Do not try this at home

There is a video circulating on Youtube of a guy jumping onto the roof of a moving metro...like I said don't try this at home.
There is buzz going around if he is a stuntman or attempting suicide. I guess we will not know unless he attempts it again. At the end of the video he states, 'that it didn't goes a planned but I'm still living" and that he now has ideas for the future on how to make it better.

What would you do if you saw someone jumping on to the roof of a moving metro ?

 

Ramazan Pide / Turkish Bread for Ramadan

The other day we were out of bread, my husband eats bread with everything and by everything I mean even pasta and potatoes. Talk about a lot of carbs.

So we were out of bread ...I decided since it was Ramadan and I had a recipe sitting around for Ramazan pide, I would try to make it. But the one I had seemed kind of complicated. So, I looked up Ramazan pide english recipes online and stumbled across this one.

The final result was 100+% husband approved. He said it was so much better than the store bought and that would like it a few times a week if possible. And because this recipe is easy I think that I can do that.

 Afiyet Olsun / Bon appétit!


 

Adventures in Turkey : Driving

While in Turkey we ended up buying a car (due to some family issues), a Renault from the 80's for 7,000 lira (2500 euros at the time).

driving to Elazig from the village, dirt roads the whole way till the expressway

Here we are getting the 80's material out and getting black and red retro style in (which somehow I don't have a picture of)

Driving in Turkey is a nightmare. If you have ever driven in Paris, its 10 times worse. I thought that the French drive horrible, with no respect for traffic laws, but Turkish drivers are worse. Since we were in Eastern Turkey, there are not a whole lot of women who drive for reasons I couldn't figure out. So everytime I was driving or got in the car, I got stares, but I brushed it off because I am just as comptent or more as the other drivers on the road.

There is no respect for traffic laws, like there would be stop signs and no one would stop. Or the round about, which I don't even understand in the first place, and people would just all go in at once. Or they would drive without their lights on in the middle of the night. People crossing the street right in front of you (I decided I would honk the horn everyone did this). Lots and lots of stories. And apparently the traffic is worse in Istanbul than where we were!!

Every time we left the city there would be a police check and I kept telling my husband I hoped that we would get pulled over, so that I can give them a discourse on driving in Turkey and how they really aren't doing their job. The one time we almost got pulled over was a false alarm, the police wanted the car in front of us, but I told my husband it was because I was a woman and they didn't want to deal with me!


Have you ever driven in Turkey or do you have a French driving experience ??

Adventures in Turkey : Landscapes

I have finally had the time to literally sit down, upload my pictures from Turkey and write posts about them and did I mention we got back from Turkey over a month and a half ago?

Upcoming blog posts about my adventures in Turkey will be about mushroom hunting, fishing, driving, village life, and tourist spots in Elazig, where my husband is from.

Elazig is located in the eastern part of Turkey, it is neither north or south. There  is a huge military presence at least 3 or 4 military stations scattered across the region. We saw military planes when we were near Tuncelli, it reminded me of the opening of the movie "Gunesi Gordum" (great movie by the way, with English subtitles). There are quite a few tourist spots, I met some Romanian students while we were in Elazig city.

We stayed mostly in my husband's village and we were in Turkey for almost a month. We had wonderful weather, it was hot a few days but only rained three times!






Now for pictures of the countryside

Everywhere there are mountains. Not a whole lot of vegetation on the mountains. They are harder to climb than it looks.

 

France vs. Germany

Who will win the match today ?

France or Germany

I think that Germany is going to win in the last few minutes of the game, because that's how they have won the past few matches.

 Post your choice below!

 

Ramadan has started....

and therefore, there has been a lack of posts. I have currently been busy because it's Ramadan.

Ramadan for Muslims is not just about fasting from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, in our case from 3:50 am to 10:00 pm, but it's about striving to become a better Muslim. There is a saying that says Ramadan is 10% Fasting and 90% changing your heart and habits that you will incorporate throughout the coming year.
Visit this link to learn more about Ramadan.

For example, my Ramadan goals this year are to :

• memorize some short chapters and a long chapter from the Quran
• read 20 pages a day in English or French from the Quran and listen to the same reading in Arabic
• reflect every day on a verse or on my experience
• eat healthier and better and exercise daily 
• power naps throughout the day, because sleeping 7 straight hours is not possible!!

If you are not Muslim, but interested in learning more about Ramadan or joining on a 1-day fast please do not hesitate to comment below.