Day 2

So it’s been a fair while since I’ve updated my blog. Some reasons for the lag are good and some are bad. What’s going so badly? Nothing really too big of a deal! We had nonstop heavy rain for three days starting last weekend. It made for some fairly boring time, so little to really update in my blog, but alas the sky has been clear for days upon days and here I am to provide a weeklong “fill in.” And as I’ve been taught, we should always attempt to see the positive side of things. All that rain was much needed as Istanbul has been too dry the past few years. That rain helped up the reservoir which provides the municipal water for millions of people. Oh, the other major positive, for those few of you that are actually reading my blog. You won’t have to read a complete play by play but instead just the good stuff . . . I hope!

So last Friday (Oct 24), I woke up at K’s house in the morning and just sort of chilled. There’s a knock on the door some minutes later. Fresh baked bread delivered to the door! Had a goat or sheep cheese sandwich then headed off to run a few errands. Came back to K’s house, met K’s mom who had just gotten back from some shopping with her friends, and enjoyed a special blend of Turkish coffee from the southern region of Turkey, a town called, Adana. For those of you who like coffee, give Turkish coffee a try, it’s very similar to Greek coffee (very thick and strong). Didn’t hang around the house long before heading back to my neck of the woods with K. We rode the bus then Metro to get near the area I live called Taksim. Istanbul has an excellent, modern, and clean (and in English) public transportation system. We tried, unsuccessfully, to cash my traveler cheques then again, unsuccessfully, to unlock my mobile phone to use in Turkey. Walked around Istiklal Street, people watched, browsed some shops, then had some coffee to wrap up the afternoon. K had to work so I returned home and figured I’d call it an evening.

Silly me, it’s Istanbul! Turns out my German roommate was meeting some friends for dinner and some drinks and invited me along. How could I say no? We went to a very neat area near Istiklal Street called French Street. Yep, I forgot my camera again but this area was neat. It’s a steep stone staircase with many cafes, restaurants, wine bars, outdoor seating, live music, all with a dash of energetic ambiance. Our Turkish waiter didn’t really understand English so he sent his boss who is apparently “studying to be a ship captain so ‘I’ can speak English just as well as ‘you’.” That was his quote and it wasn’t true, but at least he was confident! Had some food, drinks, enjoyed the live music, and the people watching. We even saw (warning: may be gross for some) a fella being escorted out of the bar by his friends only to plop him down at the table a few steps up from him. He tossed his cookies and successfully scared a table into leaving super quickly. I thought it was funny, some of the table agreed with me, some didn’t! Shortly after the cookie tossing session, we headed home, but not before stopping by a convenience store to pick up a couple bag of chips. Got to the house, ate some chips, my roommate had a sheep cheese sandwich then went to bed, but only after brushing my teeth, duh!