Life in Turkey: Ankle Surgery & Recovery

I’m finally home from the hospital after ankle surgery and a 3 day stay. I’ve got a lot to say about the experience of being in a hospital in Turkey, but I’ll save that for a different post. If you are wondering how I hurt my ankle to begin with, let's just say an adventurous spirit, a parachute and rocky terrain, and a nasty fall from the back of a jeep got the best of me.

This is a few hours after surgery. 

This is the first time I’ve ever had any kind of operation or hospital stay. I think its funny that my first time was in Turkey. I have to say that as I was doing all my pre-surgery prep and doctors visits, I was very thankful that I’ve never had any major health problems and that as a whole I am a healthy person. It motivates me to continue taking care of myself and look for ways that I can do an even better job as I move forward.

My orthopedic doctor, Dr. Yetkin, at Akdeniz University Hospital in Antalya was amazing. I had a million fears of miscommunications and what I might experience in Turkey, but he proved me wrong. He is an intelligent and gentle man that made me feel very comfortable with the procedure and his expertise.

For those not so faint of heart, here are a few pics of my ankle about 24 hours after surgery.

I'm home now and for the next 2 weeks, I'm bound to crutches, ice and pain/anti-inflammatory medication so that I can move on to physical therapy.  I'm not one to sit still so these next couple of weeks will be a little rough, but looking forward to the long term results.

RAWRR!!

This is a story of my 3 year old niece.  The other day she and her daddy were having down time together and my niece lied to him when he asked her a question. He knew she was not telling him the truth and she continued to lie to him when he asked her the same question several times.

Finally, frustrated that she continued to bold face lie, he asked her "Are you lyin' to me?"  My niece sat there a second and her daddy could tell she was processing something in her mind as she looked out of the corner of her eye. After a few seconds, she turned to him and said "RAAAWWWRRR!!" and roared at him, just like a lion.

My niece is creative! But, I guess she did answer the question...

Whirlwind Turkey Trip

While my sister and brother-in-law were here, we took them to some of our favorite places and well as a few places we hadn't been before. Here are just a FEW of the photos around Antalya and Istanbul on their whirlwind 7 day trip to Turkey. We are SO glad they came to visit.  Next time, we will make it to Cappadocia!

Aspendos

 Inside the Hagia Sophia

 Outside the Blue Mosque with the Hagia Sophia behind us. It was coooold...

 Jumping at Mt. Tahtali

Dancing at Termessos

 The Animal cooking fish for everyone.

My Sister & Her Hubby :)

Walking into the Blue Mosque

The Changing of the Guard at Dolma Bahce Palace

PomPom Wreath

Since my sister and her husband were coming for Christmas this year, I figured I better do a few extra things to decorate around the house.  I wanted to find a wreath I could make with materials I could find in Turkey and I ended up making this pompom wreath.

I made what felt like a million pompoms and tied the pompoms to a styrofoam circle. I also made a few extra smaller pompoms and made some pompom garland that turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself.

I found the wreath directions at Urban Outfitters DIY blog site. The only thing I had to do different was cut my own styrofoam circle to start the wreath because they don't have straw wreaths here.

I had a lot of fun making this and it was easy to do.

Termessos

People wonder what is so wonderful about Termessos, an ancient city set up in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey. I am a little partial because this is the place Enes proposed to me, but this view is Amazing!

The Screaming Man

My sister and her husband came to visit for the holidays this year. Their first morning here, my brother-in-law comes into the living room, with a cup of coffee in hand. He is still pretty beat from the long flight over, but the first thing that comes out of his mouth is “Why was that man screaming this morning?! It was so loud!”.  We all busted out laughing because the first call to prayer is very early in the morning. I would guess about 5:30am or 6:00am. It struck me even funnier that he didn’t know what it was. I guess I hear it so often now, that I’m used to it. It doesn’t wake me up and in fact, unless I’m standing right next to a mosque, it hardly even phases me anymore.

A few days later, my brother-in-law was out on the balcony because he hears the screaming man again. But this time, it wasn’t the mosque. It was the man who sells simits, or Simitci, making his morning rounds, yelling at the top of his lungs that he has bread for sale. I do have to admit, the Simitci has some lungs on him. A lot of volume comes out of men that walk around with trays of stacks of bread on their head every morning. 

It was fun to see Turkey through new eyes and to hear the observations of first timers in Turkey. You forget the things that once bewildered and surprised you at the beginning of life overseas after a few years.

Storms

Last night there were crazy storms here in Antalya. The wind sounded like a freight train, the rain was coming from all different directions and the sky was a yellow-greenish color. It was all a vaguely familiar feeling like I was in the middle of tornado season in the Texas Panhandle. I was pretty sure we don't normally have tornadoes in Antalya, but I had to ask Enes to make sure. He thought I was a little a ridiculous, but I assured him  that tornadoes can sneak up on you and the way the weather has been lately around here, you just never know. 

There were no tornadoes as far as I know, but this morning we awoke to huge trees uprooted from the ground, branches, window shutters and dirt everywhere.  When I got to the office this morning, I saw pictures  in the online newpaper, The Hurriyet,  of a huge boat that sunk by the harbor last night. 

All of the crewman except for 1 were rescued. I can only imagine what the sea must have been like last night throwing this huge boat around. It must have been terribly frightening for all of those men.

This morning the sea is still quite stormy looking, but everything else is peaceful and sunny as we recover from last night's storm. 

Sugar Cookies

These are some of my favorite Turkish cookies to pick up when I occassionally drop into the Pastane. They are like floury sugar cookies and have powdered sugar sprinkled on top. They are plain and simple and go great with a cup of coffee or tea.