A week of Halloween!

We had a week of Halloween with three different events! The week before Halloween, the Embassy hosted a trick or treat event. They set up tables around the Embassy for the kids to visit, they had food, and there were lots of kids running around and having fun. This year, the kids were a pretty witch, Deadpool, and a morph suit guy.

Pretty little witch excited to go trick or treating for the first time! She caught on fast and had so much fun saying trick-or-treat!

Waving at all the people crawling by in traffic.

At the Embassy

The next Halloween event was the Fall Festival at the boys’ school later that week. Each class had a game they were hosting, there was an International food fair where you could try delicious home made foods people brought in from all the countries they represent, games, and more.

Benjamin spent most of his spare time in the spider maze.

The others joined in too

Caleb’s class hosted corn hole.

Benjamin’s class hosted a cake walk. If your lucky number was called at the end of the song, you won a cake! We didn’t win, but we brought a pretty cake as a give away.

Fun on the school playground.

Unfortunately on the way home, we had a small fender bender. Someone hit me from behind (in very slow traffic). Nobody was hurt and our car wasn’t even damaged, the other man’s was dented a little in the front. We had to follow Embassy procedures and wait for the local guards to come to document the accident. We were so close to home (the group of buildings ahead is our neighborhood) and we had a flu shot clinic to make, which we missed, but the doctor lives on our building and kindly came to our home to give everyone the flu shots. Most importantly, nobody was hurt, and the kids had fun waving at all the people passing by in their costumes.

I apparently took no pictures of the last Halloween event on Halloween day at the military base. They had lots of games, trunk or treat, food, and music. It was fun but was cut short by the rain. The kids all enjoyed the week of Halloween! That week, Turkey also celebrated Republic Day, on the afternoon of 28th and the 29th of October, commentating the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, on 29 October 1923. It is a very festive holiday, with parades, concerts, many Turks visiting the Anitkabir (Ataturk Masoleum), and shows. Our neighborhood had a celebration one evening and we had a great view of the show and later parade through the neighborhood from our window.

Happy Halloween and Happy Turkish Republic Day!

Exploring Eskişehir with a good friend!

I am very behind on blogging and will try to catch up over the next couple of weeks. One weekend in late October, I escaped to Eskişehir for a night with my good friend Victoria, who also used to lived in Jordan and now lives in Istanbul. I took the high speed train, which is a quick 1.5 hour ride, and our trains arrived around the time time as each other.  Getting off at the Eskişehir train station.

We saw each other last in late June, when Victoria and her husband Brett came to visit us in Ankara. She is a dear friend, andI am thankful we have relatively easy means to meet up in Turkey.

It was mid-morning when we arrived and the weather was beautiful. It was cool but with the sun shining it was perfect weather to walk around and explore.

Of course, we found Turkish breakfast. We tried ordering the big one that Nathan and I usually get, and they waitress told us it would be way too much food for us, so we got a smaller version and it was perfect.

The pasty shops were endless. We did end up coming back here later in the day for a snack before dinner.

After walking along the Porsuk river for a while, we hopped in a cab and went to Sazova Park, where there is a princess castle, pirate ship, lake with walking trails, a science center, and lots of play areas for kids.

We walked around the park, enjoyed lots of talking and catching up. One thing we noticed when we entered the park was the very large police presence. It seemed like a police convention was going on initially, until we saw signs that President Erdogan was in this park giving a speech. Fast forward about an hour later and my Turkish news feed began populating that Erdogan was in the park threatening to PNG (Persona Non Grata) - aka, kick out of country, the U. S. Ambassador and 9 other countries’ ambassadors on account of ‘meddling with the Turkish government’s human rights laws and legal system.’ This was related to the request for the release by the various ambassadors earlier that week, of a Turkish political activist who has been imprisoned in Turkey for the past several years. Long story short is after a week of Diplomatic initiatives, none of the Ambassadors were kicked out of the country, so crisis averted! And we got a good laugh out of being in the same park, at the same time as Erdogan was making this speech. 

Next, we taxied back downtown to an area called Odun Pazarı, where we met up with one of my co-workers, Yasmine, who was also in Eskişehir for the day with her family. The three of us met up and sat at a cafe and talked for a while, then parted ways. It was a fun quick meet up.

Afterwards, Victoria and I explored the area. It was such a cute area with colorful homes, cute shops, and narrow cobblestone pedestrian streets.

We visited a few stores and bought a few items.

Next, we went to a pasty shop for a snack then went dress shopping! I didn’t take a single picture at the dress shop, but it was a fun local experience and we both bought a dress for the upcoming Embassy Marine Ball.

It was probably close to 9pm, which is already past my bedtime normally, and we still needed to eat dinner. We went back towards the river and found a restaurant with good Turkish food. We finished close to midnight and enjoyed the lively walk back to the hotel. People were out and about and there was a healthy night life.

View from our hotel a little after midnight. The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel then walked to the train station and went our separate ways. It was really fun to spend the day with Victoria, and explore Eskişehir together.

Benjamin’s Party

 The week after Benjamin’s birthday he had a party with some friends, at one of the mall’s across the street from our neighborhood. We typically celebrate birthdays as a family, but decided this year he could have a small party, since Caleb had one this summer too.

First up was bumper bowling!

The kids had fun and it was cute to watch them bowl. This was Caleb’s team.

And Benjamin’s team.

Next, they played laser tag, probably the highlight for the kids.

It was a large course, so we let them in, then waiting for them to come out 30 minutes later ;).

Looking tough after the game.

Last, they played in the soft play area with slides, sandpits, ball pits, and trampolines. This is where Eliza played most of the time during the party.

Last, they ate pizza and had birthday cake!

And Benjamin had surprise visitors, Kadem, her husband Mustafa, and daughter Ebru! Everyone was excited to see them and we are glad they came to the party.

Once we got home, he opened some nice gifts he received from from friends. It was a fun day celebrating Benjamin!