All about Janey . . . in Mersin

 

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I have always believed that I have had a pretty charmed life (well up to this moment anyway).  Things just seem to go my way but for one thing.  Love.   Where was that “Pina Colada” moment that I longed for?  On a whim I purchased a round world ticket and arrived one steamy summer evening in Bodrum, Turkey where, after a less than stellar meeting, I fell in love, or lust, or maybe I was drunk and fell over, with my husband (hereafter called The Turk).

Now I find myself in my mid-40’s and ready for a new adventure, this time with The Turk, Daughter and our two fur-babies.  We threw in our jobs, boxed up our lives and, following our dream, we relocated to a small village outside of Mersin, Turkey.  Where?  Marmaris did you say?  No people not the party town of Marmaris or bootylicious Bodrum, or even cosmopolitan Istanbul – pffttt – we have moved to a small village outside of mundane Mersin and believe me it ain’t no picnic!

This is not a blog about my glamorous life living it up in a foreign country, I want to tell you about how life really is.  It can be bloody hard.  It can throw you into dark places.  It can make you second guess yourself and it can reduce you to tears.  Different cultures, different personalities, different lifestyles and don’t get me started on the bureaucracy!

Mersin is not on the tourist map (although it should be) and there are not many expats to be found.  When you are in Mersin (or a village outside of Mersin) you need to go native very quickly or you will not survive.

This blog is also not just about me, it’s about The Turk and his life returning to his homeland and Daughter who was forcibly removed from the crazy of 21st Century tween life consisting of the newest apps and gossip and now has the life that every kid should have, riding her bike, playing in the sunshine and surrounded by family and friends.

Culture shock aside I am now a Turkish Housewife (and not a very good one).  I cook (badly), clean (rarely), learn (slowly), love (with my whole heart) and laugh (always).

65 thoughts on “All about Janey . . . in Mersin”

  2. So you decided to join the small clan of Uncle Spike followers Janey…. That makes me a happy blogger now – I really appreciate you making that special mouse click.

    Hope you like my upcoming posts and if you get bored one day, maybe you’ll enjoy trawling through some of my older stuff too.

    If you have any likes, dislikes or suggestions about my blog, just let me know, either through ‘comments’ or via email. Always welcome reader input 🙂

    Have a great old day…

    UNCLE SPIKE
    uncle.spikes.adventures1@gmail.com

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  6. I am enjoying reading your blog Janey. Thank you for sharing your experiences. My daughter has been living in Oz for the last 3 years, so I get a bit of an idea of how your adjustment to Turkey must feel. 🙂 I am planning to relocate to Mersin in May with my 10 year old son. I sent you a pm through Turkey Central. It would be great to get to know someone there before I arrive!

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  7. Hi Janey, thank you for following my blog! I’m delighted that you did because now I’ve got so many of your wonderful posts to get through. Moving to a small fishing village in Turkey may be the bravest expat move I’ve ever heard of … Puts my cushy ‘cultural differences’ here in the Netherlands to shame :p

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  13. This is one of the funniest blogs I have come across. You make me laugh with every post. I’ve never been to Turkey before but thanks to you it is definitely on my Bucket List.

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  16. Pingback: 100 posts! | janeyinmersin

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  22. Thanks for the follow on my site. I love what you say on this page and I am looking forward to getting to know about you and your (not always easy or perfect) adventures 🙂

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  24. Have been reading your blog – love it. I have spent a long time over the last year in Mersin, I love it. Wish I had known about you when I was there for 5 weeks in December last year!!!!

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  27. Thanks so much, Jane, for dropping by and liking the photo of my cat Sophie. It got me over here to pay a return call — and look what I found: your own supercallifragilicousexpialadocious blog! What a reading treat is in store for me!

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  33. When I board the plane to Sydney I was 23 years old, I faced lots of challenges and hardship especially after 9/11. Its a bloody long story but after I returned back in 2009 and never looked back to Australia. I just missed one thing “Oportos”:)

    It is interesting to see that I was not alone “The Turk” faced the similar difficulties, and challenges.

