IZMIR, TURKEY WITH THE ARMSTRONGs

David had an educational conference to attend in Luxembourg, so we decided that I would go to Izmir, Turkey with the kids a week early instead of waiting around in Romania for him to return. Although the flights are short, the trip in its entirety seemed endless. They are all like that it seems. We have a 3 hour drive to Bucharest, wait 2 hours in the airport, take a 1 hour flight to Istanbul, and wait 4 hours for the connection! Then take another 1 hour fight to Izmir and thankfully the drive to Carole and Trevor’s house was a short 45 minute ride! It’s the connections that kill you when you do multiple destination trips. I know, I know, hard life right!


As we waited for our flight in the Bucharest Airport, I was surprised to see the terminal full of US Army soldiers awaiting a flight to Afghanistan. Apparently they had flown to Bucharest direct from New York and stayed here for 4 nights to acclimatize to the time change. (I am sure some fun was had in Bucharest!) I watched them walking around in groups, chatting, laughing, eating and resting when I noticed a young man sitting in front of me who appeared to be in deep thought. He was a tall, muscular black man and with his shaved head and in his army fatigues, he wouldn’t be someone I would cross! I wondered what he was thinking. “Am I going to live through this?” “What have I done?” “Why did I sign that paper?” “Will I see my family again?” Suddenly our eyes met and I knew he saw me wondering about him. Seems the Romanian stare is catchy. I smiled at him and he smiled at me. He asked, “Where are you going with all these girls?” From his warm accent I could tell he was from the south and his hard exterior seems to soften in front of my eyes. I told him we were on our way to Turkey for a vacation. I suddenly felt very guilty and ashamed for what I was doing in contrast to him. He saw my guilt, like a trained soldier able to identify guilty parties, but he smiled and said, “Everyone deserves a vacation once in a while ma’am!” I asked him if he was starting a 6 month tour. He chuckled and replied, “No I’m probably looking at 10 months or maybe a year.” Then he followed by saying, “Are you Canadian?” I was surprised at his guess. I never get asked that question. It is always assumed I’m an American. “How did you know?” I asked.

“Well, the Canadians do a 6 month tour of duty.” Well of course, that’s what gave me away. “They really got it good those Canadians but they are great to work with.” He said with a smile. At that moment my flight got called to the gate so as I gathered the children I searched for what to say to this man. Something appropriate but not stupid. Don’t sound like an idiot!
I turned to say goodbye and he was standing beside me. I looked up, way up and said,
“I just want you to know how brave I think you are, and you’ll be in my thoughts and prayers.”
He put out his hand and thanked me. I don’t know his name or anything about him but I will never forget him. I hope he makes it out alive.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever documented this but I hate flying. I get a nervous stomach about a week before I fly and the day of our flight, I’m a nervous wreck. Our Flight to Istanbul was short but the landing is one I will never forget. I was sitting at the very back of the plane with Ruby and Evelyn and Gabrielle were sitting in front of me. The man I was sitting beside chatted with me the entire flight and was very lovely. He had told me that he flies every 3 weeks so he was a very comfortable flyer. As we descended, the plane seemed to be experiencing a lot of turbulence. I thought it must be because I’m at the “back of the bus” and can feel all the movements so much more. We were approaching the runway and the plane was bouncing all over the place. Side to side, up and back, it seemed out of control. Suddenly the comfortable flyer grabs the seat ahead of him and yells, “Jesus Christ!” and looks at me as if to say, “This is not normal!” I am holding Ruby on my lap and the cold sweat running down my elbows was chilling me. I looked over at the woman beside me and notice she was wretching into the barf bag. Retching is something that always makes me laugh. People that are preparing to vomit are very funny typically because they make the most ridiculous faces. I often have to look away from my kids or my patient because I can’t stop from laughing at them. I know I’m terrible but it’s true. This time, however, I was not laughing. I looked through the seats to check to the big girls so that I might be able to reassure them without sounding fake. Suddenly they both put their arms up and yelled, “Weeeeeeee!” The man beside me looked at me and smiled. When we touched down the breaks seemed to have to work extra hard to stop us. But they did. The captain came on and told us that we had just experienced some sudden cross winds coming up from the Mediterranean. No shit!

I wanted to kiss the ground when I arrived to Izmir. Thank god, no more flying for 2 whole weeks. Just relaxation time with Carole and I was looking forward to it. We hadn’t seen Carole and Trevor for almost 1 year. They met us at the airport and we stuffed all our luggage in the car and made our way to their home. Now having just written a blog about my change in perspective what I was about to see was sure to blow me away.

I felt like I had it really good being expatriated to Galati compared to Roman but when we arrived at Carole and Trevor’s house I was in disbelief.

Trevor was expatriated to Izmir in October of 2009 for a term of 2 years. What a beautiful place! Palm trees, a pool, huge gorgeous gardens, the sea within walking distance and a beautiful view.

The hedges all around the compound that they lived on were Rosemary hedges.

