A bit cold but still lovin' Istanbul

January 29: From bright blue skies to a sky so gray and foggy we can barely see any boats in the water from our window much less the beautiful old town skyline. In stormy weather though, the views from our window make even a rainy day pretty spectacular. Watching the clouds move and reveal patches of light and peeks into the old city and beyond is something I could do for hours.

We do seem to always leave a country during rainy weather, perhaps to make us eager for the move. Unfortunately, we’re heading to more of the same this time. But we’re excited nonetheless about our next destination—Rome! Yes, Rome. No, it’s not in the 70s there, but it’s where our next plane tickets are taking us. Our original plan was to head straight from Rome to Sicily, until we thought about Morocco as an option. Then we realized that a couple of weeks in Rome would be nice, since neither of us (obviously Jonah too) have been there before. We’ve done the northern half of Italy, Tuscany, and Umbria. Now it’s time to tackle Rome! Then perhaps two weeks on the Amalfi Coast, which is supposed to be lovely. Then we’re thinking about Morocco or Tunisia in March, we’ll see. Who knows, two more weeks of this weather may have us heading south right after Rome.

With afternoons like we had yesterday, I feel silly complaining about the cold weather. While Jonah was napping and Jeremy working, I took the afternoon to head over to the Grand Bazaar to buy a couple of things to take back home. The air was crisp. The sky was bright blue in some places with wispy clouds fading the vibrant color here and there. As we sailed away from the old town on the ferry, the light on the New District across the Golden Horn was stunning. It’s only the second time I got to see Istanbul in this light since Jonah typically naps in the afternoon, which means we’re never on the other side of Istanbul in the hour or so leading up to sunset. The other time was on the day we all took a cruise up the Bosphorus on an absolutely glorious day with weather so perfect we didn’t need our jackets. But I’ll get to that.

My original plan was to buy a large hand-painted bowl and glass light fixture. I absolutely love the ceramics here, and I’ve fallen in love with the light fixtures. I thought I’d buy these items and find a place to ship them back to California. Well, lead and common sense got in the way. The first guy I talked to about purchasing a bowl told me that there was in fact a little bit of lead in the paint on the ceramics. He said anyone who told me otherwise was lying. He, of course, also said that the paint was covered with glaze so there was no need to worry about it coming into contact with food. Yeah, until the glaze chips. I thanked him for his time and walked along to think about this…for about three seconds before realizing that, no, the studies I’ve read actually indicate that even a teeny tiny amount of lead is harmful. Glaze or no glaze, the bowl was out.

So I continued looking for my light fixture, when I realized that I didn’t actually know if I wanted a ceiling light or a table light. Then it struck me that I have a history of making purchases for a home that doesn’t yet exist. As far back as my first trip to Israel in 1992, I bought a piece of art for a future wall in a future home. That art sits in a tube in our garage back home, the same tube in which it has been housed for the past seventeen years. Now that I’ve made a short story long, the bottom line is that it made no sense to buy a light fixture for our townhouse because I never intended to put it up there (no place seemed right for this type of fixture), and you really need to buy a light fixture with a specific place in mind. My dad—former lighting store owner—would be proud of this oh so brilliant conclusion. So, my concerns about lead and conclusion about the lighting fixture liberated me to instead find a beautiful bracelet, a ceramic trivet that wouldn’t come into contact with food, and two ceramic bowls for my jewelry and spare change from Jeremy’s pocket that finds its way into an ever-growing pile on our dresser back home. Besides, we’ll be back to Istanbul, and I can buy my light fixture then. It’s a beautiful city and definitely one we want to experience either as a romantic getaway or with older kids.

So what else have we been up to? For one, we’ve been missing out on the excitement back home with our new Commander in Chief. We were glued to the television on inauguration day. We started watching CNN International a couple of hours before Obama was sworn in (or not, as the case may be—seems they had a little do-over the next day because Chief Justice Roberts got Obama’s oath off on the wrong footing). I was choked up for about two hours straight. Jeremy was monitoring the political blogs throughout the ceremony. And Jonah was playing with his puzzle, building towers, and occasionally looking at the television screen to see what all the fuss was about. By the time the benediction came around, poor Jonah was exhausted (though it was only 7:15 pm or so), putting his head down on the couch and saying, “Shloofy peez.” “Shloofy” is what we call sleep. I think it’s Yiddush. Or not. It’s the word my brother Jeff and sister-in-law Bette have always used, and we at some point started using it too. Anyway, Jonah was desperate to go to sleep.

