Week One: Idaho to Istanbul, Turkey

What a week! We left Caldwell early Christmas morning after a few long days/nights of moving the rest of our things (beds, piano, stuff, stuff, and more stuff!) out of my parent's house and either to our new home in Starr Valley, NV, or the storage unit around the corner. Phew! Glad that part is over.

We are so thankful to my parents for letting us stay in their home for the past four months while they are away on their mission in NY, NYC. Sunday, we attended our last church service in the Caldwell 3rd ward and said goodbye to our dear friends - so many memories and people we will always cherish!

I couldn't find anything on Uber or Lyft big enough to carry all of us and our luggage to the airport on Christmas morning, so we considered just doing two small cars. But, after a little online research, I found that a limo would only be $20 more, so we surprised the kids with a limo drive to the airport. Why not go out in style? So fun to see their faces when this beauty pulled up!

We flew from Seattle to Frankfurt to Istanbul. About 24 hours of travel! We were all ready to sleep when we arrived. The airport was HUGE, which makes sense because Istanbul is huge (more than twice the size of NYC) and on two continents!

All my YouTube hours of watching what to do once you arrive in Istanbul paid off, and we were able to find SIM cards for our phones, exchange some cash, and get a large taxi for all six of us to our AirBnB.

The taxi driver took us here, our new home, for a month and a half. To say we were concerned would be a bit of an understatement (you never know what you're going to get with AirBnb, but this place had over 20 five-star reviews, so I was trying to feel confident).

Our fears quickly transformed into reassurance when we got up four flights and were greeted by Mrs. Melek, the Airbnb's cleaning lady. We were thankful for a friendly face and a kind smile. Through Google Translate, we were able to communicate what we needed to and then also had a nice WhatsApp Facetime call with Arhan, our Airbnb host, who let us know about all of the quirks of this 150-year-old apartment. Things like: Don't flush toilet paper down the toilet, don't drink the water but you can cook and clean with it, the power goes out about three times a month, and "Don't tell anyone you paid online, and if anyone asks you are just friends of mine staying for a vacation." 😳

Our four floors of steps - these plus the many, many hills in Istanbul are giving us a great daily workout!

We arrived at around 9:30 p.m. Turkey time (haha, that means something totally different in America!), so we all slept mostly through the night. I had an awful cold and cough starting this trip, and a few of the kids started complaining of not feeling well, so this week has been us trying to get over being sick and adjusting to our 10-hour time difference. We've taken it slow, just venturing out once (maybe twice) a day, and that's worked really well so far. It's nice to know that we have time.

The next morning, we ventured out and visited the famous Spice Bazaar! It was INCREDIBLE!

There are so many shops full of mounds of colorful spices, tea, Turkish delight, baklava, nuts, dried fruit, jewelry, and textiles...it is officially called the Egyptian Bazaar since it was founded in 1660 with funds from the Ottoman district of Egypt. It houses over 85 shops and is a sensory explosion. We were exhausted (I slipped on some stone stairs and fainted on the way there 😅 long and now funny story), so we look forward to going back soon (it's only a 10-minute walk from our home base).

Outside the Bazaar. More open-air shops selling meats, cheeses, and the most colorful olives! The bright pink is brined in beets, and the bright blue in blueberries.

We tasted Simit, which I would describe as a mix between a pretzel and a bagel. The bread is covered in toasted sesame seeds, and we had the Nutella option. Delicious!

Hills everywhere. Our legs are getting a good workout!

We live very close to the Galata Bridge, which goes over the Bosphorus Straight - a body of water that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It also separates parts of Asian Turkey (Anatolia) from European Turkey (where we are). So we can visit two continents in just a few minutes!

During the day, you will see lots of men (and a few women) fishing off the bridge with large fishing poles.

One thing we have learned since being here is that Turkey feels very passionate in their support of Hamas and Palestine and disdain for Israel. You can see these messages spray-painted all across the bridge. This one says, "Isreal, condemning is not enough. Boycotting is required."

This one says, "Israel, receiving your products = massacre. Don't be a partner!" I received a random text inviting me to meet at the Galata Bridge on New Year's Day to protest against Israel. We didn't go because we thought it might be dangerous. It turns out it was a huge protest put on by the Turkish government, and it would have been interesting to be there. Here's a picture of the event I found via Google:

Cats are everywhere in this city! It's a thing here. The girls bought some cat food to share with them. We see them on sidewalks, in cafes, sunning themselves on rooftops. There are also dogs, but not as many dogs as cats. We are told that many Turkish citizens view street animals as community-owned pets rather than traditional strays, and Turkey has a blanket no-kill, no-capture policy.

Lots of graffiti here which I think is a shame because the buildings have so much history. We have seen some pretty cool murals though, mostly of American actors/song artists, which we thought was interesting.

On Saturday, we ventured to the Asain side of Istanbul to the Çamlıca Tower, a telecommunications tower with observation decks and restaurants. It is about double the size of the Seattle Space Needle and gave us a great view of this massive city. To give you an idea of size, Istanbul is home to at least 16.5 million (according to the locals we've talked to, it's closer to 20 million now). NYC has a population of 8.5 million. It's building on top of building on top of building!

We had a great view of the Büyük Çamlıca Mosque, a controversial newer mosque built by the president of Turkey, Erdoğan. It is now the biggest mosque in Turkey.

We were celebrating Jeff's birthday, so we ate at a nice restaurant there that served milkshakes and french fries. The kids even got hamburgers. A nice break for our pallets as we are getting used to the different tastes and smells here.

When we got back to our neighborhood, we realized we were just a block or two away from the famous Galata Tower and so many shops and cafes! I remember when planning this trip that we would be close, but I was so happy to discover just how close we are. I was able to find a fresh fruit and veggie market, a pharmacy, and also fresh bread! We go about every two days since we have a tiny fridge and not a lot of storage space in the kitchen. I enjoy cooking here. It has been a nice change of pace for me. No microwave has been a fun challenge too.

Sunday, we ventured out to find where our church meets. It was an adventure getting there and finding the building that is just a converted house in a neighborhood. It took us a while to realize this sign said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Welcome to Isatabul Association. There are about 35 people in our little English-speaking branch here (there is also a Turkish branch of about the same size that meets right after us), all from different parts of the world: Mexico, Ivory Coast, the Philippines, Brazil, etc. I wish I got more pictures but I'll add more later. We already have a speaking assignment for next Sunday. 😊

Jeff quickly became friends with Micheal from Canada. He has been here for about a month as a tourist. He was happy to help us figure out how to get home and has been so great about giving us tips and helping us navigate this massive city.

There is a new mosque on the way home, so we quickly stopped and checked it out. Ollie stayed home this time with a cold. So happy he's feeling better now.

Rules for going inside any of the 3,000 mosques here.

That evening, New Year's Eve, we all tried our best to stay up. Some of us watched Fiddler on the Roof on the laptop while others played games. By midnight, only Jeff, Laurel, and I wanted to venture out to see the fireworks on Galata Bridge. The fireworks did not disappoint. It felt like the bridge was exploding! What a memory we will always treasure: New Year's in Istanbul. We can't wait to see what next week will bring. ❤️