The Not-So-Secret Love Affair

It has been ages since I’ve written last time, it has been the most stressful month of my life so far. I had to spend four weeks wrapping up my life in Baku and being eager to leave didn’t help. As my friend Demet said, the first week you’ll recover from your holiday in Cyprus, the second and third you’ll get into the swing of things and the fourth one will fly by because you’d be getting ready to leave. The first two weeks went according to my friend’s prediction, but last two weeks were very stressful and only seeing my girlfriends, consuming lots of good wine and sharing lots of jokes and laughter (all of the above normally go hand-in-hand) kept me through those dreadful last weeks. Thank you, Janet, Marianne and Andrea!!! I will definitely remember the last days we spent in Baku together! Those were the days!

I was sad saying good bye to a few people, some of them stayed in Baku, some left a while ago, but I am grateful for all of you – Ayan, Leyla, both Saidas – you know who you are, and many other friends I’ve made at work – I will not embarrass each and every one of them here!

I had a proper send off, kept the job, thank heavens for that, as you all know your friend is not very happy when not working, so all is right with the world.

So the situation in the paradise is the following: moved into the new apartment overlooking the sea, in the town on Kyrenia, spare bedroom and bathroom, especially for friends who’d like to visit, a seven-minute walk to the supermarket and a good half hour walk to the harbor (the most charming harbor you’ll ever see!).

I did the walk this morning and it took me 2 hours both ways, but I did make a few stops - at the bakery that our friend runs downtown, and then at the harbor to admire the peaceful morning and observe how the sailors hurry to their ships and wake them up from the night’s slumber, merchants opening up their shops to invite the first visitors, fishermen putting their first bait on the hooks… The salty smell of the sea, the golden rays of sun, everything screams ‘Good morning! I am in love with you!’ And I say it back. Yes, I am in love, and this is the love affair I cannot hide – you have to come and see for yourselves!

Greetings from the island of love,

Your Tanka Lou