Rainy day

It is supposed to rain all week which makes it even harder to get around here without having a car. I don't mind walking but when it's rainy, cold and the only shoes I have are my chucks it gets cold QUICK! I can't wait to get our car and I am becoming even more impatient about us getting our house and getting all of our things. The TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility) we are in isn't bad, but it's still not "home".  It reminds me of a tiny 1 bedroom apartment in the UNM/ Nob hill area minus the atmosphere of being around a bunch of hippies and/or college students. We have a itty bitty kitchen and if any of you know me you know that me and electric stove tops and all metal/stainless steal pans and I just don't get along and of course that is what we were given in the kitchen :) haha. Needless to say I am more then ready for us to get all of our stuff! All of the housing is full as of now and we are hoping to get a house sometime in April (blah!) On the upside, hopefully we will have all of our stuff by then, that way we wont have to worry about renting any furniture... fingers crossed, hope for the best!

Rene and I did get to venture of base a few times. The 1st time we went off to go find some dinner, we took a taxi and asked the guy what places were good to eat. The cab driver ended up driving us toward Adana and to this kebab restaurant behind some dark building. I won't lie I was getting a little worried as to where he was taking us, especially since neither of us know a word of Turkish. The cab driver ended up staying with us while we ate and the food was really good! They brought us so much food it was insane! It was basically a large pizza platter that had a layer of cut up pita bread on the bottom and then topped with chicken, beef, lamb and green peppers. Once we were done we went back to "The alley" and found a bar to hang out at for a while. Like everyone has said the Turkish people are very nice and hospitable! We had a good time out :)

Last night we went off base again, just in the alley, with a few of Rene's co workers. To start off they brought out a few plates of salad to share. Then bread and different seasoned onions and more tomatoes. At the place we went they had this "hot garlic sauce" for your bread. Rene and I agreed that it tasted like red chile that was watered down with garlic added to it. Although it was nice to add something spicy to my meal!(Can you tell that I miss the chile out in NM haha). I had been hearing a lot about this dish called tava,  people said it is like a stew and is served really hot. Since it has been a little chilly here and I have been craving stew lately I figured I would try it. First off it was AMAZING! I wouldn't exactly say it's a stew though. It reminded me more of a deep dish fajita plate. It was served in a very hot small cast iron oval dish, with chicken, tomatoes, other veggies and cheese on top. All in all dinner was great! After dinner we all got çay, which I mistakenly thought was chai, since it seems to be pronounced the same way. Anyways it is basically just hot black tea, very good black tea but none the less tea. I've been reading about what they do that makes it different and a lot of it has to do with the way it is prepared. I haven't exactly gotten the concept of it but the gist is it is brewed in a double pot called a Çaydanlık that looks like this

As we get off base more I'll start taking pictures and uploading them so you all can see the area!!