Driving in Istanbul 101

For the longest time I've been meaning to write about my driving experiences in Turkey. I think its absolutely insane and I'm always met with shock when I tell people that I drive so I guess I'm not alone in that thought. But how else am I supposed to get anything done? So I've decided to compile a helpful list of tips while driving in Istanbul...

1. The traffic here sucks. That's just a given. You just have to plan on it and accept it because there's really no way around it.

2. I'm not sure that there are ANY driving laws here. And if there are, I don't think they're enforced. (except one law...refer to tip #3)So keep your cool and go with the flow. Even if the speed limit is 80 and everyone is flying past you while you're going 120. But keep in mind this will rarely happen (refer to tip 1). 

3. When there is traffic, you will without fail see several drivers zoom past you on the shoulder. I recommend staying out of their way and not joining them. This is the only thing I have seen people get tickets for. But regardless, it happens A LOT. 

4. If you have claustrophobia beware. A two lane road is more often than not converted to four lanes. So don't be alarmed when you're packed tight like sardines. Completely normal.

Now that we mention packed tightly....once on our way to church, Jordan and I looked over and saw this little tiny car jammed full of people. I tried to snap a picture of it but couldn't really get a good shot on the sly. Try to guess how many people are in this 5 passenger car....

If you guessed NINE than you are right! Three in the front. Three in the back. And three on the laps of those in the back! Now back to the tips..

5. If by some chance there isn't traffic, you will eventually hit it. When that happens, the person in front of you will turn their hazards on signaling that they are about to slam on their brakes. Apply your brakes and turn on your hazards if necessary. 

6. We learned the hard way that if you miss your exit or take a wrong turn it will take you at least half an hour to correct your error. Several times we've witnessed people just suddenly move over, turn on their hazards, and slowly reverse to their desired turn off. We used to be perplexed (and sometimes even a little annoyed) by this but now we TOTALLY get it. And a couple days ago on our way to Ikea, Jordan did the most Turkish thing he has ever done before. We had just missed our exit and didn't know where to turn around so he pulled over to the shoulder and started to reverse.... on the highway.

Now remember when I said that people sometimes like to use the shoulder as a lane??? Well that whole reversing to our exit stunt that he pulled was probably one of the most terrifying driving experiences we've had here. But I'm so proud of my husband for adapting to a new environment and driving like a local. Way to go babe! 

7. Invest in a GPS system. I've relied solely on my cell phone for directions and boy have I paid the price for that. 

8. Be assertive AND defensive. We live on a pretty busy hill. When we drive home from the market we have to make an unprotected left hand turn to our building. If you wait for the oncoming traffic to clear up, everyone behind you will blare their horns and you'll be waiting a very very long time. So what do you do? Turn on your blinker and slowly but assertively inch your way forward. If you are assertive enough, the oncoming traffic yields to you (but only inches away from hitting you). In my short experience here I've learned to:
        8a. Yield to taxis (because those drivers are crazy)
        8b. Yield to cars that are either bigger or more banged up than yours -they have less to lose
        8c. An expensive luxury vehicle will yield to you - they have more to lose (duh) 

9. Avoid looking at the gypsies (or at least don't get caught looking!) I'm just curious and a complete people watcher. So at first I always got caught looking at the gypsies who are standing in the middle of the road selling food, water, flowers, baked goods, or whatever it might be. I learned that if you are looking they think you want to buy. And some of them can get extremely aggressive about it. So to avoid a long painful red light with them...just don't look. 

10. And lastly, beware of window washers. Several times we've had people walk up and wash our windows when we were vehemently saying no. The trick here is to avoid eye contact (refer to tip #9) and if they still try to wash your windows, turn on your windshield wipers. At least thats done the trick for us! Unless of course you want your windows washed. Then in that case, go for it! 

Lastly, this entire post was typed with one hand while holding Kawika with the other. So I hope you enjoyed it haha.

Happy driving in Istanbul! 

Jumperoo!

We got Kawika a jumper! I have anxiously been awaiting for this day. Of course I want Kawika to stay my little baby but watching him grow up, get stronger, and learn is so fun and fulfilling for me. At first he wasn't so happy in it (and truthfully I worried we had another chair fail story) but once he learned how to push off and jump he was thrilled! The smiles and laughs are worth every cent. 

We went on a walk!

So about the title... I'm just making fun of an inside joke the Bachynski's have about going on a hike...and to be honest I'm not really sure that I'm on the inside of that joke but everyone says it to me like I am so I'll just laugh and pretend I get it...anyways...

