We have guests staying at Villa Rockheart this week, so we have been invited by our friend Pamela, to come and stay in her fabulous house. We didn’t need a second to say YES PLEASE!! And the weather remains very good especially during the day when temperatures remain sunbathing hot. Nights are beginning to cool down but still around the 17C level. I’m still in shorts and t shirts….. Anyway, it’s been a delight to stay here, in this amazing house, for a change of scene, great company and to join in some of the activities that are available to expats living here. And there are a lot. So much more to do than seems to be available at home and amongst a very welcoming community of over 45s mostly, many single. No need to be bored if you don’t choose to be there’s so much to do. To clarify, my singles remark , I just mean it’s not just some coupley thing where a person on their own would feel self conscious lolol
I declined the zumba classes at the moment….. too tired….. pool area too nice….. but yesterday I went to a modern choir with her which was huge fun. There were about 20 of us I would say roughly split male/female and we sang our hearts out for an hour or so – gospel medleys, Sound of Silence, Shallow, Angels….. the musical director was great and it was just happy fun, not at all serious or pressured. Cost? A voluntary donation to the charity box. There are countless things to do here like that. Today we are going to an art class. More about that another time. Bob already goes to the weekly canasta group at the Blue Song in Lapta, of course.
A funny one last night. Not everything is successful…. and I do appreciate that lots of the charity events are run by volunteers….. but….. The Anglo Turkish Association had organised a School Dinners evening. They organise a lot of excellent tours, trips and outings to foster inter-cultural understanding and education but this was a new one…. We all went dressed up in school uniform costumes which was fun. I painted on some freckles. Pamela had some funky plaits! It was held at the Mountain View Hotel in Karaoglanoglu. We were meeting Linda, Mike and Jaqcui. For £15 we were promised themed fun, a school disco, raffle, games, and a school dinner of sausages, mince in gravy, mashed potatoes, veg, jam roly poly and rice pudding.
It seemed promising on arrival if not hugely well attended. Everyone was in costume at least. But then it did start to go a bit wrong. One of the main organisers, dressed as a Headmaster, came round handing out sheets of “Homework” which we were sternly instructed to complete. So far so funny. But then when we looked down at the sheets, puzzlement ensued. All the questions were captioned with the answers. Everyone conferred and everyone – except Bob – actually had been given the answer sheet. It turned out that the chap had got the answer sheet photocopied multiple times instead of the quiz sheet and had handed that out. Bob got the quiz sheet which had only been copied once. LOL. Well, that put an end to the quiz.
Then the entertainer came on and announced he would be playing music from the 50s and 60s while we ate accompanied by a slide show of photos from said time showing scenes we would all remember. Well…ok we are quite old but most of us can’t actually remember the 50s…. In any case the music started up and was from a much later era and the photo show never appeared at all…. The organising couple were looking positively shellshocked by now and seemed to give up and wandered about in somewhat of a daze. Our group of 6 all had the same Harry Potter Gryffindor ties on, purchased online for such occasions. When the headmaster’s lady came round to sell raffle tickets, she got to our group and exclaimed in total genuine surprise, “Oh my goodness, did you all go to the same school, how lovely you’ve kept in touch”. More bewilderment ensued….
The games consisted of a hoola hoop which our waiter enjoyed very much. The raffle was not at all good….. looking at the very meagre prize table, Bob remarked he wanted to win the salt and pepper pots which were actually the hotel’s, not part of the prizes.
Food was good to be fair, at least the main course, although the puddings were not as billed and had turned into jam sponge and custard and apple pie and custard, both cold. Meal choices for vegetarians and coeliacs had been forgotten but the hotel stepped in and provided some eventually. Luckily the bar ran efficiently and we had the great company of our group of friends so we laughed it all off and fled about 10pm. Well, it was an amusing evening, and for a good cause, but possibly not for the right reasons and thank goodness there didn’t seem to be any Turkish people there to enjoy this rather bizarre evening of British culture.