Lists

These two lists have been accumulating on my Facebook profile for months now, but some of you probably don't have access to that, so I thought I would add them to our official archives here. They may receive small edits in the coming months, but I think they are more or less complete. You may infer anything you like from the fact that the former is significantly longer than the latter...

Things I miss about America:
- pizza with sauce
- central heating
- English
- unfettered access to books
- football (real football)
- Campus Management (at least we spoke the same language and I was capable of asking them to fix things in our house)
- people who stand in line without shoving each other
- more than one kind of beer
- bacon
- walking alone down the street without any men hastling me for obviously being a Russian prostitute
- theatre
- liberals
- Mexican food/ Bıg Ten Burrito
- ovens
- clothes dryers
- grass, trees, general nature (they have these things other places, just not in İstanbul)
- good old friends
- recycling
- NPR (particularly Prairie Home Companion)
- my family
- a sense of control
- LIBRARIES!!!
- things that work the way they are supposed to
- a mold-free lifestyle
- not commuting 3 hours everyday
- feeling like I can do something to improve the world I see walking down the street (and not doubting whether that's even my place)
- shaving my legs - a lot of the things about our bathroom make this task virtually impossible.
- trustworthy roommates

Things I appreciate about Turkey:
- poğaça - a sort of buiscuity savory bread pastry thing
- chocolate-covered hazelnuts
- crazy English teachers
- riding the ferry across the Bosphorus - the city the way it was meant to be seen
- çay (tea) - all the time, every day
- the breathtaking rolling landscape of the countryside between İstanbul and the Greek border
- simit - the Turkish hot pretzel
- sending a basket out the window down to the shop four floors below to get milk and bread every morning without leaving the apartment
- good new friends that don't judge...well, not without making it funny.
- the guy on Istiklal with the giant prayer beads, crazy award-winning gray mustache, top hat, and red sash...I never know what he's doing, but whatever it is, he's got a good schtick
- using "Yabancı!" (foreigner) as a sort of battle cry
- the ever useful "çok" - it means very, a lot, many, much, and sometimes big.
- playing Magic like a 13 year-old boy in 1997, but with about $2000 worth of bootleg cards printed in the fabulously inscrupulous Turkish style, all for about $100.

Internet - Computer =

the fear that all that unused wireless signal in our apartment might be causing brain cancer. You know, like turning a microwave on when there's nothing in it.

But yes, it is a sad story, but I think Roseanne (which Mark and I eventually settled on calling my little Dell 2600, due to its essential dysfunctionality) has finally kicked the bucket. Or at least her power cord has.

Fortunately, my brand-spanking new Gateway NX570 is waiting for me at home. Maybe Roseanne had abandonement issues... However, for the next three months, we're outta luck. If we can figure out how to get a replacement for a 5-year-old Dell laptop power source in Turkey, maybe we will be back in action. However, we have consulted the powers that be, and they say Outlook Not So Good.

We're back

from Portugal. We'll tell more stories later, we are kinda having an intense internet session at the moment, and will move to leisurely activities at, well, our leisure. But first, a Portugal Report Card.

Look: A+
It was beautiful. They had statues everywhere, and the road was paved with intricately designed cobble.

Activities: B
There was a lot to do, but when you had seen your last statue and read your last museum placard, we didn't find much. I'm sure there was nightlife, but it really didn't want much to do with us.

Food: C-
Portuguese food, I'm sure, is delicious. IF you like seafood. If you don't, then there is meat. Generally I am for meat, I appreciate it. But they didn't really season it. And, in America, we like to disguise the meat with shrink-wrap and breading, but not in Portugal. They look their meat clear in front of them, with flesh to be ripped off bones and whatnot. Our best (2) meal(s) was in a combined Italian/Indian restaurant.

MacBeth: D
About as exciting as listening to a book on tape. In Portuguese.

Hostel: A
Our host was a charming woman who, when I sniffed at all, would demand I drink green tea with lots of sugar, take some medicine, and lie down.

So yes, overall I reccomend Lisbon to all you world travellers out there. And keep eyes peeled for the Italian/Indian place. It really was delicious.