Istanbul, Türkiye.
August,2019.
.
.
The city of Istanbul buzzed 24/7 with foreigners in sundresses and shorts, hats and sunglasses. It was everyone's favorite time to visit, summer.
The heap of snow melted and the days were bright. The streets smelled like roasted chestnuts and buttered grilled corn on the cob, kebabs, the sweet smell of baklava and people walked around eating the famous pistachio turkish ice creams.
The relationship between Aslam and Amna was thriving beautifully. Aslam had been the perfect gentleman even though he got on her nerves sometimes with teasing. They knew and understood each other better, unraveling the layers of each other with each passing day, they communicated well and balanced each other, bringing out the best in each other.
They spent a lot of time together, restaurant hopping, visiting mosques and museums, the beaches- when summer rolled in and horse riding, Amna was no longer scared of horses even. During Ramadan they had Iftaar together twice.
Aslam traveled to Nigeria in May, 2 weeks into Ramadan and spent Eid at their family house in Maiduguri for the first time in almost 6 years. After Eid, he was in Abuja for weeks, hunting for the most suitable location for high rise office buildings in the Central Area where he wanted to move his Architectural Firm to, then flew to London in late June.
They spent hours on FaceTime at night.
.
.
.
•AMNA.
We woke up earlier than usual today, cleaned the whole apartment then went grocery shopping.
Aslam is back in Istanbul for a few weeks and I have invited him for lunch. I specifically put pumpkin and spinach at the top of the grocery list because I want to make masa and miyan taushe with pepper soup, it's one his favorites- he had bauchi masa at a friend's house when he went to Nigeria and couldn't stop talking about it.
.
.
.
After zuhr, I started prepping for the taushe by chopping up the spinach then cutting the pumpkins into cubes and boiling them while waiting for the masa batter to proof. I prepared the pepper soup quickly and let it cook because it took longer before I started prepping the taushe.
Khalthum walked into the kitchen with my phone as I turned off the blender and transferred the pumpkin puree into the pot "Your baby is calling, wayaga big baby" she mocked, with a sly smile.
I took the phone and answered, his face filling the screen.
I smiled "Hey!"
"Hey darlinggg, you're back home already?"
"Yeah, sorry I didn't reply your text, I put the phone to charge, and I have been in the kitchen."
"It's fine, I just called to check in..."
I positioned my phone on the counter while we spoke. I set the mini pancake pan on the cooker and fried the northern Nigerian rice pancake-like treat while occasionally stirring the soup.
Khalthum rolled her eyes playfully when she walked back into the kitchen "I'll lock myself in the room, you people will not oppress me today."
We both laughed, Aslam joining in.
"Let me go set the table," Khalthum grabbed 3 plates, bowls and cups.
In slightly less than an hour, I finished the masa and taushe and reheated the pepper soup putting them all in dishes and setting them on the table.
