Turistler Kariye yollarinda...

Kamerali paparazzinin olmadigi bir donemde
Mozaik usulu paparazzi. Olaganustu ;)
Muzeye giderseniz cok daha ilginclerini gorebilirsiniz ;)

Yine Temmuz+Delfina, Senem+Esra dörtlüsü yollardaydik. Yolda bol bol yabanci turist sanildik.. Sanirim Turk halki iki cocuk, iki bayan sekilde eski sehri gezmeye calisan annelere pek de aşina degil :(
Once Eminonu otobus duraklarinin orda bulusup, 36E'ye binip Edirnekapi duragina guzel klimali bir otobus yolculugu yaptik. Indikten sonra 'Kariye Muzesi' levhalarini izleyerek, kolayca muzeye gittik. Bol turistli, kucuk bir klise Kariye. Muzenin yollari bebek arabasina uygun. Biz bebek arabalarini muzeye sokmaktansa, giselerin orda birakip yola yayan devam ettik. Bu arada muzekart sahiplerine muze ucretsiz, hatirlatayim. 
O olaganustu ikonalari gormek icin yukari bakmaktan insanin boynu hayli bir agriyor. 

Temmuz ve Delfina
Arkalarinda Kariye Muzesi
Kariye Parkindayken

Muzenin ortasina bir yatak atmak gibi bir fantezi gelistirdim ordayken, olsa ne harika olurdu ;) Bir de acaba mozaikleri gece gormek nasil bir sey olurdu, yaldizli parcalar nasil da isildardi?.. Muze guzel ve kucuk, o yuzden bizim iki yas cagindaki iki bizdik huzursuz olmadan, muzeyi bitirdik. Sonra hemen muzenin altinda yeni acilmis oldugunu dusundugumuz Kariye Parki'na gittik. Oyun parki, kopruler, yesilliklerle, akan suyla yapilmis sirin ve guzel bir park. Hem ogle yemegimizi orda yedik, hem de bizdiklar parkta oynadilar. Sonra ara sokaklardan Balat'a indik. Harika mimarisi olan eski konaklar, eski yikik-dokuk kliseler, kucuk fabrikamsi mekanlar, sokak aralarinda oynayan cocuklar. Bir sey ilgimi cekti, cop kutulari mahallelerin cok eskiydi. Istanbul'un heryerinde modern cop kutulari var benim gordugum, ama o mahallelerde eski usul metal cop kutulari. Istanbul'un icinde binbir yuz istanbul var.. Gezen farkli yuzleri bir bir goruyor...

Muzede cocukla gezmek boyle
 bir sey iste ;)

Ardindan Eminonu'ne gidip harika bir alisveris seansi yaptik, bizimkilere oyun hamuru ve parmak boyasi yapabilmek icin gida boyalari aldik. Tchibo'da suan 12 TL'ye satilan silinebilir boya kalemlerinin aynisini 5.50TL'ye aldik. Bir de bir sonraki bulusmamizda kullanmak uzere ucurtma aldik ;) Guzel bir cay molasiyla gune ferahlik katip, kesif dolu keyifli bir gunun verdigi mutlulukla ayrildik...

Gerisi burda...

Life is a box of chocolate

Today it's been two years since we moved from Birmingham to Istanbul. We moved from one city whose symbol is a bull to a district in Istanbul one of whose symbols is also a bull ;) Life is indeed 'like a box of chocolate' ;)  You really never know what you'll get. Before we decided on this district of Istanbul, we had to look for houses in 21 different districts and we ended up in the one with a bull!!!

Ozgurluk Park, Istanbul. First day of bayram

Delfina seems to be very content with her life in Istanbul. She spends her mornings with lots of kids in a playground / park nearby. And we come home for a noon nap and lunch, meantime she plays with her toys at home and then again out to feed birdies and play with a ball with some other kids or ride on her new scooter. Unless her mother instead took her to a gallery, museum or for a ferry ride ;)
She is a big girl now. She has most of her teeth out except for the last ones at the back. She started sleeping in her own room last week Friday. It was a big step. Arranging a video chat with her Kiwi grandparents and exhibiting her room to them and showing her room whenever a friend came to visit helped this process a lot, methinks. She has her slide, tent, chest of drawers [every drawer of which I am intending to paint a rainbow colour], her toy boxes are now all in her room ;) Her books are in the bottom shelves of our family bookshelves ;) So I guess, the moving process is over and we are 90% settled. There is still stuff to buy for the house, but nothing comes easy... or let's say time settles you back in ;)

