Monday, May 7, 2012

Saturday May 5, 2012
Cinco de Mayo 
  Cinco de Mayo?  Wait a sec aren't they in Turkey?  Yes, but my husband is craving Mexican food and has already made plans to help boost the restaurant business when we get back home.  He did however try a Mexican style Turkish Efes brand beer in honor of the holiday.  According to him it wasn't spectacular and was no where near Dos Equis or any other beer South of our US border.  The regular Efes Pilsner is pretty good, although I only had a sip.  The Turks are very proud of their Efes beer and that is almost all you can find in the stores, except the expensive American import....Miller Genuine Draft.  Yes folks, MGD is the pricey import here in Turkey.  Go figure.

  So on this beautiful Saturday morning our standing wake up call never happened and we scrambled out of bed with twenty minutes to get downstairs and make the shuttle that drops us off at the farmer's market and bazaar in Pendik.  It has become a favorite spot of ours every Saturday since we got here.  We missed breakfast so we snacked on Simit bread and fresh string cheese when we go there.  We were on a mission and only went in for three things.  Just like going to the store at home we came out with a lot more.  

  We decided to walk into the town of Pendik, eventually hoping to find a local restaurant off the beaten path.  When you walk from the bazaar you go through parks and basically follow the locals into town.  We were a far cry from the first day we went three Saturdays ago when we had no idea where to go.  This time we stopped in a pretty park and fed the birds sesame seeds and watched them splash in the fountain made of tall Tulips.  Then we lazily walked around town until lunch time.  John picked a really nice restaurant to eat at and we ordered "The Special" which they said was for two.  

The special basically consisted of two of almost every kind of traditional street food in Turkey.  We had mini Lahmacun(pronounced La Ma June - the C is soft like the French J) which is flat and pizza like with meat and vegetables.  There was also Peymacun  which is the cheese version.  There was also lamb meat, chicken, traditional breads, spicy Durum meat, onions, roasted tomatoes, the list goes on.  It was delicious but more meat than I have consumed since I have been here.  

The "Special" for 2 in Pendik.  Sorry Blackberry photo - forgot camera



  On the way home we received a call from Burcu that we still had nine embryos growing and dividing and that our transfer would be Monday at 9:30am.  You have to have a full bladder but there are no other restrictions as with the egg retrieval.  There is no anesthesia and it is supposed to only take a few minutes.  Hopefully they will do well throughout the rest of the weekend.  

More on our journey to come...

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