Our new house!

Posted on April 9, 2017 by livingtheturkishdream

This time last year, if you had told me that we’d be married, Berkay would have been living in the UK nearly 5 months and we’d have just bought our own place, I would have laughed in your face… In fact even 3 months ago if you’d have told me we’d be living in our own place by April I’d have thought you were crazy too… alas, that is exactly what happened!

In the middle of March, after a stressful few weeks of dealing with solicitors, banks, and all those other ‘grown up’ things, we exchanged contracts and completed. We got the keys on 17th March and moved in within a few days, between working and Berkay having a horrible toothache! You might be wondering how on earth we managed to buy property in South East London, and so soon after Berkay had moved here, but don’t worry, we didn’t rob a bank! The answer is it’s a shared ownership property – we own a 40% share, and a housing association owns the rest. Renting a one bedroom flat around here would be around £1000 a month, but it actually works out a lot cheaper for us to have a mortgage on 40% and pay rent and service charge on the remaining 60%, so we are much better off going down this route.

I love our little flat and since we’ve moved out and have our own place, Berkay is a lot more settled. He’s settled more in this past 3 weeks than he has in the last 4.5 months. Previously, we lived with family, which we were very grateful for, but it’s just not the same as having your own place, especially as we already lived together for 3 years, so moving back home was like taking a step back for a while. It also means more space for the two of us so we’re not cramped up in one room and annoying each other 24/7!

When we lived in Turkey together we never really had anything of our own, no furniture, no personal touches, no real belongings or house decor, the longest we lived in one apartment was 2.5 years but we didn’t make it our own and it was always very clear that we were living in someone else’s house, it never felt like ours, so buying things and planning for this flat was really exciting.

Our flat is only one bedroom, but it’s a really good sized room, and Berkay has already mentioned to everyone he speaks to that one day he could split the room into two and make space for a nursery ( I think he knows something I don’t! ha ha). It has a bathroom with a bath, something we also never had in Turkey, along with hot water without relying on solar panels, another luxury…but the best room in the whole place is the livingroom/kitchen area. It has huge, floor length, wall to wall windows which provide stunning views across the area, although fitting the blinds to the windows was a nightmare, I have a new-found respect for people who have blinds, now I know how long they take to perfect. I absolutely love the windows and having a balcony is something I’ve always wanted too, as that reminds me of our Turkey days! The only thing that is missing is the BBQ outside! My other favourite thing in the house, and the most expensive thing I’ve ever bought, apart from the flat itself, is our corner sofa, it’s massive with plenty of space for us both to lay out end to end and not even touch each other! 😉 You may also notice I have a giant teddy in the corner, he’s over 6ft tall and bigger than me, I’m such a big kid! I guess I have to balance the grown-upness of mortgages, solicitors and bills, with my inner-child somehow!

There are a few little references to Turkey in our house, including wedding photos all over the place, a family shot of us and our lovely dog Boncuk, some word art given to us as a wedding present by our friend, a glittery map of Turkey and of course a couple of Turkish eyes.

It still doesn’t feel real that we have our own little place and it’s so cosy and homely already, I actually think I’m going to miss it and get a bit homesick when we’re out in Turkey in a few weeks time!

If any of my readers are in the position we were in this time last year, when we were just about to get married and then be forced apart after just 3 days of married life, to go through the whole struggle of visas and all of the uncertainty, I urge you to please not give up, it will all work out, although I know the patience is hard to find. ❤

Visiting Turkey, buying a flat & Boncuk…

Posted on March 9, 2017 by livingtheturkishdream

Berkay has been here in England almost 4 months now and he is slowly settling in. He has spent most of his time working, and working really hard. Last week he done 54 hours, more than any other member of staff in the whole restaurant, and he gets so much praise from staff and customers! All the other members of staff want him on their shift because they can stand around and relax because they know he runs around like a headless chicken making sure everything is done, even when I tell him to relax a bit and not work so hard he says he can’t and that’s just what he’s like! So much for ‘bloody foreigners’ coming over here and not working and expecting everything for free, eh?

Part of the reason he’s working so hard is that we’re in the process of buying a property! It’s only a one bedroom flat but it’s perfect for us…We went to view it back at the start of January and we are close to exchange and completion so it’s very exciting. It’s a part rent-part buy scheme which was really the only way for us to ever be able to afford to move out and get a place of our own, London house prices are ridiculous! We’re really looking forward to having our own space again and living properly as husband and wife – it doesn’t feel like we’re married most of the time! Who knew shopping for washing machines, fridges, irons, kettles, toasters and dustpans could be so much fun?! Berkay certainly enjoyed his first ever trip to Ikea a couple of weeks ago!

Something else we are saving for is a visit to Turkey at the end of April. Berkay really misses Turkey and wanted to go back to visit and I wanted to go too, partly for a holiday, partly to make sure he gets back on the plane back to England afterwards!! Although I’d love a proper summer holiday as I haven’t really had one in 6 years, flights and accommodation are just too expensive in the height of the season, so we’ve booked 10 days in April/May instead. We got a good deal on flights, in fact the return part of the journey only cost us £18 each! The best thing about it is we arrive in Fethiye the day before our one year wedding anniversary – can you believe that it’s been almost a year already?! I think it will be really nice to be back there to celebrate and I hope we get as lucky with the unreliable early season weather as we did last year! I am looking forward to going to visit but part of me also isn’t really jumping up and down with excitement. Turkey hasn’t really held the same place in my heart as it used to for a while now, since Berkay had to do his army service I guess. I don’t know if I just told myself so often ‘It’s ok, I don’t miss Turkey’ that I started to believe it and now I can’t change my mind, or whether I just really need a break from Turkey and a visit somewhere else instead. Of course I still enjoy Turkey and it’s a beautiful country, but when we are there it’s not like a holiday at all. There’s just too much pressure to visit everyone, friends, family, our favourite places… every time we go we end up with a huge list of things to do, people to see and places to go, and end up having no actual time to just relax. I love Fethiye and Calis but I just want to go somewhere different, where we don’t know anyone or anything and can just explore or lay by a pool without putting so much pressure on ourselves to fit everything in. A part of me resents the fact that we can’t just book a cheap ryan-air flight and a week away in Spain like everyone else, because Berkay’s visa only allows him access to the UK, and although visas to Europe for him aren’t too difficult or expensive, I just can’t be bothered to go through even more visa stress and paperwork, it already takes over our lives so much! I don’t think he’d want to visit anywhere else other than Turkey anyway.

