The Rain brings the Snails and Makes Everything Green

Hello from sunny Istanbul, where it's been pouring rain the last few days, something I haven't equated with summer for a long time! We dearly miss Ayeshah, who has left for Canada. With the end of the school year the team is breaking down and people are going on to other projects. Finals for the school are on June 26th, though most students have already finished and left, or have given up and stopped coming to class. Learning English is difficult, the world might be better off with Latin as the lingua franca. Facio Liberis ex Liberos Libris Libraque, anyone?


The beautiful Bosphorus, seen from Beshiktash. This ship was swarming with tourists, several navel ships like this one were anchored with ferry boats going up to them. I suppose some sort of holiday was in the works. We already had the 'Conquering of Istanbul' holiday, and the 'Beat the English at Sea' holiday, and Ata Turk / Founding of the Republic holiday (that one was huge, May 19th)


And this bird was sitting in front of my door looking menacing and cawing at me when I came home. It seemed to have an injury and fell off the stairs after this. It probably didn't make it out of the garden alive. (lots of big cats on the prowl) Many birds look different from their counterparts in the western hemisphere. Also the plants look different too, maybe some wild mammals (like squirrels and foxes) as well, but I just haven't seen any living in Istanbul.