    Nice blog Janey!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Oh Ahmet! Oportos!! Now I am drooling! The Turk brought back oporto’s sauce last year. It was amazeballs!

      I totally u servant how you feel. I haven’t looked back yet, sideways maybe, but never back.

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  34. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog because it has now brought me to yours! I loved reading your story which I find fascinating. Good for you for going for the gamble I have been fortunate enough to travel to Turkey and I think it is very different than what many people would expect. I can’t wait to read more!

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  35. I recently came across your blog (& FB page) whilst researching our 2016 trip to Kizkalesi, via Istanbul and Cappadocia. Enjoying the laidback style and content, please keep it coming.

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  37. Hi Janey, you have a really nice blog! I have a question.. how do you put the follow buttons at the end of your blogposts? I just started blogging.. I really want that to! I followed you by the way!

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  39. Hey Janey, you cannot imagine how glad I am reading your ‘about’. My boyfriend and I just came to Istanbul 3 months ago and we were looking after turkish bloggers since we have a blog ( http://www.asfarwithus.com ). If some day we pass by mersin, we will ask you for some advice. Keep up and keep writing. Love

    Like

  40. Good morning … I\d like to thank you for this informative blog … I have some questions and I hope you help me by your advise here or send it to my email please … do yo know any good Big and Tall clothes store in Mersin (really big !!)
    and if there is any good clinic for Botox and plastic surgery in Mersin
    thank you for help

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  42. Pingback: Sisterhood of the World Blogging Award | The Expat Chronicles

  44. Wow, I just stumbled across your blog on a random Google search looking up how to make domates salca and I’ve completely fallen down the rabbit hole! (And I didn’t even find the post that had salca in it!)

    Like you, I’m a world traveler and Istanbul was to be my final planned destination of my most recent RTW, but then I came to Cappadocia, fell in love and stayed. =) I love your storytelling and will be following along with your blog. I’m hoping to update mine a bit more regularly with stories about living in Goreme. I can relate to so much of what you are posting – it’s a tourist town here, but I don’t mix too much with tourists or expats and adjusting to life with my Turkish boyfriend and his family has been tricky at times. It’s nice to find blogs like yours because then I feel less isolated. =) So thank you!

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  45. I found your blog through a bizarre search engine question that led someone to mine (“if you never chased a chicken then you don’t know village life”). I couldn’t help wondering where else it would lead–and here I am, two blog posts later, still wondering it you wrote about chickens. I know I didn’t, although I do write about life in a Cornish village.

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    • I do write about chickens … well more correctly a rooster that was ruining my life. He was my nemesis but alas he is no more. But he was a very tasty mangal or BBQ!

      I love a good search engine, it introduces you to some fab blog pages. Welcome or hosgeldiniz.

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  46. Traveller at heart referred me to your blog. I love your humorous writing style, so I signed up. My expat days are over, but I spent twenty years in the Philippines and three in Vanuatu. Now I’m back home in the United States and working on my second novel, which is set in … Manila and Vanuatu. (My first novel, Tiger Tail Soup, was set in China, the homeland of my late husband.) I’m looking forward to following your adventures.

    Liked by 2 people

  47. Hi Janey! What an interesting blog you have. I have only been to Istanbul (in Turkey) and loved it. I look forward to reading more about your adventures 😀 xx

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  49. Hi, Janey!

    I’m Najiyah Maxfield, Editorial Director of Daybreak Press, a non-profit, woman-run press in the States. We just published a picture book called Drummer Girl which is set in Turkey, and we wondered if you’d like to review it or perhaps interview the author.

    Drummer Girl is the story of a young girl who wants to become a musaharati in Ramadan, and it just received the Literary Classics Seal of Approval. We’d love to send you a digital copy to take a look at. Here is a link to the award announcement: http://clcreviews.blogspot.com/2017/02/drummer-girl-by-hiba-masood-earns.html

    Please feel free to email me at daybreakpress@rabata.org or whatsapp me at 18162177922. Thanks!

    Najiyah

    Liked by 1 person

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