Greetings from a new-ish home

I know, it's been forever since I've last posted anything but sometimes, as we all know, other things take priority over blogging. I'll give a quick update of the last... what... year or more.

That huge change in my life I referred to in a previous post that was supposed to give me more time to blog turned out to have the opposite affect actually.

If ever the rug has been pulled out from under your feet so hard that you didn't realize what happened until you looked around and saw nothing but pieces of what used to be your life and found them foreign, you might understand. A personal Hurricane Katrina happened and I never knew it could. Of course, who ever does?

The brighter side of this is that all the cracks in the system--that is, my system--became clear, but so did the blessings. And after the ego bruising, all you can do is brush yourself off, go on, and learn.

So I have and I am.

This spring, I decided to take the vacation I'd waited for for two or three years. I was waiting for someone and, as it turned out, that someone wasn't coming or going anywhere with me anymore. So I planned the trip I dreamt of: France, Italy, Greece... and maybe, maybe Turkey. It was a lot for three weeks, I knew, but really at the point I was planning the trip, the only thing I could think of was leaving. Where I ended up actually going wasn't important. I had a departure date and a return date, and everything else would be up in the air--except for one place I knew I had to go to heal.

France reminded me of something I lost touch with; Italy helped me let go of some things I shouldn't have carried with me in the first place; In Greece, I finally was able to float in the most beautiful Mediterranean water I'd ever laid eyes on. And float, I did...all the way to Turkey.

And I'm still in Turkey. Istanbul, to be exact. I've been here for over two months now and am loving it. I'm working at an English news paper, living with a Greek co-worker/friend, and a somewhat crazy British English teacher in a nice part of town. Enjoying Ramadan in a Muslim country again after almost 10 years of being in the U.S. and loving it. Retraining my ears for sounds and words that are completely foreign but delight me nonetheless. Learning a new geography and new social rules that are both familiar and not at the same time. Already, I've had a couple of visitors here and have a nice community of friends and coworkers.

So that's the update... next will be the journey. I miss writing here though I have been keeping up with my personal journal much more than ever before. Blogging is different though, and I have a lot of stories to share.