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HelenZ - Helen Zonenberg Demir

Helen Zonenberg Demir I am currently living in Turkey, after having married my husband on August 23, 2008.
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Joined on: December 27th 2007
Last Login: February 12th 2009

Blog Entries: 14
Photos: 80
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By HelenZ
December 10th 2008
The Holidays Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
Blue and Red Themed Tree
Blue and Red Themed Tree
Seeing our tree makes me so happy - reminding me of home and the holidays!!!
The Holiday season is upon us. My American friend Suzanne in my European Studies Masters Program and I prepared a Thanksgiving feast for our classmates and teachers on Thanksgiving day. Yes, I cooked my first turkey, pumpkin and apple pies. Although a little dry the turkey was edible - the apple pie a la mode was a huge success! All the traditional fixin's filled our table - mashed potatoes, stuffing, my grandma's stuffing (every other day of the year except Thanksgiving this is known as meatloaf or kofte in Turkey), sweet potato (carrots substituted for sweet potatoes which are not to [View Full Entry]

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987 Words | 4 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 10th 2008 | 154 Views | [diary=353025]

Me with the Sheep
Makeshift Housing
Baklava Baking

By HelenZ
September 11th 2008
Marriage Preparation Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
The Ceremony
The Ceremony
After these questions, you are legally married.
The first two weeks in Istanbul were solely dedicated to completing the reams of paperwork necessary to get married in Turkey - at least three business days required for you to physically go to widely geographically dispersed areas of the city. On Sunday afternoon August 10, I arrived in Istanbul. On Monday August 11, the adventure of Turkey's own form of Marriage Preparation began. The first step to get the process going was picking up the Affidavit of Marriageability from the American Consulate in Instanbul. The document basically stated that I had never been married before, nor was I wi [View Full Entry]

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1696 Words | 9 Comment(s) | 13 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: September 11th 2008 | 326 Views | [diary=322240]

The Marriage Official Officiates
Cristi Carlstead - Wellesley Friend
Ozgur - friend from Stevens

Grandma with her boys
Grandma with her boys
Uncle Dan, Grandma and Ed
The viewing for my Grandma, Kay Zonenberg will take place at Scillieri Funeral Home, 351 5th Avenue , Paterson , NJ 07514 on Monday 2/11 from 2-4 and 6-8, 973-345-6767. The funeral mass will be on Tuesday 2/12 at 10:00 am at St. Therese Church, 765 Fourteenth Avenue, Paterson, NJ 07504, 973-278-4135. [View Full Entry]

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45 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 1 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: February 11th 2008 | 119 Views | [diary=245210]


Grandma with Munchkin at Applebee's
Grandma with Munchkin at Applebee's
Grandma loved to eat her shrimp. Here she enjoys a moment with one of her greatest joys - Little Luis Edward.
Grandma set sail for her final cruise on Friday, February 8, 2008. She died peacefully while still in her bed with her rosary beads nearby. Grandma prayed every night before going to sleep for her entire family and loved ones. Luckily, she didn't suffer any ailments or sickness. For a woman of 88 years, she was in good health, maintaining her independence til her last day. Kay Zonenberg was born with the last name Gallovich in Vandergrift, PA on July 15, 1919. Grandma would sometimes say she couldn't believe all the technological changes which she witnessed throughout her life. Her moth [View Full Entry]

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601 Words | 4 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: February 10th 2008 | 172 Views | [diary=244857]

Grandma with her Grand- and GreatGrand-kids
Grandma with her First Set of Grandkids
Grandma with her No. 1 and No. 2 sons

By HelenZ
January 10th 2008
Pazar = Bazaar  Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
Me with my Future Mom-in-law
Me with my Future Mom-in-law
At the bazaar - lot of fresh veggies!
Pazar means both bazaar and Sunday in Turkish. Cenker's mom Feyhan and I went to the Thursday bazaar less than a 10 minute walk from the house. I try to name each of the vegetables in Turkish, Feyhan helps me with the names I don't know or can't remember or fumble with pronunciation. Neighbors stopped to greet us along the way. Cenker's mom introduced me to some. With one woman I actually had a decent conversation, that is an exchange of three sentences!!! (Yeah, I'm being liberal with the definition of conversation here...) Oh yeah, nothing like a marriage proposal to [View Full Entry]

