I need to explain the photos that I uploaded a few days ago!
Hatice and I visited Dolmabahce Palace (means "filled garden" in English) on Friday. It is the biggest palace in Istanbul, situated on the Bosphorus. It was built in the mid 1800's, has 285 rooms, 44 halls, 68 toilets (!) and 6 hamams (Turkish baths). The styles used are neo-classical (very French-looking) combined with Ottoman elements. It has the largest collection of Baccarat and Bohemian crystal in the world. The floors are beautiful parque covered with elaborate Turkish carpets. All the furnishings are intact and original. It was home to six Sultans and in the 1920's ownership was transferred to the new Republic of Turkey. Ataturk used the palace as his summer home, and died there in 1938. To enter you must wear disposable plastic booties over your shoes. We had a bad tour guide, his English was hard to understand and his accent wasn't Turkish....or American...or Russian..or British. maybe he learned English from a robot? That's what it sounded like! The first part of the tour, the guy who was following the tour to make sure everyone kept up with their group made up for the poor tour guide, and told us many interesting things about the palace. No such luck on the 2nd part of the tour when the man doing the same job kept rushing us! And he looked mean, too!
Remember I had a craving for a baked potato? I've been passing them all along - street vendors sell them! All I saw were the toppings so I didn't know! Here, the toppings for baked potatoes are butter, cheese, yogurt, meats, peas and corn, mayonaisse, potato salad (!) and olives! I had mine with butter, cheese, peas, yogurt and mayo. Hatice said I was grinning the entire time I ordered it :-))
That evening we crossed the Bosphorus by ferry (about 1/2 hour ride) and went to the Asian side of Istanbul, where she lives. While waiting for Ferhat (her husband) to get off of work, we shopped and I bought a really cute jacket on sale for 3 Lira at Mangos (a store from Spain)! Then we went to a place called "Teacher's House". Hatice is a teacher (government school) and they get many benefits, including this one. There are Teacher's Houses in many places...they have restaurants and rooms rented very cheaply to teachers on holiday. (Teachers also have great medical insurance, cheap transporation fare and often free entrance to museums, etc.) This place was very nice and on the Bosphorus, where we could see the bridge - which changes colors at night - blue, purple, yellow, green, etc. It's very beautiful to watch and the bridge was lit at night only recently (I forget - one or two years ago they started.) There were two wedding receptions there - one Kurdish and the other Turkish and lemme tell you, the people know how to party! I took videos but still can't figure out how to upload them on to youtube??? It was great fun listening to the traditional music and watching the people dance dance dance, dances I've never see before :-)
I spent the night at Hatice's apartment. I saw parts of Jay Leno - in English - but was too busy talking to pay much attention. That's the first tv show I've seen in English in 1 1/2 months :-) Hatice is teaching me much more about Turkish culture and Islam than Nihal does. Nihal is "copying me". She is starting to buy clothes like mine, went on a diet to get "skinny like you", started drinking some protein drink (she saw I take protein powder), had bangs cut like mine. Hatice thinks maybe Nihal thinks I represent Western culture to her and she is imitating? She picked the wrong person to imitate - I'm not a Western fashion icon! My clothes are usually a bit ...unusual. (I just bought the coolest Nepalese pants!) People will begin to think she is very strange here... :-)))
Sunday I got to take a free boat trip thanks to a Turkish friend I met in Memphis (Mert) and his friend Husnu here in Istanbul. Mert got his MBA at VA Tech and ever since they have been hosting students in Turkey for a study abroad program. (Business majors) I was invited to go on the boat trip with them on the Bosphorus. We traveled down to where the Bosphorus opens into the Black Sea and the scenary was beautiful! But like typical kids, they spent more time sunbathing on the boat and making fun of the music on one of the professor's iPODs (think "Freebird") than looking at the scenary! But everyone was nice, and fun and interesting and I had a really good time. I talked with some of the professors a bit about the tragedy at VA Tech, but not much...If anyone reading this works at a university, I recommend these people for a study abroad program. The professors and students were very impressed with it, and what more fascinating, historical place to be than in Turkey!
Thanks to Mert and Husnu for the free all-day boat trip on the Bosphorus to the Black sea!
When I win the lottery...
Expensive homes on the water
Rumelihisari Castle along the Bosphorus
The non-students at the fish restaurant
Swimming in the Bosphorus - it's SPIDERMAN!
Husnu and me
Relaxing on the boat-VA Tech Study Abroad Students
---------------------------Exterior of shop - cottage industry - Anatolian - Asian side of Istanbul
Craftsman at oven where wood is shaped and dried. He's been doing this since age 13.
Frame made of chestnut
Raw materials - this is what is woven over frame
Finished product
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Some recipes and more about taxi drivers
Turkish meatballs, Nihal's recipe:
1 pound ground beef
2 heaping tablespoonfuls full bread crumbs (bought - or use regular bread, crumbled)
1 onion chopped very fine
2 pieces of garlic chopped very fine
2 bunches of fresh parsley, chopped very fine
2 teaspoons of "kimyon" (cumin)
1 teaspoon of pepper
salt to your preference
With your hands squish it all together, squish squish squish! Form into flattish meatballs, about half the size of a thick burger. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 1/2 hour at 375 degrees. Keep checking to see when they are done.
Nihal's salad:
This is made from some kind of green - not sure what it is. The new housekeeper says it grows like grass in the Philpines and when she first saw people eating it she called home, "These people are eating weeds!" :-) Anyhow, it would be great with any greens, try baby spinach.
Mix plain yogurt with 2 finely chopped pieces of garlic and a little olive oil and salt. Toss with salad greens and chill. YUM!
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Something needs to be done about the Istanbul cab drivers!! Not all, but too many of them are stupid, creepy, sneaky perverts! There must bea special breeding program to produce them. I can't imagine they have real mothers???!!!! The other night I shared a cab with another expat, at about 3:00AM. The streets were fairly empty - for Istanbul that is....and our driver decided to have a race with another cab driver. OH MY GOD!!! Racing at high speed, dodging cars, objects and pedestrians! The expat with me yelled at him in Turkish and he just laughed but he did stop. What an idiot. Then another night I had my first experience with the "change problem" cab driver.Although many cabs will take the long way around, or change a 10 Lira bill into a 1 (how they do that is a pretty good magic trick). Anyhow, most of it is sneaky and underhanded. But not the "change problem"!! I gave this driver a 10 Lira bill for a 6 Lira fare. He gave back 4 .50Lira which is of course, 2 Lira! Did he not think I would notice? I kept holding my hand out for more money. He looked at my palm and counted in Turkish, "One two three four". I said NONONO - give me 2 more Lira! He said "change problem" in English. He pretended to look around for change then shrugged his shoulders and stared out the window straight ahead, waiting for me to get out. He was holding up traffic, cars were honking like mad behind us. After arguing for a few minutes I realized I wouldn't win this one. He would just park his taxi in the middle of traffic and sit there until he died if he had to. The way I felt at the moment is a good reason for gun control....Another thing they do is adjust their rearview mirror to look at me instead of the traffic behind them, and if I am wearing a skirt they will turn around and look at my legs at any stop. It's not me..I believe they would do this to a pregnant woman!
