need gas (and a new nose)

(i)

had some friends over for dinner last night -- but when everyone was already sitting down and ready for something warm to be served...i found out we had run out of gas in the kitchen...disaster! did manage to kind of make a little comedy number about the kitchen mishap and...eventually made use of the oven (electric oven!) and fixed some pizza and nibbles -- converting the whole "sit down dinner" concept into an improvised "chats and sofa" type of do... it was a bit rushed and unexpected, but we did have a lovely time and the atmosphere was very cozy, with the living room swarming with candles.

called this morning to get some gas and managed to explain myself in my usual tarzan-turkish with something that must have sound like: "hi, i am a foreigner - ((clever opening))

so..... ((so what??))
so... - sorry my turkish...very little. ((always a safe start))

i have a problem. ((genius))

i need new (.??!!.....) ...gas. ((about as classy as a cave woman))

my address is ----

you coming now?? what is the price? thank you and have a good day".

no wonder i feel about 4 when i engage in exchanges of this kind!

(ii)

i love to have people around. in less than two weeks there is going to be a very long holiday here and we are going to get about ten days off -- it is a religious holiday and, as far as i know, it is some kind of equivalent of christmas...in terms of importance and for the "family value" attached to it. four friends are coming over to visit and i cannot wait. as i am home alone with my son for this week...i am trying to use all the free time i have fixing things inside the house, buying lanterns and lamps, stocking on candles and food. i have zero talent when it comes to dyi...but, somehow, if i know i am trying and making an effort to welcome people in the best way -- it all suddenly makes sense and seems worth it. so, i am just rushing from one place to the other, buying plants for the balcony and making long lists of "to do things". once i actually start... i tend to get rather anal about details and bits...and i find myself actually pondering carefully about crucial (!) stuff like which soap can work best and what colour my guests might prefer their towels to be. to me it feels like i am planning for some major celebration. which in a way (i hope) it will be.

there is an endless value in the bond you establish with some people...the people who care for you and somehow always make sure to let you know that "they are always there for you" despite distance...despite life and all its turns...i tend to cherish that almost sacredly. deep down, i think that a lot of "adults" especially after becoming parents tend to make less room and sacrifices for the company of others. or, when they do, their heart is not fully in it - with the conversation typically reverting back to the same topics and so on and so forth. perhaps i have yet to grow up, in a way -- but i still seem to have the ability of finding others a source of ideas, points of view and amusement. as much as i can be extremely weary of some petty behaviours and the usual disappointments that come with relationships (at all levels) -- i really wish to keep the happiness i experience when i get surprised by others.

(iii)

as i was finishing my "vocabulary tips" session with my group of students yesterday and i was going on about prepositions. i made the usual, daft mistake of asking whether there were any questions.

yes, one girl said:

"your nose estetik?"

(which found me a bit unprepared)

"...aesthetic???" i repeated, immediately trying to figure whether i should avoid dwelling on the matter any longer.

"noOOO...i want to know if your nose made by doctor or...naturel...because veeeery niiiice".

NATUREEELLL, i promise. i replied feeling stupid in a kind of shy way.

then turned to the whiteboard to go back to some grammar but realised i had lost track of any of the stuff i had been blabbing about till that point.