Gobble Gobble

Our flight last night left at 10:30pm, direct to Antalya.  It got in at 4am local time and it took two hours to buy our visa, go through customs, get our luggage and drive to Bjørn’s house.  I didn’t sleep a wink the whole flight.  It was full of what appeared to be some kind of men’s club which could have passed for the classic “drunken sailor” type.  The floor of the plane was littered with empty alcohol bottles as we exited, and the aroma still hung in the air.  This charter flight was very relaxed in their expectations of passengers.  It seemed, the typically “sober” Norweigan façade got lost as soon as they left their motherland.  Interesting.

The sun was already starting to shine, but we all crashed in our beds at Bjørn’s house and we didn’t wake up until 10 this morning.  It put a weird twist on the day, but once we had our standard Norwegian breakfast, we were all in good shape.

I guess I was expecting Turkey to be like Athens, quite gritty with graffiti and litter everywhere but it’s not like that at all.  It’s much nicer than I anticipated.  I have yet to see any graffiti or litter and even though it’s a hot, dry climate, every empty lot is filled with tall green grass.  I guess we came at the right time – after the spring rains.  We are in the seaside community of Side, just east of Antalya.  There are many four story apartment complexes built just outside the ancient city of Side, which have been bought mostly by Norwegians and Germans for vacation homes.  Out of the 18 units in Bjørn’s complex, 12 are owned by Norwegians, so right now, it’s a pretty quiet place as we are here before the summer rush.  All the empty lots around us have two to three cows staked out in them.  Must be the cheapest way to cut the grass.  It looks pretty funny, mixing farm life in with hotels and condos.

We had plenty of sunshine and warm weather today, but I didn’t lie around the pool like Kory and Kaleb did.  They both enjoyed a dip and a little time to relax, but I opted for going for walks in the neighborhood just to see what there was to see, and to take photos, of course.  Lots of beautiful blooming flowers caught my attention, as did the many stray cats.  Greece is full of stray dogs, but here, the only ones I saw were on very short chains, and it broke my heart.

This morning, after taking care of business things like getting a few groceries, going to the bank machine to pull out Turkish lira and buying a mobile broadband internet stick, we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch.  Boy was that tasty.  It was pita bread pizza, all fresh and good.  Yum.   Afterward some of us went shopping in the neighborhood while others took naps.  I found out that turkish bath towels are sold by the kilo.  I thought that was funny.  I didn’t buy much, but the prices on some things here are half what they are in America, and insanely cheap for Norwegians.  Many of the name brand clothes are made here in Turkey so there are lots of shops selling them for pennies on the dollar.  It’s hard not to think they were stolen, they are so cheap.  Norwegians are really into name brands, but me, not so much.

The only thing I’ve seen that’s more expensive than in the U.S. is gasoline (it’s about the same as Norway at $12 a gallon right now) and electricity.  All the shops had their lights turned off until we showed up, then they flipped on the switch.

All the shopkeepers expect to barter.  I hate doing that so I’m sure I’m paying more than I should for even the smallest of things, but I always figure they need the money more than I do.  The average income in Turkey is only $10,000 a year.

Tonight, we headed into the old part of the city to visit a hair salon.  The twins wanted a fancy haircut ($6 each), Bjørn wanted a shave and a haircut ($8), Janne wanted a tint and new hair style ($60), Ingrid wanted a pedicure ($12) and both Kaleb and I needed a haircut ($6 & $10).  We were there for hours.  But the employees were so very kind and respectful and they played with the boys to keep them entertained and brought us tea, coffee and pop while we waited. They were very complimentary and they told me they thought I needed just a little dye on the gray streak in my hair, but when I told them I liked it just the way it was and they couldn’t have agreed with me more.  It almost reminds me of Japan.  Even at lunch, the greeter shook hands with everyone and welcomed us in.  He remembered Bjørn from last year and couldn’t have been happier that he had returned.  It may be all for show, but they do a good job of making people feel welcome around here.  It’s impressive, as it’s not too much or too forceful.

We are all talking Norwegian just to be safe as I’m not sure what the temperament is towards Americans right now.  Everyone here speaks a little English so I’m having Ingrid translate for me to the shop keepers because when she speaks English, it definitely sounds like she’s from Norway, but I can’t fake it.  So far, no one has suspected a thing.  It makes me feel a bit safer, but according to Bjørn, there’s not a lot of crime here anyway, so that’s good to know.

Kaleb fell asleep waiting for his haircut so I had to wake him up when it was his turn.  He was a bit sour and cried while the guy cut his hair, claiming it hurt.  The guy was so sweet and got a Kleenex and wiped his tears away. I bought him a Turkish style hat afterwards in the market, so he was pleased with that because it covered up his haircut.  He looked pretty cute either way.

