In Ankara

I am back in Ankara since last Thursday. I have been busy doing the laundry, trying to make up my mind about what to leave here and what to take home, meeting friends, running errands.

Tomorrow, I am going to have my car deep cleaned. It has been over a year since the interior was cleaned. So, I took everything out and emptied the trunk. I am also planning to go to the cemetery. 

On Friday, I am meeting friends for a late lunch. Before that, I will help someone to run her errands.

I do not know whether I should go back home on Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Part of me wants to be home a.s.a.p, part of me says traffic is usually horrid on the weekends. 

Plus, the Health Minister said now we can have our 2nd shots 4 weeks after the first one, instead of 6. May be I should get my second jab while I am here. If there is a bad side effect, I have friends within short distances. 

They have also decided that people over 50 should be getting a 3rd dose of any of the available vaccines but, I do not know how long we need between 2nd and 3rd jabs. So far, we have the Pfizer-BionTech and the Sinovac available. I know there are clinical trials on the volunteers for the Sputnik vaccine. It will be available soon too. I guess I should not be worried about the 3rd those just yet.

Today, I took my SIS and BIL's car to get the tyres changed. They still had winter tyres on. Rolling my eyes... After driving an automatic SUV for so long, a stick shift sedan felt weird at first. I wish I had known earlier because I took my friend to the tyre place just yesterday. She was using 4 year old winter tyres. Rolling my eyes again! It is risky to use winter tyres during the hot months. She hasn't had her oil changed in 2 years as she told me. Poor car!

The first half of 2021 is over. Can't believe how fast the days go by.

Too Much of a Good Thing

I miss my home! I know, I am lucky to to go to the beach every day but, it has been almost two and a half months since I left home. I miss my other clothes. Lol! Day in day out, I wear the same few outfits that I rotate and wash them every week. I also miss my own routine and being on my own. Uncle is actually fantastic. He does his own thing, I do mine. He takes care of dinner and clean up of the kitchen. I don't do much except for an ocassional mopping and dusting. Still, I have lived on my own for so long that, I miss it.

I enjoyed the sea quiet a lot. I have been using SPF 50 Sunscreen but, my color has definitely changed. It has also started to get warm here. It has been below 80℉ /27℃ for quiet a while and I was comfortable. Today I feel the heat.

I brought 7 books with me and I started reading the last one yesterday. I walked a lot, swam a lot and spent hours at the beach.

On Monday and Tuesday, I will hang out with my uncle and go to some farther beaches and most probably, I will head back on Wednesday. Before I go home, I will go to Ankara and stay for a week or so. I would like to see a few friends and go to the cemetary. I will also take an old lady who was my father and mother's friend to shopping. She is 83 and is taking care of her 90 year old husband who used to be my father's colleague. Whenever I go to Ankara, I go visit them and take her out for her big shopping to stock up on certain items. We call each other weekly. They lost their older son last year to a heart attack. The younger son lives in the UK. He just had a heart attack too and is recovering. He can't come to Turkey often. Once a year is what he can do but, due to the pandemic, he couldn't make it in quiet a while.

I am sure, my apartment is in desperate need of  a deep cleaning. I am hoping that my cleaning lady can come. 

Phewww!

Today was such a busy day! We had a new shower stall installed today. There was a problem with the original tiles so, they were taken out carefully and then re-installed. Dust everywhere! Uncle and I cleaned everything up three times over. I do not think we got rid of all the dust yet. Thankfully his cleaning lady will come next week.

I was exhausted so, I took a shower and rested for about an hour before leaving for a wedding. A friend of my uncle's daughter was getting married. I was his plus one.  Since there is a curfew after 10 p.m., we left the wedding around 9 p.m. to get back home.

SIS and BIL are leaving tomorrow. I am hoping to rest all day since we are not supposed to go out on Sundays. Why is it OK to be out on Saturday and not on Sunday? Nobody knows. 

I hope, next week, the weather will be nice. I would like to go to the beach every single day. I think, I am getting ready to go back home too. So, a nice beach week will be icing on the cake.

Hope, everyone is having a nice weekend.

Beaches, Family and a Birthday

I spent a few good days at different beaches while my SIS and BIL were here. One day uncle took us out on his boat. That turned out to be some adventure though. Lol!

We went out on the boat and after a while, we decided to swim. SIS and I jumped off the boat and swam a little bit. While we were doing that the wind got stronger and the waves started to get bigger. Uncle steered the boat to the shore but it was impossible to hold it still enough that SIS and I could get on it. It was a bit of a struggle for a while. Uncle and BIL panicked a little bit but, SIS and I were just cool about that. We told them we could stay on the shore and BIL could get the car and pick us up. There were picnic tables in the shade and we had our phones with us. BIL and uncle went back to the marina while SIS and I first dried ourselves in the sun and then sat on the picnic tables and had some ice tea from our cooler. The place turned out to be a caravan camp but, there weren't many campers around. BIL came to get us and then when we went back to the marina, we decided to have an early dinner at the fish restaurant over there. The food was excellent and so was the restaurant. We ended up satisfying our appetites after an "adventure". Lol!

They went to their favorite resort yesterday for a  few days before heading home. Uncle and I are supposed to attend a wedding on Saturday so, I bought myself a dress on my way to the beach. Today, I am at home while the contractor works here on the new shower stall. It turned out to be a bigger job (as usual) and will take a day or two longer than anticipated. Not a big deal though.

Sunday was both my birthday and my mother's first remembrance day. My family made it a happy day for me because I have mixed feelings about celebrating my birthdays because of mom's passing on teh same day last year. We talked about funny memories. It was a better day than I anticipated.

Here are a couple of pictures from a sandy beach we went to:

BIL took this picture. I don't know how he did it. 

Got my 1st Dose of the Vaccine!

My SIS and BIL showed up yesterday night surprising me (uncle knew they were coming yesterday). 

Today I got up early and went to my favorite beach. They slept in but, when they woke up, they came to join me. Originally, I was going to come home, shower and change before I went to the hospital but, SIS said, I should go directly from the beach. She also said, she would drive me so that, I would not have to worry about parking the car away and walking back. Very nice, right? Especially given that, she does not like to show affection. I know she loves me :) 

So, I showered at the beach, changed into a dry swimsuit, pulled over my beach dress and off we went. I was at the hospital 15 minutes earlier than my appointment but, they took me in right away and I got my first dose. Yay!

They made me sit in the designated area for a half hour. I then got in the car and SIS took me to a very lively area near a beach. We got coffee from a coffee shop and sat in the shade for a while. Then my BIL came to join us. We sat together for a little more time and went home for dinner. Uncle does the cooking and SIS likes to do the cleaning up (she is a neat freak). Fine by me!

It doesn't feel funny. It feels like just any other shot. Some people say I may feel worse tomorrow but, I guess everybody is different. We'll see.

My second shot will be on July 17th or within a few days around that. 

So, if any of you had an mRNA type of vaccine, have you experienced any side effects? I got the Pfizer-Biontech.

Vaccine Appointment? Check!

I got my vaccine appointment for Thursday. The only available vaccine is Pfizer-Biontech so, I am getting that. 

30 million doses just arrived a week ago or so. I am thinking they will open appointments for the next age group very soon too. My BIL is in that group. Hopefully, all of us will have been jabbed by the end of June or mid-July.

My cousins and their mom are not getting vaccinated. They are afraid of the vaccine. They are adults but, I wish they were getting the vaccine.