"Oz-lay-meck" means I'll miss you

---

Geo: 37.0391, 27.4302

Kate: We just finished packing and the boys took their last swim in the pool. We all want to stay in Turkey, but we want to go home at the same time. We went to a farewell tea with Amishay's family. Alp Doan had been sick, but he was feeling better and was in a good mood. Alex made squeaky noises at him and Alp Doan made squeaky noises back and they were both giggling. Nazli offered to let us take Alp Doan back to America with us, but Alex did not want to be a big brother.

Josh: My heart's being torn in half (Alex: mine too!). I'm thinking about maybe going to Turkey next summer. Maybe we will win the lottery. Yesterday the Shaggy Dog was shorn. He tried to resist, but to no avail. I remember seeing people having their ear hair singed off with a blue flame, luckily that didn't happen to me because I don't have hair there. I said goodbye to my Turkish friend Amishay. We had the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. There were no jelly beans, but there were popcorn and nuts and cake and cookies. We were all cleaning out our pantries to go home. We said, "We'll miss you" and "good night" over and over and over and over again until mom got mad at us. I don't want to leave! Nick- if you want to come to Turkey, you have to stay a long time to fully appreciate it!

Alex: Turkey was a great place! If you want a peaceful place where almost everyone is nice to you with fantastic views and an easy place to make new friends and learn a new language, this is it! I hope I can come back someday to meet Amishay again and see all the other great things in Turkey-- it's always sunny here. We haven't seen a single cloud except for once. Iyi gunlar!

---

Photos

Loved this trellis
This trellis was on the other side of where we parked our car and it stayed beautiful all summer. This was easily the best looking parking spot I ever had.

"Our" grape vine
This grape vine was next to where we parked our car. No one else seemed interested in it but the birds, so we started harvesting from it about 2 weeks ago and have been enjoying these seedless beauties ever since. Another thing we'll heartily miss!

Our neighborhood sign
The name means "poets" or "minstrels" in Turkish. Almost without exception, Turkish people would tell us their names and then tell us what their names meant in Turkish. Many of them were lovely like Silk, Dew, Rose and Moonlight.

Our last photo at the house
Very excited, but sad too.