A Great Day

This morning I was in a great mood. A mood that warranted the preparation of sucuklu menemen (eggs, tomato, peppers, sucuk). I had some olives on the side, and to drink I poured myself a glass of apricot juice. Additionally, I prepared a special treat: mulberries! I discovered the other day that there is a mulberry tree growing outside my apartment. The berries are starting to ripen these days. I eat a few when I leave my apartment in the morning and a few more when I return at night. This time I thought to have some with breakfast.

The weather today is perfect: sunny and 23 degrees (Celcius, b!tch). I have some emails to write, resumes to further edit, and a masters thesis to proofread. So, I walked a little farther from home to a cafe that has a high terrace with a 270 degree (degrees, b!tch) view of rooftops, streets, a plaza, and a patch of sea.I have another piece of news which is that last I played football and scored my first goal! Well, my first since I started playing with my Moda friends about 3-4 weeks ago. The closest I came before last night was a couple of own-goals that left my foot, deflected off the head or shin of a defender, and by way of luck and good fortune found its way to the back of the net. Last night's piece was a bit different. Our side had won a corner kick. Playing defense, I inched up past midfield to maybe catch a deflecting a ball and put it back into the penalty area if need be. But as Volkan was setting up the corner I noticed that a huge gap had formed in the backside of the penalty area. I burst forward toward the area, flailing my arms and looking at Volkan. He saw. The cross came curling perfectly over the heads of everyone, toward me. I look two more quick strides forward, closed my eyes tightly and connected my head with the ball. When I opened my eyes, I saw the ball drift just under the crossbar and into the back of the net. My friends all ran toward me in double-high-five mode. Of course I was elated. I thanked Volkan for the pass, and I played the rest of the game with renewed vigor.

After today's paper-filled duties, I will hang out with Nayat and Sezen in Taksim. I cannot wait until that moment when I am relaxing on the boat to Kabataş, the salty suds sometimes barely missing my outstretched feet resting on the railing as I recline. By then I will have commandeered a newspaper. Probably I will be circling words to study later with the half-sized blue pen I carry in my pocket. In anticipation of a an evening in Taksim I will be listening to Istiklal Caddesi Kadar. Oh Şebnem.