Phillip and Rebecca Mefford

Here's another piece of simit nostalgia:  Lincoln Umut as a baby eating simit while Rebecca met with her language tutor. That very first flight to Turkey was exhausting and exhilarating. We still remember lugging our copious amounts of luggage through the Ataturk Airport parking lot as we headed toward a fellow American, and since dear friend’s car for a three hour snail-paced, traffic-jammed drive to our new apartment on the Asian side of the city. As we were getting to pull out of our parking space another dear friend poked her head in the car and chimed, “I thought you might be hungry” as she passed us a small transparent plastic bag in which lay our first genuine taste of Turkish food: simit . Simit , a sesame seed coated bagel-like ring, is one of the many bread based foundations of Turkish cuisine. Simit along with poğaça and açma are readily available from the myriad of street vendors soliciting Istanbul’s streets, and somehow seem the most delicious when you gra

Abiler, Big Brothers This is a big year for our boys: Lincoln Umut starts anaokul , kindergarten and Hudson Kerem starts kre ş , preschool! We felt that it was important for our kids to get a good foundation in Turkish, so with much hesitation about whether we making the right choice as parents, Umut started his school career at the infinitesimal age of 3. He truly thrived in his two and a half years of preschool, much thanks to the great teachers and principal of the private school he went to. Not only does he excel as a Turkish speaker (occasionally correcting mom and dad even!) but he also learned a lot of great pre-writing skills, early mathematics, good manners, and he had tons of fun. Now it is time for another step: kindergarten at our local public school. Mom and Dad might be more nervous than Lincoln himself, but deep down we know he will do great. Going from a private to public school, the social dynamic and teacher involvement will probably be different; however, we