London calling

Tomorrow I will take a much needed trip away to London where I will see my friends and visit old places I once used to haunt. I have a tonne of great and happy memories of my time in London and look forward to revisiting the city.

I am so looking forward to drinking proper lattes and eating tasty fresh organic food, yummy cooked breakfasts of blueberry pancakes or fresh porridge and maybe a curry or Thai meal.

I'm looking forward to walking the streets of Notting Hill and peeking in the windows of all my favourite shops like Reiss, Topshop, GAP and Selfridges. I'm looking forward to riding the fast and frequent tube and pounding the pavement in my trainers in order to get from a to b.

There are lots of things I miss about London.

I'll fill you in on my travels when I return.

What's in a name?

Since my marriage last year, I hadn't thought too much about my surname, although now when I think about it, I'm not really sure what my surname is?

In Turkey I'm known more with my maiden name than my married name. At work I am known with my maiden name, all my email addresses, credit cards, bank accounts, passport, residence and work permits have my maiden name. In fact, the only document that lists me as having taken my husband's name is our wedding booklet.

See the problem is, the thought of changing my surname once and for all leaves me with feelings of a sudden loss of identity, especially since I live in a foreign country, and having dark brown hair and brown eyes, I tend to just blend in so the only half noticeable difference which separates me as a foreigner is in fact my name. I feel like my name is a link to where I'm from and it's part of who I am. Plus, there is no male to carry on the name so once I change my name, the Mitchell name will end.

Sometimes people find my first name difficult to pronounce, especially for Turkish non-English speakers. So to make it easier at times, I tell people, to "call me 'Rana'". But now with my husbands surname and people using Rana as my first name, the person formerly known as me suddenly disappears and I'm left asking myself "what happened to Renai Mitchell?"

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against my husbands surname and I like his surname. I understand what it represents and the history and family behind it.

So you are all probably thinking, then what's the big deal? Other than the fact that my husbands surname and my name sound slightly weird together, it just doesn't sound like me.

Since moving to London in 2005 and then to Istanbul in 2007, I have felt a much deeper sense of not only love and appreciation for my homeland, but also a deeper connection to it. It's the place my heart longs for now that I live abroad and a place that I identify with and feel I belong to.

So, that brings me to my naming options. Here in Turkey, its not so easy to keep your maiden name. You have to either take your husbands name or get yourself a hyphen or a double-barrell. I'm not a fan of hyphenating or double-barrelling though. I think only certain names can be hyphenated and generally they need to be short sharp names. Luckily my husbands surname is only made up of five letters, but some Turkish names can take forever to pronounce.

Along with this comes the issue of middle names. I have one, but in Turkey it's not particularly common. In Australia you can easily gloss over your middle name, but here you must add it to absolutely everything; forms, signatures on official documents, bank accounts etc. So with that, my name could potentially turn into a four word name if I double-barrell it, which I really don't want or like.

What to do, what to do? I'm still unsure as to whether to have a double barrelled surname or to give my maiden name up fully. I have time at least until my passport expires or at least until my next visit home where I will apply for a new passport with my "new" name, whatever that will be.

All in all I feel a loss of identity more than anything. Of course, I will still be the same person, just with a different name which brings me back to my own question which I'm not sure I have answered; what's really is in a name?

My Mumma

My mum is an amazing woman.

She left her tiny island home for a life in a foreign place with her foreign husband. Her country is not the only thing she left behind.

She knew no one in her new country and had no family around her to support her, encourage her or to turn to.

She stayed at home and sacrificed a career to have and raise two girls while her husband was gone much of the time in order to support the family.

She was always there in the morning; gave me breakfast and walked me to the school gate. She was there again at the end of the day to walk me back home to a plate of fruit or vegemite biscuits. Everything she did in a day was for us.

She showed her love of us in everything she did. She cooked us the best meals and sent us to school with the best left overs that my friends would fight over and want a taste of.

She put us first in everything and always did what was best for us. She did everything unconditionally, without hesitation.

When I was sick, she was there to soothe me. When I was sad, she was there to catch my tears. When I did well, she was there to congratulate me and when I messed up, she was there with words of wisdom.

She has made me who I am today.

That's my Mumma. The best Mumma a girl could wish for.

Happy Mother's Day Mumma.

I love you with all my heart.

Cruising

today we woke up early
and cruised the Bosphorous

with a simit in one hand

and çay in the other

it was perfect

i love seeing Istanbul
from another angle

Tasty Dinners

On Saturday night I was craving something different. After watching endless cooking shows of late, I thought I would try and be a bit 'Jamie Oliver' and whip up one of his fab perfect roast chicken recipes.

It was so easy and so simple and tasted absolutely yummy. For an easy tasty dinner, give this one a go.




For dessert I was craving one of my sisters amazing pavs that she just seems to whip up on a whim. They too are so delish and the combination of pav, fresh berries and cream is to die for.

It was my first attempt at creating meringue and it wasn't too bad. My sister shared a pav secret afterwards and told me that once you have cooked the meringue you should leave it in the oven until stone cold or even better, over night. I pulled mine out too early, so the middle was a little soft and undercooked. But we managed to pick at the outside on Sunday morning until it was all but finished.

I again used the great book that my friend Katie gave me for the pav, Country Classics.

Here is the recipe.

4 egg whites

pinch of salt

1.5 cups castor sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 teaspoons cornflour

1 teaspoon vinegar

whipped cream and fruit or chocolate to decorate

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Cover the baking tray with baking paper or foil that has been slightly greased and dusted with cornflour. Beat egg whites and salt until very stiff. Slowly add sugar and keep beating for a minute or two. Fold vanilla essence, cornflour and vinegar. Heap mixture onto the baking tray in a circle about 5-cm high. Bake for 1.5 hours. Take out of the oven, remove paper and place cake on pavlova plate. Decorate with whipped cream and your choice of fruits or grated chocolate peppermint bar.