exploring the world on her own

We gave lots of balloons away to the kids in the playground last weekend, because it was bayram [religious festival time, like Xmas when family members get together, people visit each other and exchange pressies]. I keep on teaching Delfina to give or to share but when she finds out that she can't straight away borrow other kids' toys or bicycle, she gets angry. For instance, whenever we go out to feed the birds, I buy a pound of bird food and give it to all of the kids there to feed the birds together and it is fun ;) But when Delfi wants to go and pick a handful birdfood from other kids, I keep on telling her that she needs to ask permission. Unfortunately not everyone is willing to share the whole pack with other kids :( And she gets upset. When we gave balloons away on Monday, she was ok to share her balloons until a boy did not want to give his toy truck to Delfina. Then she changed, and started to cry not to give any balloons away. Well, I did not force her afterwards. I guess bringing up a child with communist ideals in a non-communist environment is difficult.

playing with her best playmate Alexia

Have you ever realised how many 'social rules' you need to teach to your kids? I don't necessarily believe in teaching her some of the rules but I  have to teach her so that she does not experience any nasty reaction from other people. In a Turkish TV series that I watch, a kid tried to get some figs from an old and grumpy man's garden. Finding out that kids were 'stealing' his figs, he started shouting and tried to teach the kids a lesson. Later on, when the main kid's mother told her not to 'steal' anything from anyone, he said 'what did that old man do to ripen those figs? Did they ripen in his hands? Why can't I eat them?' It is true. Modern  societies all around the world have rules: we own stuff, we buy and sell. Doesn't it come to one's mind that the whole story of ownership is completely random. Who is the first owner? People sell and buy and declare everything on their land belongs to them. As Delfina is getting closer to her age 2, she started developing the whole sensation of 'it belongs to me and you can't touch it' or 'it is MINE'. For the last ten days or so, she has liked to share other kids' stuff but has not liked to share her 'own'.

maybe we gave up to 50 balloons away on the bayram day ;)

 It is true that for the first half of your life you learn stuff, you look at the world to discover and then when things commence to become mundane and daily, I think the best thing to do is to have a child and then you start questioning the world from scratch again ;) It is really making me tired dealing with this 'sharing' business. But this is a stage of her growing up and it will pass. I know. It is unbelievable how time passes. It is like yesterday I was working at Birmingham Conservatoire with my wonderful colleagues and today Delfi is 21 months old. And next time I open my eyes, I guess she will be celebrating her 21st birthday somewhere in the world! 

with her sleepmate :)

She doesn't talk yet but she can express herself very well. And she is doing her best to imitate sounds in English, Turkish and Korean.. She loves Korean kids songs ;)
http://kr.infant.kids.yahoo.com/infantzone/index.html?service=song&mode=sublist&cate_no=110&sort=latest&endpg=8&pg=7
 She loves music and to dance. I guess it's got to do with the fact that I spent my first months of pregnancy at Birmingham Conservatoire ;)) 'Life is like a box of chocolate' and really you don't know what is to come. Learning about the existence of Delfina was absolutely  a delightful taste.. My little friend is growing up so quickly... Hope she and all babies in the world have a green, just, peaceful and healthy life...

Gerisi burda...

Sehirde bebekle ve bebek arabasiyla gezmek uzerine

Malum blogumun alt basligi 'Delfina'mla istanbul'u geziyorum'. Delfinam ve ben o cok kucuk bir bebekkenden beri istanbul'da vapur, otobus, deniz otobusu, taksi, tramvay, dolmus taksi, dolmus, tren yani her turlu ulasim aracini kullanarak gezdik.  Benim her daim favori ulasim araclarim vapurlar, tramvay ve yesil yani alcak otobuslerdir. Zorlandigim zamanlardaysa, soforlere ya da cevredekiler 'bir el atalim' demekten asla utanmadim, cekinmedim. Hem Turk halki hem turistler de her daim yardimciydilar.. Bazen halki da egitmen gerekebiliyor. Mesela tramvayda oturma yeri katlanabilen oturaklari kaldirip, Delfi'nin bebek arabasini oraya yerlestirip benim de yanina oturdugum cok olmustur [ o yuzden hep ilk durak olan Kabatas'tan binmeye ozen gosteririm]. Arada tramvaydakilerin gelip, bebegi alin biz oturalim dedikleri olmustur. Ben de oturagin yukarsindaki bebek arabasi isaretini gosterip, 'bakin burasi bebek arabalari icin, ben hem sizin hem kendi bebegimin saglikli yol gidebilmesi icin bu arabayi guvene almaya mecburum' diyerekten insanlari konuyla ilgili egitmem gerekmistir. Ya da otobuslerin ortasindaki bosluga yayilmis tiplere 'pardon buraya bebek arabasini koyup, bebegimi guvence altina almam gerekiyor' demisimdir. Taksileri ise hic sevmem. Bebegi cikar, bebek arabasini katla cok zahmetli gelir bana. Bir de tek basimaysam bebegi arabanin icine koyup, ben arabayi katlamam [bizim arabayi nasil katlayacaklarini soforler bilemiyor dogal olarak bu gorev bana dusuyor], cocugumun guvenligi acisindan tehlikeli geliyor. Evet paranoyakca olabilir, ama ya taksici bebegim arabadayken basar kacarsa gibilerinden paranoyakliklarim vardir benim. Neyse toplu ulasim hem cevreci bir cozum, hem de daha saglikli ve kolay benim acimdan.