Of course, while in Turkey we will visit Berkay’s family in their village, and also Boncuk! Everyone always asks me about Boncuk and how she’s doing. She’s still living happily in the village, looked after by Berkay’s brother. He really loves her. A few days ago he was working in the village centre when his friend from the council rang him and gave him warning that the council dog catchers were going around to his side of the village and rounding up stray dogs. Obviously she’s not a stray, but they did used to always let her roam free around the farm and she’d often take herself off on walks down the road and follow Berkay’s brother to work etc. When he got the call, Berkay’s brother panicked and called his mum to get Boncuk and tie her back up…which she couldn’t manage to do, so off he ran all the way home to get her secured safely and in her kennel. Bless him, he knows how much I love her and does a good job looking after her.

2017 is looking to be another good year for us.. and everything seems to be coming together, slowly but surely!

The cost of living in Turkey – revisited.

Posted on August 18, 2015 by livingtheturkishdream

Last week I met up with my friend who lives in Turkey. While we were chatting, she said something that I’d been thinking for years, – “I can’t believe how cheap everything is in England now”, she said.

The most popular, most read post ever on my blog is one regarding the ‘cost of living’ that I wrote last August. (click here to read that) I received mixed comments in response to the post, some agreed that living in Turkey isn’t cheap, others said it was if you learn to live like villagers, some people made me feel as if I wasn’t entitled to an opinion, because I didn’t work there and lived purely off Berkay’s wages, which obviously means things are tougher.

As mentioned, my friend lives in Turkey. She has for years. She has children in school there, a husband with his own business and a kimlik and full time job herself – they are just a normal family, and on her visit to the UK if she notices how ‘cheap’ things are in the UK in comparison, surely that must mean something?

Like for like, things may be cheaper in Turkey, but compared to wages, they’re not really. Things take up a bigger proportion of a monthly wage which means they’re not really cheaper at all.

One of the things which prompted the discussion was the price of cinema tickets – I know, going to the cinema is a luxury, but just for comparison – an adult cinema ticket in the UK is around £10, an adult cinema ticket in Turkey is around 20tl (around £4.60 at today’s exchange rate). On first glance it seems cheaper, but when you compare wages, it’s not – minimum wage in Turkey (1000tl a month) would buy 50 cinema tickets. Minimum wage in the UK (£910 a month) would buy 91 cinema tickets – a big difference.

The same goes for a lot of everyday things, for example – 1kg chicken breast in Tesco is roughly £6, in Turkey’s Kipa 1kg of chicken breast is around 11tl, this means on minimum wage in the UK you could buy 151kgs of chicken, in Turkey you could buy just 90kg. In Tesco, 1kg of diced beef is £7.50, in Kipa the same beef is 36tl – which means on minimum wage in the UK you could buy 121 kgs of beef, in Turkey just 27 kgs.

In Tesco, their own brand newborn nappies (pack of 58) is £4, whereas in Turkey, Kipa’s own brand of newborn nappies, back of 60 is 20tl – which means in the UK you could buy 227 packs a month, in Turkey just 50. A huge difference.

In Tesco, a mid range 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner is around £3, in Kipa it’s around 9tl, which means you could afford 303 bottles on minimum wage in the UK and just 111 bottles in Turkey. The same prices apply for a mid-range fabric softener. Big differences, again.

In Tesco, a 1lt bottle of own brand olive oil (which is used ALOT in Turkish cuisine) is £3.45, in Kipa, the same own brand 1lt bottle is 23tl. This means you could afford 263 bottles on minimum wage in the UK, and just 43 bottles in Turkey.

My own experience shows white goods, cars, petrol, household items, pet items and baby items are mostly all most expensive in Turkey than the UK.

I could carry on with the comparisons all day, and most of the time the same result would be seen. Day to day items, and luxuries, are all more expensive in Turkey than the UK in comparison with wages, the everyday necessities take up a larger proportion of the monthly wage in turkey, than in the UK.

Of course, there are cheap alternatives for things, but there are too in the UK. Lidl or Aldi instead of Tesco or Sainsburys, Bim and Sok instead of Kipa and Migros… growing your own fruit and veg instead of buying it, eating pulses and cooking from scratch in big batches instead of store bought things and ready meals, no days out and living on the bare minimum – but that’s not ideal, in either country is it? I believe in the UK there is more of a conscious choice to live a certain way, whereas in Turkey you don’t have that option – if you are trying to live off minimum wage you have no choice but to be frugal.

There are things that are cheaper in Turkey, like fruit and vegetables – there were often times when we’d walk around the market for hours frugally trying to find the cheapest deals, even if it meant saving a few kurus or lira, and I still remember the shock on Berkay’s face when he came to the UK and saw one pepper for 45p.

Rent is also undoubtedly cheaper in Turkey, but then I guess it depends where you live, village or city, and whether you have a mortgage or rent. And then there’s the issue of taxes, which are lower in Turkey. Perhaps, with this considered, the cost of living in both countries does even itself out in the end, then?

One thing is for sure, in my eyes, it’s not cheaper to live in Turkey, at all. When people say how cheap all the supermarkets, clothes and shoes are I have to rub my eyes in disbelief and think ‘really?’, and I’m always very pleasantly surprised when I find people who agree with me, especially those who are in a relatively good position in Turkey and still notice this.

