Hi, my dear!
I hope you're doing well and that you're in a great mood. I'm sorry I haven't written to you very often lately. Work and everyday responsibilities have been overwhelming these past few weeks, and it feels like they've all come crashing down on me at once.
Today is finally my day off, so I decided to spend it at the shopping mall. It's the peak of the summer holiday season here in Turkey, so everything is beautifully decorated for tourists. The mall has such a festive atmosphere there's music, decorations, performances, and people welcoming visitors everywhere. It really feels like a celebration.
I went there to look for a gift for my friend and to buy a few things to send back home to Ukraine. I spent hours walking around the shops, bought a few things, and then realized that if I keep shopping like this, I'll spend my entire salary that I got on Friday. Haha!
Later, I wandered into another part of the mall where they had something like a fair with games and entertainment. There was a huge panda there. Of course I went over to see it you already know how much I love pandas. But then something funny happened. They pulled me into a big circle dance with all the tourists. Everyone always thinks I'm a tourist too, even though I've been living here for many years.
They were also selling lottery tickets, and I decided to buy a few one for myself, one for my friend, and one for you. Why not? I thought it would be a cute and unusual little gift. Even if we don't win anything, I like the idea that we're taking part in something together.
Besides, I need to give a few gifts to complete the Destiny Card that my tarot reader created for me, so it all worked out perfectly.
You should receive an email with your lottery ticket numbers and the drawing date. The draw will be in a couple of days. The lottery is called Splnes Panda. I chose it because I absolutely love pandas.
Please check your Spam folder just in case. I use Gmail too, and for some reason it loves putting almost every email there important ones and ordinary ones alike.
By the way, the last time my friend and I bought lottery tickets, we won 3,500 Turkish lira! We spent the prize on a huge bag of cat food and distributed it among the feeding stations around the city. There are hundreds of them here in Ankara. In Ukraine, you mostly see bird feeders, but here there are feeding stations for stray cats everywhere. I think it's such a kind and beautiful tradition.
So today I'm planning to keep doing a few more good deeds.
I'll be looking forward to your message. Please let me know if you received the notification about your lottery ticket.
And once again, I'm sorry that I don't write as often as I'd like. I really hope that when we move to WhatsApp, we'll be able to talk more often and get to know each other better.
Sometimes I worry that I might seem a little careless or frivolous to you, but that's really not who I am. Life has just been incredibly busy lately, and I haven't always had enough time for everything.
I'm really looking forward to hearing from you. Tell me how you spent your weekend and what you've been up to.
I was also invited to a small celebration today. If I take some nice pictures, I'll definitely send them to you.
A kiss for you.
Have a wonderful holiday and a beautiful day!
Your friend from Turkey.