How to Survive Staycation in Turkey with Extended Family (and 2 Kids and 1 Husband)
Musings of ways to make time pass when visiting in-laws in foreign country (in my case, Turkey in middle of summer) when you would rather be somewhere else, like Italy. If you get me, you will get it.
1. When the heat is up, turn the AC ON (dial it up to # 26)
2. Bring your laptop (endless options and huge time killer)
3. Your smartphone is your friend (load up your kindle app with easy summer reads, text friends begging for mercy and positive thoughts)
4. Sleep in (waste the entire morning in bed, makes the day go by faster)
5. Escape to the bedroom during the day-- which has AC. (take afternoon nap while everyone else minds your kids (and husband)
6. Late afternoon trip to the sea (good to kill those agonizing late afternoon hours before dinner like 4pm-7pm Turkish time)
7. Fold clothes (when the clothes have reached premium stiffness from hanging out in the Aegean heat, fold em up and put away)
8. Periodically check the weather, like hourly (especially when there's a random heat wave it's good to know when temps will dip from 110 to a breezy 95)
9. Check email
10. Check facebook
11. Go to the market (the supermarket has super power AC and they leave the doors closed unlike the street markets that use AC on the lowest setting and keep the doors open. Why? Feel free to ponder this contradiction)
12. Tweeze
13. Take a shower and shave (note, if you don't get your legs waxed you have more time to kill by shaving - but not every day).
14. Watch a movie (I watched the Intern with DeNiro; good one)
15. Have some ice cream in the middle of the day, just because
16. Find a pet (a little tortoise took up residence and I fed it during the day; "Hey it's ten o'clock, time to feed Fistik" Watching a tortoise eat cucumbers is really mind blowing)
17. Participate in online games with friends (Words with Friends; which I suck at)
18. Nap (always a good fall back option, especially when you can go into bedroom with AC : ) or need to escape the un-airconditioned den while the oven is on as in-laws are roasting a lamb during heat wave)
19. Bring actual work (I had to assemble all the articles for neighborhood newsletter and make a flyer. Had fun with clip art)
20. Do a 1,000 piece puzzle (not as much fun when it's a bird scene)
21. Play board (not bored) games
22. Play Uno (don't play past 2 rounds or else you will be looking at the clock a lot; gets old fast)
23. Snack (keep stash of really good chocolate in fridge, like Milka, to avoid meltdown (not you, the chocolate) and take a piece now and then; have at least 1 square of baklava a day)
24. Keep track of bowel movements (no joke, it's important especially when you are sitting on your ass all day)
25. Play doctor to your in-laws (when nephew comes down with what is clearly hand, foot and mouth, but in-laws insist it's voodoo rash and proceed to load up nephew with anti-allergy syrup, insist that it's a highly contagious virus (validate findings on Google). Insist nephew must leave immediately. If nobody takes the bait, then use as excuse and feign threat to get on the next plane home, or to Italy.)
1. When the heat is up, turn the AC ON (dial it up to # 26)
2. Bring your laptop (endless options and huge time killer)
3. Your smartphone is your friend (load up your kindle app with easy summer reads, text friends begging for mercy and positive thoughts)
4. Sleep in (waste the entire morning in bed, makes the day go by faster)
5. Escape to the bedroom during the day-- which has AC. (take afternoon nap while everyone else minds your kids (and husband)
6. Late afternoon trip to the sea (good to kill those agonizing late afternoon hours before dinner like 4pm-7pm Turkish time)
7. Fold clothes (when the clothes have reached premium stiffness from hanging out in the Aegean heat, fold em up and put away)
8. Periodically check the weather, like hourly (especially when there's a random heat wave it's good to know when temps will dip from 110 to a breezy 95)
9. Check email
10. Check facebook
11. Go to the market (the supermarket has super power AC and they leave the doors closed unlike the street markets that use AC on the lowest setting and keep the doors open. Why? Feel free to ponder this contradiction)
12. Tweeze
13. Take a shower and shave (note, if you don't get your legs waxed you have more time to kill by shaving - but not every day).
14. Watch a movie (I watched the Intern with DeNiro; good one)
15. Have some ice cream in the middle of the day, just because
16. Find a pet (a little tortoise took up residence and I fed it during the day; "Hey it's ten o'clock, time to feed Fistik" Watching a tortoise eat cucumbers is really mind blowing)
17. Participate in online games with friends (Words with Friends; which I suck at)
18. Nap (always a good fall back option, especially when you can go into bedroom with AC : ) or need to escape the un-airconditioned den while the oven is on as in-laws are roasting a lamb during heat wave)
19. Bring actual work (I had to assemble all the articles for neighborhood newsletter and make a flyer. Had fun with clip art)
20. Do a 1,000 piece puzzle (not as much fun when it's a bird scene)
21. Play board (not bored) games
22. Play Uno (don't play past 2 rounds or else you will be looking at the clock a lot; gets old fast)
23. Snack (keep stash of really good chocolate in fridge, like Milka, to avoid meltdown (not you, the chocolate) and take a piece now and then; have at least 1 square of baklava a day)
24. Keep track of bowel movements (no joke, it's important especially when you are sitting on your ass all day)
25. Play doctor to your in-laws (when nephew comes down with what is clearly hand, foot and mouth, but in-laws insist it's voodoo rash and proceed to load up nephew with anti-allergy syrup, insist that it's a highly contagious virus (validate findings on Google). Insist nephew must leave immediately. If nobody takes the bait, then use as excuse and feign threat to get on the next plane home, or to Italy.)
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