Speaking of which, he loves the process of getting ready to head off to sleep, whether for the night or just a nap. We ask him which of the animals he wants to bring with him to his room. Have I mentioned this yet? It started with him just grabbing a couple. Now he has Jeremy and me take most of the animals. “Here, mama. Take this, dada,” as he hands us each a few stuffed animals to take to his room. Jonah usually takes one of the animals and marches off down the hallway to get to his room. If Jeremy or I stall for any reason, Jonah comes back to the living room and says, “Come, mommy,” or “Come, dada.” Then he throws all of the animals into his crib, until I put most of them on the chair in his room to “watch” him sleep.

Anyway, before the inauguration festivities began that day, Jonah and I ventured over to the old town and went to a Bulgarian Orthodox church, St. Stephen’s Church. Built in 1898, it’s made of cast iron, the parts having been constructed in Vienna and sent to Istanbul. As we entered the main part of the church, Jonah looked up and yelled out, “Jesus! Hi, Jesus!” Clearly, we’ve been to a few churches on this trip. From the church we walked along the waterfront of the Bosphorus before stumbling upon one of the playgrounds from the day before. It seemed that we were in a “Stars, they’re just like us!” photo shoot with about a dozen tourists from I don’t know where (perhaps another part of Turkey) taking pictures of Jonah and me as we played on the seesaw. That’s an US Weekly reference for those who don’t follow the celebrity scene as closely as Jeremy does. Jonah particularly liked the three young women who were on the swings at the playground. One of them was swinging next to Jonah, and Jonah could have stayed there forever it seemed. Thankfully they had to return to school (I think), so they left. I wouldn’t have been able to get Jonah off the swing otherwise. He likes swings, but he never sits in one for twenty minutes. Five minutes max. It happened the other day too when he was swinging by a little girl at our local playground. Could have stayed there forever.

The next day Jonah and I headed to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum to see its amazing collection of sarcophagi from the royal necropolis of Sidon in Lebanon (part of the Ottoman Empire back in the day). The most amazing marble sarcophagus is from the 4th century BCE known as the Alexander Sarcophagus, although it was carved for King Abdalonymos of Sidon. Some of its colors remain, and the figures on the sides capture battle and hunting scenes in great detail. In one enclosed case near the Alexander Sarcophagus lies a mummy. As we strolled by it, Jonah said, “People shloofing.” Given how decayed this body was (as you can imagine after thousands of years), I was pretty amazed that he was able to recognize it for what it was. A person in a state of eternal shloofing. After a fairly quick tour through the main part of the museum, we found the children’s section where Jonah and I climbed up and down the stairs to a miniature version of a palace. From there to the outside sculpture garden with its ancient statues and columns. Jonah piled little rocks on various ancient items. Then we strolled through the gardens of Gülhane Park by the museum before heading to the port to catch a ferry home.

The next day was the warmest yet, so the three of us took a day-long cruise along the Bosphorus headed toward the Black Sea. We picked up the ferry (larger than the ferry we typically take from the old town to our side of the Bosphorus and back) in Eminönü (the port by the old town). The Bosphorus is the only outlet for countries on the Black Sea—Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Georgia. The boat made five brief stops to pick up and drop off passengers before docking at the small fishing village of Anadolu Kavaği. Since the Byzantine times, this village has been a strategic checkpoint for boats going through the Bosphorus. The area between the village and the Black Sea is a restricted-access zone. Turkish law requires that local pilots take vessels through the Bosphorus due to the dangerous currents, narrow width, sharp turns, and enormous size of some of the tankers and cruise ships that make their way through.

