Or Merry Xmas or whatever. Hope all is well with everyone, have a great xmas.
Love Alex and Adrienne
Monday 24 December 2007
Sunday 16 December 2007
Monday 26 November 2007
Work
Bloody hate working - much better not knowing what you're doing - at least you can get up whenever you want. But, work it is. At the moment Adrienne's working a massive 12 hours a week whilst yours truly is doing 31 hours for less money - doh! We have organised ourselves a nice flat and are settling down to the everyday life of Istanbul (Asian side) It has been so nice to be able to cook for ourselves!! Eating out is not only expensive, but really hard work when you HAVE to do it every night. Fortunately my work was able to lend us a cooker and fridge. However we've got no furniture at the moment so we're still living a little rough!
We're still loving the area - Kadikoy. Our flat is near the sea and we overlook the beautiful mosques of "Old Istanbul". This area has virtually no tourists and has a vibrant bar/cafe culture which really suits us. Lots of hubbly bubbly cafes and neat bars.
We're frustrated that we haven't learnt much of the language yet - it's not as easy as Indonesian to pick up!
We're hoping that people might actually want to come and visit us here - we've even got a spare room! Georgie has already booked her ticket and we've heard encouraging noises from others - we'd love to see everyone!! Personally I don't know why you miserable buggers didn't want to come see Dohuk. Seemed alright to me....
So there you have it. Fairly mundane really. Just to keep things livened up we've got some people staying with us already. An American couple who are really nice and lovely and so on. They're motorbiking across the world at the moment for their honeymoon - as you do. Got stuck here whilst waiting for their Iranian visas (why is it such a problem for Americans to get into Iran I wonder?) so they're the first to use our spare room! Nice to keep that spirit of adventure close...
So that's about it. If anyone's got a spare table please feel free to send it our way...
Love A and A
We're still loving the area - Kadikoy. Our flat is near the sea and we overlook the beautiful mosques of "Old Istanbul". This area has virtually no tourists and has a vibrant bar/cafe culture which really suits us. Lots of hubbly bubbly cafes and neat bars.
We're frustrated that we haven't learnt much of the language yet - it's not as easy as Indonesian to pick up!
We're hoping that people might actually want to come and visit us here - we've even got a spare room! Georgie has already booked her ticket and we've heard encouraging noises from others - we'd love to see everyone!! Personally I don't know why you miserable buggers didn't want to come see Dohuk. Seemed alright to me....
So there you have it. Fairly mundane really. Just to keep things livened up we've got some people staying with us already. An American couple who are really nice and lovely and so on. They're motorbiking across the world at the moment for their honeymoon - as you do. Got stuck here whilst waiting for their Iranian visas (why is it such a problem for Americans to get into Iran I wonder?) so they're the first to use our spare room! Nice to keep that spirit of adventure close...
So that's about it. If anyone's got a spare table please feel free to send it our way...
Love A and A
Tuesday 6 November 2007
Istanbul
Staying in the house of a gay guy and his partner whilst trying not to let his sister who is also staying there know he's gay? Awkward.
Moving accommodation 5 times in 8 days? Annoying.
Going to 4 job interviews and getting 4 job offers? Encouraging.
Being told "London wants you on board"? Nice.
Eating in the same restaurant so often they roll their eyes when they see you? Embarrassing.
Walking into the wrong room in a hostel and finding someone in bed (Adrienne)? Very embarrassing.
Finding out Georgie is coming to visit? Wonderful.
Going places by ferry? Fun.
Leaving the people and job in Iraq behind? Hard.
Realising that just because you want adventure doesn't mean you have to deprive yourself of basics such as electricity and internet? Enlightening.
Living in Istanbul instead of Dohuk? Priceless
Moving accommodation 5 times in 8 days? Annoying.
Going to 4 job interviews and getting 4 job offers? Encouraging.
Being told "London wants you on board"? Nice.
Eating in the same restaurant so often they roll their eyes when they see you? Embarrassing.
Walking into the wrong room in a hostel and finding someone in bed (Adrienne)? Very embarrassing.
Finding out Georgie is coming to visit? Wonderful.
Going places by ferry? Fun.
