So, in some ways this week has been really great. In other ways it has been the week straight from hell. Let's talk about the good things: I am going to my first Turkish wedding tonight, where I will wear a new pink dress that I like very much. What could be better? Last night I attended the bride's henna night, where female friends and family members come together to dance and put blobs of henna on their hands (this is a gross simplification, but you get the idea). Unlike other cultures I've seen where henna is used for marriage, in Turkey they don't really make designs with it--just a large circle on the palm. The long and short of it is that right now it looks like I have a weird rash on the inside of my hand--oh well.

Other good things this week: I have a new office. I share it with three other people, which means it's a little cramped, but at least I have a desk and a place to put stuff--it's also really close to where I live, which is very nice. Maybe I will finally be able to have students visit me (probably just a delusion on my part).

It is both cold and dark in Amasya--a magical combination. It's dark by about 4:45 these days, which is just a tad early for me. I really like sunlight and...you don't get so much of it here. Yesterday is was legitimately sunny for about an hour, and then it got cloudy. The good news is that it's not nearly as cold here and it is other places in Turkey. Inner Anatolia gets COLD. All and all I feel pretty good about the weather in Amasya.

This coming week is important for two reasons: mid-terms and THANKSGIVING. It's going to be weird celebrating Thanksgiving away from family, but I think it's going to be an OK week. On Thursday I'm making a small Thanksgiving dinner because I don't have to work that day, then Friday I'm planning on Tex-Mex Thanksgiving (because why not?), and then Saturday we are renting out an old Ottoman house and hosting a BIG thanksgiving for a few Americans (maybe) and a bunch of Turkish friends and colleagues. I'm quite excited. I just hope that it all goes off well. Yesterday, after mentioning that I longed for cornmeal to make cornbread dressing, a wonderful friend found some for me and gave it to me as a gift. Warmed. My. Heart. It's weird how much I miss things like cornbread or the taste of masa--apparently corn is a really important part of my diet in America.

But, now that we are getting closer to the holiday season in America, it is interesting to note the things that I miss. For example, this morning I woke up and wanted so badly to be in my mom's kitchen while gingerbread cookies were baking--that was literally the first thought I had when I woke up this morning. There is something so comforting to me about the smell of molasses. Too bad you can't get it here. Or, even more random considering I don't eat these often in the states, I miss home-made rice crispy treats. Why? I don't know. But if I could find corn syrup and rice crispies you know what I'd be doing!

However, the thing, that I have no hope of getting, that I will miss most this Thanksgiving, is cranberry sauce. You can't find cranberries or cranberry sauce in Turkey (to my knowledge) and the berry here that is most like a cranberry (and still not very much like a cranberry) just went out of season. I asked at the market today and the man mad an X in the air with his arms and said "bitti" (finished). I walked away like a sad puppy.

In other news, I've made some important decisions of late--namely that I'm going to be applying to Middle Eastern studies programs in the fall (2012). It took me a long time to decide what I want to go back to school for (I've been thinking about it for the last year), but I think it's the right decision. That means that I need to improve my Turkish rapidly. RAPIDLY. It also means that I need to study and re-take the GRE (not so rapidly). Math is the problem, but so far I've been really good--I study math for about an hour every morning. Do I make progress? I don't honestly know. But, I'm sticking to it, so that has got to be worth something.

I can't think of anything else to report. I went on a 9-day holiday, which I returned from a week ago tomorrow. It was crazy, but enjoyable. There are many stories that I could tell, but they are probably best told in person, so I'll store them up until I'm back in the states.

Will post again soon because I've made an new initiative--two posts a week! Watch out for them.