The size of them was unbelievable. Enormous stone walls bordered the hedges which gave the area a really nice old rustic look. After a heavy rain here, the air smells so sweet and delicious you want to run in the house and make roast pork with all the trimmings. Except that Turkey is an Islamic country (for the most part) and you can’t find pork or bacon or bacon bits anywhere! The inside of their new home was totally in check with the outside. 

Tastefully decorated and in keeping with the rustic theme outdoors, it reminded me of a lovely bed and breakfast in a posh little village.  Or perhaps an upscale cottage north of Toronto. 

I guess you would consider it a side split home with 6 levels which includes a look-out at the very top.  There is at least one bedroom on every level with the exeption of the main level which hosts the kitchen, living room, dining room and a sun room.  It was very simply lovely in everyway.  There was a courtyard in the front entrance where we would have morning tea or Ruby would enjoy time to practice her singing. 

The local dog known as "Jamour" has adopted Carole (gee I wonder why?) and took a great interest in my children.  Especially Ruby. 

I think it had something to do with the fact that she always seem to have some kind of food on her face.  Throughout our two week visit, Ruby and Jamour were inseperable.  Exploring all areas of the house and discovering that in warm climates, bugs are huge! 

We took full advantage of the pool as often as we could but what I really enjoyed were the views.  Everywhere you looked it seemed was another spectacular view. 

This is the view from Carole's bathtub into the backyard.  You can even see the sea from your bath.  Ahhh! It was paradise and Carole was a hostess with the mostess.  Trevor worked 12 hours a day and even worked on Saturdays which was a shame but in the end, his work is the reason we were able to come to Turkey and enjoy this beautiful sight.   We waited for David to join us and looked forward to visiting the beach at Cesme, Pammukale and Alacanti in the following week. Blog and photos to follow.

Alison xx

Salute To Roman

Roman, Romania was my home away from home starting in April 2009 until December 2009. (Although I thought I was going to be living there for 2 years.) We were expatriated there for David’s work and had no idea what we were in for. Apart from travelling to Paris and England we had never ventured deeper into Europe and certainly not into Eastern Europe. I have written in the past about my experiences in this town but decided recently that I did not post enough pictures of my first Romanian experience. In the days leading up to my departure from this city, I ran around Roman furiously taking pictures so that I might never forget it. The beauty, the boldness and the downright ugliness. All of it had a part in my story and it had to be documented. It is only now that I have had a chance to finish my salute to ROMAN!

Two weeks before the girls and I left Roman we made our very own Romanian wine from the grapes in our backyard. A man with all the old school tools of the trade came to our house to show us how.

When I say old school tools, I mean by Canadian standard but this is how home grown wine is made in Romania! It was really cool.

Notice the ridiculous hat on Ruby. All babies wear hats like these until it’s either over 20 degrees Celsius or there is not breeze at all. Typically I’m not someone who will do what everyone else wants me to do but really a woman can only take so many “you’re a terrible mother” stares until you break and stuff one onto your kids head.

I wanted to do a whole blog on the holes of Roman. Yes I could actually have enough material for that. You see the man hole covers are made with steel and copper and being that the people in this Moldavian province are quite poor, they steal the man hole covers. That’s right, they rip them right out of the ground and sell it on the black market so they can feed their family, pay bills or there is the one I don’t like to think about, get drunk.

Now these holes can sit there for days, weeks or months without getting recovered as the city doesn’t have enough money to buy more man hole covers. So, if it’s on a really busy road, they will stick a tree in the hole to alert the drivers of the roads fault. That’s right, a tree!

 No orange tape, no pylons or safety fence... a large stick is the answer here. Someone could easily injure themselves but that doesn’t seem to come into consideration. To make it all the more pleasant, the odour coming from these open sewers was enough to gag a maggot.

My girls attended a little Romanian school while we were there for something to do and for socialization. The school was tiny but the owner had big ideas and a bigger heart. Her name was Anca and she did the most with what she had. As I said, Roman was not a very rich town so not many people could send their kids to a private kindergarten. (Cost 400 lei per month per kid. Approximately $143.) Therefore the school had limited resources but made up for it in heart. It was run out of the only Anglican Church in Roman and it was really lovely. My girls learned some Romanian and the Romanian children learned some English. A few times, the girls and I went in and taught the children English songs. That was really cute. The little church and the school were sweet but looking across the road you were quickly reminded of the poverty in this town.

The gypsies dump their garbage wherever they deem fit and it sits there and rots for weeks until the city finally manages to clean it up. The week before I took this picture, the pile of garbage was as tall as I am.  This marked the border of the "Gypsy Zone."

The apartment buildings in Roman are really very interesting and it took me a while to figure them out. This concrete jungle was made during communist days where each family was given an “appropriately sized” apartment for the size of their family. These apartments are owned by the individuals living in the building. There are no condo fees, no board members raising money to update the facade. Nothing. So you end up with street upon street of really bleak looking places.

However, if you talk to the owners of the apartments below you and above you and find the right construction company you can have a new facade.

The trouble is it that you get a pretty strange looking building in the end because it is rarely possible to be able to have all the residence afford such a change.  There are buildings like this all over the city with half of it renovated and the other half falling to pieces. 




