In the spring of 2018, before leaving Mongolia for Türkiye, I had lasik surgery. It cost me just $1,200 for BOTH eyes which were nearsighted (my prescription was -4.25 for one eye, -3.75 for the other at the time of surgery) and astigmatism had begun in one eye. For the first time since I was in middle school I was able to wake in the morning and see clearly across the room without putting lenses…
For my birthday in 2022 I traveled to Madrid, Spain. It was a new city, and country, for me. It was an amazing trip! Because my birthday continues to be included in my school’s Fall Break holiday, I have made it a personal goal and tradition to travel to a new country/city to celebrate the start of my next year on earth. New country, new city, new age! For my 50th birthday this past November…
I have lived in three apartments across my time in Türkiye. For the first four years I lived in a one-bedroom apartment located in the school’s Lojman (“worker’s residence”) which is located close to our campus and houses some of the foreign educators. That apartment was good–it had a large great room with a balcony facing into the afternoon/evening sun. Ziggy and I were happy there for those four years. The bedroom was tiny and…