The new housekeeper/nanny refuses to call me Briget, she calls me "madam", accent on the "am". She also calls Nihal "madAM" or any friends who are visiting, so it gets quite confusing. She says, "MadAM" and everyone looks :-)
Well, I didn't make it to the island of Lesbos, where the citizens call themselves "Lesbians". But I did accidentally buy a "Gothic Lesbian" book. There's not many books to choose from in English and this was one of them, and it looked interesting...and actually it's pretty good! It's called "Fingersmith". Speaking of books, my mother used to take us to the library once a week in summer and we were allowed to get three books each (the limit). One book I read about age 12 made a huge impression on me and for years now I have been hoping to find it, to see if it really IS that great. I thought the title of it was "The Thresholders" and I haven't been able to find it anywhere. In Istanbul of all places, I have discovered the book! Several of us were talking about our favorite childhood books, and I told about this one...but it turns out, a guy knew the book I was talking about and it is NOT called "The Thresholders", it's called, "The Universe Between" by Allen E. Nourse. Getting this book will be one of the first things I do when I return to the States!!! :-)
1 pound ground beef
2 heaping tablespoonfuls full bread crumbs (bought - or use regular bread, crumbled)
1 onion chopped very fine
2 pieces of garlic chopped very fine
2 bunches of fresh parsley, chopped very fine
2 teaspoons of "kimyon" (cumin)
1 teaspoon of pepper
salt to your preference
With your hands squish it all together, squish squish squish! Form into flattish meatballs, about half the size of a thick burger. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 1/2 hour at 375 degrees. Keep checking to see when they are done.
Nihal's salad:
This is made from some kind of green - not sure what it is. The new housekeeper says it grows like grass in the Philpines and when she first saw people eating it she called home, "These people are eating weeds!" :-) Anyhow, it would be great with any greens, try baby spinach.
Mix plain yogurt with 2 finely chopped pieces of garlic and a little olive oil and salt. Toss with salad greens and chill. YUM!
__________________________________________________
Something needs to be done about the Istanbul cab drivers!! Not all, but too many of them are stupid, creepy, sneaky perverts! There must bea special breeding program to produce them. I can't imagine they have real mothers???!!!! The other night I shared a cab with another expat, at about 3:00AM. The streets were fairly empty - for Istanbul that is....and our driver decided to have a race with another cab driver. OH MY GOD!!! Racing at high speed, dodging cars, objects and pedestrians! The expat with me yelled at him in Turkish and he just laughed but he did stop. What an idiot. Then another night I had my first experience with the "change problem" cab driver.Although many cabs will take the long way around, or change a 10 Lira bill into a 1 (how they do that is a pretty good magic trick). Anyhow, most of it is sneaky and underhanded. But not the "change problem"!! I gave this driver a 10 Lira bill for a 6 Lira fare. He gave back 4 .50Lira which is of course, 2 Lira! Did he not think I would notice? I kept holding my hand out for more money. He looked at my palm and counted in Turkish, "One two three four". I said NONONO - give me 2 more Lira! He said "change problem" in English. He pretended to look around for change then shrugged his shoulders and stared out the window straight ahead, waiting for me to get out. He was holding up traffic, cars were honking like mad behind us. After arguing for a few minutes I realized I wouldn't win this one. He would just park his taxi in the middle of traffic and sit there until he died if he had to. The way I felt at the moment is a good reason for gun control....Another thing they do is adjust their rearview mirror to look at me instead of the traffic behind them, and if I am wearing a skirt they will turn around and look at my legs at any stop. It's not me..I believe they would do this to a pregnant woman!
The new housekeeper/nanny refuses to call me Briget, she calls me "madam", accent on the "am". She also calls Nihal "madAM" or any friends who are visiting, so it gets quite confusing. She says, "MadAM" and everyone looks :-)
Well, I didn't make it to the island of Lesbos, where the citizens call themselves "Lesbians". But I did accidentally buy a "Gothic Lesbian" book. There's not many books to choose from in English and this was one of them, and it looked interesting...and actually it's pretty good! It's called "Fingersmith". Speaking of books, my mother used to take us to the library once a week in summer and we were allowed to get three books each (the limit). One book I read about age 12 made a huge impression on me and for years now I have been hoping to find it, to see if it really IS that great. I thought the title of it was "The Thresholders" and I haven't been able to find it anywhere. In Istanbul of all places, I have discovered the book! Several of us were talking about our favorite childhood books, and I told about this one...but it turns out, a guy knew the book I was talking about and it is NOT called "The Thresholders", it's called, "The Universe Between" by Allen E. Nourse. Getting this book will be one of the first things I do when I return to the States!!! :-)
Monday, July 23, 2007
Some Historic Sites
Saturday, my friend Hatice took me to see some interesting ancient locations in the oldest part of Istanbul. We went to the Basilica Cistern…a good article about it is here (although it seems to be translated from another language): http://www.yerebatan.com/english/itarihce.html (Pictures below) There is a small stage in one area near the entrance where live classical music is sometimes performed, I would love to hear that!
We went to see the workshops of Caferaga Medresesi next to Hagia Sophia, where traditional Turkish arts are taught. The below video is from there, too bad it’s not in English! I have also posted pictures below. We went to a similar place close to a small mosque where Hatice takes her ney lessons (a type of flute). To tell you how generous a lot of Turks are, as I was admiring a piece of art (in photo of Hatice and her teacher – on wall), he told Hatice to tell me to please take it since I liked it so much!! (of course I didn’t!)
(youtube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsr7MORl4Os
The teacher gave us a private concert and it was beautiful!
While there a conversation began about the mosque next door. The teacher told me, with Hatice translating, that this mosque was a “dry run” for the Hagia Sophia, and it had been a church built during Justinian and Theodora’s reign. Had to see it! I googled it later and found this on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Hagia_Sophia A man in the mosque told me that a pope is buried under the floors somewhere and that the pope used to live next door, but I kind of doubt that???!!! (Photos below.)
We also went walking through an ancient park, I can’t remember the name of it but it was magnificent and even better it seemed about 10 degrees cooler than the streets :-) Picture below!
On my own I visited Galata Tower and Galata Bridge. Galata Tower is one of the oldest towers in the world and was originally built of wood in 527 as a lighthouse. In the 1300’s it was reconstructed of stone and called “Christ Tower”. Pictures of the tower and bridge below. I also happened upon a Catholic Church in Taksim – rather a Basilica – called “The Church of St. Anthony”. It has services in English, Italian, Polish and Turkish!
