Girls' Day Out

Yesterday, I had my first Girls' Day Out in a loooooong time.  My new friend, Kathy, along with her friend Marie (who is visiting from California), and I all went to the opening meeting of the International Women of Istanbul.  While I have never been a fan of this organization, which caters primarily to the wives of wealthy executives, they do have some useful groups for kids.  That was the reason I first joined last year, not realizing that at 12 years old my daughter was no longer a "kid" by IWI standards.  The first meeting I went to, I was rather disappointed in some of the ladies there, who were clearly more interested in my (husband's) financial status and the brand names on my shoes and clothing.  At one point, someone actually went so far as to assume that my husband was my driver (which he is, but not in the same context!), and asked him to wait outside on the patio.  What a crock of frijoles! 

According to Kathy, there are actually some really nice people on the Asian side who get together with kids and whatnot and actually act like real people.  The snooty folk mainly stay on the European side and mingle amongst their own sad selves.  ("Oh, my, it's such a difficulty finding good help.  I just don't know what I would do without my driver, housecleaner, cook, and nanny."  No, I am not exaggerating, nor am I employing creative license!)  I would like to meet some moms expecting babes around the same time and would especially like to  meet those who are planning a natural birth and to breastfeed.  Maybe I'll get lucky and there will be one.

So anyway, Kathy convinced me to give the IWI another try.  She promised that she would introduce me to some nice people who live on the Asian side and are not plastic people.  She was right and she did.  I signed up for the Pregnant Mums & Kids group, and I think they said that there will be meetings on this side as well as on the other side.  It will be nice to get out and mingle with other mothers every now and then.  I haven't had much of that since we came here, because most of the women I know either don't have kids or their kids are much younger than Meg.

All in all, it was a pretty good day out.  We cabbed it from Kathy's house to the iskele (ferry boat dock) and took the fast ferry over to Besiktas, and from there a quick cab to the Hilton.  Once there, Marie and I figured out real fast that Kathy knows *everybody!*  She knew someone at almost every table, it was impressive!  Marie made the comment that Kathy collects people, like charms on a bracelet.  I wanna be a charm on Kathy's bracelet!  We spent some time perusing the booths and tables, signed up for groups, collected freebies, bought a couple of things, drank some coffee, and then headed over to one of the hotel's restaurants for one of the most expensive meals I have ever had in Istanbul.  (10ytl for a tiny little bottle of Coke--get real!)  The food was worth it, though, if not the drink prices.  I'm thankful I stuck with good ol' H2O, which was costly enough.  After our leisurely lunch, throughout which I chattered like a magpie--totally unlike me!, we cabbed it back to the Besiktas iskele, then fast ferry home to Asia Minor and a quick cab back to Kathy's after a brief stop at the market.  I was so tired when we got home, but in a good way, that we just ordered pizza for dinner.  It was so worth it!