Travels - Day 1

Kadie moved out to the Eastern part of the country last fall to teach. She and her mom, Aunt Jamie, had been scheming for months for her mom and I to visit her. Since winter is really cold and summer is really hot, they decided May would be a great month for us to visit. Unfortunately the departure date they chose was two days after I returned from America. 

They have been like family to me and since I can relate to living in a far away place from family, I wanted to make the visit happen. So I returned to my city jet-lagging, unpacked, did laundry, and repacked. I got on a bus 48 hours later (at midnight) with Kadie’s mom to begin the trip to visit Kadie. We arrived at the bus station in the Big City around 3 am. Aunt Jamie told me there was a shuttle we could ride from the bus station to the airport. I have made that trip multiple times and have never once seen an option to shuttle to the airport. My choices have either been to pay for a really expensive cab ride or else wait around almost an hour on the cheaper city bus. When we arrived, I was following her to said shuttle, assuming that as a local she knew best. On the way there, some workers told us there wouldn’t be a shuttle for several hours. She disagreed and we went to the bus stop and sat for an hour and a half. When we realized the worker was correct and that we wouldn't have enough time to make it by bus, we decided to fork over for the taxi. Knowing the local way of not letting guests pay for anything without a fight, I raced ahead and paid for the taxi hoping it would ease me from having to fight so much to pay for things in the following days. We arrived at the airport about an hour and fifteen minutes before our flight was supposed to leave. 

On the road again

We got checked in and headed through security. I made it through but then noticed Aunt Jamie arguing with someone. She had put a large bottle of shampoo into her carry-on and the worker told her he couldn’t allow it through. I forgot that I was flying with a novice traveler. This was only her second time ever to fly. If I had remembered, I could have warned her. He said we could put it into one of the carry-ons and check that. She wanted to try to see if we could check a carry-on with the shampoo inside. I thought it unlikely but decided to go along with her and see. We got back out of line to do just that. We asked about checking my carry-on and discovered it would be 60TL. The shampoo was not worth that so we threw it in the trash and went right back through security. After going to the restroom, we waited about 5 minutes before boarding our plane. 

Local airline companies usually have tiered ticket costs. We went with the cheapest option which meant we got less weight in our checked bag, we couldn’t choose our seats, and we were not served anything on the flight. To buy water on the plane is 6 or 7TL. For comparison I usually spend no more than 1TL on water and the outrageously expensive airport water was 4TL. Not getting served a drink or a meal meant that I was free to try to get some zzzs on that two- hour flight. I was able to sleep for a little over an hour. 

While we were waiting for our bags, Kadie called to see if we had landed. I didn’t understand all that she was saying and I handed the phone to her mom. I was surprised when I saw her waiting outside the airport. I had no idea she had come to the airport to meet us. She doesn’t have a car so she had hired a man to come and pick us up. For another price comparison, our taxi from the bus station to the airport lasted about half and hour and we paid 90TL for it. The ride from this second airport to Kadie’s home was closer to an hour and only cost 80TL. 

I was surprised at how green it was on the drive to where she lives. The landscapes were absolutely beautiful and there were flowers of every color spotting the tall green grass. As we rode into her town, I noticed there were a lot more soldiers present there than where I live. She lives in a place that is a bit less stable so they have more soldiers and police on duty to keep the peace. 

We got to her place about 9am and she told me I could stay in her room and she and Aunt Jamie would sleep in the living room on the couches. I think they wanted to sleep in the same room but I also think they felt obligated to give the guest the nice bed. I was grateful to have a semblance of a space of my own while there. 

I laid down from about 10-12 since I had essentially been up all night and I was still jet-lagging. At noon, Kadie came and asked if I wanted breakfast but I was so out of it I’m not sure what answer I gave. I stumbled through to the living room where they had spread our breakfast out onto the floor. We had hot soup in addition to some olives, bread, and jam. 

Soup, it's what's for dinner

After breakfast, Kadie went to work. Aunt Jamie threw a 100TL bill at me to pay me back for the taxi. I insisted that I would not take it but she was more stubborn. We argued back and forth for about 5 minutes. I was pretty frustrated. She wouldn’t even let me pay for half and ended up giving me more than what the taxi fare had cost. I know that I am financially better off than them. I didn’t know what to do and after a while I decided to just quit arguing and take the money. 

We had a second breakfast after Kadie got home from school. Then we headed out to do some sightseeing. We walked past her school and then walked towards the village. I realized that the tall green grass I had seen was actually wheat. I loved walking by it and watching the grains dance like waves and hear the windy stalks give a lovely symphony. After we walked for about 2 hours, we came back into the tiny town and had dinner. I didn’t bother trying to pay that time. After dinner I asked if we could buy water since I drink way more than they would expect. We picked up a few things and I tried to pay again but was rejected yet again. The money issue was promising to be quite stressful. We returned home and helped Kadie get stuff ready for her art show. I turned in early and settled in for a nice, long sleep.