Day of Firsts

I woke up at 4am, went back to sleep at 7am, and woke up again at 10am! This is the best night of sleep I've had since I arrived.
I decided to go out and brave the metro for the first time. I got to the station without any problem (Fatma walked me there on Sunday) and hopped on the train. The mall, Cevahir, is just one stop up, so it actually takes much longer for me to talk to the station from the flat than it does to get to my destination once I get on the train. :)
Cevahir really is enormous. Truly. In fact, it's too big. Unless you know what stores you want, you could spend all day there. I never even saw the roller coaster, but I think it might be in the entertainment section.
There are a lot of the same American food places as in Forum, McDonald's and Burger King, etc. I had a tasty slice of pizza at sbarro. They passed me off to one of the employees who spoke some English. :)
I was on a mission to find some things for my room and a couple of towels. I went into Migro, which is like a grocery store and got a notebook and some tape.
I was totally surprised to find a big Yankee Candle display in a store called TepeHome. I had to take a picture of it. :) I got two towels and some neat adhesive wall decor things of the NYC skyline. I still need to get a small lamp and maybe small bed table.
There is an entranc/exit to the metro on the bottom floor of Cevahir right by TepeHome, so I hopped back on the train. At the Osmanbey station, you can exit to Rumeli Street or Pangalti Street. I ended up at Rumeli and I needed Pangalti. So I went back down the escalator, walked around, and went up the correct escalator to Pangalti.

I did have a little scare with my keys. I left the flat before trying the front door with my keyes. Fatma's keys were in the lock, so I unlocked the door, stepped out, and shut it. I immediately tried my keys to see if they worked...... And I couldn't get the door open. *gulp* I tried and tried and tried and the key wouldn't turn at all. So I just prayed that Fatma would be home and able to let me in when I returned. :)
She was indeed at home when I returned and I asked her about the door. It was like I suspected - you can't unlock the door from the outside if the key is in the lock on the inside. Good to know. :)

I showed her my purchases and we put the NYC decor up and then I put up all the pics. The room really looks lived in now. I am so pleased.

It's almost 4 o'clock and it is a beautiful warm sunny day. Fatma said it is supposed to be unusually warm this week, so that is good. She is studying for an exam and I think I might go out to the market and stock up on chow.