The new nanny/cook/housekeeper came today. I don’t know if she will last, the kids seem to get on her nerves. She keeps telling them to go outside and play :-)
BIG PS!! I happened upon the coolest lamp shop with handmade lamps! My very favorites are the leather and iron ones. I will have to get one to bring home, I just can't figure out which to get! They have a website: www.exoticlampsselection.com Support Turkey - buy a lamp :-)
We went to see the workshops of Caferaga Medresesi next to Hagia Sophia, where traditional Turkish arts are taught. The below video is from there, too bad it’s not in English! I have also posted pictures below. We went to a similar place close to a small mosque where Hatice takes her ney lessons (a type of flute). To tell you how generous a lot of Turks are, as I was admiring a piece of art (in photo of Hatice and her teacher – on wall), he told Hatice to tell me to please take it since I liked it so much!! (of course I didn’t!)
(youtube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsr7MORl4Os
The teacher gave us a private concert and it was beautiful!
While there a conversation began about the mosque next door. The teacher told me, with Hatice translating, that this mosque was a “dry run” for the Hagia Sophia, and it had been a church built during Justinian and Theodora’s reign. Had to see it! I googled it later and found this on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Hagia_Sophia A man in the mosque told me that a pope is buried under the floors somewhere and that the pope used to live next door, but I kind of doubt that???!!! (Photos below.)
We also went walking through an ancient park, I can’t remember the name of it but it was magnificent and even better it seemed about 10 degrees cooler than the streets :-) Picture below!
On my own I visited Galata Tower and Galata Bridge. Galata Tower is one of the oldest towers in the world and was originally built of wood in 527 as a lighthouse. In the 1300’s it was reconstructed of stone and called “Christ Tower”. Pictures of the tower and bridge below. I also happened upon a Catholic Church in Taksim – rather a Basilica – called “The Church of St. Anthony”. It has services in English, Italian, Polish and Turkish!
The new nanny/cook/housekeeper came today. I don’t know if she will last, the kids seem to get on her nerves. She keeps telling them to go outside and play :-)
BIG PS!! I happened upon the coolest lamp shop with handmade lamps! My very favorites are the leather and iron ones. I will have to get one to bring home, I just can't figure out which to get! They have a website: www.exoticlampsselection.com Support Turkey - buy a lamp :-)
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Chicken and dumplings and the running teeth
There has been some excitement in the neighborhood lately. Nihal told me that a teeth got in someone's apartment. She told me how the teeth ran and ran and then the teeth tried to climb over the security fence but the guard caught the teeth! That story gave me bizarre nightmares that night :-) Sort of like the night I watched "Hannible" and "Shrek I" back to back with coworkers at the annual "drive-in movie" in our parking lot, then dreamed that a co-worker adopted a goose from the Humane Society but it was a CARTOON GOOSE, and as soon as she got outside the building she held it up and laughed wickedly, "HOHOHO! Guess what I am having for dinner tonight!" And I said, "Oh no you can't eat the goose, it's a PET goose!" And we struggled with the cartoon goose until I got it from her grasp and ran off with it.
Then, last night while I was gone, a man in the next building up the hill beat up his wife "too much". The wife got in the car and was so excited she crashed into many walls on the way down the hill and the husband called security not to let her out, that she was stealing his car! Then the police came and the husband and wife made up. hmmmmmm
I have been trying to figure out an American dish to make for this family, but most of what I am used to really isn't available. Finally I decided to make chicken and dumplings, a Southern US comfort food. After all, I would just need a chicken and although there's no Bisquick around here, surely I could find some baking powder? I spent an hour in a grocery store, trying to find baking powder. I expected it to be in a can - probably a red one? Up and down the isle I went, searching for a can. No luck. Then I saw little packets of something...sort of like the packets of yeast in the US. One said "Karbonat" and the other said, "Kabartma Tozu". Of course neither was in my well-thumbed English/Turkish dictionary but "Karbonat" had to be on the right track. The pictures on the packets didn't help either: one has a picture of a cake and the other has a picture of a spoon full of powder.
So, I posted to the expats on the Istanbul message board, "Where do I find baking powder and what is it called?" As usual, the expats were helpful, writing things like, "You can often buy this in shops, which are very useful places. Other things you can buy are shoes, ladders and electrical fittings. Visit a shop today." The next poster wrote to the former, "You must be in advertising. I now have an unbearable urge to visit one of these places called a shop, and buy some wonderous thing." To which the first poster replied, "Don't forget to take some money, which is the currency most shops require. Some will allow you the use of a card of credit if purchase is above 5. Shops can be found in streets and places where lots of people are. Good luck!" I decided Kabartma Tozu must be baking powder.
I told Nihal I would fix chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight. She asked what dumplings are. I said, " Well, they are sort of like bread cooked in liquid." I could see the skepticism on her face, and really, it does sound weird, doesn't it? So, armed with my kabartma tozu I made chicken and dumplings. I'm pretty sure it was baking powder but the dumplings turned out sort of...rubbery. I noticed they ate the chicken, they ate the gravy, they said "mmmmm! Good chicken and water!!!" And then they slipped away one by one to get rid of the dumplings when they thought I wasn't looking. Poor people. They were very hungry and ate lots of bread for dinner.
Then, last night while I was gone, a man in the next building up the hill beat up his wife "too much". The wife got in the car and was so excited she crashed into many walls on the way down the hill and the husband called security not to let her out, that she was stealing his car! Then the police came and the husband and wife made up. hmmmmmm
I have been trying to figure out an American dish to make for this family, but most of what I am used to really isn't available. Finally I decided to make chicken and dumplings, a Southern US comfort food. After all, I would just need a chicken and although there's no Bisquick around here, surely I could find some baking powder? I spent an hour in a grocery store, trying to find baking powder. I expected it to be in a can - probably a red one? Up and down the isle I went, searching for a can. No luck. Then I saw little packets of something...sort of like the packets of yeast in the US. One said "Karbonat" and the other said, "Kabartma Tozu". Of course neither was in my well-thumbed English/Turkish dictionary but "Karbonat" had to be on the right track. The pictures on the packets didn't help either: one has a picture of a cake and the other has a picture of a spoon full of powder.
So, I posted to the expats on the Istanbul message board, "Where do I find baking powder and what is it called?" As usual, the expats were helpful, writing things like, "You can often buy this in shops, which are very useful places. Other things you can buy are shoes, ladders and electrical fittings. Visit a shop today." The next poster wrote to the former, "You must be in advertising. I now have an unbearable urge to visit one of these places called a shop, and buy some wonderous thing." To which the first poster replied, "Don't forget to take some money, which is the currency most shops require. Some will allow you the use of a card of credit if purchase is above 5. Shops can be found in streets and places where lots of people are. Good luck!" I decided Kabartma Tozu must be baking powder.