The views of Istanbul and beyond were beautiful from the boat. It felt wonderful to be outside on the upper deck with the wind blowing in my face. Fabulous saltwater smell and cool breeze. Jonah loved running around the boat, hanging out with some of the crew members, and riding his cars along the seats of the boat. From the boat we saw everything from Dolmabahçe Palace (the 19th-century palace of the Ottoman sultan built to replace the Topkapi Palace as the sultan’s official residence), the 19th-century Ottoman Assembly buildings (for the advisory committee established under pressure from Europe and within the Empire), and Beylerbeyi (the late-19th-century summer palace of the sultan) to the early-19th-century Kuleli (former army military barracks, now a military high school), private waterfront mansions belonging to wealthy Turkish families, Küçüksu (19th-century hunting pavilion of the sultans), 14th-century Anatolian Fortress, 15th-century Rumeli Fortress (built in a stunningly short time of 80-days one year before the Ottomans captured Constantinople), and the Byzantine Yoros Castle on the hilltop above the old fishing village of Anadolu Kavaği.

The boat docked in Anadolu Kavaği for about three hours, giving us plenty of time to eat a delicious seafood lunch in the outdoor patio of a waterfront restaurant, find a playground for Jonah to enjoy, and stroll around the village. It felt a bit like a Turkish version of Lindos with the tourists coming in for a few hours and then leaving the small village to itself for most of the day and night.

Having chased Jonah around for most of the boat ride to Anadolu Kavaği while I took pictures, Jeremy took a short snooze on the ride home. Though tired, Jonah only rested for a brief two minutes before alternating between running over to the food kiosk to sit on a chair by a table and trying to pitch his cars in a small trash can within his reach. Needless to say, Jonah went to sleep early that night. On the ferry ride back to Kadiköy (where our pier is located), we got to see the fabulous light shine down on the New District and a beautiful sunset as we walked back to our apartment.

Friday was another Gymboree play group day filled with slides, tunnels, and the much beloved Gymbo. On Saturday we headed back to the old town to tour the Oriental-styled Topkapi Palace, the exterior of which we’d seen for weeks from our window and on every ferry trip back and forth to the old town. Built in the 1470s overlooking the Sea of Marmara, Bosphorus Strait, and the Golden Horn (clearly a strategic location), the palace began as an administrative complex for the sultan with offices, military barracks, a council chamber, and reception hall. A century later it became the sultan’s primary residence with changes made under Süleyman the Magnificent. Topkapi served as the sole administrative palace for Ottoman sultans for more than 400 hundred years, when the European-styled Dolmabahçe Palace was built.

The palace has four courtyards, a harem complex (which we didn’t have time to tour), multiple pavilions, and a fabulous collection of ancient artifacts from the vast region once controlled by the Ottomans. According to the collection descriptions, we saw one of Abraham’s cooking pots (from the 19th or 20th century BCE—Abraham as in of the Bible Abraham), a walking stick belonging to Moses (from the 13th century BCE—THE Moses), and a 7th century footprint of Mohammed. Whether these items actually belonged to or were made by these three guys is anyone’s guess. At the very least, the items were from these time periods, which in and of itself is pretty remarkable. Items can be dated by archaeologists, so this much I’ll take as true. I’d like to think these items in fact belonged to Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad, and, if so, wow. That’s very cool. We also saw the 86-carat, pearl-shaped Spoonmaker’s Diamond, one of the biggest in the world, among other beautiful gifts given to sultans during the Ottoman reign.

As we were walking down a set of stairs at the palace, Jonah counted to five on his own. We’ve been counting stairs with him when we walk down to the playground on the waterfront in front of our apartment, and he’s been reciting a couple of numbers to us. But this was the first time he did it on his own unprompted. Less than two years ago he was growing inside me, and now he’s counting. Amazing!

Jonah again became the subject of other tourists’ photo shoot at the palace. Three women thought he was adorable (of course), and each one wanted their turn picking him up and posing for a picture with him. Surprisingly, Jonah complied and even smiled for them. And at lunch (back at the restaurant with the fabulous view of the New District and the Golden Horn), the waiters went down to the market below and bought Jonah a few little toys to play with while we ate. Everywhere we go Jonah is treated a bit like a prince. I hope this doesn’t go to his head…

The next day was a soggy one, so rather than head across the Bosphorus to visit the Dolmabahçe Palace as we’d hoped, we did as many suburban families do in the states (and here it seems)—we went to the indoor shopping mall. In addition to riding the little cars in the little kids’ arcade, Jonah walked all over the four-story mall. And we ate at the food court—KFC for me and Pizza Hut for Jonah. Jeremy went with a beef sandwich at the local fast food joint, but they were out of chicken (hence my fallback on KFC). In some ways it felt nice to have a very plain day, since plain days are more exotic to us right now than adventurous ones, as odd as that sounds.

