dis and dots

Bullet points only, people. Here goes...

• My hair is getting longer, and my skin continues to lose pigment. Next shade: transparency.
• Yesterday, Esra and I each paid 30 Lira to have a maid clean our “flat.” How nice it was to come home from practice greeted by folded laundry and zero dust tumbleweeds (those are no joke).
• Tonight we played Nilufer at home and beat them 3-0. Now we have only three more Turkish League matches (of which we usually play on Saturdays). The goal is to beat each of these less experienced teams 3-0, that way we accumulate 12 total points (3 for every 3-0 victory). Currently we are something like 4th place in TL regular season, but if we get all 12 we could bump up to #2. This is all about seeding for playoffs around the corner.
• Even though tonight’s match was Turkish League, I played in the M1 position. It felt good to run behind the setter, though the connection is still all static. Vesna, our Serbian “super-middle” and class clown, sat out tonight to rest up from an ankle injury that incurred a couple matches ago. She a fighter for sure, but it is better that I get practice playing with the team and that she rests—all for the big week next week.
• On Tuesday we board a plane for Munich. We will play a top Polish team in Poland at 6pm on Thursday. Muszyna is the name and we are fighting for a chance to go to the European League Final Four! It is best of two matches, so the following week Poland will play at our place on Wednesday (March 11). Vesna asked if we get more gear for getting to the Final Four. Cemil, our club director guy, laughed, “We give you Armani warm-ups for that!” Yeah—sure. Can you picture the dig’n’roll moves in black leather and cashmere?—Ha!
• I’m reading the book Slumdog Millionaire (as well as many others…). It’s fast paced and interesting. My dad saw the movie awhile back and is still raving about it (huh, Dad?). Today the girls in the locker room were stoked that it is finally at their theatre! Nesve, Busra, and I are going to see it on Monday. I’m really excited, especially because they made it a point to ask ME to go.
• One more match remains for Turkish Cup. We beat Fenerbahce this past Tuesday 3-1 in the first round of the finals. We play them March 18th for the last contest at our home gym. Should be a FINE battle!…*she wipes the drool from her lower lip*
• There is an absurd lack of trash cans in the public places of Istanbul. I left a trail of dripping freezing water all over the mall the other day as I carried around my used ice bags looking…searching…for a dang bin. My Turkish teammates thought nothing of it. All I found near every escalator on every floor were bins with no holes or openings just shallow concave tops. For cigarette disposal, perhaps? CHONK. No, for ice disposal, I decided. Hmpf.
• I am officially a sucker for Turkish pastries. Not the syrupy sweet things as much as the mini, delightful cocoons of flaky, buttery crusts filled with savory surprises such as potato, cheese, spinach, or meat. Or talk to me about the amazing breads swirled with olive spread and perfect elasticity. The opinion is right, I think, that we Americans don’t know GOOD bread. All American, that is, except the whole wheat Queen of everything baked and delicious, Mrs. Shirley Heinmets. But wait…she’s Swedish!
• Stray animals are everywhere here in Turkey. Some are shy, some are bold, and all are mangy and unpredictable. Esra and I were walking home last week from Kahve Dunyasi (the local coffee joint). We were about to pass a man with two dogs walking in front of him—one on a leash, the other roaming free. How strange, I thought. Maybe that’s just how they do it in Turkey? The free one was cute with a white diamond patch on his forehead, but for some reason, as Esra gabbed away, I kept watching him. I was about to avert my eyes as he passed, when he suddenly lunged at her leg! The man basically ran away, but claimed the dog had gotten its shots. Esra was bleeding and went to the hospital later to get rabies shots just in case! We still see the dog everyday, and now I just give the blonde spaz a little more space. I get enough foam in my lattes, thank you very much. (Oh...am I a riot, or what?)
• Have you noticed that my bullet points are each becoming short stories? Why, oh why, do I even try?
• Note to the volleyball lingo analysts: the setter doesn’t “dump,” she tips here.
• My shoulder is actually feeling pretty good—I haven’t even thought about it that much recently. Praise, praise God! Now, if I could just find where I left my GAME…
• Thank you so much, my dear friends and family, for your thoughts and time and prayers. I hope you hear me on that. I’m sorry our communication is so sporadic, but I do feel and appreciate your help that reaches to me from across the ocean.
• We have the day off tomorrow (Sunday). I will see some fellow Americans (men and women) volley it up, and the word is we will grab some Mexican food after that. Don’t mind if I DO….
• But for now, I am exhausted--with a pair of heavy eyes and a heart dusted in frustration. Yet, tomorrow is a new day--a great day.