Delfi vapurda, arkada kiz kulesi

Belki gezmek isteyen ama tuyolara da ihtiyaci olan anneler vardir diye, biz gezerken nelere dikkat ediyoruz konulu bir yazi yazayim dedim, iste onlar:

• Evden cikmadan once alti kuru, ve karni tok olmasi lazim 
• Eskiden arabasinda daha uzun soluklu oturuyordu ama buyudugunden beri  [ya da yurumeye basladigindan beri] bu imkansiz her yerde kendince gezinmek istiyor. Ama baslarda  dusmeleri onlemek ve deniz kiyisi gibi yerlerde kendini denize vs.  atmasini onlemek amacli kayis aldim. 
• Onun istekleri ve onun beden dilini okumak cok onemli. Malum daha konusamiyor, ama kendini isaretlerle, cikardigi seslerle, yuz ifadesiyle anlatiyor. Mesela inmek istiyorsa, aninda indiriyorum. Su istiyorsa aninda geliyor. Bekletme yok.
• Arabaya tekrar oturmak istedigimde onceleri 'karar verildi, istedigin  kadar agla donusu yok' dedim. Karardan donmemek cok onemli.  Ama daha sonra yani simdilerde cogunlukla her yerde her daim kurtaricim muz oluyor yanimda ya da su vs. ve once yiyecegi [ozellikle sevdigi bir yiyecegi] gosteriyorum, boylece onu bebek arabasina cekebiliyorum. Yanima aldiklarima gelince: tel / kasar peyniri ve tam bugday ekmek, muz, hurma, her turlu meyva [ama meyvalari biliyorsunuz kesince saglikli olmuyor, uzerinde tasima esnasinda bakteri filan cogaliyor, o yuzden butun sekilde meyvalar], tam bugdaydan yapilmis kucuk galetalar, kaju, haslanmis patates [bir kucuk tencereye 4-5 kucuk ya da orta boy patates, bir su bardagi su, ustune de biraz kaya tuzu atip, cok kisik ateste kaynatabilirsiniz, harika oluyor, Delfina buyuk bir zevkle yiyor. Aman dikkat bebeginiz bir yasin altindaysa malum tuz bebeklerin bobreklerine zararli oldugu icin konulmuyor], bulursam GDO'suz misir, evde hic birsey yoksa kir pidesi ve ayran. Bir sure hani hazir satilan sebze purelerinden almistim, kucuk kavanozda ve organik olanlarindan, ama belli bir sure sonra istemedi.  Ve bunun gibi seyler.. 
• Bebek arabasina bagli sevdigi oyuncaklar [dis kasiyicilar vs] oluyor  mutlaka, boylece oyuncagi firlatmasini onlemis oldum. 
• Otobuslerde farkettim ki ben ne kadar onun ustune dusersem [vakit gecsin diye sarkilar soyleyip, oyunlar oynatmaya calisirsam], o, o kadar  huysuzlasiyor, agliyor. Eskiden oturup sarkilar filan soylerdim. Artik  onu gormezden geliyorum. O da etrafini izliyor, baskalarina kur  yapiyor. 
• O mutsuzluk belirttigi an, planlari degistiriyorum. Yani bulundugu  ortamda mutlu degilse aninda planlar degisiyor. 
• Alisveris merkezlerine bebeklerle belki yilda bir-iki kez olur, ama  yogunlukla AVM'lere gidilmemesi gerektigini dusunuyorum. Zaten o tarz  yerlerde tutmak da cok zor. Ama mesela IKEA gezimiz sanki oyun parki  gibiydi, saatler harcadik oyuncak ve kafeteryasindaki oyuncaklar  kisminda. Ki sadece bir kez gittik IKEA'ya. 
• Mizmizlandigi an, yiyecek bir sey veriyorum eline. Bu yontem esasinda  buyukler icin de gecerli. Kore'deki gunlerimde, bir hukumet gezisine  katilmistim. Bizi Kore'nin eski baskentine goturmuslerdi. Yolda trafik  vardi ve manzara harika olmasina ragmen aractan inemeyecegimiz bir noktaydi. Yetkililer hemen gidip  herkese dondurma aldirip, dagittilar. Ve biz trafikte mutlu mutlu  beklemistik ;) Yani agzini dolu tuttugun surece her zaman mutlu  bireyler edinebiliyorsun ;) he he 
• Bebek arabamizda her daim kucuk bir topumuz var. Yine beklememiz gereken bir durum oldugunda, cimen buldugumuz her alanda cikarip top oynuyoruz. Bu ozellikle iskelede vapur beklerken cok ise yariyor. Ve eger onun bir yere dogru gitmesini istiyorsam ama benim ozgur kizim beni takip etmiyorsa, 'elim sende' deyip gitmesini istedigim yone dogru kosuyorum ;) Deli bir anneye malzeme cok ;)
• Bir de gittigim yerleri -ozellikle tek basima goturuyorsam- uzun yollar  olarak secmiyorum. Ferah ve gerekirse istanbul sartlarinda 1 saat  icinde evde olabilecegim guzergahlari kullaniyorum. 
• Surekli deli gibi konustugum da oluyor onu oyalamak adina. Mesela bir yerde beklememiz gerekiyorsa, ona cevremizdeki nesnelerin  ismini soyluyorum. Gokyuzune, yollara, martilara merhaba diyoruz,  mesela vapur iskelesinde beklerken, iskeleye yeni gelmis teyzelere,  abilere 'aa hos geldiniz' diyoruz vs vs.. 
• Bir de tabii her daim en onemli bagimiz: emzirmek! Bakiyorum cok mu huysuz, basedemiyor muyum, o zaman direkt emme seansi basliyor. Her yerde de emzirdim: takside, vapurda, ucakta, otobuste, antik kentte, muzede, sarayda yani her yerde! Emmek bebegi hem sakinlestiriyor, hem huzura kavusturuyor. 