The next day was Monday—our last Monday in Istanbul—so back to Gymboree for our art class we went. When we got to the taksi stand, I handed the map to our driver (who was standing outside of the car), and two other taksi drivers (who had taken Jonah and me to Gymboree before) started giving Monday’s driver advice on how best to get there. Jonah and I are well known among the Moda taksi driver crew. I find it pretty amusing.

On Tuesday, Jonah and I headed back to the old town to follow the old city walls tour in our guidebook. From the ferry to a bus to a stroll along the inside of a small stretch of the walls, Jonah and I made our way from Edirnekapi Gate down toward the Golden Horn. While waiting for the bus to leave in the huge bus parking lot near the Eminönü port, Jonah must have repeated no less than 50 times, “Go peez,” trying to get the bus to head out already. When the buses actually decide to leave the port is something I have yet to figure out. It’s not when the bus is full because I’ve been on buses that have left only half full. And it doesn’t seem to be at any particular time. Our driver was sleeping when we boarded, so we didn’t get going until whenever it was that he awoke. Didn’t seem like there was a particular schedule on which he was operating.

At one time, the city walls stretched thirteen miles around the city. The first wall was built by Greek settlers, but they were expanded in the 5th century both to encompass a greater area and to make a more protective barrier for would-be attackers. The walls were only breached twice apparently—by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and the Ottoman invasion in 1453. Fortified with 185 towers, each about 65 feet high, the walls actually were two separate walls—an inner wall and outer wall separated by a 55-foot wide no-person’s land. A 25-foot deep, 60-foot wide moat just outside the outer wall added to the impenetrability of the barrier. Only portions of the exterior wall remain throughout the city today. The sea walls proved to be the weak link in the walls. They were low and largely unfortified. The Byzantines stretched a thick chain across the entrance to the Golden Horn, sealing it off from enemy vessels and presumably making sea walls unnecessary. Not so. In 1453, Mehmet the Conqueror and his men dragged their war ships through today’s New District during the night and deposited them into the Golden Horn where they launched a successful surprise attack the next day and ended the Byzantine domination over the area. Pretty amazing. Also amazing is the fact that Jonah recognizes the old city walls everywhere we go in Istanbul. He sees a portion of the wall, points, and says, “Old city wall!”

Along the stretch of wall we walked was Istanbul’s only surviving Byzantine palace from the 13th or 14th century, Tekfur Palace, of which only a three-story exterior wall remains. We also passed by an old Muslim cemetery just outside the wall where companions of Muhammad are said to be buried in unmarked graves. Returning inside the city wall, we meandered through the back streets of a lower-income neighborhood where houses abut the wall in large stretches and kids on spring break (yeah, “spring”—very odd) played in the street. Three industrious little kids asked to pose for a picture for some money.

We found our way back to the Bosphorus where we stumbled upon a playground for Jonah to enjoy before catching a different bus line back to the ferry. At the playground a 10-year-old girl helped Jonah up the stairs on the play structure so he could go down the big slide. Then her father helped him on the seesaw while his daughter rode on the other side. He’s been talking about the two of them ever since. “Girl helped you up the stairs. Her daddy helped too.” Remember that “you” is Jonah.

While on the bus, we passed multiple banners (as we have on every trip to the old town) that displayed some version of the following: “Gazze’Ye Yemin”. Based on my attempt to translate this using the online Turkish-English dictionary, the best I could figure out was that it’s some sort of sworn allegiance to the people of Gaza. Another large flier I saw posted on a wall by one of the bus stops had a Jewish star with a swastika sign embedded in it.

On our boat ride back, Jonah was everyone’s little darling. A woman from this row, two women from that row, they were coming up left and right wanting a piece of him. One woman managed to buddy up enough to Jonah to get him to sit on her lap for a while. While perched on her lap, two other women stopped by and squeezed his cheeks and kissed him. If he doesn’t leave this country with a prince complex, I don’t know what it would take for him to think the world revolves around him.