We walked around a little in Antik Side (the really old part) after we were done with the salon. We didn’t buy much tonight, but it was good to check on prices.  We ended up down by the harbor, walking through the ruins of a temple to Apollo and Athena.  It’s hard to believe these structures are not protected but they are just open for kids to climb on and jump from one broken piece to the other.  Kaleb seemed to enjoy that part of the day best, especially since he’s read the Percy Jackson series all about the Greek gods, so it was a bit more alive for him than the rest of us.

Kaleb wanted to buy some Nintendo games and Turkish delight candy.  I bought a few flavors of candy tonight (similar to Aplets and Cotlets) so we tried them out before bedtime.  They are good and fresh and a bit more gummy than what we are used to with the Aplets and Cotlets, but still quite tasty. 

It’s been a long day as it’s now after midnight and we all need to sleep.  Tough life, but someone’s gotta live it.

We're Baaack... (photos to follow)

Just as the plane touched down in Aalesund, Kaleb yelled out, “We’re home! We’re home!” He couldn’t be more excited and I find myself a little giddy as well. I wish I knew what it was, but there is certainly a sense of belonging here unlike any place I’ve ever lived. Hallelujah, we made it back!


We had an easy flight to Iceland, without a hitch. The seats were comfy and extra wide and the video on demand made the time literally fly by. We had a quick stop in Iceland to catch the flight to Oslo. Kaleb managed to sleep about an hour, so I was thankful for that. I think I closed my eyes for about five minutes and Kory was awake the whole time. We are all a little rummy right now as it’s 9:30 Monday morning Seattle time, which means we’ve pulled an all-nighter and we still have a few hours before we can go to bed in Norway, hoping to adjust to the time zone quickly.

We also have to stay awake to await the arrival of our luggage. Our flight to Oslo got in a little late so we had to run to catch our connection to Aalesund. The ticket agent at the airport said not to wait for our luggage, just get on the plane and file a missing luggage report when we land in Aalesund. We did that, so now we are waiting for it to arrive. It’s all just gifts and household decorations anyway so it’s no big deal, but we really can’t fall asleep until they deliver it. We love that we actually get to sleep in our condo tonight – for the first time since we bought it in 1999.

Most of Aunt Ruth’s things have been moved out with her to her new room at the assisted living home, but there’s still quite a bit to sort through and figure out who wants what. I’d just as soon toss it all out so I can start unpacking tomorrow and getting settled, but I doubt it will happen that fast, so patience is a must.

We hadn’t been on Norwegian soil more than five minutes when Kaleb started whining about wanting to be with his friends. As Kory sat and had cake and coffee with Tante Kari (it’s her 82nd birthday today), I drove Kaleb over to his best friend Toban’s house. Now there was a happy reunion. I left him there a few hours while I went and got some money out of the bank to fill the tank on our van (at $8 a gallon – so it was nearly $150 to fill it), and pick up a few things for breakfast tomorrow (another $70 gone in an instant.) It’s a good thing we love it here so much, otherwise the prices would make me crazy, as I’m back in “sticker shock” mode.

A snow storm just blew through town. It hailed earlier today, but we’ve also seen the sun quite a bit. All the ground is white though because it’s pretty darn cold right now. I even love the ever changing weather.

Kory stopped by to ask his old boss if he’d give us a bid to put up a wall in our condo to make a bedroom out of part of the living room (as it was originally designed.) He said he’d try to come by tomorrow, but he’s pretty busy and he asked Kory if he’d go back to work for him. Maybe Kory will trade some labor to help offset the cost of the wall, as we do need to get Kaleb his own bedroom.

The “house” is so quite now that everyone is gone. We were greeted by all the cousins earlier today as most of them gathered for Tante Kari’s birthday. Now it’s just us – Kaleb lying on the floor in what will soon be his bedroom, reading books he’s already checked out of the library, Kory in the kitchen making room in some cupboards for our food, and me sitting in the living room on the computer. Life is simpler here, even with a big to-do list because we don’t do anything alone. All the cousins have already offered to help build the wall, move furniture, get us settled. It takes a village to settle down a Norwegian.

Happy Birthday Times Two

The reasons to celebrate just don’t stop. With a large family all living so close by, there is never a week without cake. Last week it was Hege’s baptism, this week it was birthdays times two. Today was both Tante Kari’s 81st birthday, as well as her cousin Oddrun’s (pronounced Ode-run) 75th birthday. Unfortunately, because of Tante Kari’s broken hip, she wasn’t feeling much like celebrating so there wasn’t really a party for her. We stopped in for a visit and to bring her a gift this afternoon however, but it was tough to see her in so much pain. She gets a hip replacement on Wednesday.

