It was strange to go back so soon (only 2 weeks in between visits, can you belive it?!) but I had also really missed him and it was great to be back. I felt this time like Turkey is not only my other home, but I KNOW the place, you know I know most of the foodstuff and enough vocabulary to get around a bit. I could hear Turks talk about me, in Turkish; Is she Russian? No, she speaks English... I heard a bunch of police officers talking... bla bla bla dog, bla dog, dog dog bla bla (according to SO, they were talking about a man who was attacked by a dog and shot it). I went to the supermarket like I do at home in Norway, I even had a shopping list that I made LAST time I was in Turkey! I mean, it is nice, but all so very regular now, not exotic any more. I went to the "bazar" and looked at their displays of school starting equipment, pots and pans and displays of erotic underwear. The weather for bicycling was great (I hope it still is when I go back in a month). The evenings were nice and soft; warm but with a small breezee.
Our aniversery was coming up soon. To think of that we have been together a year...It just blows my mind away. I had made him a book with pictures, text, ticket stubs and lots of other stuff in it, a framed picture of us, a card with the Edvard Much picture "Madonna" in front, and a long neckless with the head of an ax, covered in snake ornaments (like the first neckless I gave him, this also is a replica of jewlery found in a viking grave). We celebrated our aniversery with a seafood meal at a quiet restaurant. It was ok having it mid week because of the wedding and also because I suspected things would get a litttle emotional, so it could be good not to have the celebration right before leaving. He was very happy with what I had made him, I even think he was a little overwealmed. I reassured him that it was ok to be overwealmed and that he did not have to get me a present (he hardly has any money and he has never written more than 10 words to me in a card). We talked A LOT about the future, and by that I mean A LOT. It was great feeling like we could share that.
Next day, his connections fixed me a spa package for free! The reason was it was my 3rd time at the place. I was really going for something small and cheap (having spent so much money the other times), but when they said I could choose what I wanted for free...I had to have the bigger package I had not had before. That was the standard of showers/baths, saunas, scrub massage, face mask and "fish treatment" (basically you stick you feet in an aquarium and fish nibble at your dry skin. It tickles), and also a 40 min long "African" massage that really hurt in a good way and a chocolate body mask with my picture taken out in the spa place garden. I had such a great time!
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In the evening, we went to a wedding together. We got an invitation together, in addition to the Facebook ones, it was really thick and pretty. The groom was his colleague the bartender who was marrying this Muslim, Russian girl (apparently parts of her family originates from Turkey). Her family gave her speaches in Russian, they spoke no Turkish nor English. The bride and groom had their own bridal booth shaped like a heart. There were lots of dancing. The "pink panther" guy acted a bit weird, I know I sound self-absorbed but he seems smitten with me, his eyes followed me the whole time and he looks upset every time I give SO a compliment. Anyway, SO and I felt like this great couple. Before the wedding, SO said he felt weird in a suit and was not keen on going (which upset me quite a bit, even if I know he normally doesn't like weddings), but once we got there he seemed at ease and he LOVED to be my date for the wedding. We actually got almost scaringly enthusiastic about it. His (or should I say our) older friends were like: When are YOU getting married? I felt very welcomed by them and SO was over the moon with it. When the bride was to throw her flowers, he was like: you HAVE to go get it! She of course aimed right at her bridesmaid, but the point was SO was really, really like...into our future. After the wedding we went by ourselves to have a drink at the same place we had our first date. I have never heard him talk about the future like he did now, I was a bit shocked... One thing is to go overboard with talking future in the beginning, but he knows me now and he still does this...
The immidiate future we planned goes something like this: In a moth me and my husband will come for a weeklong visit, then I will come for the last time to our flat in November (our lease runs out on the 15th but I am sure we can stay a week or two longer). I will take some stuff home to Norway, he will move or store the rest. Shortly after my November visit he will go to his mates in the nearby town and start living there for a while, studying and taking a job at some restaurant. In December I will not come, but I have a long Christmas vacation, and either he will come here for a couple of weeks, or me and my husband will go to Turkey, or the three of us will go to a country close by Turkey. In January I will go visit him with this then flatmates, they will not charge me anything to live with them, so I guess I will shower them with gifts. In February, hopefully we will go togeter again to see his family! In March I will visit him and the flatmates. In March/April the season starts again, and we will get another long-term lease with the same landlords (they have offered to get us a new bed, which would be great) or another place close by, then we will live together part time again like we did this season. After season 2015 he will go to military. After that, who knows...
Last evening I was there, he got off early from work. We went to the local folclore park to admire the view, visit the exhibitions, look at the animals and eat cheese platter while he talked to me about his dreams and his childhood. It was nice to share stuff like that.
Doesn't it make you sad that you can't give him that (marry him)?
I'm sure you guys have discussed it many times and it's not my place to say, just reading your blog and about the wedding made me think of this.