Settling in and Exploring

I have been planning to write for a while now, and am finally getting to it ... I guess the best place to start would be moving in. Our apartment was way more than we expected. And an added blessing was that the previous tenants decided to leave most of their things (hairdryer, iron, ironing board, cleaning supplies, dishes . . .) which we later found out was only in our apartment, so we are thankful for that! We moved in on Tuesday night and got everything set up. Then, on Wednesday morning Jer and I walked around for a while looking to see what was around our house and also looking for a fan. (It is very hot here in Gaziantep and the nights are long without a fan!) After a while we found the free service bus to my University - Zirve - which is about 7 miles outside the city. We arrived, and once we clarified that I was not actually an international student, we found the right people to talk to and got acquainted with everyone. One of our friends, Murat, took us to get something to eat, helped us exchange money and told us all about the school and everything we needed to know for the time being. 
We left Zirve in the afternoon and stopped back by the house. By that time I was getting tired, but Jeremy assured me he was not yet. So, we jumped on a bus outside our house and just rode it til we felt like getting off. I was fascinated watching the city go by, but Jeremy was asleep before the first stop. We ended up getting off and walking around the city for a while, looking for a fan and phones. We got our cell phones all figured out, but still didn't find a fan. The city is beautiful and has a lot of parks scattered throughout. It was fun to just walk and see the sights. Later we returned home and then went to a little restaurant called Tofil Doner and ate there. Then we went and bought some groceries. 
Thursday I had to be at school by 8:30, so I got up and took the bus. There is NOTHING to do at school right now, so I read and met some people and almost fell asleep a bunch of times. Jeremy came over in the afternoon and then we met some of the other English speaking English teachers and talked to them for a while. Last night, after we got home, we went to eat at an outdoor restaurant. We finished our meal with a cup of chai (which is very normal - but important for this story. :-) We then went home and cleaned up to prepare for our friend Deniz to come over ... Jeremy had met him in Istanbul a few years ago. When he came, he drove us all around the city just showing us around. We stopped at a restaurant called Caradash and had some of the best baklava in the world, and chai. Then we got back in the car and kept driving, and found another really cool outdoor restaurant where people just hang out, smoke the water pipe, play backgammon, eat, etc. So, we stopped there and sat for a while and . . . drank chai. I love the chai here, but I think it might have been part of the source of my tossing and turning all night, so I will have to find a way to limit myself or start my three cups of tea earlier in the evening. 
I also forgot one of the most exciting parts of the day was the fact that Jeremy found a fan! The ironic part is that when we got home after midnight, the power was out, so it did us no good. :-) We stayed up and watched an episode of White Collar together and then went to bed. The power came on sometime in the early morning, so we did get a little use out of our fan. 
This morning I missed the bus, so I had to wait for an hour and get the next one, but there is still nothing to do, so I think that it is okay. My hope for today is that the man will come to fix our gas. Although it is very hot, waking up to a freezing cold shower is not on my top ten favorite things in the world. 
Well, this has gotten very long, so I will finish it off. Thank you all for thinking of us! We are thinking of you as well. 
Iyi ak shamlar!