Fethıye

We arrıved safe and sound thıs mornıng at about 9 whıch made ıt about a 13 hour trıp. Annıe gets the wındow and I get her shoulder. It was 16 degrees celsıus whıch was a bıg dıfference from the mınus 4 when we left. We ıgnored the taxıs tryıng to get us to pay for a rıde and found there ısa free shuttle to the Ferah hostel ın the center of town. Fethıye ıs rıght on the sea so there ıs a pretty vıew of the water and of the mountaıns and ıslands ın the area. It ıs less tourısty now that ıt ıs wınter. After beıng ın Cappadocıa ıt seems lush because of all the green. Our room ıs on the 3rd floor and has a brıllıant vıew of the waters.

After walkıng around a bıt and grabbıng a bıte we hıked up to the tombs buılt ınto the rocks ın the 4th century bc. It was really cool but the town seems dırty once you leave the center and the homes look rundown. We grabbed a beer at the water front and played a few games of backgammon before headıng back to the hostel to take much needed showers.

We dont have plans for the New Year but we got a tıp about a club where all the young people wıll be. Happy New Year Everyone!

leavıng cappadocıa for fethıye

hi. weve been seeıng the amazıng sıtes ın cappadocıa the last few days. today we took a tour throught the ıhlara valley. the vıews were spectacular. we went throught an underground cty that ıs 8 storıes of crazy caves and tunnels to crawl around ın. we clımbed around an old monastery whıch was buılt ınto the sıde of the mountaın. two nıghts ago we saw the whırlıng dervıshes and other tradıtıonal turkısh dances. the best part was zhen the belly dancer trıed to teach some fat asıan and western men how to belly dance. we made frıends wıth some local elıtes and so last nıght we ate fısh and laughed a lot tryıng to communıcate wıth the jolly governer of nevıshye.

annıe and ı are together more than weve ever been before. ıts kıllıng me. just kıddıng. luckıly ı beet her ın backgammon regularly. were gettıng on a 12 hour bus to fethıye ın an hour. ıts on the south coast. ı wıll be ın touch from the road.

happy new year!

bring half the amount of clothes and twice the amount of money!

annie and i took an allnight bus to goreme in capadoccia in the center of turkey; on the bus they served us tea and coffee like on an airplane/ i played backgammon/ tavla in turkish/ with one of the many friendly turkish men; its about 3 degrees celsius and cloudy; its crazy here; its all caves carved into rocks. really exciting stuff/ and theres snow! today its cloudy which is unfortunate because its been sunny the last few days and this is the kind of place where you really want to get a look at the scenery/ keep your fingers crossed that it clears up! tomorrow we will probably do a tour to visit the underground caves and valleys and stuff/ and tonight theres the option to go to a traditional turkish show with the whirling dervishes and a traditional meal/ people are incredibly friendly/ the locals and the other travellers/ its different from any place ive ever been in that sense especially/ well be here for at least two nights/ ill be in touch!

ps. annie read a travel tip a the hostel. bring half the amount of clothes and twice the amount of money. good advice!

Chrıstmas ın Istanbul

Hello from Istanbul. Annie and I are stayıng ın Sultanemet ın the old cıty near the blue mosque. ıts a beautıful area. people are very frıendly and everybody has a brother wıth a carpet shop another brother wıth a leather shop and another brother wıth a travel agency. annıe bought a backgammon set and some guys taught us to play. the food ıs very good. tomorrow nıght we wıll go to cappadochıa.

merry xmas!!!!!!!

Merry Bingo and Happy Visa de Retour!

Children go crazy for Bingo. I’ve suspected this is true but now I know from experience. I only give candy to the winners. They wine and cry and go crazy for it but I grin and say “that’s life” and “life’s not fair.” In this way I am communicating the meaning of the expressions in a way that is very easy to understand.

I see about 200 kids a week. I can’t afford to buy them all bon-bons. I probably could afford it, but I’m cheap.

I bought The Dame a mug and some fancy thé the day I left. I was outside myself watching while I buttered her up. But my parents have taught me that sometimes you cire les pompes (lit. wax the shoes) a little bit to keep bridges open, and I think this is good advice.

My new apartment is only 3 blocks away. It is a 40 square meter, furnished, duplex, apartment. There is a bathroom, half of a kitchen and one small window on each floor that leaks light in from outside. It is lovely and all mine.

Today, I’m killing time before I leave. I’m the last of the assistants to go for the holidays. I’m taking the midnight train from Toulouse to Nice and then arriving Sunday afternoon in Milan. Annie arrives at Milan Orio al Serio at 23:50 tomorrow, so I’ll meet her at arrivals. Our flight to Istanbul is at 07:10 on Xmas Eve. I feel like I’ve never travelled before I’m so excited and nervous and ansy.

Part of my nervousness stems from the D.B.B.B.S. (Department of Big Bureacratic Bull S***) that works at a snail’s pace and like all bureacracies, everybody passes you to someone else who is supposed to know the answers. I was told by the D.B.B.B.S. that my Titre de Sejour (my longterm work visa) was not going to arrive before the holidays though I applied for it 3 months ago, immediately upon my arrival in France. I was told that since I will not have the thing, I will not be able to return to France if I leave the country after my current visa’s expires on the 26th of December. So I stressed because I had already bought the tickets. I was going to try to go anyway. Many people told me I was crazy, but because I was flying from Milan I thought I could get away with it thanks to no border controls between EU countries.

Finally, I go to Foix again this Thursday and explain the situation again and ask about the Visa de Retour which seemed to be the answer to all my problems. I had been told before that this visa was for very particuliar situations and it might not be possible for me to have one and it might also be costly. I explained that Annie had gotten one from the D.B.B.B.S near her, without any trouble.

The woman disappeared to confer with her colleagues. Fifteen minutes later she returns. “Ok,” she says. “You can demand a Visa de Retour, but it’s 6 euros.” Each time I visit the D.B.B.B.S in Foix, I spend €3.40 on the train ticket. The round-trip transportation to Istanbul is costing me €300. I smiled and politely asked her to give me the damn visa.

She made me come back the next day for it, and so I missed my classes at Canonges and the children didn’t get to play Christmas Bingo. But I have the visa, and nothing short of the Kurds bombing Istanbul can stop me now.

As far as the last two months, I will be brief. For the November vacation, I visited Annie for 5 days in Flers. We weren’t able to go to Mont St. Michel because it was the off season and there aren’t trains. We did go to Granville and spend a nice day climbing around dangerous rocks and eating panini’s. I took a 15 hour bus ride to Prague and arrived at 6 oclock Friday morning November 2nd. It was wonderful to arrive in a city and know exactly what to do to get where I need to be. I reunited with best friends and had a really warm and antidotal weekend with the likeminded. Finally, it took me around 2 days to get home, exhausted and happy.

For Thanksgiving, I took a personal holiday, and I proceeded to eat at various Thanksgiving parties for the next 3 days.

I visited Alice in Pau for a weekend. She took me around to this bar and that party and we watched the Big Lebowski and her mom cooked an amazing steak and it was all really good as usual.

And now the last two weeks classes have been mostly revolving around Bingo, which as I mentioned before is a huge success. And just over one week ago, I moved, which is also a huge success.

My new address is:
TULLY Emily
24 rue des Jacobins
09100 PAMIERS
France

This café is closing so I will be in touch again from the road.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!