Yesterday morning Jonah and I went to a new indoor play area called Kids Zone. A woman who helps run the foreign women’s club in Istanbul told me about it. Jolie and I met for coffee last week, and she gave me some ideas for places to take Jonah and told me what it was like to go from a practicing eye doctor in the states to her new life (eight years ago) married to an Armenian Turk with two kids and her struggles to learn the language and adjust to Turkey. Anyway, because the weather was fairly gray and damp in the morning (it cleared up midday and became a gorgeous one), I decided to check out Kids Zone. I also didn’t feel like heading to the old town twice in one day, knowing I was going there in the afternoon to shop at the Grand Bazaar.

I’d spoken to the owner the evening before to find out if we could just drop in and play for a couple of hours. She said that would be fine but that the “sisters” didn’t speak English. Strange word to use in reference to the women who play with the kids. Anyway, the idea is that you can sit and have a cup of coffee with your friends in the front room while the “sisters” play with your kids. I knew Jonah wasn’t going to go for me hanging out in another room, particularly when he can’t exactly communicate with the other adults, aside from the fact that I don’t actually have any friends here. But at least I’d have sort of a mother’s helper for the morning. Great.

When we first got to Kids Zone (located in between our place and Gymboree), I thought it was just a glorified day care. Turned out to be much better than that. And Jonah couldn’t get enough of the place. Today Jonah kept asking for Kids Zone, wanting to go there instead of Gymboree. Eventually I was able to convince him that seeing Gymbo, getting Gymbo kisses, and playing with bubbles and the parachute would be a great thing to do today. But back to Kids Zone… We started in one little room that only had a few toys. At 25 Lira for two hours (about $16), I thought I could buy him more interesting toys and just hang out at home. But then Jonah started wandering around the place with me and the “sister” in tow, and we found ourselves in a much bigger room with tons of toys, a play house that Jonah could walk in and out of (you know the kind by Little Tikes, like the one he played in at the Pefkos playground when we lived in Lindos, Greece), and a huge climbing, running, and sliding structure from floor to ceiling with one section filled completely with balls that you land in after going through a large, enclosed slide. It’s really the kind of structure that’s made for kids a bit older than Jonah, but he LOVED this thing. By the time we made our way into this room, two older boys and an older girl (all probably between seven and eight years old) had arrived. They were there without their parents, so I guess it is a sort of day care when kids are on school break. The girl loved Jonah and wanted to show him around and play with him. Jonah was only partly interested in her, perhaps because he couldn’t understand a word she was saying. He took more to the “sister” named Esra because she was at least able to say a small handful of words in English (“up” being one of them).

It was clear from Jonah’s interaction with these older kids that he wouldn’t exactly be a compliant younger sibling, so I suppose it’s a good thing he’s the first. But he certainly would be able to hold his own if he did have an older sibling. He doesn’t mind trying to move bigger kids over if they’re in his way or to pluck something right out of their hands if he wants it. I, of course, intervene at this point and explain that we share and need to be gentle, etc., etc., but it’s a bit amusing to watch this little guy march around as though he’s actually quite bigger and stronger than he is. Maybe he does have a prince complex after all…

When Jonah finally made his way into the enormous play structure, he was thrilled! He made his way through the structure with Esra helping him up the huge stairs and keeping him from falling over the couple of drop-offs, while I sat outside the structure and drank my coffee. (They have a woman there who makes the food and works in the kitchen, and when I asked if there was any coffee available, this woman brought me a cup of coffee with cream and sugar already stirred in for me.) With no hesitation, Jonah sat down at the top of the slide and flew through the huge tunnel, falling two feet into a huge room of balls. The smile on his face and boisterous laughter were clear indications that he LOVED it. He ran through the course a few times, blabbering sentence after sentence in part gibberish, part English. That’s always a sign that he’s having a fabulous time.

From the huge play room, we went into a smaller room with little couch chairs and books. Jonah loved sitting in the little chair and wanted me to read him a book. When he brought me the book, I discovered that it was in Turkish, of course. I told him that he needed to have Esra read it since I didn’t understand Turkish. Jonah brought the book to Esra, who proceeded to read the book with Jonah looking every which way but at the book since he had no clue what she was talking about. This trip has really taught me that, even though Jonah obviously doesn’t understand every English word out there, he does in fact know when someone is speaking English or when they’re speaking a language he doesn’t understand. Yesterday afternoon when Jonah was at the playground with Jeremy and he heard a woman speaking English to her daughter, Jonah’s eyes lit up and he focused on her and what she was saying. Jeremy said it was really interesting to watch his reaction.

