The apartment has been pretty quite lately, with my younger host sister and host father both out of town, but I think it's actually given me a better chance to get to know my host mom... So I kind of had this fantasy before coming to Turkey that I'd spend hours in the kitchen, learning how to make traditional Turkish food while learning all about the culture and language of the country. And I've done a pretty good job of doing that so far. But I think my dream really came true this evening as I stuffed grape leaves on the balcony with my host mother, actually finishing sentences in Turkish (with help of course) as we went about our work. It was a beautifully cliché moment. It'll only get better when we actually eat the dish for dinner on Thursday night.