Kawika and I met up with our friends Ceren and Aras and went out to lunch along the sea. We went to the European side to change things up and ate lunch at a cute little cafe. We had this yummy stuff called "Manti". I absolutely love it! They're like dumplings with mincemeat in the middle and yogurt on top. So good!

You can order them fried or boiled. I like them both!

After lunch we went for a 5 mile walk. It was a beautiful day. Lots of boats, fisherman, and beautiful buildings. I don't know what it is but I love water in every form....except frozen hahaha. I like to visit snow but I'm not sure I love living in it. I guess I get to find out soon! But ocean, lake, sea, pool, shower, or drink. Love it!

This is one of the bridges connecting the European and Asian Sides. We live off to the right (Asian side) and Ceren lives on the left. Our church building is on the left side as well.

On our walk we even found a castle!

Turkey has some really cool history and I love seeing the sights. Being a mom is so awesome. Watching Kawika take in the world is so much fun. I look forward to all the fun things I get to do with K when he's a little bit older and can appreciate it. Jordan and I love doing things that are meant for children (like pixar movies, legos, playing in the sand, etc) now we have a good excuse to do it all!

Bouncer

Back home we had an awesome bouncer for Kawika but he didn't really care for it too much because he was too little for it. Unfortunately we had minimal room when traveling here so we left it in storage. I hadn't thought much about it until we went over to a friend's place here and they had a rocking bouncer. We put Kawika in it and he loved it. He was happy there the whole evening and even fell asleep in it. So of course I decided I HAD TO HAVE ONE.

My sweet sweet husband was SO patient with me as he drove me around to a hundred different baby stores in the pursuit of the perfect rocking bouncer. He never pushed me to buy one that I didn't completely love and he even returned to multiple stores with me so that I could double and triple check the options. I either wasn't pleased with the accessories/functions, it was out of stock, or it only came in pink (and we don't do pink in this house...yet). It took some time and some serious hunting but I finally found the "perfect one". I couldn't wait to put Kawika in it!

Other than this ONE day several weeks ago. he really doesn't care for the stupid chair at all. I've tried to lie to myself that he loves it and every day I give it another shot but who am I kidding? Jordan finally said it yesterday and I had to concede. Kawika hates it. In Jordan's sarcastic words, "I am SO happy we got this chair for him. He uses it all the time." hahaha can you say first time mom?? 

Parent Fail. 

Shake Shack

Yes! This burger joint does deserve a post of its own. For those of you who are not familiar with this restaurant...its like the East coast version of In-n-out and we absolutely love it. We had heard of this really great mall called Istinye Park on the European side so we went over there to check it out and we were so excited when we saw this...

I don't know if its just been awhile but that was the best burger I have ever had. We even learned that there is a Shake Shack on the Asian side really close to where we live at a mall called Akasya. So when we're in need of a little American food we know where to get it! We plan on taking the Elders there for lunch next week as a special treat for them! Did I say THEM..? haha lets be honest, I really just want another burger and root beer!

Shoes

He doesn't walk yet so I never thought to put shoes on him. Until I realized that his feet are HUGE and if I ever want to see these bad boys on him, I had to do it now! So here he is. 

Love. Love. Love them.

volleyball!

Last week my dear friend and old teammate, Carli, was in Istanbul for some preseason friendly volleyball matches. So Kawika and I went on a little date to go watch her play.

Carli is truly an inspiring athlete and I love watching her play. She pushed me to be better in every aspect when we played together and still inspires me today to be my best. She is absolutely beautiful inside and out and I feel blessed to call her a friend. 

After her game we met up for some (root) beers at Shack Shack and just sat around catching up late into the night. We had such a great time! We love you Carli and hope you have more games in Istanbul in the future! 

Lost in Istanbul

I saw this on insta and thought it was hilarious...

I try really hard to keep things light and positive but I'm not going to lie to any of you. This is hard. Thankfully though, thorns have roses. That means that the harder its get, the more I appreciate what I used to take for granted, the more my testimony is strengthened, and lastly, the more mine and Jordan's relationship is strengthened. It's hard but I am truly grateful for those silver linings. 

I typically avoid sharing religious experiences on social media so this will be a first for me. I am not ashamed at all. I just don't want people to feel like I'm shoving my religion down their throats so please don't take offense...

Jordan was out of town and I was feeling pretty unmotivated to do anything. I felt very alone actually. So as usual I was having a conversation with Kawika. He's a good listener. Anyways, I started to cry and new I needed to get out of the house. So we hopped in the car and off we went. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go so I just started driving. I decided to hit the mall and hopped on the highway to cross the bridge over to the European side. Traffic here is insane so once I was parked on the highway I decided to pull up directions because I have no idea where to go once I cross the bridge. Well, turns out I had used up all of my data on my phone and my map wouldn't work. Which also meant that my imessage and whatsapp wouldn't work either. So there I was. crying. lost. with no way to call for help. 