It turned out to be a very nice morning at Kids Zone. It was nice to relax a bit, enjoy a cup of coffee, and see Jonah enjoying a new play area. It makes me a bit eager for Jonah to return to day care a few days a week so he can have more regular interaction with other kids and another play space to enjoy.

And today we went to our last Gymboree class. It was a miserable morning with more rain than usual. It makes hiking up the hill to the taxi stand while pushing Jonah’s stroller with one hand and holding an umbrella with the other exhausting. We went in search of a shoe store after our class because we recently realized that Jonah is quickly outgrowing his shoes. Rather than wait and pay Rome prices, we’re hoping to find a good pair here. No luck though. Will have to try elsewhere tomorrow.

After Jonah’s nap today there was a break in the rain, so we headed to the playground at the park along the waterfront just downstairs. It was a bit cold, but it felt good to be outside. The amazing thing is that we’re always the only parents with kids at the park during these breaks in the rain. On beautiful days we see lots of other kids in the park. But never, never on a day like today even when it’s not actually raining. Either we’re neglectful or others don’t care as much about getting out in the fresh air. I love the smell of the air after a good rain.

While we were at the park, we saw a little sailboat capsize on the Bosphorus. A sailing class appeared to be out in the water, about eight little sailboats or so. The group was probably about a half mile off shore. The people in the capsized boat weren’t able to right the boat, so two other little sail boats put up pink sails to get the attention of someone onshore. It was a bit worrisome, especially considering how unpredictable the water current and weather are and how cold the water must be. We eventually lost sight of the boats because the current carried them down the Bosphorus, and I can only assume (and hope) that the people on the capsized boat are fine and were eventually rescued.

So here we are, starting to mentally prepare for the next move. I’ve already started checking out websites for expats in Rome and, particularly, expat moms in Rome. I joined a forum (Rome Mama) and posted an inquiry about organic products and local playgrounds in our neighborhood. No response yet. The forum doesn’t have a huge number of registered users, but I’m hopeful I’ll have some information in hand before we even get to Rome.

Jeremy and I will definitely miss Istanbul. Little did we know it, but it’s actually been an interesting time to be here politically. Evidently, there have been multiple raids and dozens and dozens of arrests in an ongoing investigation into an alleged plot to overthrow the government. Check it out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7845375.stm. With the exception of Ireland and England, it seems that every country we’ve been to has seen some sort of devastation or violence since we’ve left (or immediately prior to our departure, as was the case in Israel). So who wants us next?

Over the course of the month, we’ve made some additional observations about Turkey. Call them stereotypes, but our anecdotal evidence is strong. First, people here drink tea (called “chai” though spelled differently). Perhaps everyone. Little babies? Maybe that’s when everyone’s love for tea develops. I’m not sure. Big sesame bagel-like things are sold by street vendors everywhere. It’s called simit (see-meet), and it’s a ring of dough dipped in grape molasses and sesame seeds before baking. Delicious. Bootlegged videos are sold for only 5 Lira ($3), and they take the place of DVD rental stores. The drivers are truly insane. Really. And no one wears seatbelts or motorcycle helmets. As noted before, no one speaks English. Okay, some people do but it’s a teeny tiny fraction of the population. They LOVE, LOVE, LOVE kids here, notwithstanding the fact that they’d run your child down in their car without a second thought. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way, perhaps not by law but by custom for sure. I can stand at a non-signaled crosswalk for what feels like hours before I can get through it with Jonah. Everyone smokes, and our clothes stink every time we get home. I’d say I can’t wait until we get to Rome to get out of the smoke, but I’m not sure we actually will. I do look forward to returning to the anti-smoking vigilantism in the states. You don’t get a receipt for purchases even in stores, except large supermarkets. So don’t try returning anything you buy. When the weather is nice, tons of people are out strolling in the parks and along the waterfront, especially couples who only get time alone with their partners outside the home since everyone seems to live with their families until they get married. Finally, the people here are the absolute nicest people we’ve come across in our travels without a question. Friendly, helpful, and accommodating. Really, really nice people on the whole.