Perhaps the cost of living is no cheaper in Turkey, but the quality of life may be higher? Less materialistic and more family orientated, more freedom for children to remain children for longer?

What do you think?

Village adventure – day 3

Posted on December 3, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

We woke up on our last day in the village and knew we were going to be busy – we planned to leave the village at 12pm and travel to the nearest city center to visit more of Berkay’s relatives. The previous day Berkay’s dad had announced that since all the family was going to be together (including me, Berkay and both his brothers), something that happens very rarely, he was going to kill one of the animals from his garden so that we could all have a big family BBQ.
By the time we had woken up, had a shower and packed our bags ready to go, it was 10 o clock and Berkay’s grandad had just arrived to do the honors. I walked over to him to say hello with the traditional hand/head kiss and he seemed impressed by this, even more so when he said ‘nasilsin?’ and I answered in Turkish. There wasn’t much time to sit around and talk and we all headed out to the garden. I was walking around having one last look at all the animals and became friends with a goat, I was talking to him (yes…talking…) and he was licking my hand, it was all very sweet. Little did I know, that an hour later I’d be eating this goat for dinner.

Just 10 minutes after my encounter with the goat, Berkay’s brother walked into it’s little pen and led it around to the side of the house where they had been digging a hole. I knew what this meant, the poor goat was the chosen one.

I’m not sure what possessed me, but after giving him one last little stroke, I stood and watched as they removed it’s collar, laid it down with it’s head over the hole in the ground and tied it’s legs together. The goat didn’t protest at all, I guess it knew what was coming as much as the rest of us. Berkay’s grandad slit the goat’s neck, the blood drained out into the hole and that was that. Over in minutes. Quick, calm and as a little suffering to the goat as possible.

The worst part for me came after, was watching his grandad strip down a piece of skin from the goats ankle and blow air (from his own mouth…) into it, blowing the poor goat up like a balloon. I wasn’t entirely sure of the purpose of this, but I researched online and it says it makes it easier to skin them by doing this first. At this point I decided I didn’t want to watch anymore, and wandered back to the other animals instead, one of the sheep had actually escaped the pen it was in and was actually stood watching what they were doing to the goat… I wonder if it actually understood what was going on though.

I went with Berkay in the car to pick up his cousin and her daughter, who were coming back to the family house to enjoy the BBQ with the rest of us. It was a 20 minute drive and by the time we got back, the goat had been fully skinned and its meat was now lying on trays being chopped up into pieces. Including it’s head, eye, brain, intestines, liver and other organs. Bleugh. The family will probably make soup and other dishes out of these parts, they certainly don’t waste any edible parts – they even gave their dog the goats four raw hooves.

We all sat down to eat the BBQ, which included the lovely çintar mushrooms we’d found the day before, and it was really delicious. Of course I felt sorry for the poor animal we were eating, but I’m not vegetarian and eat alot of meat. We don’t usually think about where our food comes from because it’s all cleaned, neatly packaged and sold on supermarket shelves, we take it for granted and don’t consider where it actually comes from, so it’s definitely interesting, although a little disturbing, to see the process from furry animal in the garden to lump of cooked meat on your plate.

After eating, it was time to say our goodbyes. Berkay’s step-mum cried when we were going and gave us both big hugs. She is really sweet, she sent us home with a massive bag of onions, spinach, spring onions, nuts, butter, chicken and leftover goat, all things grown on their farm! I really, surprisingly enjoyed our time in the village, and I really didn’t expect to. It was just so peaceful there, so relaxing and it felt so far away from everything else, no worries, no thinking about anything.

us with Berkay’s stepmum.

But now it was time to change out of the village baggy pants, say bye to the lovely people and views and head to the city instead…

Our village adventure – Day 1

Posted on November 26, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

Berkay’s family have been asking us to visit them for a long time and it was just impossible during the summer, however, now that it’s winter and life is moving by at a slower pace, we had the chance to make the trip. His step-mum is quite ill and recovering from an operation so we were hoping our visit would cheer her up a little.

They live in a town called Beyağaç in the Denizli province, it’s a town 1.5-2 hours away from the city centre. Instead of travelling on the bus from Fethiye for 6 hours, we rented a car for a relatively cheap amount (150tl for 3 days) and made the journey in just 4 hours instead, even with the cost of running it taken into consideration, it doesn’t work out much more expensive than the bus tickets, that’s the plus side of having a car that runs on LPG instead of petrol.

We left Fethiye at 1.45 pm on Friday and arrived at the village at around 6.15 pm. I was really looking forward to the drive because I knew it would be beautiful and I wasn’t disappointed, we had amazing views of the mountains and it was a relatively easy journey with nice roads. That’s the beauty of Turkey, you can reach almost any city just by following a single road. When in one place you can see sign posts pointing in all directions, directing you to other cities hundreds of miles away. Imagine being in London and seeing a sign post for ‘Manchester’ – it would be weird, but it’s normal here. So simple.

As we were driving further inland, we began to feel a bit chilly. When we reached a town near Tavas and stopped to fill up on gas, we realised just how cold it was. Freezing. We had to turn the car heater on to defrost ourselves.

Eventually we reached the town of Beyağaç, it’s actually a lot larger than I remember, with a population of 7000 people. Driving through the main town centre I saw a few apartment blocks, a post office, police station, school etc.. and of course the customary Ataturk statue (there’s one of these in every single town in Turkey). It’s very much a working farming town – most of the businesses deal with fixing tractors, delivering and supplying coal, animal food etc..

Berkay’s family live a 5-10 minute car drive from the main town centre, up on a hill surrounded by fields and beautiful scenery. They have wooden shacks behind their house full of animals, sheep, goats, chickens and cows. They use the cows for their milk, eggs and meat. They even make butter from the cow’s milk. Almost every fruit or vegetable they eat they have grown themselves. Everything there is very simple, back to basics.

