February Happenings

Jim and Devlin heading into the Marines Barracks

It's been a busy week. It began Sunday, with the annual Super Bowl Chili Cook-off at the American Consulate. It was hosted by the Marines and as a goodwill gesture, the lone BSA troop in Istanbul was invited.

Valentine's Day Coffee morning

Jim made a two batches of chili, one with beans and one without. Sadly, neither were the big winner of the evening. Nor did we see the Super Bowl, as Istanbul is 8 hours ahead of the U.S. But it was fun to get together with friends and enjoy some Americana.




On Wednesday, we had our International Women of Istanbul Neighborhood Coffee. This month it was hosted by Tricia Cannis, who went all out for Valentine's Day. Tricia moved to Istinye Park last year, and has been all over the world. I love to go to her place, because it's filled with interesting furniture and accessories from all their travels.

I adore her red walls. When I saw them, I immediately wanted to paint our place. When I suggested it, Jim visibly blanched, so I dropped the subject. Plus, she has all her things with her. I really miss my own stuff when I see an apartment that is actually accessorized and looks like home.

L-R: Tricia, Nilgun, Tara, Alina, Jo and Anjali

Here are a few of the early arrivals, toasting with our morning Mimosas. L to R, is Tricia from Michigan, Nilgun from Istanbul, Tara from New York City, Alina from Germany, Jo from South Africa and Anjali from India. 

Anjali learning to make truffles

The next day, Anjali and I went to an IWI workshop called "Tarts & Truffles". It was put on by an American woman who worked as a pastry chef at a DC restaurant until she moved here a few months ago. We learned how to dip truffles, make sable dough, chocolate, caramel and lemon curd filling. Best of all, we got to taste everything we made.

Patricia hard at work

Truffles are a lot trickier to dip than one would imagine. Maybe I should say that the dipping is easy, but having them look perfectly smooth after dipping is a real challenge.

*Update: Anjali loved the chocolate making class so much, she went on to seriously study the art, and ultimately opened up her own very successful artisan chocolate shop in Singapore, named "Anjalichocolate"!  She now teaches others how to make chocolates.

Of all the IWI events I do, I love the cooking classes the best. They lend themselves well to cheerful chatter and laughter, and I always come away from them feeling like I've learned something useful.

Turkish Cooking Class

Patricia and Laure taught French Cooking

IWI photo from our French Cooking Classs

For something completely different, we ended the week working at the Don Bosco School for Iraqi Refugees. Our school had donated paint, brushes and volunteers to paint the classrooms of this charitable institution run by our church. So early Saturday morning, Jim, Devlin and I all showed up to help.

I don't know who was in charge of picking out the paint, but it never would have passed muster in any U.S. institution. It was Lavender! And it was the poorest quality of paint you can imagine. Clearly, it was not purchased at a store that uses one of those machines that shakes the can, either. We stirred that gloppy mess for quite some time. 

Because there was a shortage of ladders, Jim put one of the Iraqi students on his shoulders, to sand the spots on the wall that were too high to reach. He couldn't talk Devlin into climbing on. Devlin was convinced he'd cause his Dad bodily harm.   

Being the Construction professional that he is, Jim actually cut in the paint at the top. My job was to hold the ladder, as there was no brace on it, just a piece of green string holding the two sides together.  Those are metal pipes he's standing on pipe, not treads. It was the most dangerous piece of equipment I've ever seen.

However, he made it around the room without falling off, and our room got the award for best paint job!

But every time I look at that color......ugh.

Volunteer painters: Shakila, Suzi, Jim and Juan

Jim being a makeshift ladder