Since all the sisters live next to each other, we can’t very well go visit one aunt without stopping in to see the others, so we also had a visit with Tante Aslaug and with Tante Ruth. Ruth went on and on about having the awning over the deck and how nice it is to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. I planted some pansies in her flower pots so she was proud to show me how much they’ve grown in the last few weeks. She couldn’t have been more pleased, so it was good for us to hear how well she is doing. They use the word “thrives” here a lot (trives). We are always asked, “Trives du her i Norge?” (Thrive you here in Norway?) Everyone always wants us to thrive, and today we found out how well the plants on the deck are thriving as well as how Aunt Ruth is thriving with the awning. Good to hear.

Kory and I were thriving well this morning without Kaleb in the house. We were actually able to have a very long uninterrupted talk because Kaleb had spent the night with a friend. We were so engrossed in the conversation, we sort of missed church. Agape didn’t have a service today because of the three day weekend and Filadelfia just had Confirmation (no regular service). I wanted to attend a Confirmation, but the conversation we were having was more important. We talked about many things but mostly about when we need to head back to Washington. One of our upcoming vacancies in our apartment building in Seattle is from our current on-site manager, so we have to figure out Plan B, since he’ll be moving out soon. Within the next week we will be buying our tickets to come home – possibly in July rather than September. We figure we can always come back and do our European road trip next Spring, but things at home are piling up and it stops being fun here if we have too many uncertainties there. We promised Kaleb a trip to Denmark to go to Legoland so we will probably take three or four weeks anyway and travel around a little before we head back, but it won’t be all we had initially planned. Life happens.

Tonight we were invited over to Kory’s mom’s cousin’s house to celebrate her 75th birthday together with all her family. Oddrun is from the Solevaag clan that grew up on the original family farm where Kory’s mom was born. Kory’s mom’s uncle inherited the Solevaag farm and raised all five of his kids there, Oddrun being one of them. All the siblings (except one) live right on the same street as that farm and some of their children and grandchildren also live just a stone’s throw away, so it’s not too hard to rally the troops and call them all together to celebrate. That is one tight knit family. (See photo of the five Solevaag siblings and us. Oddrun is to the left of Kaleb, then there’s Kitty, Olaf, Arnfinn and Terje.) All their spouses were there, most of their children and about half of their grandchildren were all together in one house – at least 35 of us, eating dinner, drinking coffee and enjoying the 11 cakes made for the occasion. Birthdays are no small matter and we so enjoyed being part of that celebration.

Kaleb was pretty peeved with me as we picked him up early from his sleep-over so he could come with us to the party. He wanted to bring his Nintendo DS game to play, figuring he’d be bored to death in the presence of so many old people, but we told him other kids would be there so he couldn’t bring his DS. Turns out every single kid – all six of them there – brought their Nintendos! Kaleb got tears in his eyes and wanted us to go back home to get his, but by that time our car was already blocked in and we couldn’t leave. He managed to entertain himself by watching the others play and when one got tired, he was able to borrow theirs. It was the funniest sight, all these little boys sitting side by side on the couch with their faces planted right in front of a little computer screen – playing “together” – as the technology allows the machines to interact if they are near each other. I’m not sure what it’s doing for his social skills, but his small motor skills sure are improving with the work-out his fingers get. And perhaps this type of interaction is more indicative of his generation anyway, but I don’t think it goes as well with coffee and cake.

Money woes

I watch the exchange rates daily. At one point, a few years ago, you could buy 10 kroner for a dollar. When we bought our condo you could buy 8.5 kroner. Now, you can’t even buy 5 kroner -- it’s in the 4 range. Norway was super expensive when it was any price, but now it’s over the top crazy expensive.

A few years ago when we were visiting Aunt Ruth she mentioned she needed a new toilet seat. It was just a plastic thing, but made in Norway. The exchange rate was about 6.5 to the dollar and still the toilet seat cost $125! Today’s rate would make it $175. For a toilet seat! That’s the scariest part – even little thing costs more money than is conceivable. I am sooooo trying NOT to worry about money, but even in America we’re having a hard time each month just making it on $4,000 a month. The price of gas in Norway used to be about $4.50 a gallon when it was only $1.50 here. Now it’s closer to $4.50 here and about $12 a gallon in Norway. Hard to imagine. But in Norway, people don’t drive the distances they do here, so the gas does last longer. And we still need to keep up our auto and medical insurance while we’re gone or we’ll lose them. So many things about American policy are completely insane. I think there should be a country where everything makes sense. I’d like to be President of that place.