I LOVE working part time!!

After we got back from our January break, I decided to start working part time. This decision was based on several reasons, one being that I need to study for my GRE's (which has been a truly humbling process) and another was that I was feeling way too burnt out in relation to the small "salary" I was receiving at the end of each month. It has been great. I am still working 6 days a week, either giving private English lessons or working at my regular job, but just a couple of hours each day, for the most part. It's been great. I have a whole day I can use before I go off to work. Sometimes, like today, my private lesson students will cancel, and I feel like someone gave me 4 extra hours for free! Granted, I lose out on a good bit of money, but these days, time trumps cash. Anyway, these days are usually spent catching up on emails, studying for the GRE's (lately math, which leaves me feeling slightly depressed), doing some yoga (which makes me feel slightly better) and reading(which I also count as studying, because I highlight, look up and create a spreadsheet of words 'I will soon know' - trying to put a positive spin on my limited vocabulary. I have also used the time to cook and bake. Today, after a 3 month hiatus (beginning on Christmas day when I broke our blender) I decided to re-enter the hummus making world (no, it's not common to find it in stores here, so if we want it, homemade is the best bet.)
It's gorgeous out today, and it's a Monday, which means Market Day in our neighborhood, so to prepare for my cooking session, I went out and did one of my favorite things, which I never had a chance to do while I was working all the time....The European-style shopping trip: First stop: Ekonomik Market, a small grocery store/mainly produce market, where I bought broccoli and yogurt. I plan to use the broccoli tonight in my new favorite dish to cook- Lemon/white wine/olive oil marinated artichoke hearts and broccoli over penne (look mom, I'm eating veggies!!) We'll buy the artichoke hearts fresh at the 'real' market, but I like to go with Chris because conversing with the (super friendly but English-free) market guys on my own about how much everything costs (and the fact that they always try to give me fruit makes me a little nervous. Next stop, the Sarkuterie, another little shop (the name of this type of store is based on the other word that sounds like it "Charcuterie" - the Turks have co-opted alot of words like this, like Taksi, Kuafor, etc...) that sells meats and cheeses (nothing international though. White Cheese or Yellow Cheese are the choices) and where I bought my can of chickpeas. Next stop, the Zeytin (olive) store, because we're nearly out of olive oil. These shops are always tiny and sell different kinds of olives and olive oil (sometimes house-made) and sometimes olive oil soaps, etc. I bought a small Poland-Spring type bottle filled with olive oil for 5ytl, about 3USD. From here I spotted the friendly gypsy lady on the corner, from whom we usually buy flowers. I bought a gorgeous bouquet of all white flowers (I'd post a picture but for some reason I don't see my camera around here...) She wanted15ytl, about 10USD but I talked her down to 10YTKL (approx. 7). I'm not sure if that's still a bit high, but I figure she probably needs the money more than I do, and on a nice day like today, flowers are a must! After visiting the gypsy flower seller, I went to Bag (pronounced bahhhh) my FAVORITE bakery and bought a delicious bread, sort of corn-bread-like, but not so heavy or sweet, and a bunch of cookies. I love shopping in this neighborhood, because the proprieters are all soooo nice to the teachers. We are the only foreigners who live in this neighborhood and I think they think we're amusing and/or they feel sorry for us. I asked for 10 cookies today, and the man weighed and priced them and then discreetly put about 3 or 4 more in the bag. After Bag, I decided that I really needed nail polish remover. So I stopped into the grocery store and picked up a bottle of that for 85 kurush, about 50 or 60 cents. For some reason, the combination of the cool enough for a fleece yet warm enough for sandals day, the friendliness of everyone around me and knowing that we'll only be here for a little while longer, has put me in a really good/slightly nostalgic for something I'm currently experiencing mood...Then I came home and tried to cook (by cook I mean make some hummus). I'll digress for a moment and share the fact that Chris has taken to calling me the Swedish Chef, a fair statement due to the fact that I can just LOOK into a kitchen and food and cooking utensils will be everywhere. Again, I wish I could find my camera because in the middle of making my hummus, I looked around - a blade from the blender, covered in hummus, was on the floor, tahini was spilled all over the counter, as was some exploding hummus from the blender. I mean, I don't know how it happens. It's sad, really, but I'm just not sure how to help myself! Regardless of my messy kitchen behavior, I think that my time cooking has started to pay off - My peanut butter M&M cookies are my new addiction (I had to stop making them, actually, because I need to be in a bathing suit in two weeks, and it wasn't really working out to have them in the house) and Chris actually eats just about everything I cook! Which is generally more complicated than my "cheese and crackers" or "bowls of cereal" or even "containers of ice cream" of the past! I highly recommend that everyone works only some of time...It's amazing what you can accomplish!