Lessons learned from Turkey

Yesterday when I went to take my shower I waited and waited on the hot water.  I was pretty hot myself, so when it never really got warm, I just got in.  I took countless cold showers in Turkey due to various problems with our heating unit.  At one point Jenna and I had both figured out how to take showers in under two minutes, one person in the evening, one person in the morning.  Two minutes was how long the hot water would last.  Moral of the story, I've learned to deal with cold showers.  I will add though, the hot water finally came on at the end and it worked fine this morning.  I think it was due to the fact that no one has lived in the house for awhile.

The power also used to go out often in Turkey, especially during my first year.  I had a total cultural moment this fall when the power went out while I was teaching Virginia.  The kids and teachers were all freaking out.  I only thought about how I would have to adjust my lesson plans that had me in the computer lab the next period.  Totally different points of view!  Since the power frequently went off just about the time we were ready to make dinner in Turkey, we quickly learned how to cook without electricity.  I went to use my stove here and couldn't get the gas to light.  I checked my cords and noticed there is no plug, just the stripped end of the power cord.  How to boil spaghetti and fry meat?  Go find matches and light the stove.  Success!