I told Nihal I would fix chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight. She asked what dumplings are. I said, " Well, they are sort of like bread cooked in liquid." I could see the skepticism on her face, and really, it does sound weird, doesn't it? So, armed with my kabartma tozu I made chicken and dumplings. I'm pretty sure it was baking powder but the dumplings turned out sort of...rubbery. I noticed they ate the chicken, they ate the gravy, they said "mmmmm! Good chicken and water!!!" And then they slipped away one by one to get rid of the dumplings when they thought I wasn't looking. Poor people. They were very hungry and ate lots of bread for dinner.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
I met Spike Lee tonight!
There was an announcement on the expat message board for a meeting tonight with filmmaker Topaz Adizes http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2055815/ about a feature documentary, THE AMERICANA PROJECT, which will have a scene in Istanbul. As part of this production, we are shooting 10 scenes throughout the world exploring American identity. The film will be shot documentary style, and will examine what American identity means in different places in the world. We'll be in Istanbul from July 16-29. For this, we're looking for volunteers in Istanbul who would like to participate with us on this exciting documentary!. The time commitment would be little ... Only few hours on 1 or 2 of the days we'll be there, and we'll work with your schedule to make it happen.
Well, last summer I had two lines in an independent film. I practiced saying my lines all sorts of ways, I practiced answering my prop cellphone. But when it came time to shoot, I messed up my lines I was so nervous, and also, I kept looking at the camera instead of looking at the director like I was supposed to do. My two lines were cut of course :-) So I figured, maybe I could handle a documentary? So I went to the meeting at Cafe Marmara. It was more like a brain-storming session and I don't know if I'll have anything to do with the documentary, but it was fun and everyone was interesting..and we had a few drinks...and we got silly...you know how it goes! :-) Anyhow, in the midst of our meeting, in walks Spike Lee. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=116711 <-----He is here for the Istanbul Jazz Festival. Of all celebrities, Spike would be the scariest one to ask for a photo, an autograph, a dime, to help me up if I fall... at least for me. He always looks so mean and grouchy and has that chip on his shoulder, so would he slap me down if I asked him? But a strong martini gives me courage (and this is one of the few places in town that knows how to make one!) There's me and Spike on the sidebar :-) Also a pic of Topaz Adizes, and me with the two editors of "Tales of the Expat Harem", below. http://www.expatharem.com/ (I've mentioned the book before.)
Pat - I went to Pera Palace today just for you, to see Agatha Christie's room where she wrote "Murder on the Orient Express". Sorry - but it's closed for renovations :-(
Sarah - the Peruvian band is still following me!!!
Well, last summer I had two lines in an independent film. I practiced saying my lines all sorts of ways, I practiced answering my prop cellphone. But when it came time to shoot, I messed up my lines I was so nervous, and also, I kept looking at the camera instead of looking at the director like I was supposed to do. My two lines were cut of course :-) So I figured, maybe I could handle a documentary? So I went to the meeting at Cafe Marmara. It was more like a brain-storming session and I don't know if I'll have anything to do with the documentary, but it was fun and everyone was interesting..and we had a few drinks...and we got silly...you know how it goes! :-) Anyhow, in the midst of our meeting, in walks Spike Lee. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=116711 <-----He is here for the Istanbul Jazz Festival. Of all celebrities, Spike would be the scariest one to ask for a photo, an autograph, a dime, to help me up if I fall... at least for me. He always looks so mean and grouchy and has that chip on his shoulder, so would he slap me down if I asked him? But a strong martini gives me courage (and this is one of the few places in town that knows how to make one!) There's me and Spike on the sidebar :-) Also a pic of Topaz Adizes, and me with the two editors of "Tales of the Expat Harem", below. http://www.expatharem.com/ (I've mentioned the book before.)
Pat - I went to Pera Palace today just for you, to see Agatha Christie's room where she wrote "Murder on the Orient Express". Sorry - but it's closed for renovations :-(
Sarah - the Peruvian band is still following me!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
I am writing this from my prison cell
Gotcha! :-)
I traveled back to Istanbul by bus today - 10 hours with all the stops! I usually hate riding but the trip was interesting -- we went on a two-lane road most of the way and I saw some great scenery! I saw a HUGE stork's nest on top of a chimney, with two grown storks and babies. I couldn't believe how big the nest was! http://www.kookynet.net/media/17lhuw-cigogne-v.jpg This is how big a stork's nest is! We went through a beautiful pine forest way up in the mountains (I am wondering if it was Kaz National Park but can't find any info online or maps)and stopped in little towns, and I saw lots of very small farms, people working in their fields ...no tractors or herbicides, they were bent over working hard. Also farmers riding donkeys, horse and carts, etc. One of the towns we went through was Bursa - the place where towels were invented! The luxurious towels that cost a fortune in high end department stores in the US are manufactered here. Here is a bit of history: http://www.turkishtime.org/sector_5/165.asp
The bus system in Turkey is fantastic! The seats are very comfortable, the bus was air conditioned and there is an attendant just like on flights.
I got some thingy's for souvenirs for people, they are hand carved of wood and old and I bought them in an "antique store" (junk shop) in Ayvalik. I was told they were used to make bread...in some way, something to do with the dough. When I got back to my pension I showed it to people and they had assorted ideas of what they were used for. One said it was supposed to hang on the wall and hold wooden matches. Another said it was a fertility symbol. When I got back to Istanbul Nihal said very seriously that she thought maybe fisherman used to use them - they would put them on their hands like flippers when swimming :-) If you know what these are (pictured on sidebar titled "thingies"), or have any creative ideas, please post :-))
Below is a mini-journal of my week in Ayvalik and I am posting photos on sidebar and down below. Photos tell the story better than I do.
___________________________________________________________
Sunday night – Ayvelik, Turkey
Tonight, for the first night since I got to Turkey, I will sleep with air conditioning! I think it will be a good night’s sleep! I’m in a B&B (a “pension”) in Ayvelik on the Aegean Sea. Last night I barely got any sleep. I shared a room with Nihal’s aunt at her mother’s house...a big, beautiful house by the sea. The elderly lady kept going in and out of the room all night, and she talks to herself. Finally I got to sleep, my fan blowing on me because it must have been 90 degrees in that room. I woke up sweating and realized my fan was off? The aunt told Nihal (and Nihal translated) this morning that she didn’t want me getting sick with that air blowing on me, so she turned the fan off! This is my first experience with the “Turkish draft syndrome”…drafts or blowing air will make a person sick! (Maybe it isn’t my first experience with that, now that I think about it.)
