I'm goin' out

Tomorrow I have to go to the other side of the city and I am already tired from planning.

Sounds like no big deal, right? In the small southern town I am from, you can go from one side of town to the other in about 15 minutes. I had a car and it was never a big deal to go out. I had one of the all-in-one travel systems. The big stroller with the car seat/carrier. I used the carrier combo a lot. It clicked into the base and made a car seat that he used until he was 7 or 8 months old. I used the honkin' big stroller twice. Yes, twice in 4 years. Once was at the zoo and once was when my car broke down on the side of the highway and I had to hoof it back to his daycare and call my mother to come get us. I miss those days. I want to go to Wal-Mart? No prob., pop him in the carrier and be on my way. Here though, there is a difference.

Istanbul is split into two sides- the Asian and the European. They are separated by the Bosporus. The European side is the old side. It has all the tourist places and tourists hardly ever venture to the Asian side. My old school that I taught English at last year is on the European side. My husband's work is on the European side. We, however, live on the Asian side. It is much quieter. Not so many bars, more families, streets are wider, there is more green. We choose to live where we live because there is a great park about 3 minutes walk from our house. Our neighborhood has every shop we need in daily life. My block has a hospital, several pharmacies, restaurants, pet shops, clothes stores, a few small grocery stores, jewelry shops, natural food shops and spice stores. We also have a weekly market that sets up on Mondays around the park. You can find fresh veggies, fruits, cheeses, spices, fish, cheap clothes, shoes and even kitchen wares. In my daily life I don't venture much from around here. I pop Yasemin in the stroller and be off. The weekends we go all over the city. We have an extra car but I do NOT drive in the city. Scares the bejesus out of me here.

So, I have to go to the other side tomorrow. I will take Yasemin for a visit to my old school then meet my husband at his work to take her to a park to get some pics and/or videos taken for a toy company. I have several choices of how to actually get to the other side.

I can take the cheap way which entails a 10 minute taxi ride to the coast, a ferry ride, then a 10 minute taxi ride to the school. By cheap I mean that it will cost about 12 lira or about 10 dollars. I can take a taxi from my house to the school which is about 25 lira or 20 dollars. I am leaning towards the taxi straight from my house to school. I usually try to do the cheaper way but I will have a baby, a backpack with enough 'just in case' stuff for her, Her car seat/carrier to strap her into the taxi, and a big stroller.

I think I need a nap before I go. Better yet, I should just lay down now at 4:30 in the afternoon.