Bunlar simdilik aklima gelenler. Benim belimde ve boynumda sorun var,  o yuzden kizimi gezerken surekli kucagimda filan tasimam - bu bana cok koysa da -  imkansiz. Belki de o yuzden Delfi boyle gelisti. Her bebegin ve  annenin hikayesi ve ihtiyaclari farklidir. Bizim hikayemiz boyle. Hikayesi benzer annelere isik tutmasi dilegimle..
Sevgiler
Bol gezmeli gunler..
EsraR~~~ 

Gerisi burda...

Crossing hemispheres on a plane with a 13 month old baby

Well, I would not have dared to go to the other side of the world with a 13 month old baby, if I hadn't had to.
Thanx God, we managed to travel from Istanbul to Singapore and from Singapore to New Zealand with our baby safely. I guess travel was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Once we set off, everything was more settled. It is only the stress really that makes you tired (more than the trip itself).
We flew with Singapore Airlines. We booked a bassinet seat for Miss Delfina.

Delfina sleeping in her bassinet provided by the Singapore Airlines

Why Singapore Airlines? Well, we bought our tickets in July 2011 when Delfina was 8 months old. Singapore Airlines offered the shortest flight time (1-2 hours shorter flight time). But more importantly, their maximum bassinet seat weight was 14 kg, whereas other airline companies had a limit of 11 kg. Considering that Delfina was already almost 11kg by her 8 months, we had to go for Singapore Airlines despite the fact that it was almost 400 Euros more expensive in total. For six months (before the fight date) I kept on panicking about whether or not Delfina would be heavier than 14 kg. Well she was almost 14 kg by the time of the flight but it was ok cos on the bassinet seat, it said "max. 16kg". God, it was a relief!!! But God knows how much I feared for six months in case they said 'no we can't give any bassinet seat for your baby'!
Was I satisfied with Singapore Airlines?  They were not too bad, but they did not give me what I expected for the amount of money that they charged. Before flying with a baby, I had read many baby sites, blogs etc. and they all said 'do not worry about entertaining your baby, on the plane they provide toys, crayons etc.' =>They only provided one hand puppet for Delfina at the second leg of our journey.
They served post-weaning baby food in plastic containers with plastic cutlery (!) Baby food contained sweets (!) The fruits they provided were almost off (!)
I have flown many long-haul flights with different airline companies such as Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Korean Airlines. But either they provided more food than the Singapore Airlines or because I am now breastfeeding these guys could not feed me well! :) But I guess it's the latter.