So I quickly said a prayer. I then felt inspired to drive to our church building. Every time we've been to church we've had to use our map to get us there but I was fairly certain that I could do it. I won't lie, I was nervous and I was scared but I went anyways (not like I had an option!) Without even making one wrong turn and being inspired with each one, I was able to find the building. The missionaries were there and since they speak Turkish they were able to help me out! They called the cell phone company and had my data turned back on. And with that, I went back on my way and got home safely. 

I realize this probably doesn't sound like a big deal but it really was for me. I'm a first time mom in a new country. At the time I was by myself and even though I found my way, I was lost and I was scared. I'm grateful for the power of prayer. I'm grateful for the Spirit to comfort and guide me. 

Ultimately I paralleled this to our Earthly experience. We've been sent to Earth (a new place) and so often we feel spiritually lost and although we may not realize it, we yearn to return home to our Heavenly Father. Now I won't leave my apartment in Turkey without directions to help me find my way. And there is no chance that our loving Heavenly Father would send us away without guidance so that we too can find our way back to him. So for that I am grateful for my scriptures and for prayer. I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost. I'm grateful that I have a family to help me along the way. And I'm grateful to my mom and dad for teaching me about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

If you would like to learn more about my faith click here.

Istanbul Museum of Modern Art

A couple of weeks ago we were invited to the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. We put the address in our phone but it sent us completely to the wrong place so we were pretty late and pretty flustered upon arrival but it turned out to be a beautiful evening full of food, fun, and of course art! I definitely had the hottest date there. 

After our tour of the museum we went to the restaurant upstairs and enjoyed a delicious meal with Jordan's team. After dinner everyone moved outside to a deck that overlooked the water. It was such a beautiful view but unfortunately I couldn't get a picture with my iphone that did justice but I was able to snap one of the team...

It was a lot of fun to get to know the guys a little bit better. Thank you to the owners for hosting the event. We loved it and look forward to more.

Go Eskisehir Basket!

4 month check up!

Our sweet babe is 4 months old. I can't believe it. He had a check-up today and some vaccinations. I HATE needles but as always, he handled it like a champ. And then he passed out in his daddy's arms. 

Weight: 17 lbs 

Height: 27 in

He loves to roll and tries really hard to crawl and when he doesn't move he gets pretty ticked about it. But he never stops trying. He is a happy baby and loves to giggle and laugh. Especially with his dad. He stares at Jordan whenever he's around. He tries REALLY hard to watch tv and I do what I can to make sure he doesn't. He also really loves to stand. (I mean pump the breaks kid. You're 4 months. Stay my little baby for at least a little longer!) He finally fits into his shoes and that just about melts me.

 

Tavuk

I apologize for not writing in lately. I warned you all from the start though that I wouldn't be that reliable with my posts so....you were warned. Don't hold your breathe.

Anyways, something funny happened to us. We can't find any pork here so we've been eating a lot of chicken lately...or so we thought. The Turkish word for chicken is "Tavuk". At our local grocery store there's a huge sign labeled Tavuk hanging over a fridge so we just assumed everything in it was chicken. Except when we got home and started cooking we were always SHOCKED with the size of the chicken breast. These suckers are huge. We talked about it briefly but never really gave it much thought. Well last night I finally typed the label into google translator...we've been eating turkey this whole time.

The irony...eating turkey in Turkey. Hopefully we can find a whole Turkey to eat for Thanksgiving day instead of just the fillets! Its not a celebrated holiday over here but maybe we'll get lucky enough to eat turkey in Turkey on Turkey Day.

But even if we don't find a Turkey, the best part about Thanksgiving is that my mom will be here to celebrate it with us! I am so excited to have her here!!! Speaking of my mom, I just received the greatest care package ever from her! We had a friend from our branch go to Utah this last week so when she came back to Turkey she brought back an extra suitcase with her. My mom packed it full of goodies. It was such a treat. I meant to take pictures BUT cocoa had spilled all over the suitcase so instead of documenting the greatness, I was cleaning everything off and then I was enjoying my yummy salty Rold Gold pretzels. And we now have sheets that fit our bed so that's very exciting for me. I was going nuts! Thank you so much mom for sending us everything. I'm sure it wasn't easy running around picking up the random requests we had but we are so grateful for it and for you!


We miss you all. Sending our love from Turkey!