Working on a new schedule

It's the second day of our new schedule.

Yesterday began the purpose of my Year in Turkey~ that of taking care of Jackson and easing the minds of his parents, David and Amanda. Jackson is my third grandchild, just 5.5 months old. He's learning nursery rhymes and their tunes and loves it! These are not presented by Einstein, but by his mom and grandmom (that would be me, better known as popo). His mom sings to him before bed, after his story, and I do the finger plays to those that I remember from the day care center at Faith Church. They were background music to my workday at the church and now that subliminal teaching is working well for me. Jackson pays close attention to all the elements of these old poems and the accompanying tunes and finger plays.

I think he realizes there's been a change in the routine, but seems to be handling things well. I explain to him the circumstances and he listens. I give him the requested kiss from mom since he has not been awake when she's left either morning. I appreciate the signals he gives to introduce the next phase of his day. Very helpful boy! Mom and Dad are handling this transition as can be expected.

July 4th was spent on the US base in Ankara and was much like any 4th spent in the states: booths of stuff, food and drink aplenty, music (some good, some not so good), a pie eating contest, water balloons for the kids, dancing to the music and wonderful fireworks. All in all, a celebration that was indeed American. One thing happened that was interesting. Mandy and I were walking around the grounds with Jackson and looking at the 'stuff' booths when a woman at one of the booths asked if she could smell Jackson... that's right, smell him. Most immediately conjure up in their minds the smell of a dirty diaper, definitely not the desirable list of baby smells. And, of course, that was not what she was needing. She wanted to smell the skin of this little one, a smell that cannot be duplicated anywhere and for very long, if you've ever had the joy of smelling a baby's skin. Her youngest child was now 12 and she was missing the smell of an infant. Precious. So, of course, she was given the joy of smelling Jackson, who fortunately had been bathed for the occasion. There is no smell like a baby's and she was so grateful. He seems to bring out something special in people and it does not cease to amaze his parents. The grateful woman went to the neighboring booth and got him an 'evil eye' as gift for her sniff! (I will talk about the 'evil eye' another time... but Jackson is accumulating them at a rapid rate!)

Saturday we visited the tomb of King Midas, presumably. There is some question now if indeed it was his resting place, probably that of another person, possibly that of either King Midas or King Gordius, both Phrygian. The place is located just 106km west of Ankara and was the ancient capital of Phrygia. There's a museum with related artifacts taken from some, about a quarter, of the burial sites there. These sites are large hills of dirt called tumuli and contain the remains of about 18 different levels of civilizations from the Bronze Age to Roman times. A tumulus can be 60m high and 300m in diameter. These mounds are located all over this area. Very interesting. This is what Turkey is: an enormous amount of ancient history-filled areas in which one may visit. It's remarkable and lovely.

We ate at the restaurant situated next to the parking lot of the museum. The food was delicious. One of David's, Mandy's, and now my favorite foods is called gozleme, made of filo pastry and, in this case, containing minced potato and parsley. A fresh salad is served with this dish and is just wonderful. As it turned out, we sat down in this empty outdoor restaurant just in time. A bus load of people touring the area arrived and took up the remaining tables and chairs. They were expected and food was ready for them shortly after they arrived. We waited until they were all taken care of and then ordered. Again an interesting thing: the woman who may be one of the owners of the place brought out her baby daughter who was about 3 months old to introduce her to Jackson and let the little ones check each other out. So interesting. That baby had on long johns, pants over that, socks and booties, and 3 layers on the top. Jackson was in his pampers, shorts and shirt. This woman did not, however, suggest that Mandy and David were not doing their job as parents. She was lovely, and a picture was taken of the babies 'shaking hands'! By the way, that lunch was $18 (lira). It included 4 sodas. Delicious.

Sunday was the beginning of a search for a church where we can worship. We were not successful Sunday and will try another one of the options next week. However, lunch with friends was quite successful. It was at an Ankara restaurant, Italian in cuisine with a Turkish edge. Delicious. (I know, I indicate this 'delicious' word frequently...)

Cameron, you will love the food. Trust me... there are more foods out there than chicken wings, mild! (Cameron, number one grandson,is coming this direction, although not entirely to Turkey, in the next couple of weeks and will see ancient ruins in Greece, Italy, and may sit at a table in a Parisian outdoor cafe on his People to People trip.)