We went inside and were greeted by his step-mum (from now on I’ll just call her his mum, as he has never met his birth mum), aunt and brother. All gave me a big hug and kisses both sides of my cheeks, as is the norm here in Turkey! ‘Who is that?’ I said to Berkay referring to the neighbours sitting in the living room that also joined in the hugging, ‘no idea’ he said… You have got to love their friendliness! After the welcome greetings were over, I felt a little more relaxed, I’m always nervous about that first ‘hello’ – mainly because I always end up in a panic about the polite way to do it. It’s normal here when greeting someone significantly older than yourself, to kiss their hand and then raise it to touch your forehead. It’s polite and shows that you respect your elders. The only person who really expects this in Berkay’s family is his father (and elderly neighbours etc). As it happened, his father arrived later than us so I had time to prepare for ‘the hand kiss’, I seriously practiced with myself first…

After his father arrived it was time for dinner. Berkay’s aunt is the main carer of the house, she goes every day and cooks, cleans etc, mainly because Berkays mum is ill, but also because her husband died a few years ago and her daughter has her own husband and house to take care of. I think she enjoys going to other people’s houses to spend her time being useful and so that she’s not so lonely.

The village is very traditional, the women do not work, they just stay home, cook, clean and look after the children and animals. I suppose it’s like going back in time 50 odd years in the UK , when housewives were the norm, and not frowned upon like they are today (in my experience, stay at home mums etc are often considered ‘lazy’). If I were to walk around the town centre, I would stick out like a sore thumb and it would be very apparent that I’m not from the area, not because I’m a foreigner, but because I’m a woman. There are just no women wandering around there, ever.

Anyway, the dinner was lovely. We had rice, chicken (fresh from the garden), an aubergine dish, yogurt and some fresh crusty bread. It was served in the traditional way here, in big metal bowls on a large tray on a blanket on the floor. The whole family sits on the floor to eat and shares food from the same bowl/plate, although everyone has their own fork/spoon. I really like this way of eating actually, it used to be a strange concept but now we do it so often it’s normal. It works out well if you don’t like a certain food too, instead of being served a plate of something and feeling under pressure to eat it, you can avoid it and take spoons of something you do like instead, they’ll never even notice! I avoided the yogurt, as I’ve still not quite grasped the concept of having yogurt served with dinner, but very much enjoyed the aubergine as I have become addicted to that since living in Turkey this time!

After dinner, everyone sat down with a glass of Cay and had a gossip, I have no idea what they were saying as I find it really difficult to understand a word. When in Fethiye, I can understand a lot, but there in the village it was different, I don’t know if it’s the dialect or if they just speak at super speed, but I can’t keep up with it. I just sat taking the atmosphere all in instead.

We were then served another large tray of fruit, watermelon, oranges, grapes, apples etc, sunflower seeds, nuts and cake. I didn’t want any but it’s rude to say no so I ended up eating a whole bowl of sunflower seeds, as you do, it’s impossible to eat just one!

We were really tired after the day of travelling so as soon as the neighbours went home at 10pm we headed to bed. Berkay’s mum wouldn’t let us sleep on the sofas in the living room or the cushions in the other bedroom (there’s only one bed in the house)- she made us take her bed instead, even though she’s sick. Bless her. These people might not have much themselves, but they are very welcoming and would give you anything.

Part 2 of our village trip coming soon!

Happy 2 years Boncuk!

Posted on November 6, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

The 3rd of November marked 2 years since we found and adopted our little Boncuk.

We were sat on our balcony when we heard a puppy crying, we couldn’t see where it was coming from so went downstairs to investigate, and that’s where we found Boncuk!

She was tied to a post outside our apartment block, tied up with a piece of rope around one of her legs so tightly she couldn’t move it… she had no food or water and had just been left. We called our landlord down from his apartment asked why there was a dog outside, he had no idea either, but said we could keep it as long as it stayed outside. He later remembered that a friend of a friend had asked him if he wanted a puppy and he said he’d consider it… so we assume they took that as a yes and just dumped her there a few weeks later, but we don’t know for sure.

Luckily we had a tiny lead and harness that we used for my rabbit (don’t ask…!) and it was the perfect size for the tiny puppy, so we used that to keep her tied somewhere safe. Our landlord and Berkay made a shelter for her from an old vegetable crate, bricks, plastic and some hay, and then we headed off to the pet shop to buy some dog food and a proper lead.

We decided to name the puppy Boncuk, Berkay chose it, it means ‘bead’ but apparently is a very common and unoriginal name for pets in Turkey, I’m not entirely sure of the relevance! Funny story – for 3 months we thought Boncuk was a boy… don’t even ask how that happened…

Looking back on photos I can’t believe how tiny she was. The vet estimated that she was around 5-6 weeks old. I remember her running around with Berkay’s shoe which was bigger than her! She looked so sad and had the biggest, cutest eyes. I love her ‘broken’ nose – it’s always been like that, half black and half patchy pink…unique!

Two years on, she still looks exactly the same, only much bigger, with longer legs and an extra 11kgs in weight! She still has the same facial expressions, this is her sulky face, she still does this when we give her a wash or take her to the vet!

She was the cutest little puppy ever, and is now the most beautiful grown up doggy… but still very naughty! We love you Boncuk (:

Home Sweet Home…

Posted on September 25, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

I’ve been living here for nearly 4 months now, how did the time go so quickly?! Last year I wrote a post about our old apartment (click HERE to read that) and I thought I’d do the same for this one. If you’re nosey, you’ll enjoy it, and if nothing else it’s nice for me to look back on later on! (:

We rent and live in a fairly typical Turkish apartment, we pay 550tl a month (roughly £160 at today’s rate), it’s nothing special and I think we are definitely paying a little too much rent for what it is, but I guess what we really pay for is location.

