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Monday, January 21, 2008

Train to Greece...again


1st train trip


2nd Train trip, he has grown so much!



Our documents are making their way to us right now!!!! We can't wait to get them so we can apply for our visas and get home!!! Unfortunately our Turkish visas might expire before we leave the country, so rather than chancing it we had to make a quick trip to Greece again.
We had a pretty full week. Marvin spent all day long in class and I had fun visiting with a friend staying with us during the day. We both weren't looking forward to the long train ride again especially since Calvin is getting bigger now, but it went pretty well. It was a trip we didn't want to make, but it went better than we expected. We had our own car all the way to Greece and Calvin had a good time looking out the window, looking at his books and one of his toys seen in this picture kept him occupied for hours!!! We are so thankful he is starting to become interested in toys.






Once we got to the border we took a bus to the closest city, where we stayed the night. Calvin was such a trooper and slept the entire bus ride. Buses just lull him to sleep, the combination between the sound and vibration is just the right combination to sleep well. We were able to stay at the same place we stayed the last time so that was pretty easy.


The next morning Marvin went to the station to buy our return tickets and they told him there was only train which left at 1 am going to Istanbul. We went back and asked again, this time asking if there were any buses going to the border city and they said there weren't any buses going to the city we needed but we could possibly take a taxi from a city 15 kilometers away from the border city where we could catch a train to Istanbul, but we had to go to a different place to get tickets for that bus. Once we got to this other office the lady gave us the impression that it wasn't a good idea. So we decided just to take the overnight train.


We grabbed some lunch and then Marvin went back to the train station to buy our tickets and the guy looked at him and said, "Where's your wife, there is a bus that is leaving for the border city in 15 minutes." Marvin ran back to the hotel (it was only about 100 meters away) and told me to hurry because the bus leaving in 15 minutes. I was in the middle of feeding Calvin and he was pretty mad that we had to put lunch on pause, but he calmed down and we headed out the door, onto a bus and out of town in a whirlwind. Whew! This is much harder to do with a baby but we are thankful for such a great kid. He has sure put up with a lot. Since the bus left an hour later than we originally expected we didn't have to wait at the border very long so that was a blessing.


The train back to Istanbul was pretty full and we had to share a compartment for a few hours with this sweet older Turkish couple. When they came in they were worried about Calvin because he wasn't wearing a hat, so they asked the conductor to turn up the heat. It was sweltering for a while, Calvin was even sweating, poor thing. Eventually they were so hot they asked the conductor to turn it down! Marvin and I were thankful we were sitting by the window and at least could press our body next the the side which was a little cooler or else we would have roasted. Once we got to Istanbul we caught the last ferry of the evening, grabbed a taxi home and plopped Calvin in bed. PTL he slept until 8:00 this morning, I guess it was a long trip for him too.


We haven't unpacked since we got back from our meetings because we will be moving again on Wednesday. I think we have perfected this nomadic suitcase life. We hope to find out today where we will be staying. We hope we can stay at a place with a kitchen and washing machine, if not we will roll with the punches. Marvin and I are both ready to get home. It is funny how much I am looking forward to wearing my own house shoes and my robe. We were able to use the language we are studying with a couple of people we met in Greece. It was a beautiful thing being able to communicate. We can't wait see our friends and be back home, hopefully this will be very soon.



Calvin had to wear his train outfit for his train trip and he also got the chance to wear his new hat.



Thumbs up if you like Greece.


Time by the Sea

We had a good time seeing a few friends we hadn't seen in a while at our meeting the beginning of this month. Calvin got to meet all of his aunts and uncles and when he was awake he always had someone around to entertain him. We quickly found out that he didn't enjoy the dining room too much, as it was a bit overstimulating. So meals took a little longer for us since we had to switch off. Thankfully there were several times when friends would take him so it gave us time to eat at the same time.

The bad part about these meetings is that people come from all over the world and bring lots of different types of germs with them, so all three of us came down with something. Calvin had his first fever, but PTL it quickly broke. We all three still have a bit of our colds lingering, but they keep getting better everyday. Calvin will certainly be happy when I don't have to use the nasal aspirator quite as much.

Here are a few pictures:





How Sweet


Calvin has started to giggle. It seriously is the sweetest thing!


He also has found his thumb a few times. Maybe this might help him sleep a little longer.