This isn't so much about how adored my beloved wife is here in Istanbul as it is a comparison I derived to what this lifestyle of living abroad is like. And I decided it's exactly like dating a celebrity. Or so I imagine, having not actually dated anyone who would qualify for a celebrity-based reality TV show.
Living this life. The weather has been lovely since the day we left Portland in April. The Bosphorus slowly crawls its way past us just down the hill. Go into almost any restaurant or cafe and the food, while possibly unfamiliar, will be astoundingly delicious. And almost all of it is produced somewhere in this fertile country. Friendly faces abound and are almost as numerous as the amazing historical sights that are sprinkled throughout this massive city of 15 million people and seemingly as many cars. We can chose to gaze out of our windows at the cool, still swimming pool or the fields dotted with goats and the odd stray dog. There's not much of a downside to living life this way.
Dating a celebrity invokes a certain mystique about you. People who know you intimately or not at all wonder how YOU managed to do this. "He seemed so normal, like the rest of us. And now he's over there. With HER." Her being our host country, of course.
Dating a celebrity allows you to do things that are outside of the parameters of what is considered normal. Bulgaria for the weekend? Yes. An invite for a private party from the Swiss consulate? Yes. Boat rides along the Bosphorus while sipping tea? Why not?
Where will a two hour flight/drive from Portland take me? Eastern Oregon. Northern Nevada. Seattle. San Francisco. Drain, Oregon. (all lovely places, don't get me wrong. Including you Drain!)
Where will it take me from here? Greece. Bulgaria. Russia. Capadoccia. The Dardanelles.
Which brings me to the point where I want to elaborate on my previous post. I have a hard time mentioning my day to day life because when I do anything that is beyond grocery shopping, it constitutes the "dating a celebrity" category and sounds like going off about my new celebrity-esque daily life. Do I want to write about our grocery store trips? No. (But the guys who weigh our produce are getting to recognize me and are becoming less surly. That's worth a mention.)
My life in a nutshell definitely falls into that category. But when you look at the details of my daily life, it becomes much more mundane and what you'd expect from any person, famous or not.
I've been quiet here because I honestly haven't been doing too much that's new and amazing (to me), but also because I felt the need to type this wordy disclaimer about who I am and where I am, literally and figuratively.
Everyday here is amazing and I thank all the powers that be, be they spiritual or administrative and know that this life is no different from my life anywhere else and is therefore, amazing and a blessing (define it as you wish) and not taken for granted. Especially when my surroundings are a gift of my love's hard work and the taxpayers of the United States. Thank you.