Istanbul spans two continents, and yesterday I crossed the bridge from Europe to Asia. We drove through Yalova, where 8 years ago a terrible earthquake killed more than 17,000 people. http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1999Turkey.html I was horrified when it happened, and it was very strange to actually see the place. Nihal said her brother was riding back to Istanbul from the sea that night just when the earthquake struck. At first he didn’t realize what was happening… the bus ride started getting crazy-bumpy, then he saw the road was heaving and there were huge cracks appearing in the ground, and he realized it was an earthquake.
Before Yalova we took a ferry across the Marmara Sea. The entire ride here was beautiful – very mountainous, lakes here and there, sunflower fields and hay fields. But the countryside around Ayvelik (Ayva=The fruit quince Lik==> a suffix that is used to denote place where something belongs. So Ayvalik is "garden/or place where quince fruit is grown" MD thanks :-))
is almost all olive groves and pines. Ayvelik (was known in ancient times as “Kydonia”, and its history dates back to 330BC, first under the Romans, then Byzantine civilization, then Ottomans. Another interesting thing about Ayvalik is that it's air supposedly has the highest oxygen content of anywhere in the world! My pension is right behind Taksiyarhis Church (Greek Orthodox), which was constructed in 1873 and the area around here was the first in the city to be inhabited by both Christians and Muslims. Tomorrow I will tour the “Clock Mosque” and Taksiyarhis church, even though a brochure I got reads, “The churches of Ayvelik, which have greatly been collapsed, but are still erect, contribute to the historic identity of Ayvelik.” I’m not quite sure what to expect after reading that !
Anyone who knows me knows that I get lost very easily. Absolutely NO sense of direction. I got lost twice today! I couldn’t find my pension. These are ancient winding, hilly, narrow stone streets and it’s like a maze! This afternoon when I couldn’t find the place, I showed the address to an old woman and what was probably her great grand-daughter. They walked me the entire way here and straight to the door! When they left they kissed me on both cheeks and the girl, who was probably around 14, gave me a hug. It was so sweet! Then tonight I asked a woman for directions, after wandering around for about ½ an hour, and her and her entire family, and also the neighbors (more and more people joined along the way – it was like a funny scene from a movie!), walked me here. By the time we got here I was being escorted by a fairly large crowd! Even though I don’t speak the language, I feel that I am amongst friends here.
Monday
This pension is absolutely beautiful and decorated with the coolest things! It’s a very old Greek house. The first floor stays amazingly cool. (It’s very hot here), 2nd and 3rd floors don’t fare so well. I will upload pictures of the inside of the house below. I don’t understand why the bathrooms are built like they are. There is no stall around the shower. The toilet and sink are exposed to the water, the tile floor slopes down to a corner where there is a drain in the floor. There’s also a Turkish toilet here, but I use the “regular” one!
I’m writing this on Word on my laptop because there is no internet connection here and I don’t feel like lugging my laptop to the internet café. I’ll cut and paste it in Istanbul and upload some photos.
I got lost again today. I think I ended up in the slums of Ayvelik, and it was a bit scary. The women seemed more conservative and the men were in my face. I finally found my way out of there and discovered old carts and horses that give tours. For five Turkish Lira I got a carriage ride all over town and a bit out into the country, and it lasted for 2 hours! The driver didn’t speak a word of English. As the sun was beginning to set we sat on a hilltop over the city and watched the sunset over the sea. I saw a man in a house below tending to his pigeons on his rooftop. Behind me was a flock of sheep with a sheep herder and sheepdog. I’ve never seen that before! The cicadas were humming and there was a cool breeze blowing. Oh – and I got to drive the cart for a while! Anyhow, I saw a lot of the town and surrounding countryside, and I wouldn’t have seen so much otherwise. I absolutely love the country around here, it’s beautiful! Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera went dead almost immediately. I did take some photos of some grand old building with ornate columns that is falling apart, I have no idea what it used to be, but I’ll post pics below. Maybe it was one of those churches “which have greatly been collapsed, but are still erect”!!
Tuesday
I wonder…is N. America the only place where people use top sheets? How did this happen? Who invented top sheets and why?
My cellphone, although programmed for English, still has a Turkish dictionary for text messaging. So for the letter “A” I get words like abi, abla, acele, etc. Not much help for me!
Turkish women here ask me the following questions:
1. Where are you from?
2. Are you wearing contact lenses? (colored ones, and no I’m not wearing any lenses)
3. Why did you come alone? (They don’t like the “alone” idea.)
Turkish men stare. It’s not a “look” then look away. There is no smile. It is a plain stare that can last for hours. Why do they do that and what are they thinking?
Yesterday I went to the Island of Alibey Adasi, a 20 minute ferry ride away. I only went for the evening since it was so hot. I had dinner there and a couple from Scotland asked me to join them. But their accent was so thick and they used so much slang (“shut your gob”, etc.) they needed subtitles, like the movie “Trainspotting”. The guy was actually a Turk who mostly grew up in Scotland. When he ordered coffee he said to the waiter in Turkish “and don’t spit in it”. (The girlfriend asked him what he had said.) He explained that a good Turkish coffee should have some little bubbles on top and if there aren’t bubbles, people in restaurants have been known to spit on top of it to create some!
Speaking of coffee, I am having Starbucks withdrawal…their hot chocolate! And I’d love a baked potato…
Wed.
With elections coming up, candidates have vans equipped with loudspeakers (one is pictured on the sidebar) that go around blaring what seem to be patriotic songs and their own spiel. One is going by now and the speech sounds like the Furer in Turkish! I bought a big Turkish flag with a picture of Ataturk on it. I’ll hang it in my hallway at home.
There must not be many lawsuits in Turkey. The sidewalks will drop off a foot for no reason, a person has to look at the sidewalk all the time. I have seen people in wheelchairs cruising down the streets along with the cars! Curbs are usually between 1-1 ½ feet high. No lifeguards at beaches or pools, at least I haven’t seen one. Traffic lights are just a suggestion and crossing the street in Istanbul is just crazy. Turks seem to have a protective invisible bubble around them so that they don’t get run over, so I just wait until they cross and stay close to them!
Tonight the girl who takes care of the pension and her guy friend took me to a place that has Turkish folk music and dancing. I loved it! I took a video, now if I can just figure out how to upload it to youtube… But, I did take a few photos and will post them below. We also went to a nice outdoor club that has house music, but it could have been anywhere in the states. It was called “Fly”.
Thursday
Thursday is the big day in Ayvelik- a huge flea market in the streets. I was hoping to find some cool and unique stuff but no luck, all I bought were three bars of the local olive oil soap and lost about a gallon of sweat. It’s soooo hot here! Then a crazy lady latched onto me and wouldn’t go away. She talked non-stop in Turkish and followed me the entire way back to my pension. She followed me in the door. She told the people who work here that I have the ability to become invisible and all kinds of crazy nonsense. They politely pushed her out the door. :-)
Yesterday was the first day I met another lone traveler – a woman…she’s from Colorado. She is spending the night here and taking a bus to Izmir in the morning. Today I met a Canadian guy who is traveling here in Turkey and then through Syria and Jordan and other parts of the Middle East.