What to take with you on the plane?  I picked up non-noisy toys: her stacking cups, one small book, some wooden toys, balloons [as long as you don't let your baby pop it by giving her a pen at the same time like someone did (!), it should be fine :)].
Of course

1. Nappies, 
2. An extra change of clothes, different layers [on the way to Singapore, the aircraft temperature was quite hot, but on the way to NZ it was quite chilly, so make sure you take a jacket with you], 
3. Baby bottles,
4. Extra food [just in case your baby does not like the aircraft food; Delfi liked the post-weaning menu],
5. Ocean water and a nasal aspirator [if your baby's nostrils are blocked, it causes more pain in her ears while taking off and landing. So you may need ocean water to clean up the nostril and the nasal aspirator to suck the snot],
6. Fennel seeds [to make tea in case your baby develops tummy pain; luckily we did not need it],
7. Baking soda [Delfi is teething; rubbing baking soda on her gums relieves the pain],
8. Paracetamol syrup [in case she had fever on the plane because of teething, just in case]

Some useful advice for fussy mothers:

•  Every airline company provides fleece blankets, if you are a fussy mother like I am, you can put one of them on the floor so that your baby plays on it, but of course not while landing, taking off or during turbulence. 
• Delfina had a top with some shinny glittery sequins on it and when they turned most of the aircraft lights off for landing, the shinny stuff on her top reflected some light onto the wall and when she was in a very grumpy mood, she spent some time trying to figure out what those shapes were on the wall. So if you have anything like that, I recommend that you wear it or make your baby wear it.
• As a mother, I always find it useful to wear some earrings, bracelets, rings etc. My baby, when she does not have anything to play with, plays with my accesorries. It works for my baby; it may work for your baby!
• Grab one of the newspapers they give when you first get on the plane; if you're a hygiene-fussy mother like I am and if you don't trust the hygiene of that tray,  you can put it on top of the nappy-changing tray in the toilet. To tell you the truth, that tray was far too small for my baby. Unfortunately, we had to change her nappy in sitting up position :(
• I don't know any long-haul flight that does not have any interactive screen. If you go to 'Kids' section, and if you are lucky enough you can calm your baby down by making her listen to some "Wiggles' songs". We were very lucky to have 'Wiggles' on the list. She did not want to watch cartoons but she watched the 'Wiggles' maybe six times from Singapore to Auckland.
• Ask hostesses to bring the baby food and your food at different times. It becomes problematic when you have two trays in front of you and a messy baby. I know it from experience ;)  
• As you get on the plane, take everything out of the magazine pocket in front of your seat, then you can use those pockets to put your babies stuff, when you don't know where to put them in a moment of rush.

I hope I gave some useful advice to other mothers / parents and I hope we can have a trouble-free, safe and easy flight back home to Istanbul. Fingers crossed ;)

Gerisi burda...

Istanbul !!!

I love Istanbul!
Which city in the world you can travel on a ferry for 50 mins and just pay 60 pence and have an awesome view of Golden Horn at sunset?
In this city, even if you have enough money to buy a semi-detached house with a garden and garage in the UK, with the same amount of money you cannot find a simple flat without a garden or garage!
Which city you can be in love with and hate at the same time?
Which city in the world makes you happy just with its sun, sea, sky, seagulls, maiden's tower?
In how many cities in the world the waiters complain when you don't leave any tip after a costly lunch?
In how many cities can you find exactly the same hat for 5 TL and 50 TL on the same day!
In how many cities in the world can it take 2 hours to go a distance, and 10 minutes?
This city is full of surprises, full of stories.. 
I hated Istanbul for the first two of my student years and then fell in love with this city. 
Afterwards, I moved abroad but whenever I came to visit Istanbul and tried to leave it again he washed his face with his tears...
What you have and what you can get can change in a second. This is Istanbul. You just need to expect unexpected stories here..

I enjoyed Istanbul as a student. I am enjoying Istanbul as a mother. It has its ups and downs. Sometimes I just sit and cry. Sometimes I feel my heart is fluttering with happiness.
When I used to live in Istanbul, I used to write a lot, be engaged with arts a lot. For some reason, I could not write for many years. Now I cannot do anything but write or share...
Istanbul, you are in my lungs! I am breathing with you! 


PS. Ironically, this is the city I had asthma in after I moved to it.

Gerisi burda...