Our last apartment was a 20 minute walk to any other civilisation, no shops, no bus route, just a farm and our neighbours. This time we’re living near the sea, about 150 meters and less than a minutes walk to the beach, which I like. Although I loved living further out in Calis away from the busy parts and hotels, I did feel a little isolated. I never went out without Berkay as I didn’t like walking down the busy main road that ran past the house (it’s the main road to Calis from Dalaman so it was always very busy and difficult to cross). Now I’m able to leave the house, walk along the seafront, go to our friends house or even just walk 10 seconds and go to the corner shop for bread instead of the 20 minute one way walk previously. We’re at the quieter end of Calis just behind Guven’s restaurant so we still avoid a lot of the noise, it’s really the best of both worlds.

Our apartment is in a block of 10, and most of my neighbours are Turkish. It was 2 and a half months before I realised that one of my neighbours was actually English, I was wondering why I could hear English music and TV shows and one day it suddenly clicked! I’ve since found out that I have another English neighbour as well, but although I’ve been here 4 months and they live directly underneath me, I’ve not spoken a word to either of them!

Our apartment only has one bedroom, it’s fairly small but has massive wardrobes which we never had in our old house, so that’s a big bonus. It’s a very basic bedroom, wardrobe, chest of drawers, bed, mirror and fan. This fan has been on constantly since we moved in, the poor thing gave up recently so we had to buy a new one! We haven’t been sleeping with a duvet, just my blanket although we have pulled the duvet out of the cupboard this week as it’s been getting chilly! You may notice I’m a bit of a big kid, my blanket has Tinkerbell on it and I have a little soft toy army! I’m a sucker for teddy bears and soft toys, see that frog on my pillow? I can’t sleep without him!

Next to the bedroom is the bathroom/wetroom. I’ve had an argument with this room recently after slipping on the floor after a shower and badly bruising my elbow and grazing my foot and wrist! These things are so dangerous but I guess it’s much cheaper to have a wet room rather than installing a shower cubicle, and having a bath is definitely rare in Turkish houses, if you’ve got one of those, you know you’re doing well!

Further down the hallway is the kitchen, which is really tiny. Our landlord got us a new fridge after we moved in and when they brought it upstairs I was amazed it actually fit in, it takes up half the width of the room! It’s a basic kitchen, there are no fancy appliances, no dishwasher, no oven, no microwave, just 3 gas rings, a mini oven and an ancient washing machine. Surprisingly we bought the current gas bottle when we first move here and haven’t replaced it yet, one day I know I’m going to be in the middle of cooking dinner and it will run out… all part of the fun of living here (; Note the cupboards, these are the infamous ‘Turkish cupboards’ that are part of everyone’s houses..well maybe not everyone’s, but they are definitely very common, must be the cheapest version they sell!

The only other room in the apartment is the living room, where I spend every evening glued to my laptop and writing my blog! This room has an abundance of chairs as you may notice, two 3-seater sofas and 4 armchairs, and there were also 5 wooden chairs in here but we managed to give them back to the landlord. Seriously, who needs that many chairs, considering it’s a one bedroom apartment? I guess it’s for those sociable Turkish people who like to have the world and it’s mother around for cay everynight, we however, are not those type of people…

We actually have a TV in this house, which Berkay is very grateful for! He’d watch it every waking hour if he could, it drives me mad, Turkish ‘soaps’ are so bad, they make Eastenders look like an Oscar winning film! My favourite thing in the room is the cabinet in the corner with a few of our photos and Berkay’s diploma proudly displayed in it.

The thing I hate most about this room is that rug on the floor…. it’ lime green with an orange and purple clown on it… who buys these things? I’m not afraid of clowns and this one is quite cute, but it still creeps me out a little, I considered rolling it up and putting it out of sight but I’m a little too afraid of it… so it just sits there, at least it’s unique I suppose, I bet you’ve never seen a rug like this before?

We have two small balconies, one off the bedroom which we only use for drying clothes outside, and one off the living room which is where we sit and eat or play backgammon, our favourite things to do (; It’s nice out there, but it’s on a street where there are two hotels and a shop, so there are usually people or cars driving past which means it’s not very private. I love sitting out there being nosey though, I used to sit there every evening during Ramadan and listen for the call to prayer and cannon fire at sundown, lovely.

That’s all, it’s nothing special but it is our home, for now at least. When I first moved in here, I always wanted to be out and about doing something, I didn’t want to be sat at home. I realised that the reason I didn’t want to be inside too often was because I didn’t want to get too attached to this house, like our last one, as it’s just too heartbreaking when I have to leave it and go back to England. After 4 months, it was inevitable that this house would feel like home and now there’s nothing I like more than sitting on the balcony with Berkay playing backgammon and watching the world go by… Oh well, only another 5-6 weeks here then back to England for the foreseeable future… but for now, this is home.

The cost of living in Turkey…

Posted on August 6, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

122

I have been wanting to write this post since I started my blog last year, but I knew it would take a lot of research to get it right, and I also know a lot of people will disagree with me, but after discussing it with someone today, I was determined to post my view on this.

People think living in Turkey is cheap… It’s not. Unless you’re living off a British pension or have an income from other sources in the UK, it’s not cheap to live here at all. When I say to people it’s hard to live off a Turkish wage and that we always end up getting into debt, people tell me ‘you just need to budget better and not have a holiday lifestyle, it’s so cheap to live in Turkey’… I know for a fact that it’s not, and people just do not realise how local people really struggle.

Ok, now a little disclaimer, this is NOT about me. It’s not a pity party. I can get on the next flight home to England if it becomes too hard to live here. This is for the local people, the Turks, the thousands of people working in Turkey who do not have the luxury of choosing where to live or have many job opportunities.

