On a sunny day here, traffic is bad,
on a rainy day, traffic is horrible,
and on a snowy day, traffic stops.
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| If you look carefully (click on the picture to enlarge it) you can see people trying to push the stranded cars out of the way (up the hill!!) |
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| Snow chains made of Silly Bands? Our school has been closed for six consecutive schooldays due to heavy snow and slippery roads. Luckily we don't have to make up for those days at the end of the school year, because teachers post work on the internet, and we parents get to play teacher. I have to say that after a week of doing this I am exhausted, and I think all parents will be out this weekend trying to melt the last bit of snow so school can reopen on Monday. Luckily we have made some new friends who live in walking distance from our house, so after "playing" school most of the day we have trudged over to them to clear our heads and get into a good snowball fight. |
Our school's main campus is about 50 km (30 miles) from where we live, and I have heard that out there they have gotten over half a meter of snow (more than 1.5 feet). It is also much colder out there, so even if it starts raining here in the city center, it might still snow out there.
To get to the school campus you first have to drive on one of the most heavily trafficked highways in Istanbul, and then you exit onto farm roads and through a small village.
Since it doesn't snow that frequently in this area, snow-removing equipment is not something sitting around waiting to be used. You don't see pick-up trucks here with a snow plow attached, waiting for the first flurry and the biggest paycheck of the year, like we used to see from Halloween to Memorial Day back in New England.
Since people here don't sit around waiting for something to hit, they have to take whatever they have and try to make new use of it when the snow arrives. I was told that this week people living in the village by the school got stuck, because they didn't have snow plows to clear the roads. Someone told me they then put the cars onto big front loaders and let the tractors drop them off on the highway!
We will either find a way, or make one.
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The first vehicle has the snow plow, and the second the sand/salt spreader (picture taken from our bedroom window) |
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| Snow shovels made as the first flurries are falling (picture taken last winter) |
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| The gate keepers seemed to have a snow-man competition |
I never knew it could snow that much in Istanbul. Amazing.
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