Looking Ahead

It’s been another good week-

Saturday my friend Erin and I hit the hammam (bath house)- my first in Turkey  What probably would have been a pretty big shock a few years ago felt like old hat after my time in the crowded, all-naked, all-day baths in Korea. Overall it was a nice, relaxing experience, though we made the mistake of going to a pricey touristic one. We paid in a front, unisex area, then went into the women’s area. We were given little locking changing rooms for putting on the wooden sandals and towel, though I’m not sure why they bother, as the door was unfrosted glass. We were able to lock our stuff in there while we lay cooking on a giant, elevated, very hot stone under a beautiful domed ceiling and chandelier. After we’d cooked for what they deemed long enough (about half an hour) some very good-natured, voluptuous, panties-only-clad women came in to dump buckets-full of water over us and scrub all our dead skin off. The scrubbing was nice, though not nearly as tough as the ones I experienced in Korea- which may be a good thing. I’ve had moles scrubbed off my arms in Korean baths! After the scrub, the women took what looked like pillowcases with bars of soap in them, filled them with air, and somehow managed to produce giant heaps of soap bubbles which they mounded on us and rubbed in with a nice massage. The massage was great, though I think Erin had a pretty hard time keeping in the giggles in…sitting upright, with a large topless woman massaging your shoulders heartily while standing in front of you…you get the picture. We got a thorough rinsing, then were left to cook for a while longer on the giant stone. We grabbed our towels and headed out once we were ready.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful- Ace and I spent all day Sunday inside, getting started on looking for a job for Ace for next year. It’s that time- Erin has decided to stay, and is enjoying being courted (sometimes literally) by all of the principals of different English-speaking high schools in town, and Ace has decided to get cracking on applications for next year before the applications from the big international job fairs in the U.S start pouring in. We’ve decided on somewhere in South or Central America, but hadn’t narrowed it down much more than that, except for no to Panama and Venezuela- for obvious reasons. Ace has gotten five different applications in now- in Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, and…somewhere else. I can’t remember.

While researching schools, we came to the extremely unfortunate discovery that almost every international/American/Canadian school in South and Central America starts in early to mid-August- i.e., before the wedding. This is a problem. We did find two in Ecuador that start in September, so that’s a possibility- also, we’re hoping that there’s a chance that one of the others will be willing to hire him, then give him a week off to fly home and get married. If he applies to a million, in the 7 or so countries that we’re considering, someone has to be willing to do that, right?? Right? Oh lordy, I hope so. I’m trying not to freak out about it too much, but I’m a worrier. Sigh.

My work life is going pretty well- I started conversation sessions with a really fun new student, so that has been great. I’ve been a little frustrated with the super inconsistent hours and constant cancellations with students at one agency, and am considering taking on a new student on my own and reducing my hours with them. It’s a great place, but if a student cancels 30 minutes before the lesson, (which he often does), it just sucks for me. I hate to not be available when they decide they DO want me around a lot, but you really have to look out for yourself here. Things are in such a constant state of change.

That’s about it for now, I think. We’re getting ready for India- paying the landlady, doing laundry, researching the best beaches, etc. Only two days left! We’ll be in Kerala, Goa and Gokarna, and Hampi, in case you want to check them out. I’ll be sure to post pictures and a blog all about it when we get back in two weeks!
(oh, and Ace has been posting photos from our Turkey vacation last month on our site, in case you want to check those out, too)

XOXO
Kait