When 2020 arrived nearly a year ago, we had no idea what it had in store for us. The featured image above was from a placemat in Chios where I spent a night exploring the island with a friend visiting from Shanghai. It was just two days before we rang in the New Year, with high hopes and dreams, here in Izmir with a small gathering of friends.
Soon it will be a year ago that my friend, and former colleague from Mongolia, Trenton, came to spend his two week holiday break here in Turkey. For some reason I did NOT post about this previously. Since we are all cooped up in our own countries, or homes (as we are currently on weekend lockdowns here in Turkey), I thought it would be fun to relive the memories of fun times lived together a year ago. I hope you will enjoy coming along with us!
First off, let me provide some context. I met Trenton in the spring of 2017 when he came to the American School of Ulaanbaatar to interview for the Drama teacher position. He had been in Mongolia for two years already, having served in the Peace Corps in a remote, rural village. He was enjoying Mongolia and wanted to stay on past his two year stint in the Corps. Thankfully he was hired and I had the pleasure of working with him for the 2017-18 school year. My stepson performed in two wonderful plays (adaptations of “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” and “Once on this Island”) directed and put on by Trenton, and we became good friends despite the nearly 20 year age difference between us.
Trenton arrived a few days before Christmas and we had the pleasure of kicking off our time together at a holiday party hosted by an ACI friend and colleague. It was a lovely gathering of both foreign and Turkish friends. We exchanged gifts, shared food and drink, danced, and participated in general merriment throughout the evening and night.
As many of you know, I don’t get a two week break at Christmas and New Years. We get that time off between semesters which is late January/early February. Trenton was more than happy to explore Izmir on his own while I worked, and he also spent time with friends of mine that were not working–a big thanks to Kneale for taking him to Kemeraltı for an afternoon, and for setting him up with a Turkish hammam experience. That’s something I have YET to experience and with COVID going on and on, it will be a while yet!
However, I did have my evenings and weekends free to spend with Trenton and to share my world with him. He enjoyed a tour of campus and my library. I took him to some of my favorite restaurants such as Venedik Ristorante (for wine and pasta), Teras 1885 (for Turkish food and a great view of the bay), and Isabey Winery on his last night before heading to the airport (for wine and great steaks).
More importantly, I shared with him a lovely meal of Turkish mezes accompanied with seafood and rakı. I so wish I knew what the name was for that meze on the far left. It was some sort of warmed up herbs/vegetables with yogurt on top and was most delicious! We enjoyed this in Alaçatı where we spent a night before heading to Chios. In addition to the lovely food, there was a band playing and a performer singing, and a large group of Turks dancing and having fun together. For us it was lovely to sit back, eat and drink, and watch the fun scene unraveling in front of us.
The next day we caught the ferry to Chios for just one night. This was my first trip to a Greek Island and how lovely to have Trenton here to cause me to go. We only stayed in the harbor and went everywhere by foot. We spent our afternoon, night, and the following morning walking the streets, enjoying food and drink, and catching up about life–we had last seen one another in July of 2018, a year and a half before.
Something we enjoyed in Chios was how every establishment where we stopped to try a new wine or drink, we were given a free platter of some sort of food. Some places it was a fruit plate, at others it was a small offering of cold cut meats and cheese, at others an assortment of nuts or dried fruit. We visited many places recommended by friends and colleagues and enjoyed the Christmas and New Years decorations up around the town. Our last meal on the island was at this special place (photo below) where a family-style, home-cooked meal is served. We stuffed ourselves full of every last hearty bite!
After our ferry ride back to Turkey and catching the bus to Izmir, we settled in for our last few days together which included ringing in 2020 with a small gathering of friends on a balcony overlooking the Alsancak Iskele. On the first day of 2020 we sat together in my apartment and spent two plus hours working on a journaling activity in which we reflected on the past year (2019) and made predictions and plans for the year ahead (2020). At that time we had no idea what was waiting for us just a month or two later–Corona Virus! Soon I will be re-reading that journal activity as I engage in one for the 2021 year. That will be an interesting experience–we’ll see if it proves worthy of writing about here (or not).
After a last supper out together, Trenton went to the airport and headed home to Shanghai. We remain in regular contact and continue to share and compare how countries around the globe are responding to this pandemic, as well as just sharing about our families, friends, and everyday lives. At his school in China things are pretty much back to normal. Masks are required on public transport, but not elsewhere.
Looking back up at the featured image on this post, I think we can all say we HAVE worked hard to find magic in the little things, the simple things, in life as we have watched nearly all aspects of life be impacted by the pandemic. Some have found new hobbies, others have returned to ones long forgotten. Families have reconnected, and we’ve all learned a host of new technologies to stay in touch and contact with loved ones, to do all we can to lessen the isolation and distances between us. And in many cases, to do our jobs remotely. Many have taken the time to reflect on what’s important, and what is not. We are all awaiting a holiday season when we can feel free to gather and celebrate together.
In the meantime, does anyone have any reflections to share, or predictions to make….perhaps for what 2021 might have in store for us?