Blankets on Blankets

Bilecik is white with snow. It's beautiful, for sure, but so damn cold. Wasn't it last week I was running laps around the track in 60 degree weather? Maybe not. I don't know up from down at this point. All I do know is that its a bitch climbing the icy ski trail up to my flat. My Bean Boots help the minimal amount. Yes, I am mobile. But this is the first time anyone has worn Bean Boots in Turkey as evidenced by the unapologetic stares of Bilecik University students and the good local folk. Are they really that unusual? Not for a New England born-and-raised lass like myself. Winter comes around, and I'm surprised when I see people sporting anything else.

Today I ventured into the center of town for a few commodities. I said "ne haber" to my newest acquaintance, the Chinese flea market store owner. He's consistently and graciously helped me find tape, mirrors, towels, adapters, and other everyday needs he just happens to sell. My big purchase this afternoon was a blanket. The small stove in my flat doesn't quite heat the house sufficiently, so I figured that buffing up on blankets would be a nice gesture for my friends visiting next week. I entered the store knowing that, with great toil, I could walk out of there with a fine blanket for under 30 TL. I fashioned my eye on a Spider-Man themed down blanket displayed outside, grabbed it by the flimsy, plastic, bag handle, and marched inside. My perhaps overzealous "Merhaba" scared away two veiled old ladies who quickly shuffled away into the darkest corner of the blanket store and I was left with a beautiful young lady who met me with a warm, charming smile. Because I've neglected to study or pick-up any Turkish blanket lingo (I don't know how to say 'blanket,' for example), I sort of just made some wild hand-motions accompanied with a few awkward dance steps. I even tapped out a little beat on a nearby carpet stand to indicate I was finished with the presentation. She had no clue what I was doing but I walked out of that store with a beautiful pink and purple down blanket, sophisticatedly designed with pixelated hearts and stars. The Spider-Man themed blanket would have been awesome. Alas, it was too expensive, but I'm happy with what I got.

My best friend and his soon-to-be wife are arriving in Bilecik to pay me a visit. I respect and admire their devotion and their bravery. They're truly stepping outside the boundaries of any recently published tourist literature. I am excited - so excited - to give them a sense of how I've been living for the last seven months. They may laugh, they may cry. Either way, it'll be memorable.

The snow has kept me inside, and mildly edgy. But lately, I've been looking inward, wrestling with the conduct of life and (hopefully) evolving. It's a journey that I'm grateful for, especially as the academic year spent in Turkey has closed a chapter on a year of heartbreak and emptiness. There were certain regrets I've taken the time to confront and to learn from. I let some things go, and I've examined the depth of things I've perhaps left on the shelf for too long a time. It's acknowledging a disconnectedness - a disparity between reality and what's stirred up in my sometimes restless mind. It feels necessary to acknowledge that.

As promised, I'll get back to the small study I've been conducting. The "word association" game has really opened my eyes to Turkish students' perspectives of the US and of Turkey. I'm tempted to ask my colleagues to play the same game in their classes, and report back. If anything, it's forced me to think.

Love and miss you all. Stay in touch. I'll keep this up.