Today is a very important holiday for the Turks: the anniversary of the declaration of the Republic of Turkey by Ataturk on October 29, 1923. No school for our girls, and TED has a 2 hour assembly for the occasion. The pictures of Brian's school assembly help to illustrate, but also paint any pictures you've created in your mind with Turkish flags of all sizes and you'll see a bit more of Republic Day.
Brian is helping with their research projects
After Brian got home from the assembly we walked to "Big Chefs" for lunch...a new restaurant featuring Turkish and non-Turkish entrees. More pricey than the other restaurants, but very good. Lacey had Fettucine Alfredo, Brian had a Tagliatore Bolognese, Maren some chicken strips, and I had some cheese ravioli with a cream sauce. Snacks on the table were roasted hazelnuts, which the kids enjoyed, and then some very tasty bread served with the non-Turkish-traditional balsamic vinegar and oil as well as sun-dried tomatoes in oil. Yum!
We continued our walk to Mavi Bilgisayer (think Circuit City; literal translation is "Blue Computer") for a printer and ended up with an all-in-one HP. Prices are posted with the actual price of the machine, then the total price you'll pay with the KDV added on. In some instances it doubles the price! I think the KDV is calculated based on where the import is from, but I haven't looked it up yet. It otherwise seems to be completely random on the price tags. Taxes on other things are usually between 8 and 18%.
A benefit to dirty vacant lots in between skyscrapers and modern computer stores: finding string to fasten your printer purchase to the stroller for the walk home. It didn't take long to find two pieces that secured the printer to the back of the stroller for the trek back home. I guess a taxi could've worked, but while it is nice outside, the walking is nice. Lacey and Maren rarely complain about it, which is awesome. At least until it is snowy and below freezing walking around Ankara should work :-)
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