So my bags are packed....
I'm ready to go....
I'm standing here, outside your door...
I hate to wake you up, to say goodbye....

That's right, at 1840 tonight I am leaving on a jet plane, headed for Southern Turkey for 7 days. So this spot will be quiet. Very quiet. Unless I find I am so mind-numbingly bored that I need to amble into an internet cafe to do some writing. But I think I will not be logging on until next Monday, seeing as my partner unit:

A) will be very upset against this since it means his company is not entertaining enough
B) doesn't even know that I have a blog
C) will NOT be pleased with my previous mastubatory messages about Colin Firth

What do I plan to do in Turkey? I have it (mostly) figured out:

- Exploring the city in which we will be staying, hopefully in a decent hotel and not a fleapit, but since this is a charter deal, we will be met at the airport by someone that will either love us or hate us, and will thus decide our hotel fate in a snap second (images of me bowing in front of a harried and exhausted representative screaming "I am not worthy!" come to mind). I plan to be as charming as possible. I have been told I can be quite charming. But if the hotel-assigner is a female, then we are screwed. My partner unit is good at many things but is not known for his charm.

- Ruins and archaeological sites

- Reading, reading, reading. I have 5 books lined up for the next 7 days. And am nervous I will run out of things to read. I am a nerd.

- Swimming, snorkeling, and diving on the beach at every possible other second we are not exploring. I hope to return with a deep dark savage tan. But since I am a white girl and only turn red, peel, and then white again, the gorgeous "olive-kissed" glow will not be obtained by my skin (note: yes, I know that the sun causes skin cancer. Believe me, I know. But the way I see it is: we're all going to go sometime. Here in Sweden they are constantly terrorizing us with new statistics on disease and death. They found that foods fried in a teflon pan can increase cancer. Now, I am no expert, but I think the key word of concern there is not "teflon" but "fried". And the Swedish authorities also removed these packaged muffins from the market here-apparently, in tests with rats, if the rats ate 10 or more muffins a day over an extended period of time, they had an increased risk of getting cancer. The Swedish authorities were worried about kids developing cancer if they eat as many of these muffins a day as the rats did. I tend to think they are missing the bigger picture here-if a parent is feeding a kid ten or more of these muffins a day over a period of years, I think an increased risk of cancer is the least of the worries.)

- Tempting to take a boat over to Cyprus. But apparently the Turkish authorities are not keen on seeing Cyprus stamps in passports. On reflection of the circus I went through at the Turkish embassy a few days ago, I am not keen on being stranded somewhere, desperately trying to communicate with people to find out where I can wash my hair and find a place to charge my cell phone.

- Also tempted to visit Syria, but think it will send my mother into conniptions, so I will pass that one by, too.

- Parasailing. I am big on anything that involves hurtling myself at great heights. It's a bit of an impulse thing for me. I generally don't go out on hotel balconies, since I get an itch to hoist my leg over the side and take my chances. I am forever analyzing cliffs, balconies, etc., by saying "If I jumped this, could I survive?" My partner thinks I am a lunatic and doesn't let me near ledges. I had my first parachuting experience last year, and found it an addiction-it was absolutely exhiliarating to be strapped to the front of a fucking nutcase Australian and launch myself out of a rattling Russian airplane at about 15,000 feet. I don't think it's the adrenaline. I blame Walter Mitty.

See you soon!
-H.

Posted by: Everydaystranger at 10:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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