Last night I went with a local to a very nice seafood restaurant on Cunda. I had grilled sardines wrapped in grape leaves and there was olive oil with a bit of pomegranate sauce to dip them in – very good! We then went to another small town past Ayvelik, it was packed with Turkish vacationers. I had homemade ice cream and we went to the beach. There are little huts on the beach that in the daytime serve drinks and some food, but at night people just hang out there – the one we went to reminded me of the Big Kahona’s beach hut in the old Frankie Avalon/Annette Funachelo movies. They had a movie screen hanging on one wall and a movie on a laptop connected to a projector and they were playing some Jude Law movie. At night all the little straw umbrellas on the beach reminded me of a surreal mushroom scene(no I wasn't drunk!), so I took a picture of it! I’ll post it below. I was going to go to Lesbos, Greece, but it is just too hot in July so I will return to Istanbul on Saturday by bus. This is a great place in summer to hang out at the beach all day but for anything else, too sweltering except in the evenings when it greatly cools down. People sit outside on their steps or stools on the narrow stone streets until late, talking with family and neighbors and enjoying the night breeze, eating fruit and drinking tea (cay).
Friday
I bought my ticket today for tomorrow’s trip back to Istanbul and went swimming at the beach as usual. Tonight was a fun night at the pension. The upstair's terrace has a great view of the mosque and the sea beyond, a grape arbor for a ceiling and cozy places to sit. About 8 of us spent the evening there eating good desserts and fruit, drinking wine and talking. There were people from Turkey, Belgium, Canada and Germany. Stayed up too late - 2:00 and have to get up at 7:00!
I traveled back to Istanbul by bus today - 10 hours with all the stops! I usually hate riding but the trip was interesting -- we went on a two-lane road most of the way and I saw some great scenery! I saw a HUGE stork's nest on top of a chimney, with two grown storks and babies. I couldn't believe how big the nest was! http://www.kookynet.net/media/17lhuw-cigogne-v.jpg This is how big a stork's nest is! We went through a beautiful pine forest way up in the mountains (I am wondering if it was Kaz National Park but can't find any info online or maps)and stopped in little towns, and I saw lots of very small farms, people working in their fields ...no tractors or herbicides, they were bent over working hard. Also farmers riding donkeys, horse and carts, etc. One of the towns we went through was Bursa - the place where towels were invented! The luxurious towels that cost a fortune in high end department stores in the US are manufactered here. Here is a bit of history: http://www.turkishtime.org/sector_5/165.asp
The bus system in Turkey is fantastic! The seats are very comfortable, the bus was air conditioned and there is an attendant just like on flights.
I got some thingy's for souvenirs for people, they are hand carved of wood and old and I bought them in an "antique store" (junk shop) in Ayvalik. I was told they were used to make bread...in some way, something to do with the dough. When I got back to my pension I showed it to people and they had assorted ideas of what they were used for. One said it was supposed to hang on the wall and hold wooden matches. Another said it was a fertility symbol. When I got back to Istanbul Nihal said very seriously that she thought maybe fisherman used to use them - they would put them on their hands like flippers when swimming :-) If you know what these are (pictured on sidebar titled "thingies"), or have any creative ideas, please post :-))
Below is a mini-journal of my week in Ayvalik and I am posting photos on sidebar and down below. Photos tell the story better than I do.
___________________________________________________________
Sunday night – Ayvelik, Turkey
Tonight, for the first night since I got to Turkey, I will sleep with air conditioning! I think it will be a good night’s sleep! I’m in a B&B (a “pension”) in Ayvelik on the Aegean Sea. Last night I barely got any sleep. I shared a room with Nihal’s aunt at her mother’s house...a big, beautiful house by the sea. The elderly lady kept going in and out of the room all night, and she talks to herself. Finally I got to sleep, my fan blowing on me because it must have been 90 degrees in that room. I woke up sweating and realized my fan was off? The aunt told Nihal (and Nihal translated) this morning that she didn’t want me getting sick with that air blowing on me, so she turned the fan off! This is my first experience with the “Turkish draft syndrome”…drafts or blowing air will make a person sick! (Maybe it isn’t my first experience with that, now that I think about it.)
Istanbul spans two continents, and yesterday I crossed the bridge from Europe to Asia. We drove through Yalova, where 8 years ago a terrible earthquake killed more than 17,000 people. http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1999Turkey.html I was horrified when it happened, and it was very strange to actually see the place. Nihal said her brother was riding back to Istanbul from the sea that night just when the earthquake struck. At first he didn’t realize what was happening… the bus ride started getting crazy-bumpy, then he saw the road was heaving and there were huge cracks appearing in the ground, and he realized it was an earthquake.
Before Yalova we took a ferry across the Marmara Sea. The entire ride here was beautiful – very mountainous, lakes here and there, sunflower fields and hay fields. But the countryside around Ayvelik (Ayva=The fruit quince Lik==> a suffix that is used to denote place where something belongs. So Ayvalik is "garden/or place where quince fruit is grown" MD thanks :-))
is almost all olive groves and pines. Ayvelik (was known in ancient times as “Kydonia”, and its history dates back to 330BC, first under the Romans, then Byzantine civilization, then Ottomans. Another interesting thing about Ayvalik is that it's air supposedly has the highest oxygen content of anywhere in the world! My pension is right behind Taksiyarhis Church (Greek Orthodox), which was constructed in 1873 and the area around here was the first in the city to be inhabited by both Christians and Muslims. Tomorrow I will tour the “Clock Mosque” and Taksiyarhis church, even though a brochure I got reads, “The churches of Ayvelik, which have greatly been collapsed, but are still erect, contribute to the historic identity of Ayvelik.” I’m not quite sure what to expect after reading that !
Anyone who knows me knows that I get lost very easily. Absolutely NO sense of direction. I got lost twice today! I couldn’t find my pension. These are ancient winding, hilly, narrow stone streets and it’s like a maze! This afternoon when I couldn’t find the place, I showed the address to an old woman and what was probably her great grand-daughter. They walked me the entire way here and straight to the door! When they left they kissed me on both cheeks and the girl, who was probably around 14, gave me a hug. It was so sweet! Then tonight I asked a woman for directions, after wandering around for about ½ an hour, and her and her entire family, and also the neighbors (more and more people joined along the way – it was like a funny scene from a movie!), walked me here. By the time we got here I was being escorted by a fairly large crowd! Even though I don’t speak the language, I feel that I am amongst friends here.