I had to jig some of the ingredients like vinegar, as there was no white vinegar here that I could fine, I opted for the üzüm sirkesi (grape) type that I had in the pantry. It did the job and didn't flavour the pav badly. I also had run out of vanilla essence so I bought vanilla sugar instead as there is no liquid essence type at the supermarket.

Spring has sprung

I felt like a change of photo this month as Spring continues to show itself more and more each day. It's taking a while to warm up but I can feel it in the air. I can smell it too, especially when I get home in the evening and wonder through the courtyard to our flat. The smell of fresh leaves and grass. My mood improves and I feel happier that the days are getting longer.


The photo above was taken in Nisyros in summer in 2007 when I ventured over there with my sister for a friends very big Greek wedding. It feels like yesterday we were there. The picture brings back happy memories of the summer and being able to spend time with my sister amongst our Greek friends eating delicious meals of spit roasted lamb, copious amounts of fresh yogurt and honey and the most delicious fresh seafood and drinking endless frappes, retsina and Mythos.


This summer I'm not sure where I will go or what I will do. Last August I went home to Melbourne and was shocked by the cold weather and felt I suffered by not getting a much needed vitamin D hit. I think I need to see the sun this year in order to warm my bones, heal my skin and recharge my internal batteries.


Where are you all going this summer?

Two Years

As I come upon my 100th blog post, so too draws closer the 2nd anniversary of my move to Istanbul and my first wedding anniversary which just passed on the 5th of April.

How time flies.

So much has happened in those two years. Lots of laughs, tears, fun, challenges, frustrations, joy, excitement and anxiety. It has also been a time of learning, understanding, acceptance and assimilation. Two weddings, trips to Australia, Greece, France and Singapore. A new job. A new home. A new car. New friends. New family. New language. New ways of life.

This week though I faced the most difficult challenge since being away from home. I suffered a loss. For me, it was huge. It has tested me in ways that I never knew possible. It has made me ask questions of myself. It has made me look at things from a different perspective. It has made me look at my life and my future in a way I never thought I would have to, ever. But most of all it has changed me.

I am so very lucky to have a loving and supportive husband and best friend who has been here next to me hold my hand and wipe my tears and to tell me everything will be ok.

I have a lot to be thankful for.

A different form of politics

The Hurriyet.com reported this story today:

One killed, 5 injured in election clash in eastern Turkey

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, candidate for the provincial assembly was shot dead in a clash over election results in country's eastern province of Erzurum, Dogan News Agency reported on Monday.

Five others were injured in the incident that took place in the Karacoban district of Erzurum, the agency said.

District administrations have ordered a curfew to prevent further incidents.

These economic times

In these economic times, everyone is trying to win a vote.


The Government recently announced a crisis package that involves the reduction in some taxes for a period of three months. Most people are speculating that these reductions may continue for much longer than 3 months.


The reductions include:

• The 1.5 percent title deed fee charged during the sale of second-hand buildings and offices is reduced to 0.5 percent.


• Value Added Tax (VAT) charged during the sale of buildings is reduced from 18 to 8 percent.


• VAT on home and office furniture is reduced from 18 to 8 percent.


• VAT on computers, IT technology and office technology is also reduced to 8 percent.
  Small and medium-sized businesses can make use of the same VAT reduction (from 18 to 8 percent) when purchasing certain industrial and work machines.

The Government announced recently the reduction in the amount of Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV) for automobile sales which can make up almost half the cost of a car in some cases. ÖTV tax rates start at 37% and go up to 84%.

The media reported last week that most car retailers orders and incoming shipments as well as stocks in storage were all but sold out since the announcement of the ÖTV reduction.

In turn, this had many people questioning how affected people are in Turkey by the economic crisis.

The humour of politics

Turks love politics and elections. I just feel like we recovered from the last elections and now I have to live through another one.

Politics sells loads of newspapers and pushes up television ratings to the likes of many media moguls.

Every news channel and paper is crammed with stories and opportunistic pictures of each candidate giving their speeches to the masses, rallying votes and crowds, and of course, waving a flag.

You wouldn't be in Turkey unless you have a flag of some sort. My neighbourhood is littered with flags from the many parties that hope to gain seats in parliament in this election as well as the front runners. I'm sure no one has bothered to consider the environmental impact all these flags as rubbish will cause. Clearly, care of the environment is not on the top of the list of most of these candidates.

One newspaper even reported the following on the issue:

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry and governors from a number of cities have on various occasions called on political parties to run eco-friendly elections campaigns for the upcoming local elections. These requests, however, seem to fall on deaf ears, given the litter parties leave in the streets from the materials they use to promote their candidates for the elections.

On the weekend as I pottered around home, I experienced another form of pollution; noise. I was surprised to hear loud music blaring from some poor quality loud speakers of one of the many campaign buses that is decked out purely to pollute the air with loud campaign music that most of us can't even understand. Surely they don't think that's really going to make me vote for them? Are they serious?

In recent times especially when my husband has the news on, I have had to leave the room while each leader is shown giving his most recent speech. Speeches here are given more like commands from the military with the candidate usually waving his hands in the air, ranting and raving, and screaming at the crowd. The candidates usually looks more crazed or angry than hopeful or triumphant.

I can never imagine Kevin Rudd or the opposition giving a speech to his voters or the general public waving his hands and shouting in this fashion. Or, as in the picture below, some guy stealing the show at Erdoğan's rally!

Roll on 29 March please. I have had more than enough politics for one year.