Leaving the people and job in Iraq behind? Hard.
Realising that just because you want adventure doesn't mean you have to deprive yourself of basics such as electricity and internet? Enlightening.
Living in Istanbul instead of Dohuk? Priceless
Wednesday 31 October 2007
Happy Halloween!!!!
Hi all or few, we have no idea how many people read this edge-of-your-seat blog! I have taken over this post from Alex because I must clarify that I say many witty, intelligent things but on the last post he chose to relay the one coarse thing I said!
It's been an interesting week and I don't really know where to start. We are still in Istanbul, we arrived here on Friday to meet 2 of our friends from England for a birthday surprise for Gitte. Little did we know that there was also a surprise for us as 4 more friends came. They had surprised us and Gitte which is very impressive as they were on the same flight from England. There were disguises and a lot of texting involved! Very impressive effort. Highlights of the weekend were of course the friends, staying in a great, all be it gay, hotel, going to a crazy football game (turkish fans are mad) and lots of partying and laughs. Thanks Beasties!
Monday rolled around, the friends went home and we looked at each other going "right now what do we do?" We called a meeting, lists were made, family was called and in the end it was decided that we are not going to venture back into Iraq. Definitely not an easy decision to make but deep down we now it's the best one. Things may cool down but at the moment we decided it's not worth the risk and not fair to those left behind to worry about us. (Thanks to all of you!)
Soooo now what?? We are in Istanbul, we both think Istanbul's great so we may stay here for a while. We should be able to find work or so we're told. At the moment no job or place to live but that's all right. It keeps things interesting. We have a few contacts and friends already who are really eager to help us. It might be a crazy couple of weeks but hopefully things will work out. Things happen for a reason don't they?
Thanks to those of you who posted the reports. We appreciate it a lot.
Big hugs, we'll be in touch
Adrienne and Alex
It's been an interesting week and I don't really know where to start. We are still in Istanbul, we arrived here on Friday to meet 2 of our friends from England for a birthday surprise for Gitte. Little did we know that there was also a surprise for us as 4 more friends came. They had surprised us and Gitte which is very impressive as they were on the same flight from England. There were disguises and a lot of texting involved! Very impressive effort. Highlights of the weekend were of course the friends, staying in a great, all be it gay, hotel, going to a crazy football game (turkish fans are mad) and lots of partying and laughs. Thanks Beasties!
Monday rolled around, the friends went home and we looked at each other going "right now what do we do?" We called a meeting, lists were made, family was called and in the end it was decided that we are not going to venture back into Iraq. Definitely not an easy decision to make but deep down we now it's the best one. Things may cool down but at the moment we decided it's not worth the risk and not fair to those left behind to worry about us. (Thanks to all of you!)
Soooo now what?? We are in Istanbul, we both think Istanbul's great so we may stay here for a while. We should be able to find work or so we're told. At the moment no job or place to live but that's all right. It keeps things interesting. We have a few contacts and friends already who are really eager to help us. It might be a crazy couple of weeks but hopefully things will work out. Things happen for a reason don't they?
Thanks to those of you who posted the reports. We appreciate it a lot.
Big hugs, we'll be in touch
Adrienne and Alex
Monday 22 October 2007
Turkey Lurkey
We're ın Ephesus ast the moment andf as Adrienne so eloquently put it, we've seen a lot of old shit. 3 days ago was Troy, 2 days ago Pergamum, yesterday Ephesus. Wish the Romans and Greeks could have built something that didn't become a ruin! Stunning stuff though...
İn the meantime Turkey and İraqi relations are becoming a little tense, which is nice. Just tried to check the bbc website about latest developments but it was censored here - can anyone send us the report from today? (not a link as it won't open).
Lucked out with the weather though it's p(&ssıng down right now.
Unlucky England
Cheers,
Alex and Adrienne
İn the meantime Turkey and İraqi relations are becoming a little tense, which is nice. Just tried to check the bbc website about latest developments but it was censored here - can anyone send us the report from today? (not a link as it won't open).
Lucked out with the weather though it's p(&ssıng down right now.
Unlucky England
Cheers,
Alex and Adrienne
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