Monday
This pension is absolutely beautiful and decorated with the coolest things! It’s a very old Greek house. The first floor stays amazingly cool. (It’s very hot here), 2nd and 3rd floors don’t fare so well. I will upload pictures of the inside of the house below. I don’t understand why the bathrooms are built like they are. There is no stall around the shower. The toilet and sink are exposed to the water, the tile floor slopes down to a corner where there is a drain in the floor. There’s also a Turkish toilet here, but I use the “regular” one!
I’m writing this on Word on my laptop because there is no internet connection here and I don’t feel like lugging my laptop to the internet café. I’ll cut and paste it in Istanbul and upload some photos.
I got lost again today. I think I ended up in the slums of Ayvelik, and it was a bit scary. The women seemed more conservative and the men were in my face. I finally found my way out of there and discovered old carts and horses that give tours. For five Turkish Lira I got a carriage ride all over town and a bit out into the country, and it lasted for 2 hours! The driver didn’t speak a word of English. As the sun was beginning to set we sat on a hilltop over the city and watched the sunset over the sea. I saw a man in a house below tending to his pigeons on his rooftop. Behind me was a flock of sheep with a sheep herder and sheepdog. I’ve never seen that before! The cicadas were humming and there was a cool breeze blowing. Oh – and I got to drive the cart for a while! Anyhow, I saw a lot of the town and surrounding countryside, and I wouldn’t have seen so much otherwise. I absolutely love the country around here, it’s beautiful! Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera went dead almost immediately. I did take some photos of some grand old building with ornate columns that is falling apart, I have no idea what it used to be, but I’ll post pics below. Maybe it was one of those churches “which have greatly been collapsed, but are still erect”!!
Tuesday
I wonder…is N. America the only place where people use top sheets? How did this happen? Who invented top sheets and why?
My cellphone, although programmed for English, still has a Turkish dictionary for text messaging. So for the letter “A” I get words like abi, abla, acele, etc. Not much help for me!
Turkish women here ask me the following questions:
1. Where are you from?
2. Are you wearing contact lenses? (colored ones, and no I’m not wearing any lenses)
3. Why did you come alone? (They don’t like the “alone” idea.)
Turkish men stare. It’s not a “look” then look away. There is no smile. It is a plain stare that can last for hours. Why do they do that and what are they thinking?
Yesterday I went to the Island of Alibey Adasi, a 20 minute ferry ride away. I only went for the evening since it was so hot. I had dinner there and a couple from Scotland asked me to join them. But their accent was so thick and they used so much slang (“shut your gob”, etc.) they needed subtitles, like the movie “Trainspotting”. The guy was actually a Turk who mostly grew up in Scotland. When he ordered coffee he said to the waiter in Turkish “and don’t spit in it”. (The girlfriend asked him what he had said.) He explained that a good Turkish coffee should have some little bubbles on top and if there aren’t bubbles, people in restaurants have been known to spit on top of it to create some!
Speaking of coffee, I am having Starbucks withdrawal…their hot chocolate! And I’d love a baked potato…
Wed.
With elections coming up, candidates have vans equipped with loudspeakers (one is pictured on the sidebar) that go around blaring what seem to be patriotic songs and their own spiel. One is going by now and the speech sounds like the Furer in Turkish! I bought a big Turkish flag with a picture of Ataturk on it. I’ll hang it in my hallway at home.
There must not be many lawsuits in Turkey. The sidewalks will drop off a foot for no reason, a person has to look at the sidewalk all the time. I have seen people in wheelchairs cruising down the streets along with the cars! Curbs are usually between 1-1 ½ feet high. No lifeguards at beaches or pools, at least I haven’t seen one. Traffic lights are just a suggestion and crossing the street in Istanbul is just crazy. Turks seem to have a protective invisible bubble around them so that they don’t get run over, so I just wait until they cross and stay close to them!
Tonight the girl who takes care of the pension and her guy friend took me to a place that has Turkish folk music and dancing. I loved it! I took a video, now if I can just figure out how to upload it to youtube… But, I did take a few photos and will post them below. We also went to a nice outdoor club that has house music, but it could have been anywhere in the states. It was called “Fly”.
Thursday
Thursday is the big day in Ayvelik- a huge flea market in the streets. I was hoping to find some cool and unique stuff but no luck, all I bought were three bars of the local olive oil soap and lost about a gallon of sweat. It’s soooo hot here! Then a crazy lady latched onto me and wouldn’t go away. She talked non-stop in Turkish and followed me the entire way back to my pension. She followed me in the door. She told the people who work here that I have the ability to become invisible and all kinds of crazy nonsense. They politely pushed her out the door. :-)
Yesterday was the first day I met another lone traveler – a woman…she’s from Colorado. She is spending the night here and taking a bus to Izmir in the morning. Today I met a Canadian guy who is traveling here in Turkey and then through Syria and Jordan and other parts of the Middle East.
Last night I went with a local to a very nice seafood restaurant on Cunda. I had grilled sardines wrapped in grape leaves and there was olive oil with a bit of pomegranate sauce to dip them in – very good! We then went to another small town past Ayvelik, it was packed with Turkish vacationers. I had homemade ice cream and we went to the beach. There are little huts on the beach that in the daytime serve drinks and some food, but at night people just hang out there – the one we went to reminded me of the Big Kahona’s beach hut in the old Frankie Avalon/Annette Funachelo movies. They had a movie screen hanging on one wall and a movie on a laptop connected to a projector and they were playing some Jude Law movie. At night all the little straw umbrellas on the beach reminded me of a surreal mushroom scene(no I wasn't drunk!), so I took a picture of it! I’ll post it below. I was going to go to Lesbos, Greece, but it is just too hot in July so I will return to Istanbul on Saturday by bus. This is a great place in summer to hang out at the beach all day but for anything else, too sweltering except in the evenings when it greatly cools down. People sit outside on their steps or stools on the narrow stone streets until late, talking with family and neighbors and enjoying the night breeze, eating fruit and drinking tea (cay).
Friday
I bought my ticket today for tomorrow’s trip back to Istanbul and went swimming at the beach as usual. Tonight was a fun night at the pension. The upstair's terrace has a great view of the mosque and the sea beyond, a grape arbor for a ceiling and cozy places to sit. About 8 of us spent the evening there eating good desserts and fruit, drinking wine and talking. There were people from Turkey, Belgium, Canada and Germany. Stayed up too late - 2:00 and have to get up at 7:00!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Expat party
First of all, this isn't at all like "Rick's" in "Casablanca" :-) A DJ instead of a pianist. We requested a salsa song and the DJ's name isn't Sam. People aren't trying to escape. The bartenders don't know what a dirty martini is...in fact most of the expats don't know what a dirty martini is!!!
3/4 of the expats are from the UK. I was told last night that aside from the consulate people, there are usually between 30-50 Americans living in Istanbul at any given time. I am quite the minority! The only other American there has been living in Istanbul for a long time and wrote a popular book last year entitled (popular both here and in the US): Tales of the Expat Harem: Foreign Women Living in Modern Turkey. You can check it out at Amazon if you wish! It's interesting -- all the varied experiences of foreign women living here.
