Antalya's Winter on a sunny day
When you ask people why they moved to Antalya, the sunny weather is usually on top of their list of reasons. So when Antalya turns gray and rainy I suppose it's natural that some of us feel a bit down and wonder what we're doing here. Personally, I enjoy the occasional rainy day; it gives me an excuse to have a lazy day at home, reading or watching a movie. In the beautiful weather I always feel like I "should" be outside. But when the rainy days pile up it does start to affect my mood.
This week it rained on Tuesday, but by late afternoon I was out of the house anyway to meet Gabi for dinner and salsa dancing downtown. On Wednesday it rained again, but Patrick called and offered to pick me up on his way to Ayyas for the weekly anglophonic beerfest.
But when I woke up to a gray and rainy Thursday I could no longer fight the blues; I resigned myself to moping around the apartment. While avoiding productivity by wasting time on Facebook I noticed a post on my wall from Nob Stewart, the comedic character and alter ego of my friend Billy. It was a video of Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" with a suggestion that we sing it together. That was good for a laugh.
I sent Billy a message and we chatted a bit about rain and bad moods. I mentioned I was out of cookies but that I'd found a beer in my fridge, whereupon Billy offered to keep me company and bring more beer. Sounded like a plan.
When he arrived wearing purple tartan pants with a red tartan shirt and non-matching red tartan vest (not for nothing is he known as "crazy Scottish Billy") he'd brought not only beer, but DVD's, a hard drive full of films, a book of conspiracy theories and a boom box with fifty years of rock music. Billy always brings the party with him. Here I am with him at Patrick's Halloween party, wearing one of Billy's wigs:
Antalya Expat Halloween
We ended up watching Nob Stewart videos, discussing the crazy conspiracy book (which I promised to read in order to more fully understand the paranoia therein), tossing around ideas of a joint venture of combining web resources ( Billy's site is Antalya Living) and collaborating on an Antalya guidebook, and of course drinking the beer. Perfect rainy day entertainment!
The next day was sunny and beautiful, and my Winter blues had vanished. Crazy Billy brings the sunshine! Thanks, Billy.