So here I am, now a couple years into my thirties (I'm 32 now, by the way. No point in hiding it; the math and my mother don't lie) and honestly not noticing much of a difference from 31 or 30. The difference I do, however, notice - and thankfully, I might add - is the one between being 20-something vs. 30-something. This side of 29 feels some much calmer. As if a settling into myself has taken place. Gone is much of the self-questioning, the comparing myself to others, the frantic fuzziness that seems (in hind-sight) to have accompanied all my major decisions. I have a better idea of what I want, what I need, to be happy.
To celebrate another year on the planet, some friends of mine and I had dinner at Mikla. The only word to describe Mikla is fabulous. Fabulous views (the best in Istanbul, in my opinion), fabulous food, fabulous atmosphere, fabulous service, fabulous company. Absolutely fabulous all around. If you're ever in Istanbul, it is a must!
Sunday, I "ran" a 6k run - the Intercontinental Fun Run from Asia to Europe. Sigh. I wish I could say it was a stellar performance on my part or the weather's. I only ran about 4 of the 6 kilometers (good heavens Istanbul is hilly!) and it was a literal downpour the whole way. So while I ran across the finish line, I walked a good part of the way before that, and I crossed it almost soaked to the bone. But I'll tell you what, I felt like a serious bad-ass running across the finish line of an intercontinental race cold and sopping wet. Grrrrr!
Last night was Cumhuriyet Bayram (Turkish Independence Day) and they celebrated it like so many other countries - with a fireworks display. But a fireworks display the likes of which I have never seen before! It was a full scale, eight launch point (yes 8!), fully coordinated on both sides of the Bosphorus display that lasted for nearly 20 minutes. It was stunning!
I'm not going to be able to post pictures to my blog site for a while. Blogger.com was recently added to the list of websites blocked by the Turkish government so I can't access it from home. This happens periodically and means I have to write my entries from work for the time being, but that, in turn, means no pictures for a while. Sorry.