People ask, do I get bothered a lot by the Turkish guys. The answer is YES. Unwanted attention. First of all I'm blond...I look like a foreigner and to them that means "easy". I have not had to slap anyone yet but I have come close! Maybe if I knew what they were saying in Turkish I would have slapped some already :-) I was advised not to make eye contact with them, and to just ignore them. Last night I was warned about a few things that happen in the Taksim area - especially the places run by Russians. They have a trick - they hand you a drink as you come in...most people think it is hospitality...like an Italian thing. Well, it's not. After you drink it they will say "That is $300.00" If you refuse to pay, several big Russian gorilla types appear. Then the owner will approach and act like "good cop" and say "Ok you didn't know, you only have to pay $200.00.) I was also warned not to let my drink out of my sight for even a second. If I lose sight, just order another one.
I am heading to Ayvelik with the family today...we will drive. It's about 5 hours. It will be interesting to see the Turkish roads and countryside. I will stay about a week...will write from there!
3/4 of the expats are from the UK. I was told last night that aside from the consulate people, there are usually between 30-50 Americans living in Istanbul at any given time. I am quite the minority! The only other American there has been living in Istanbul for a long time and wrote a popular book last year entitled (popular both here and in the US): Tales of the Expat Harem: Foreign Women Living in Modern Turkey. You can check it out at Amazon if you wish! It's interesting -- all the varied experiences of foreign women living here.
People ask, do I get bothered a lot by the Turkish guys. The answer is YES. Unwanted attention. First of all I'm blond...I look like a foreigner and to them that means "easy". I have not had to slap anyone yet but I have come close! Maybe if I knew what they were saying in Turkish I would have slapped some already :-) I was advised not to make eye contact with them, and to just ignore them. Last night I was warned about a few things that happen in the Taksim area - especially the places run by Russians. They have a trick - they hand you a drink as you come in...most people think it is hospitality...like an Italian thing. Well, it's not. After you drink it they will say "That is $300.00" If you refuse to pay, several big Russian gorilla types appear. Then the owner will approach and act like "good cop" and say "Ok you didn't know, you only have to pay $200.00.) I was also warned not to let my drink out of my sight for even a second. If I lose sight, just order another one.
I am heading to Ayvelik with the family today...we will drive. It's about 5 hours. It will be interesting to see the Turkish roads and countryside. I will stay about a week...will write from there!
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Raki
I tasted Raki tonight, Turkey's traditional alcoholic beverage. It is also called "Lion's Milk". A glass is filled half way with the clear Raki, then water is added to it, which turns it a milky color! It is distilled, not fermented. This raki is made with aniseed. I took one sip and almost spit it out! It tastes like liquid licorice with a bite. NEVER AGAIN! Ick! Aweful, just aweful. I am told it is an acquired taste but I think I will skip this Turkish tradition...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rak%C4%B1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rak%C4%B1
Very nice kebap place and sharp instruments
Last night I went to a very nice restaurant called "Venge". We dined outside. The food kept coming for hours and it was delicious! Salad made of tomatoes and green onion, eggplant with cheese, all kinds of meats, goat cheese, caramelized pearl onions...then plates of fruit and later cake, and then Turkish coffee (I passed on that)
Another example of how small the world is: I was at a place in Taksim (area of Istanbul) the other night when a woman I had never seen before approached me and said, "Briget?" It turns out, she is the one who saw my ad on craigslist and gave it to Nihal, they are best friends! She recognized me from my picture and she called Nihal and said, "There is someone here who looks JUST LIKE your Briget." Nihal asked her where she was, and said, "Briget is there right now! That must be her!" So she came over to say "hi" :-)
I learned a new Turkish superstition today. Don't hand any sharp instruments to another person (scissors, knives, etc.) Put it down and let them pick it up. If you actually hand it to another person it means you will have an arguement :-) Yesterday Ece was walking around the house with an open umbrella...it took all I had not to say "That's bad luck!! Stop it!"
Another example of how small the world is: I was at a place in Taksim (area of Istanbul) the other night when a woman I had never seen before approached me and said, "Briget?" It turns out, she is the one who saw my ad on craigslist and gave it to Nihal, they are best friends! She recognized me from my picture and she called Nihal and said, "There is someone here who looks JUST LIKE your Briget." Nihal asked her where she was, and said, "Briget is there right now! That must be her!" So she came over to say "hi" :-)
I learned a new Turkish superstition today. Don't hand any sharp instruments to another person (scissors, knives, etc.) Put it down and let them pick it up. If you actually hand it to another person it means you will have an arguement :-) Yesterday Ece was walking around the house with an open umbrella...it took all I had not to say "That's bad luck!! Stop it!"
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Observations and the Sleeping Place
* Local construction workers bring their dogs to the construction site every day, complete with doghouse!
* The Starbucks allows smoking, even in malls. There is no tip jar and someone is constantly running around cleaning tables and emptying ashtrays.
* I have no idea what 3/4 of the stuff in the grocery store is. I can't find baking powder or baking soda...
* There are a few things less expensive here: laser hair removal is very cheap, lasik is around $500!
* A dolmus is anything that is stuffed, including peppers, minibuses or grape leaves. :-)
Tonight as I was walking I saw a huge gate, with a beautiful mosaic around it. I thought maybe it was an embassy, or a palace? There was a guard there, I asked him what the place is. He spoke very little English. He did lots of sign language...he put his folded hands to his face as if he was sleeping. I said, "Oh, hotel!" He laughed and laughed and laughed. Nononono. He said, "The end. The end!" I couldn't figure out what he was trying to explain so I smiled, thanked him and left. It was a mystery until I got home, and asked Nihal what it is, and it's a cemetary! That explains the guard doing the shoveling movements :-)
* The Starbucks allows smoking, even in malls. There is no tip jar and someone is constantly running around cleaning tables and emptying ashtrays.
* I have no idea what 3/4 of the stuff in the grocery store is. I can't find baking powder or baking soda...
* There are a few things less expensive here: laser hair removal is very cheap, lasik is around $500!
* A dolmus is anything that is stuffed, including peppers, minibuses or grape leaves. :-)
Tonight as I was walking I saw a huge gate, with a beautiful mosaic around it. I thought maybe it was an embassy, or a palace? There was a guard there, I asked him what the place is. He spoke very little English. He did lots of sign language...he put his folded hands to his face as if he was sleeping. I said, "Oh, hotel!" He laughed and laughed and laughed. Nononono. He said, "The end. The end!" I couldn't figure out what he was trying to explain so I smiled, thanked him and left. It was a mystery until I got home, and asked Nihal what it is, and it's a cemetary! That explains the guard doing the shoveling movements :-)
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