Our 12 hour flight from Istanbul to Chicago actually went remarkably well.Turkish Airlines has constant TV programming, which kept Lula busy for a long time. Adele took a nap and made her usual fuss, but not much more. Just threw up in a way that managed to cover all of us while we were standing at the back of the cabin together. Even that was not that bad. The hardest part was the sorrow of departure sinking in every other hour.
We had a great year in Turkey. We got to spend time with our old friends. We made wonderful new friends. We visited sights in Istanbul for over a year with the excitement of freshly arriving tourists. We ate a lot of good food and tasted a variety of Raki. And the best - we were spoiled by the love our of big immediate family.
We believe that Chicago will be a better place for our family, for Lula and Adele in the long term, but obviously, it is quite hard to be away from Turkey now. We are at least relieved to have the direct and fantastic Turkish Airlines flights in between Chicago and Istanbul!
Now, we are in Chicago. For the time being, the weather is close to Istanbul's and we can go out for walks. We are comsuming food that we thought of in Istanbul (I did not really miss too many things as I was catching up with the Turkish food I missed in the last 10 years). Good and cheap sushi to begin with. I love seeing the runners on the cold streets, it is motivating me. We are driving around the neighborhoods to see where we might like. John was born and raised here, but hasn't lived here for 25 years or so. He knows his way around but we are looking at the newness with the same eyes. Kids are happy to ride along.
We will be reunited with Buddy today. Now, that will be fun!