The doctor’s offices are laughable and sad at the same time. Even worse than South Street hospital. Would you want to go to see this Neurologist?

The government pays doctors here less than Ontario nurses!  It is no wonder they can only afford a one bedroom apartment as their practise.  The doctors then feel it necessary to demand payment even though the medical system is supposed to be a socialist one.  The more money you have, the quicker your service is given. 


The public schools in the city are a sad state of affairs.

With money being taken away from the education system at every budget, schools are suffering in Roman and all around Romania. No money is spent on playgrounds, paint or safety. They simply don’t have it.

Life in Roman was like nothing I’ve ever experienced but I can say now I feel privileged to have lived there. To see these people live their lives day in and day out.

To witness first hand a very different way of life to my own.  The different clothes, language, food and transportation.  But the animals... oh the animals. I wish I could have saved them all. Is it crazy that I think about them all the time?

Every time I leave my stroller outside I now instinctively check it for purring cats.  This was a homeless cat that hung around outside of David's bosses house.  She just wanted to curl up somewhere warm and cozy.

When I walk by a dog food store, my instinct tells me to run in and buy some treats for the homeless puppies that wait for me every day. My heart bleeds for them. It was hard seeing them alone and starving but I can honestly say I am glad I did not live here during the winter and watch them all freeze. I don’t think I could have taken that.

What I am going to miss the most about Roman are 2 very important people. My “paid friends” as David jokingly calls them. Alexandra was Ruby’s babysitter while I did my school work in the mornings but she was much more than that.



Our friendship grew quickly as she helped me cope with the day to day living in Roman. I wish I could put her in my suitcase and take her to Canada but it’s not that easy.

I hope to keep in touch with her for the rest of our lives.


Oana-Maria was my other paid friend. She came to my house 2 – 3 times per week and helped me to keep the house clean and me to keep my sanity. My kids loved her and she loved them back.

This woman is the hardest working woman I know. She was working a fulltime security job, cleaning for me and in her second year of Law school. She was so welcoming and warm and easy to get along with I found myself wanting to hang out with her more and more. She invited us to her family’s home and treated the girls to a much loved visit with her brothers kittens. It was really hard leaving both of these wonderful women as I didn’t know when I would see them again and they truly made life liveable in Roman. I am so happy to have met them.


What I have learned most about Roman and about the province of Moldavia is that many the people have hearts of gold and although the exteriors might be bleak and hopeless, the people continue to find beauty and happiness in their lives.  I loved watching the people do what they did with the little they had.  They made it work.  Like how to get cabbage home on your bike when you don't have a car. 

There are spots of beauty in this small town including the parks,

the paths and the trees but it’s the people that I found to be the biggest surprise in the end. Yes, even the starrers!  In the end it was an unbelievable experience.  One that I am endlessly proud of and feel thankful to have had the opportunity to live here.  Roman you will always be in my heart.


Alison xx

UPDATE - BLOGGER TROUBLE!

Life in Galati is going well these days.  The girls are doing gymnastics lessons every Monday and Friday, and tennis lessons Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays.  We have the tutor coming daily and having started toilet training with Ruby.  Although she doesn't seem at all interested at the moment.  Work seems to be going well for David although he does a lot of travelling.  He leaves for Belgium in 2 weeks for 4 days after having been in Luxembourg only last month.  Ruby is keeping me incredibly busy and can be a little tiger these days.  She won't allow me to cook and pushes me away from the counter when I am preparing food.  I am having to do all prep work while she naps as well as do english reading with the girls.  This is leaving me very little time to blog which is bugging me lately.

Having terrible problems with the blog these days.  It won't let me cut and paste picture to fit into my story.  There fore I got a blog that looked a mess last time!  I didn't even know I had posted that.  Not happy with blogger site right now and trying to work through it so I can post my Turkey pictures.

I had a woman come to my apartment before I left to do my eyebrows and a pedicure.  She said she prefered this method as she didn't have to pay the over head of salon.  So my friend Daniella and I had our little pamper session in my living room as the kids ran wild through the house.  The eyebrows cost me $2 and the pedi cost me $8.  AT MY HOUSE!  I couldn't believe it.  I gave her a big tip because quite honestly, I felt guilty.  She thought I was nuts but is happy to come back soon.

My hair situation is getting to be... a situation.  I have major roots and I am going to have to bite the bullet and get my hair done.  Trouble is, I have no confidence in these Romanian hair "stylists". (See hair disaster entry Sept 09)  David's Romanian teacher tells me she knows a terrific place and is taking me ther next Saturday.  Oh god!  If I come out of there looking like someone vommited linguine on my head, I will dye it black and wait till I go home.  This teacher of David's, Tamara, is a very well kept woman and her hair is great so I am a little more hopeful but still very hesitant.  She also assured me that it is a salon and not in a 1 bedroom apartment.  No washing my hair upside down in the bath tub this time.  Could it get any worse than the last time?  Oh god....

I will let you know how it goes.  It might be safe to pray for me.

Alison :S