boxes and bears, oh my

We had a rainy Saturday this past weekend, so I stayed inside and played. Here's one of my favorite games...

Which is the cutest?

My mommies can't decide -- what do you think?

Let's Talk Turkey

I know, I know, I don't post enough. But I'm so busy playing with my new Hannukah toys and reading my new books I just haven't had time.

So okay, I need to catch up. At the end of December, we all (including my Tia TJ) went to Istanbul. It's a short flight, which means I only had a limited time to squirm, scream, and flail around. We rented a two-bedroom apartment, which was much higher than it was wide, in the Sultanahmet area, near many of the most famous sites. My moms were a little worried that I might fall down one of the four sets of very steep stairs, but, fortunately, I didn't. I didn't even wake up during the 5:30 am call to prayer, which was VERY loud.

Here's the Blue Mosque, as seen from our rooftop terrace, and a picture of the dome from the inside.



















I visited Topkopi palace, a very old palace of the sultans. I had a great time there, especially because I kept being stopped by groups of adoring schoolgirls who wanted to take my picture. Ladies, ladies, no need to push...

Gazuar Vitin E Ri

Happy New Year!!

Albanians love the New Year. During communist rule there weren't any religious holidays, so New Year's was an important time to celebrate. And what other way would there be to celebrate than firecrackers and feasts?

Firecrackers have been exploding all over Tirana for weeks! Little firecrackers that just pop and make noise in the street, bigger firecrackers that explode when kids throw them, even bigger fireworks that go up in the sky and shoot off pretty colors. I, of course, was not scared of any of it...the noises didn't faze me and I liked all the colors. Every day there were a few (a lot!) more of them, and in the week leading up to New Year's it sounded like we were living in a war zone every night. And every morning the air was full of smoke.

But December 31st made the rest of the lights and explosions look like nothing. All day long firecrackers went off, in our neighborhood and all around the city. As evening wore on, the fireworks lessened...they never stopped, but there were definitely less. And then I had to go to bed. Of course. I never get to stay up for any of the fun stuff.

But my mommies told me about it, and they even took a video to show you. At a few minutes before midnight, the sky literally exploded. Have you seen the 4th of July fireworks in DC? Yeah, those are nothing! Imagine every person in the city having everything from the tiniest firecrackers on up to the professional grade stuff. Lots of them. And then setting them off--from the streets, from their front yards, from their apartment windows, from their roofs. In every part of the city, every neighborhood, the sky just lit up. Firecrackers from our neighbors whizzed through our yard, Roman candles shimmered in our neighbors' yards, rockets launched from our neighbors' roofs.

360 degrees, whichever way you looked, nearby, far away, pyrotechnics shimmered, burned, fizzled, and showered down in every color and shape. When they began we could see past the city center...after 35 minutes we could barely see the house across the street.

And can you believe it? I slept through the whole thing...

This morning, our car was covered in ashes and soot. And the firecrackers continue. I'm listening to them now...probably one every second or so, coming from all directions. But hopefully they will slow down soon. The smoke and noise is starting to be a little overwhelming. Sooner or later everyone will have to run out of their supply, right? Right?!