Jonah continues to chat, chat away. He likes to recite the lines of his opposites book. We say the first word, and he says its opposite. He’s memorized the lines, of course, but it’s very cute. I love being able to carry on a conversation (albeit limited) with him. Some of his latest lines include:

“Kiss mommy,” as he comes to my bedside after Jeremy has gotten Jonah ready in the morning and I’m still lying in bed about to get in the shower. This is the best thing EVER.

“Thank you!” or “Toda raba!” as he hands the taxi driver money to pay for our ride.

“Nana Papa at home. Uncle Josh at home. Aya shloofing,” as I’m holding Jonah in his room at 5:30 in the morning one day when he decided he couldn’t sleep anymore.

“Imam singing!” at 6:15 am as Jeremy walked back into Jonah’s room to get him up for the day when Jonah decided that, in fact, he wasn’t going to go back to sleep after waking up at 5:30.

“Safta too big,” pointing to his little school bus and indicating that Safta wouldn’t be able to fit inside (what I tell Jonah when he asks if he can get inside).

“Neighbor turned off the water,” while sitting in Jonah’s room before putting him in his crib for the night. He often asks about the noises we hear from upstairs, and we explain what it is that we think the neighbors are doing (e.g., moving their furniture, dropping something on the floor, turning on and off the water).

“Car go by” or “Car coming,” whether one is or not.

“Slippery, daddy,” as Jeremy was getting into the shower one morning and Jonah and I were sitting in bed.

“Bye bye, mommy. See you soon!” often said as Jeremy takes Jonah to get him ready for the day.

“Mayan, Mayan, get off the bus!” or “Mollie, get off bus!” as he looks in his little school bus.

“Soaking wet!” after he spilled water on himself.

“Neighbors upstairs working at home.”

“Buy it!” when he saw a little car that he wanted in a store at the mall. We didn’t.

“Take it with you,” when he wanted to take my ear plugs case with him into the other room.

“Back molars,” as he’s brushing his teeth and making sure to reach his back molars.

“People going down. Push the button elevator,” as he heard the elevator in our building going down.

“Mommy’s button. Two buttons,” as he noticed that there were two buttons on my shirt.

“Group taxi!” as we passed a little mini-bus that’s a shared taxi to specific destinations.

“Get out, kitty cat!” as a cat made its way through the doors at the shopping mall to have a look around.

“Cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread, cheese bread!” as we get on the ferry both to and from the old town. It’s like a long grilled cheese sandwich, and Jonah eats two (usually three-quarters of one going and half of one coming home) on every trip to the other side of Istanbul.

Finally, I must share a particularly intellectual conversation I had with a guy at the supermarket the other week. “Bawk, bawk?” I inquired, looking up at a supermarket employee as I'm flapping my arms like wings and looking for frozen chicken in the freezer section of the grocery store. “Bawk, bawk?” asked the guy who worked at the store. “Bawk, bawk,” I replied, as I continued to flap my arms. Silence and a negative head shake in response.

Okay, see you in Rome!

Picture descriptions: View of old town and New District from our window as a storm passes through; view of old town from the ferry; view of New District; ferry boat heading up the Golden Horn; Jonah watches President Obama's inaugural address; interior of Bulgarian Orthodox church, St. Stephen's Church; Jonah enjoys the garden at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum; 19th-century Dolmabahçe Palace; 15th-century Rumeli Fortress; small fishing village of Anadolu Kavaği; waterfront mansions along the Bosphorus; in front of Topkapi Palace; inside the Topkapi Palace courtyards; same; sunset from our window; video arcade at the shopping mall; view from inside the old city walls; view of the exterior of the old city walls stretching down to the Golden Horn; neighborhood kids with the traditional wood Turkish house in background; playground by the Bosphorus; Jonah loving the ball room at Kids Zone; view of Topkapi Palace from our window; another waterfront playground near the old city; sunset view from street in front of our apartment building; Jonah loves to kiss this fake dog on our walk home from one of the local playgrounds; Jonah at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum; Jonah rests on the ferry ride back to the old town while on the Bosphorus cruise.