There are more stores here than we'll ever see. Mom and pop shops and specialty stores line the streets within walking distance from our apartment. Or..by metro or bus, exclusive malls and designer stores are accessible. The high end stores with vallet service that park the Masaratis and Porsches up front are the ones we visited yesterday-Prada, Michael Kors....all the designer stores you'd see in Paris and New York lined the outdoor square. Of course, it was window shopping and people gawking for us, yet, another exciting experience (including the car ride there with some new friends we met in our complex). Mike stayed at home during this outing. For his peace of mind, he's opted out of all our shopping adventures. :-) Here are a few pics of the girls trying on shoes (taken from a previous shopping trip). To all my shoe-loving girlfriends, you'd be amazed by the selection...it's totally overwhelming. I thought we had an abundance of materialism in the states, but I'm learning it's a world-wide phenomena. Located in the heart of Istanbul, in the Sultanahmet area, is one of the most impressive and oldest mosques dating back to 537, the Aya Sofya. I think you'll see why from the photos. The domed ceiling is truly magnificent as well as the original mosaics. Note the photos of the girls sticking their thumbs in the worn copper facing pierced by a hole. Legend has it that if you stick your thumb in the hole and it emerges moist then any ailments will be healed. The girls visited it twice, along with a loooooooong line of others. I kept thinking of all the ailments and germs shared from the thousands of thumbs in a given day. :-) Upon leaving the mosque someone came up from behind us and called, "Hey Mike and Christa!" Crazy, small world story...we bumped into a former counselor from our days at Camp Chateaugay, Vincent Chan. Fifteen years had passed since we last saw him. He's now an investment banker living in Hong Kong and was visiting Istanbul for a few days. You never know who you may run into among the sea of 16 million people in Istanbul. Greetings everyone! Thinking of all the teachers, administrators, parents and students as everyone has headed back to school. I hope the first full week has been a good one. It's been an extra long vacation for the girls this summer and I'm itching for them to start their school year and use their brains. Then again, they've had quite a few field experiences in Istanbul ripe with learning since we first arrived. I thought I'd share with all of you the stages we've been going through in terms of culture shock. A teacher at MEF shared this with us and it really helped bring everything into perspective as we move through highs and lows individually and as a family. Over dinner we discussed how we drift in and out of the stages in a day...even within an hour. For the most part, we're in Stage 1, although we've definitely experienced frustrations, mis-communication, and a sense of overwhelm at times (Stage 2) from not speaking the language. I hear when the weather cools and it's gloomier in October cutlure shock may settle in a bit more, especially since we're accustomed to 364 days of sunshine in Colorado. Thought you all might be interested in learning about the stages:
May be very preoccupied with cleanliness. May be worried that people want to rob or cheat you. Feelings of confusion and lonliness You may find other expatriates and complain together about the new culture, making stereotypes of the people from that culture
This was quite an experience for Mike and all of us to watch. The barber took great pride in his work and it was some of the best customer service I've ever witnessed. It was a late Sunday afternoon (usually a time when families are in the park or strolling along the Bospherus) we had the barbershop completely to ourselves. The treatment started with the barber serving all of us iced tea, flipping through the channels on the tele to find just the right music, and guiding Mike to sit in the chair. Hmmm....would this be torture or a luxrious treatment at the spa?
Service began with a thorough back, arm and neck massage (I immediately started rolling my shoulders wishing I was the one in the chair). Following the massage he prepped Mike for his haircut. Mind you this has been a responsibility Sierra and I shared in the past as we took turns using the home clippers to trim Mike's hair (I'm now apologizing for what I learned wasn't the best cut). The barber definitely gave us a lesson or two in all the steps we evidently skipped. One of which included ear waxing- ever heard of it? Well following the gooey substance he applied and quickly ripped from Mike's ears, he proceeded to hold a lighter alongside each ear to synge any remaining hairs. Timed it just right, since I didn't see any blistering result.:-) Next followed the fire show. As a precursor to sanitizing the razor blade for the shave, he dripped rubbing alocohol on the ground and lit it on fire. Of course the girls felt like they were back on Pearl Street watching the street performers. Needless to say, we all cheered him on. Although I could tell Mike was beginning to sweat a bit as a "first-timer". Then...what we all were waiting for...THE open blade. This sure beat a plastic Gillette razor. While the recipient was obviously feeling quite vulnerable, as the barber artfully maneavered around Mike's juggular, it was all worth it as Mike was left with a baby soft clean shave. It really was masterful to watch as the barber went to great lengths to ensure it was an optimal experience for Mike. He took note of every detail and step along the way. So often thiis is lost in our society as we're quickly rushing to finish one task before moving onto the next. It was evident the barber was fully present and absorbed during each step of the experience to ensure complete and total satisfaction of the customer. So....we've pitched the home clippers and Mike is hooked. We'll see if the barber puts on as good of a show next time without the audience.....my hunch is... he will. Hi, Aleah here! I'm going to write an entry blog about the new friends I've met! Everyone told me that I was gong to meet lots of new friends.It turns out that they were right. As soon as I got here I met a friend. Her name is Perisue and she's 14, so she's more my sister's age but she's still my friend. Perisue has been really nice to us from the first time we met her. She included us right away. I also met a girl named Dafne. We met at the pool. We both go to the pool everyday. Dafne loves cats as much as I do. We've been feeding and taking care of all the cats in our complex. Sude met me at the pool too.She doesn't live here she just visits her aunt a lot who lives in our complex. Sude lives with her parents in Izmir, which is in the south. ![]() That's Perisue, the older one Dafne, the younger one, and Sierra and I. Sude is missing from the photo since she's staying with her mom and dad in Izmir. More to come about other friends we've met... ![]()
lots of love, sierra |
AuthorChrista Keppler Archives
July 2015
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