I have always said that living in Turkey is actually more expensive than living in the UK. When you compare like for like, Turkey appears cheaper, but when you consider local wages, you realise it’s not. If you’re an expat in Turkey and have more than £250 a month in income from a pension or other means, you are financially better off than a lot of locals in Fethiye, and all over the country. The minimum wage here is 895tl a month after tax – that equals £255 a month or roughly £3068 a year. (For arguments sake throughout this article I’m using an exchange rate of 3.5tl/£1 as this is the rate being given in town as of today). This is minimum wage across the country. Compare this to minimum wage in the UK which is £6.31 an hour – for 40 hours a week this would be £11,380 a year AFTER tax, or £950 a month, roughly. This means that the minimum wage in Turkey is 3.7 x less than the UK, therefore, for Turkey to have a cheaper cost of living than the UK, the prices of everything would have to be 3.7 x lower than in the UK… let’s look into that and see if that is the case.

I have investigated the prices of many everyday items – I looked online at two main supermarkets – Migros for Turkey, and Tesco for the UK. These are pretty much the same thing, big supermarkets. Of course there are cheaper options for all of the foods listed, I could have looked at Aldi & Lidl compared to Turkey’s Bim & Sok for lesser known brands and cheaper choices, but for ease I’m looking at the two main supermarkets. The fruit and veg prices were compared using Tesco prices vs Fethiye market prices – the cheapest possible place to find them.

The photo below shows my findings.

As you can see, for most of the products, the price of these when converted into pounds is cheaper in Turkey, but not by very much, and certainly not 3.7 x cheaper. Things like bread, water and some fruits such as grapes and cherries are significantly cheaper here in Turkey, even with the difference in wages. For most things however, when considering the wage difference, are more expensive here in Turkey. For example, I did not find one single house product that was cheaper here, in comparison. Bleach, toothpaste, toilet paper, shampoo and deodorant are all more expensive, along with everyday food items such as pasta and milk.

Meat prices here in Turkey are ridiculous – as you can see from the table all red and white meat is significantly more expensive here when you factor in the wage differences.

Perhaps most shockingly, some of the everyday items are actually significantly more expensive in Turkey without even looking at the wage comparison – cheese, eggs, bananas, potatoes and pet food are all more expensive here in Turkey than it would be if we were shopping in Tesco. There’s also the fact that supermarkets in the UK often have “buy one get one free” deals which I rarely see in shops here.

I see where other expats are coming from – their pounds go further here than at home in England for the most part, but for people living here off a local wage life is very hard and a daily struggle. I have no idea how large families cope.

Groceries aren’t the only things that are more expensive in Turkey. I looked online and compared typical internet broadband prices, in the UK the average price worked out at £230 a year. Here in Turkey we pay around 90tl per month, or 1080tl (£308) per year. Again, that shows that the price of the internet luxury here is more expensive than the UK, without even considering wage differences.

I tried to compare electricity prices, but there are such vast differences in the amount that people pay each month it would be impossible to do a comparison, our electric bills every month are between 30-50tl, while I know others who pay 200tl a month, and I have no idea of the breakdown in prices either here or in the UK.

Petrol prices here in Turkey are far more expensive than the UK before even considering the wage difference. Car prices here are also ridiculous, a car that you would pay £1000 for in the UK is likely to sell for the equivalent of £5000 or more here in Turkey – no wonder I see so many ancient, non road-worthy cars around, nobody can afford models less than 20 years old.
White goods, fridges, washing machines etc and other general household goods here in Turkey are around the same price as in the UK – again when you consider wages are a lot less here, this makes them a lot more expensive in comparison.

Another significant thing here to remember is there is no free healthcare. For local people working their bosses should pay for their health insurance which enables cheaper treatment, and for those not working, the amount they pay for health insurance is means tested, but it’s not free. There are also very little income benefits. In order to be entitled they have to have worked and paid insurance for a certain amount of days in a period of time, Berkay was entitled to it last winter and got 300tl per month, who could ever live off that?

There are things that are cheaper here in Turkey, for example, council tax, road tax, insurance etc, but when everything else is considered, this is so small and insignificant.

Rent prices are a different story. Rent prices are undoubtedly a lot cheaper here in Turkey. From searching online, I found the price of a one bedroom flat in England varied considerably – from £400 in Northern areas, to over £700 in London. In comparison, prices for a one bedroom basic apartment here in Fethiye vary from 300 – 650tl (£85 – £170) – I can’t deny that they are much cheaper here.

You may be thinking to yourself, ‘why dont they work harder to earn more’ – it doesn’t work like that. I can only comment for people working in Tourism, as that is all I have knowledge of, but generally people working in this sector will be stuck in it for life. It doesn’t mean they’re lazy or unqualified (Berkay has a diploma in hotel management!) it just means they have no choice. It’s not like they can take on a second job to bump up their wages either – working days here are long with people working up to 12-15 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no time for another job.

All of the above isn’t even considering the fact that a lot of people in tourism don’t have work during winter, and those that do are more than likely working for less than minimum wage as their employer knows they are desperate and will work for any money they offer – some take total advantage and do not even pay them at the end of the month, they simply refuse, and because they have been working without insurance and for less than minimum wage they have no option but to accept it.

Im not suggesting the whole of Turkey is poor, there are of course people with very good jobs earning tens of thousands lira a year and people who would be rich even by English standards. But that doesn’t change the fact that for Turkish people, living here in Turkey IS more expensive than living in the UK. I know there will be people who disagree, but if you do the research you might be surprised at what you find.

Let me know if you agree, or disagree, I’m open to all comments. I’m really curious at people’s opinions of the cost of living here in Turkey. Before I moved here I had no idea, I didn’t care, I was ignorant, but it’s something that really fascinates me now and I can’t help but get into discussions about it when I see people saying the infamous words ‘it’s cheaper to live over there’.

Of course there are many positive things about living here, perhaps the quality of life here outweighs the increased cost of living? Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading, If you got this far, well done, what an essay this turned out to be!

Settling in?

Posted on July 6, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

So, I’ve been here in Turkey for 5 weeks now, where on earth has the time gone?

