiling, and when he finally does sleep - he's hard to wake up. We have mosquito nets over their beds - even though there aren't so many now - there are always one or two in our room that find the kids and leave welts not their skin for weeks. Teoman has quite a few welts already, but it may be some sort of allergic reaction.
We have a swing drilled into our balcony as well. They both love to swing, and swing big. They don't necessarily swing for a long time, but when they do - they like to fly and they laugh and laugh and ask for more.
Tolga and I are forever feeling grateful to have a place such as this.
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