"speak my language"

still having troubles with blogger.com. it is very encouraging to see that, many times...when i try to log in... a red header appears - warning me in turkish that "this is considered an illegal site" or something along these reassuring lines. this has been going on for the past six weeks or so... i wonder whether it is just a temporary thing or it will end up becoming worse...bringing along the end of my blogging days!

in the meantime... spring has definitely arrived. we are getting lovely, longer, sunnier, windy days and especially at the weekends the streets are full of people dining and drinking al fresco. there is something different in the light filling the days and i cannot help but loving the warmer temperature and the absolute stunning view of the sea under the cloudless sky. the great thing about izmir is that it is constantly swept by very sharp winds - and so the air is always so clean and dry that, when you feel it first thing in the morning...it just goes boooooom! straight to your head. it is the same feeling you get when you are skying on the top of a mountain in winter. i have a very clear recollection of breathing a similar air in auckland - i remember getting out of the airport there and my nostrils were hit so hard by the cool breeze that i nearly jumped.
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trying to eat out for lunch as much as possible. i think food-wise turkey is spoiling me for life... i have taken to the turkish habits of eating in a way that is more about small, precious rituals than cuisine or taste buds. drinking bitter cay; dining on soupy baked beans; adding thick, sour yoghurt to my vegetables; chewing turkish delight and adding lemon juice and rocket leaves to my meals; having spicy salep (tastes like milk with cinammon) on colder nights; overdosing on splendid olive oil, goat cheese and salt; snacking on local avocados; indulging in dried fruit; fixing cucumbers and tomatoes for breakfast...am not sure i will ever get rid of these rituals.

last week at school - introduced a discussion on money... whereas this week we are talking about relationships.
what do you spend your money on? are you a big spender? have you ever wasted money - and how? can money buy you love? can money buy you happiness? would you lend money happily? would you allow yourself to get into debt? -- these were some of the questions i asked last week... receiving the usual candid feedback from my students. and with the most interesting takes expressed when it came down to talking about women's right to economic indipendence. even to 20somethings the concept only partially rang a bell. intriguing.

but - of course - the most enjoyable part is coming now that i am asking them to say something about feelings, relationships. would you take back an ex boyfriend? if your friends did not like your partner...what would you do? if your family disapproved of your relationship...would you consider ending it? would you date a considerably older / younger person? ...i questioned them, causing a series of amused / embarassed / uncertain faces...

so far, most of the students confirmed how key is the approval coming from families; the stigma applied to age (younger men appear to be a major tabu) and how possessive and jealous partners are perceived as caring - and not manipulative wackos. when i asked to note down a list of qualities the "perfect partner" should have, 9 lists out of 10 included the words: loyalty and respect. two comments were sort of mysterious and read: "should live in my city" and "should speak my language".

(right...)

sense of humor is not very sexy around here, i suspect!

yesterday evening, on my way home, still smiling at some of the ideas and expectations coming out from my class - i was relieved to find the latest issue of glamour uk on the shelf of our newsagent's. alas! some much needed irony and fashion updates... at times it feels like england, the u.s., europe, etc are far far faaaar away places living in parallel universes. certainly there is some poetry in how different and "on its own" society is over here - but there is also a surreal aura i see in this...in the way people live, love and dream here..something that could be daftly mistaken by some people as "exotic"...something about as sharp as the wind i was talking about before - refreshing, sure, but...kind of ...makes you jump at first!