The blog is back up, albeit in a different spot and under a little more protection.
Feel free to share the password with others; the idea of password protection is to keep the prying eyes of the general internet population from peeking in. I'm not trying to exclude anyone I know or who has an interest in Turkey.
Turkey's three newest residents arrived safely in Ankara yesterday after a long, tiring flight. Our field supervisor met us at the airport and drove us to the education office, a two-floor apartment used both as workspace for all office-related needs and as temporary housing for the newbies.
So far we've been mostly unpacking and trying to get our heads straight, so we haven't had much chance to explore yet. For the first two weeks we'll have a sort of orientation, getting our bearings around the city and having some survival language training.
When visiting foreign countries, one of my favorite things to do is visit grocery stores. It may sound strange, but the content and structure of a foreign supermarket is really a fascinating insight into lifestyle and culture of a place. So I was quite excited to take a trip to Migros, the main supermarket chain.
After three years of grocery shopping in east Asia, I couldn't get over the abundance of bread and cheeses in Migros. The bakery section is full of hearty looking breads in flowered shapes and dusted in sesame seeds or other goodies. We got a thick looking loaf fresh out of the oven. I'm sitting in the kitchen looking at it right now, trying to resist the temptation to go attack it.
And the cheese aisle- wow. You'd have to be in a specialty store in the United States to get such a myriad selection of cheeses. And of course in Taiwan, it's nearly impossible to find anything other than Kraft singles and bags of shredded mozzarella. (親愛的台灣朋友們: 雖然我非常愛你們的國家, 我還是認為那邊根本找不到好吃的起司及麵包.)
Another feature I enjoyed was a corner with glass cases full of bulk dried fruits and nuts. That, my friends, will be revisited many times in the future, I can promise you.
So we're stocked up on food for now, but were also persuaded to try a very Turkish beverage: ayran. This is a watery yogurt drink with a slightly salty flavor. And I just might like it.
There it is.That's all for now. More to come later when there's more to write about.
Until then...
