Izmir and the Wedding: told with other peoples' pictures

Yesterday Rana and I headed out on an adventure to the south of turkey. Our aim was to make for Bodrum, city of topless old European tourists. What fun? First we had to get there. Before Bodrum we wanted to go to a friend's wedding in Izmir. Rana's cousin Naz and her boyfriend Augusto joined us. We boarded a bus at 11:30 last night and headed over the Sea of Marmara in a ferry. Sorry I have to warn you ahead of time I took not real pictures today so these are filler.

To occupy our time we played telephone in 3 languages between 4 of us.


The simple phrase "I want cheese," came out something like " la petite mort." and so on. We ate muffins we had made and tried to sleep but generally that was impossible. At about 4 in the morning the bus stopped at a restaurant and we got a cup of soup. We sort of lost track of the time and the bus driver found us 45 minutes later saying "the bus is going to leave without you!" At least that is what I think he said but it could have been. "You know that belt really doesn't go with those shoes." The world will never know.


Then the bus bumbled and bumped for 4 more hours until we made it to Izmir. Waiting were Naz's parents with a fantastic breakfast for us! We ate our fill and I fell into one of those knock out slumbers after you're full. You know the kind that hit you like lead frying pan. A awoke an hour or two later and we went for a nice whirl wind tour of Izmir before the wedding. It was cool and we bought candy aphrodisiacs from a man wearing a hat advertising his product.

Turkish weddings are fascinating. I spent about 45 minutes showering, ironing my shirt and pants, and doing my best not to smell like I'd been on a bus for most of the morning. When we got to the public hall and the wedding began about ten minutes later. It was over and people were congratulating the bridal party about 15 minutes later. I'm not exaggerating.

I thought, "I ironed for this?" Shouldn't there be fireworks or and old lady playing a synth organ or something? Nope. Done and Done. My theory is that in a climate so hot you don't need electricity to make toast, one should do one's best to move things along that keep lots of people in heavy wool clothing in a confined space. I am happy to say there was no faintings though some people did come just in time to shake hands and then were gone.

Tomorrow we are headed for Çeşme, a lovely coastal beach town near Izmir and the next day Bodrum. I am not sure about the internet connection there so this may be my last post for a while. Take care.

The is the Errant Particle saying: "Try to break off from the Nucleus for a while."