It’s been a while since I done a personal thoughts & feelings post, I’ve been focusing more on writing about days out and things to do and see. When I started this blog it was just going to be something personal, a kind of diary to look back on, but as time has gone on, more and more people read and as grateful as I am for the nearly 160,000 views I have, I’m less comfortable with sharing now, you can’t trust anyone on the internet and writing posts sharing personal thoughts and feelings gives people a lot of information to judge you on.

I do want to be as honest and as real as possible though. That being said, I thought it was time to do a post about how I’ve settled back into life here in Turkey and what I’m missing about England.

The first night I was here alone as Berkay had to work, and it hit me that I’d be spending a lot of my time alone again, I started to question whether I’d done the right thing and that maybe the grass is always greener on the other side… I also didn’t feel as ‘safe’ in this house, it’s much more central than our old one and there are more people around, it’s not as private.

The first few weeks I was here, I didn’t want to be in the house much, I was always bugging Berkay so we could go out and do something, walking, swimming, pointless trips to Fethiye… I think I wanted to spend as little time as possible in our house so that I didn’t get attached again, if it feels like home it’ll be harder to leave…

Well after being here 5 weeks I’m well and truly settled, our house DOES feel like home, there’s nothing I like more than sitting on the balcony with Berkay after dinner and just playing backgammon or watching a film. It’s just like the old days. I feel totally safe in our house and love it here. It took some getting used to living in a basic house again, no bath, no walk in shower, just a wet room with a tap and shower on the wall that makes the entire room and toilet seat soaking wet after each use! Not being able to flush the toilet paper took some getting use to again too!

I honestly do not miss England. I miss my family sometimes obviously, but I speak to my mum and grandparents everyday on Facetime without fail. I miss my little sister the most because we’re so close, no matter my mood she always cheers me up – I’ve been facetiming with Dad and seeing her, she always says ‘are you coming home yet Dan’ or mentions something about me coming back so I think she misses me too (:

I thought I might miss English food, a nice roast dinner, Cadbury’s chocolate, Monster Munch, ham sandwiches but I don’t really – although I am now drooling at the thought of all of the aforementioned! I love a lot of Turkish food so it doesn’t bother me much – perhaps the only thing I do miss is being able to chuck a ready made jar of sauce on the pasta or get some easy to cook, ready flavored Birdseye chicken out of the freezer. Everything has to be made from scratch – not much frozen food exists here!

I do not miss work at all, but I do miss having structure to my days. Anyone who knows me knows I have to have plans, I have to know what I’m doing and at what time, I’m not very spontaneous!

I’ve fallen into the habit of adapting to Berkay’s work/sleep pattern again. He works from 8pm – 9am everyday and sleeps either during the morning or the afternoon. I’ve started following that and not sleeping all night which is really bad – I’m still awake the same amount of time as anyone else, just all night instead of all day, which sometimes is a blessing as I don’t feel the unbearable heat. I’m still reliant on Berkay most of the time, when I lived here before I never went out without him. This time I walk the dog on my own and walk along Calis seafront a couple of times a week when he’s gone to work and just sit on the beach alone and watch the sunset. I love that.

All in all, I’ve settled back in and am still determined to make the most of every minute here. On Tuesday 8th Berkay and I have been together for 4 years. That’s really crazy, it seems like just yesterday we met, but then again sometimes it feels like we’ve been together so much longer, we’re like an old married couple, yet we’re not old and we’re not married. (;

I cannot believe it’s July already, how scary. More than half way through the year and I only have a few more months in Turkey… it’s not going to be any easier leaving this time than the last.
I’ll leave you with a few photos of the beautiful sunsets I witnessed in Calis last week. ❤

First week back in Turkey!

Posted on June 10, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

I’ve been back in Turkey for over a week now – it’s gone quick, yet somehow it still feels like I’ve been here forever. Weird! I failed at my plan to post daily updates, but I’ve decided to get my butt into gear and fully concentrate on my blog from now on, so as of tomorrow, I will hopefully be back on track and posting everyday.

Here’s what I got up to in my first week back in Turkey!

Tuesday.
Tuesdays are my favourite days, why? Because its Fethiye market day! I live in Calis, a 20 minute bus ride away from Fethiye, but Fethiye town really is my favourite place around here. I love walking around the markets, although it’s not so fun in summer when it’s absolutely boiling and the sweat just drips off you. On Tuesday we hopped on the bus to Fethiye in the morning as soon as Berkay had finished work, it was the first time I’d been there in 9 months, so it was really great to be back. Seeing the mosque opposite the bus stop and the street view as I walked around the corner was great, it felt like I was finally home!

We were really hungry so our first stop for breakfast was a tiny cafe opposite Is bank – I had Kiymali borek, which is basically mince in a puff pastry type pie – it might sound like a weird thing to have for breakfast but I love it, I love the potato ones too, mmmmm. Next we headed to the bank and then went for a little stroll along the seafront.

After doing some shopping for the boring stuff, tinned things and cleaning products, we went to the market. It was REALLY busy, which was surprising, as I hadn’t seen many people around until this point. There were coach load’s of tourists turning up for the market and wandering around, I guess the weather helped, it was raining so it wouldn’t be much fun sitting around a hotel pool trying to get a tan! 😉 We bought the essentials for our weekly shop – tomatoes, lettuce, melon, strawberries, blackberries, onions, peppers, potatoes, chicken and eggs. We never go to the supermarket for a weekly shop here – most things we eat are made from scratch. Walking around the market I really noticed the price of vegetables had gone up, last time I was here potatoes were 50krs – 75krs per kilo, now they’re 3tl/kg, what is that all about?!

After stocking up on it all, we went to Berkay’s friend’s little pancake van and shared a tomato, cheese and chili flake bazlama, yummy. I’ve previously written about all the other food you can find at the market if you’re interested, click HERE to read.
After all the shopping we got the bus home and went for a walk with Boncuk, she’s far too big to be cuddled like this nowadays!

