winter comes to ankara

...finally!  i've lived here for going on 3 years now, we've barely had any snow, and never has it lasted for more than 24 hours... until this week!  we've been so envious of new york for all the snow that's been falling there this winter.  last thursday we woke up to snow, which i thought would be gone by the weekend... but instead, it lasted & continued to snow throughout the weekend! yesterday it snowed all day, and today it's sunny, but cold and the snow is still here.  it's such a nice change from the ever-present gray we have endured for the past few months.

yesterday we took a nice walk around our neighborhood in the snow

our street

we passed by the new grocery store being built just around the corner-- cannot WAIT to be able to grocery shop in my own neighborhood at a decent store

coming soon: begendik!

we ended up at cagdas, a small market a few blocks over, where we stocked up on some essentials for our sunday dinner with friends, before heading home.

some neighbors having a snowball fight

back home

ben tries, and fails, to hit me with a snowball

the rest of my sunday afternoon was spent cooking for the week & for sunday dinner with our friends who came for dinner & a movie.  

i have been looking for an opportunity to use some of the red lentils sitting in my cupboard, and was very pleased to find the recipe for my favorite wegman's soup bar treat: spicy red lentil chili.  it's the perfect winter warm-up, and i'm looking forward to eating it all week!