In my blood

Despite being away for a few months, I have found that there are many things about Turkey that are just "in my blood" now.

The call to prayer is one. This occurs five times a day, and we can hear it from our house. I thought it would sound so out of place to me after hearing church bells in Germany so frequently. But I hear them without a second thought -- just as if I had never left.

The food is another. I love the food. Yes, it is repetitive. Turkish is Turkish and there really is very little opportunity to eat anything else off-Base. But I do love me some lamb tava. The adana kebap is quite yummy! I actually missed the food while in Germany.

The language is another. I worried that I would lose my touch on Turkish from being gone for so long. But I made a point while I was in Germany not to learn German and instead to continue practicing Turkish. My housekeeper Hatice was immediately complimentary of the fact that I was still able to communicate with her. I continue to practice and work to learn this complicated language and am pretty happy that I didn't lose my skills while gone.

There is no telling right now how long we will be in Turkey. We know we will be here until at least next summer. Whether we will choose to stay another one or two years is still up for discussion. But I plan to enjoy this country as much as I can in the time we have left.

Here is a video of the music we can often hear from outside of our house:

Turkish music

And now, on a completely unrelated note, a few videos of our family to share with all of you.

Isaac catching a ball

Puzzle tool

6 weeks old