Wednesday.
On Wednesday we went to the second hand market held on the first Wednesday of every month in the same area as the food section of the Tuesday weekly market. Our friend had a stall so we used her table and managed to sell some old clothes, shoes, bags, hats, nail varnish etc. It’s amazing what people will buy. Some of the stuff you see really is crap, teddies with missing eyes, clothes with holes in, used, dirty, holey shoes… but people are happy enough to buy as they only pay 50krs- 2tl for each item. Our clothes were all in good condition and we managed to make around 20tl – not much, but those things were just sitting in a cupboard taking up space at home, so it was better than nothing! We gave the bag of clothes that we didn’t sell to Berkay’s mum to take back to their village and hand out to the needy. The lady who’s table we were using is good friends of ours – Berkay works with her husband and last year we always used to go on picnic’s etc with them, they have a little boy, Cinar, who was only 9-10 months old last time I saw him, now he’s over 18months and going through the terrible 2’s! He didn’t remember me, wouldn’t come over to me or let me hold him without kicking and hitting me, what a nice welcome! Haha. He loves Berkay though. After the market had finished, we headed to the fish market and spent our profits on dinner, we picked out our fish and took them to one of the surrounding restaurants who cooked and served it for us – lovely. (:

Thursday.
On Thursday we had no plans to do anything as the weather was bad. I was woken up at 5am by huge cracks of thunder and lightening which led to the customary mad dash around the house unplugging all electricals before the power surge blows them up (I’ve learnt this from experience!!) Berkay slept in the morning, woke up at 3, and we planned to cook dinner and stay at home – that plan was altered a bit when we realised our gas bottle had ran out. Berkay’s friend works in the place that delivers the gas bottles on their little scooters, so a quick phonecall to him and the crisis was averted, however, the inevitable happened and we ended up being invited around to his friends house, so we went after dinner. Last August I posted about these friends and congratulated them on being pregnant with twins (click here to read), well these twins are now 3 months old so I met them for the first time, they are so, so, cute. One of them took a liking to me and found me hilarious! It’s funny how one has light, fine hair and the other a full mop of black, fluffy hair! Sweet. Their names are Emir and Emre but I’m not entirely sure which is which, so for now I know them as ‘hairy baby’ and ‘non hairy baby’!! Although incredibly cute, they were incredibly hard work, the mum didn’t have a minute to herself the whole time we were there, and both the grandparents were there helping non stop too! These are spoilt babies, never out of someones arms and they only slept on a blanket for 10 minutes the whole time we were there – life lesson = don’t have twins! At one point both babies were screaming so they laid each of them down on a white blanket, lifted up the edges and formed a kind of hammock and began swinging them back and forth. ”Turkish!” their grandad said to me with a big grin on his face. Crazy was my opinion on the matter, so I couldn’t help taking a photo. They were stood rocking them both for at least 30 minutes each, and this took 4 people… goodness knows what would happen if the mum was ever alone with them both!

Friday.
I woke up early Friday morning and headed off to the hotel Berkay works in as the boss needed me to help with something, an hour and a half and a free buffet breakfast later, we were still there. This was the first really sunny morning I’d had since I was there, it was really hot so the pool looked really tempting! Boncuk was really happy to see me at the hotel and came running up to me then proceeded to run around me in circles for 5minutes not letting any of us get her to put her back inside, she’s crazy! After we’d finished helping at the hotel, we went for a walk with Boncuk along the seafront where I managed to get sunburnt. It was really hot!

Berkay must have thought it was hot too, as when we were in the middle of walking Boncuk he turned around and said ‘Do you want to go for a swim?’ – Berkay NEVER says this, its always me bugging him to come to the beach with me! So off we went to get changed and have a dip in the sea. It’s so lovely now we live a 60 second walk away from the beach. The sea was a bit wavy, and kept knocking me over which I hate as it means I end up swallowing a mouthful of salty water, gag! It wasn’t too cold, just nice, we only stayed for 30 minutes or so but it was nice to cool off. When we came home we both had a sleep and woke up to another thunderstorm and heavy rain, it’s crazy to think that in the morning it was boiling and clear blue skies, then a few hours later, pouring with rain and stormy – in June! Madness.

Saturday.
On Saturday we had no plans so just caught the Dolmus to Fethiye for lunch – we had Doner. Mmmm. You can’t beat a good chicken doner, especially with chips inside and a side helping of tiny hot pickled chili peppers. Much better than the greasy kebabs back in England! I also got a slice of this amazing cake for my dinner – banana cake with cream and lots of layers. Mmmm. Are you sensing a food theme here on my blog?!

Sunday.
There are no photos from Sunday – at 11pm Thursday night Berkay came home from work to pick up some change of clothes for his brother who was rushed into hospital to have his appendix out. Berkay’s boss covered for him so he stayed all night at the hospital with his brother and didn’t come home til 4pm on Sunday. Then his Dad and Stepmum traveled from Denizli so that his brother wouldn’t be alone at the hospital. She popped into our house to say hi and bought us some goodies from their village – homemade butter and yogurt, a leg of lamb, chickpeas, lentils, corn kernels, onions… His brother is still in hospital at the moment recovering, hopefully he’ll be back to himself and at work in Hisaronu again soon!

Monday.
Today Berkay wasn’t home again until 5pm as he had to go and do a one day course to get his food hygiene certifcate. I had dinner waiting for him when he came home and then we went off for a stroll along the seafront – it was lovely and warm but very quiet. It seems like the season still isn’t in full swing yet. Hopefully when we get into July/August things will start to get busier!

As you can see, we had a pretty busy week. Berkay works night’s so he’s been having a couple of hours sleep in the hotel then either staying awake til 3-4pm so we get all morning and lunchtime together, or going to sleep when he comes home and waking up at 3pm so we get the afternoon and dinner together. I much prefer him working night’s to days, or I’d never see him.

Sorry for the long, photo heavy and overdue post. I WILL be back tomorrow with another! ❤