It's been an interesting two weeks, but hopefully I will be sleeping in my new home tomorrow night.
I spent my first week of homelessness with a friend in Tarabya, a pretty little village on the Bosphorus which is part of Istanbul but feels like a a sleepy little town of its own. Unfortunately I was quite ill so I spent most of the week sleeping and sitting and not walking and exploring the area as I'd hoped.
This week, I moved to stay with another friend in Etiler. I was feeling better but my dog promptly got sick. I won't go into the gory details but can assure you it was gory. Not something you want to subject a friend to and it was a challenge to keep her from making a mess all over his apartment. Mostly I contained her (and the unavoidable mess) to my room. Now we are both feeling better but I'm going to uproot my poor little dog again. She's pretty adaptable but I think I am really pushing her limits.
Once I move in to the new place I intend to pretty much hole up there for awhile; I'm feeling very domestic and looking forward to having a place to unleash my domestic urges on. I'm also looking forward to checking out my new view. It was endlessly fascinating to stare out at my old panorama, and even though the new place doesn't have such a big view of the sea I'm sure my new surroundings will have quite enough to hold my interest.
The next post will have photos of my peaceful, pretty little new house!
Moving: Part 1
Well. I am moving. My landlord is turning my building with the fabulous Marmara Sea view into a hotel, so out I go.
The good news is, I found an adorable tiny house down the hill from my old flat. The bad news is there are two weeks between when I have to be out of my old flat and can move into the new house. On Sunday I moved my things into my old landlord's basement and took one much too heavy suitcase, one very confused small dog and my laptop to stay at a friend's place in Tarabya.
It's been stressful because moving always is, and being rootless for two weeks is bad for me. I need space of my own to retreat to and for two weeks I won't have it. But I am fortunate to have generous friends who live in nice places so I'm hoping to play the tourist a bit and walk a lot to see new parts of Istanbul and use up my restless energy.
My new house is so so tiny but has a courtyard and a rooftop terrace. Essentially it is three itty bitty rooms stacked on top of each other with a terrace on the roof. I'm looking forward to taking full advantage of the terrace and courtyard for growing plants, eating meals and generally plan to live my life outside for as long as the weather allows. Even though I will have an entire house the space is MUCH smaller than my old flat but I am gaining a washing machine and, strangely, have two bathrooms! I also discovered that I own ten carpets. Why someone who had a three room flat (plus kitchen and bathroom) needed 10 carpets is a good question. Of course the answer is that someone with a three room flat doesn't NEED ten carpets...
Below is a list of things I discovered I own/don't own. Interesting what you acquire, or don't, when you move to a new place with only your clothes. Of course you must remember that my flat was partially furnished. So for instance I had spoons and forks but no knives when I moved in.
1. 10 rugs (can't quite get over that one. And I haven't mentioned the stack of other textiles I have).
2. Lots of bowls, no plates.
3. An ottoman. My only piece of furniture.
4. Knives, no spoons or forks.
5. All coffee related accoutrements.
6. Fewer clothes than when I came as I have lost a lot of weight, got rid of the old clothes and haven't bought many new ones.
7. Still more shoes than most people own, yet still not enough for me.
8. Books, speakers for my Mac music, no television.
The good news is, I found an adorable tiny house down the hill from my old flat. The bad news is there are two weeks between when I have to be out of my old flat and can move into the new house. On Sunday I moved my things into my old landlord's basement and took one much too heavy suitcase, one very confused small dog and my laptop to stay at a friend's place in Tarabya.
It's been stressful because moving always is, and being rootless for two weeks is bad for me. I need space of my own to retreat to and for two weeks I won't have it. But I am fortunate to have generous friends who live in nice places so I'm hoping to play the tourist a bit and walk a lot to see new parts of Istanbul and use up my restless energy.
My new house is so so tiny but has a courtyard and a rooftop terrace. Essentially it is three itty bitty rooms stacked on top of each other with a terrace on the roof. I'm looking forward to taking full advantage of the terrace and courtyard for growing plants, eating meals and generally plan to live my life outside for as long as the weather allows. Even though I will have an entire house the space is MUCH smaller than my old flat but I am gaining a washing machine and, strangely, have two bathrooms! I also discovered that I own ten carpets. Why someone who had a three room flat (plus kitchen and bathroom) needed 10 carpets is a good question. Of course the answer is that someone with a three room flat doesn't NEED ten carpets...
Below is a list of things I discovered I own/don't own. Interesting what you acquire, or don't, when you move to a new place with only your clothes. Of course you must remember that my flat was partially furnished. So for instance I had spoons and forks but no knives when I moved in.
1. 10 rugs (can't quite get over that one. And I haven't mentioned the stack of other textiles I have).
2. Lots of bowls, no plates.
3. An ottoman. My only piece of furniture.
4. Knives, no spoons or forks.
5. All coffee related accoutrements.
6. Fewer clothes than when I came as I have lost a lot of weight, got rid of the old clothes and haven't bought many new ones.
7. Still more shoes than most people own, yet still not enough for me.
8. Books, speakers for my Mac music, no television.
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