First Snow

It has been very cold for the last week—in the teens—but there was no snow that stayed on the ground. This morning, however, we woke to 3 to 4 inches of snow! It was beautiful. In midmorning the electricity in our apartment went out, so we decided we may as well take a “snow day” and walk around and enjoy the beautiful snow. The snow was especially lovely on the berries of the pyracantha shrubs, which are very abundant here.

The school children are on their winter break, so we enjoyed seeing many snowball fights. In the park, they also slid down the hills. One of the places we visited was Kuğulu (Swan) Park, which has many swans, geese and ducks. Many of the fowl were in the little houses constructed for their protection near the pond; but many of the swans were standing on the pond, as it was frozen except for the areas where the motion of the fountains kept the water unfrozen.

After walking for nearly an hour we stopped to warm up and enjoy a winter drink that is popular in Turkey: sahlep. It is warm, sweetened milk flavored and thickened with the ground bulb of the wild orchid plant which grows on the Anatolian plateau (around Ankara). It’s very aromatic and lovely, especially when sprinkled with cinnamon. This drink was popular throughout the world in the 17th and 18th centuries, before the popularity of coffee and tea. It’s delicious!

We continue to love our humanitarian work. Currently we are working on projects for a school, a hospital, a foundation that works with schizophrenic young adults, and organizations that serve refugees.