Due to a 200,000 person protest/riot down the street, Gavin has forbid me from leaving the house with the exception of a visit to the Internet Café to post this blog.

Not too much to report. We had a really good Valentine’s Day. I ended up cooking us dinner: Turkish dolmas, carrot/yogurt salad, a cheese platter and salad to start, and creamy eggplant pasta for dinner. YUM!!

Last weekend we joined a group of our friends for a night out in Taksim. Unfortunately when we decided to leave at 2 am we were faced with the challenge of getting back to the Asian side from Europe. After about 11 all the ferries stop running and Gavin refuses to take the bus, so we were stuck taking the Domus (mini bus). After walking about a mile in the pouring rain (a torrential downpour that soaked me through my winter jacket, jeans, and shoes) we finally got to the domus stop. The five of us pilled into the vehicle, only for the driver to tell us we have to wait for two more passengers before he can leave. WTF. Gavin tried to bribe him with 4.80 TL (the price of one fare) but the driver refused. It took about 15 verses of “The wheels on the bus go round and round,” “This is the song that never ends,” and a 5 TL bribe to finally get him to drive us. I guess the “This is the song that never ends” is just as annoying if you don’t understand English.

I have become addicted to yet another Turkish food: Gozleme. Some of Gavin’s students recommended a gozleme restaurant near our school. We have dinned there 3 times in the past week. I cannot get enough of it!

This morning started like any other morning until on our walk to work we realized the main street we have to cross had been barricaded off with police fences and was being guarded by hundreds of armed policemen. When we got into work we found out there was going to be a protest along the waterfront today. Two hundred thousand people were expected to come from all over Istanbul, making it the largest protest in over 20 years. Rumors were flying about potential police brutality and what not. The noise on the street grew louder and louder throughout my morning class. When we left school just an hour and a half ago, the police force had tripled, if not quadrupled since the morning. There were soldiers with machine guns, army tanks and police in riot gear amongst the regular police. There were already thousands of protesters filling the street. From our apartment I can see helicopters flying over where the protest is happening. Pretty wild.

Tonight one of our fellow English Time teachers is having a Valentines Day party at her apartment in Moda. I am supposed to meet Gavin at work around 7 to go to the party. I hope I am not pummeled by the angry mob on the way over.

I guess that’s all for now. Hope all is well back home!!

Oh! Almost forgot… HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!