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196 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 6 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 11th 2008 | 99 Views | [diary=234948]

Looking down the row of Vendors
Clothes
Lemons

Feyhan
Feyhan
Cenker's mom Feyhan at Tuzla Coast.
Tuesday afternoon Cenker's mom and I ventured to Tuzla coast, a good 35-40 minute walk, those with longer legs could probably do it in 20 minutes. Attempting to use the little Turkish, I have garnished since the beginning of my visit, we talked about the cars going fast and slow, hızlı and yavaş. Baby talk in a foreign language is so humbling. Listening to conversations, I often hear what sounds like "Jackson," making me think of Michael - it was a "thriller" to find out this week that the "-ecek" ending is the future tense, when added to the base of [View Full Entry]

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303 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 9 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 11th 2008 | 129 Views | [diary=234937]

Outdoor Gym
Enjoying the Outdoor Gym
Recep coaches Feyhan

By HelenZ
January 5th 2008
ENGAGED Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
Helen & Cenker - Engaged
Helen & Cenker - Engaged
We pose to remember the moment!
White flakes drifting silently provided the only witnesses at the edge of the Swan Fountain at Dolmabahçe Palace to Cenker stopping me mid-step to ask me to walk beside him for a lifetime. He started with a topic we discussed many times before, "What would you say, if I asked you to marry me?" Before I could say anything, a red velvet box emerged from his coat, as he opened it, asking, "Would you marry me?" I immediately wrapped my arms around him. I held him tightly, as insuppressible tears warmed my chilled, rosy cheeks. That morning we woke up late [View Full Entry]

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651 Words | 18 Comment(s) | 8 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 11th 2008 | 215 Views | [diary=234870]

Dolmabahçe Palace Clocktower
Cenker at the Palace Gate
Gate to Bosphorus

By HelenZ
January 3rd 2008
Tourist for a Day Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
Starbucks
Starbucks
Cenker treated me to a Starbucks coffee in his work building lobby.
On Thursday, I accompanied Cenker on his ride to work in his company car. Leaving his home around 6:30am we made it to his office by 7:15am - we flew over the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Brigde, aka the Second Bosphorous Bridge, in Turkish Fatih Sultan Mehmet Köprüsü. Cenker used his lunch card, loaded each month with a stipend for his mid-day meal, at the Starbucks in the Sun Plaza lobby. My mochino-latte-ya was 6 YTL - rent we paid to let me sit, sleep, and study Turkish in the restaurant for three hours, while hanging out, waiting for Cenker's cousin to [View Full Entry]

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735 Words | 3 Comment(s) | 8 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 9th 2008 | 130 Views | [diary=234074]

Sun Plaza
Construction of Subway Line
Ortaköy Mosque

By HelenZ
January 1st 2008
New Year's Day Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
Napping in 2008
Napping in 2008
Cenker and Demir enjoy a quiet moment.
Most offices were closed on New Year's Day, although it seemed shopping centers and markets remained open. Capitalizing on a day off, the whole crew slept late. We had a yummy breakfast of fried eggs with sliced sausages, fried potatoes and the usual bread, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, jellies. Cenker's sister came over with her husband and thier baby. After a busy day of playing which doubled as a lesson for me to learn how to say some colors in Turkish, Cenker and Demir took a short nap. Cenker succinctly described the feeling of laying next to a sleeping baby - "heavenly." [View Full Entry]

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315 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 2 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 7th 2008 | 63 Views | [diary=233498]

Roasting Chestnuts

Buying Baklava
Buying Baklava
Cenker's Mom seen through the window buying Baklava for Cenker - what a treat!
What better way to celebrate New Year's Eve than with a delicious meal at home?! To prepare for our New Year's feast Cenker's parents and I went to Pendik - a bustling seaside area with shops and restaurants. A thick throng of people gathered around a guy doing or selling something not legal, could've been a card game, because when some official looking men in uniforms carrying clipboards circled around the area on foot, the crowd quickly dispersed. Only to spring up again in about 15 minutes on the other side of the pedestrian area! The first stop was the money [View Full Entry]

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407 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 6th 2008 | 169 Views | [diary=233482]

Cenker's Mom after purchasing Burmakadayif
Fish Market
Fresh Fish anyone?



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