Ahhh, finally writing about my trip to South Korea. I had intended to write about it much earlier but the camp kept me pretty busy on the academic and social side. Pre South Korea trip was plagued with logistics nightmares. The jist of it is that Korea has a lot of requirements for foreigners to get a working visa. Essentially I was offered a four week English camp position but for the visa needed to provide a criminal background check, my transcripts, diploma, and go to the consulate for an interview, which wouldn’t have been that much of a problem except the nearest one is in Atlanta, about an eight hour drive. Anyway, once all done, hoped on a flight from Fort Myers via Charlotte via LA to Seoul. The overall journey was pretty good, met some great people sitting next to me and had great conversations. On the leg to LA I ended up in the middle seat because I gave up my aisle in another row to a couple with a baby (I must be full of great Karma now), but the entertaining part was the girl who felt the need to put on makeup for the last two hours of the flight. I mean, she needed it but that’s not the point! To Seoul I sat next to an Indian lady, which is nice, you know sitting next to an “auntie.” Got off the plane, but greeted by these ‘nose n mouth’ masked men at the end of the jet way who were taking everyone’s temperature. I guess it’s Korea’s precaution against that dreaded swine flu. In fact, I would have to take my temperature every morning for the next seven days to make sure I didn’t come down with anything-standard operation for foreigners! I met the guy who hired me then directed to a bus that headed south. Four and half hours later (and about 30 hours after I left the US) I arrive to Gwanju. The other camp guy picks me up and brings me to my accommodation. Hmmm, a University dorm, I never in my life thought I’d be living in a dorm again. Oh well, it wasn’t all that bad since I was supposed to share a tiny ass room but luck of the draw I didn’t get a roommate. Bathroom and shower were all shared and the showers were yep one giant room with six stations. Fun, right? By the time I went to bed it was nearly 1am.
Next day was Sunday which really consisted of resting and doing a little bit of walking around downtown. Snapped some photos (which will be available on my facebook account). That evening was dinner with all of the camp teachers and staff. They ordered plenty of food, beer, and soju! I even learned a couple new games which involve Soju, which always makes things exciting! Hit the hay shortly after the dinner, week one of camp to begin the next day!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Last Entry about Turkey (with some Greece in there)
Hmm, even though I’m in South Korea right now and would like to start my blog about my journey here I know I need to update and close my Turkey trip. So here goes the ultra abridged condensed version (once again).
The CELTA class kept me busy but we had our share of fun and pain. I also started to meet some of the Istanbul Couchsurfing network who all proved to be pretty cool. I got to see some fireworks from the new apartment which seemed to be a weekly event. Ate some wonderful seafood but not shortly after which my friend and I got pulled the price switch on us. Terribly annoying but the food was still great! I also joined a Language Exchange Circle and met tons of people from all over the world. It is here that I befriended an Australian/English guy and a bunch of Turkish guys and girls who proved to be great hanging out friends during my time there. I also got to explore the Asian side of Istanbul (which you may recall that Istanbul sits on Europe and Asia), saw the Peace boat, rode many a water ferries, saw one of the water ferry terminals/piers overturn during a rough thunderstorm (as in the whole thing flipped over with all the building, turnstiles, shops, counters, etc. still on it). My CELTA friend Desta who I mentioned earlier and hopefully you’ve checked out her music got a gig singing at a lounge in the Sofa Hotel. We checked her out one rainy Friday night and had a great time. Nicely done Desta! I also found out that reselling lotto tickets in Turkey is totally legit and how some people make money. I guess people pay for the convenience of just being able pick up a ticket as they are crossing the street. The markup is only about 1/5 of the price. I also ate fresh seafood at the complete northern tip of the Asian side of Istanbul, saw some sheep just roaming around the area, and saw the Black Sea which was super cool.
Oh yeah, I finally posted pictures on my Facebook page. One weekend took the ferry to the biggest of The Princes Islands where we hired a horse and carriage to tour the island then did a little hiking up to what seemed like an old monastery. The view from there was astounding! I started to become an expert of the lay of Istanbul (at least the central part of it). I pretty much walked everywhere and became familiar with all the shortcuts, watering holes, and dining spots. I found a few lokantas where I would eat almost every day. It ended up saving me more money than grocery shopping as I could eat for the equivalent of 2-3 dollars. One place would even give me free Ceylon tea since I became such a frequent visitor. From time to time, I would indulge in a Sunday all you can eat brunch buffet , and as you can imagine I ate a lot and then some! What can I say, I’m a sucker for a smorgasbord of food AND desserts! I also started frequenting a place called Khave Dunyasi (Coffee World) which, as you guessed it, serves great coffee, sandwiches, and desserts. The last week I was in Istanbul I managed to eat some Kunefe (pics can be seen on my FB page), which was absolutely delicious. Basically it consists of cheese, pastry, cream, and syrup all heated up.
I befriended some random Americans along the way and enjoyed swapping stories about their overseas experiences. I even spent some of the holiday time with them all! I also found it interesting that no matter how cold it got in Istanbul, people would always sit outside. They really made good use out of the propane gas heater lamp thingies. I have to admit, I became homesick one day and ate Popeye’s chicken at one of the malls (which was huge and had a rollercoaster and a bowling alley in it). They didn’t have the spicy chicken that I so dearly love at the American Popeye’s but it kinda hit the spot, sorta, but not really (oh yeah, one day some of the CELTA folks and I did visit KFC, too, we really didn’t know what we were thinking)! I guess besides the normal other sites to see in Istanbul: Aya Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Galata Tower, etc, etc. I did see a cat just hanging out in Aya Sophia which was a little surprising at first, but I guess it shouldn’t have been when you consider how many damn cats there are!
This is getting entirely too long since I took too long to update this all so I guess I’ll end by saying I did get to see some amazing other places like:
-Izmir
-Efes or Ephesus
-Selcuk and Sirince (which was a neat little wine town that specialized in fruit wines)
-Pamukkale (which means cotton castle and is a MUST see and stayed at a very nice little bed and breakfast type place)
Random funny thing about the buses in Turkey is that they are very nice but they decide to forego the bathrooms on the bus and instead install a kitchenette so that people can get their tea fix, go figure!
Oh yeah, also went to Thessaloniki, Greece on my visa run which was a pretty cool place. For one, you could get a better variety of beers and wines!!! Done with Turkey (on to the South Korea blog).
The CELTA class kept me busy but we had our share of fun and pain. I also started to meet some of the Istanbul Couchsurfing network who all proved to be pretty cool. I got to see some fireworks from the new apartment which seemed to be a weekly event. Ate some wonderful seafood but not shortly after which my friend and I got pulled the price switch on us. Terribly annoying but the food was still great! I also joined a Language Exchange Circle and met tons of people from all over the world. It is here that I befriended an Australian/English guy and a bunch of Turkish guys and girls who proved to be great hanging out friends during my time there. I also got to explore the Asian side of Istanbul (which you may recall that Istanbul sits on Europe and Asia), saw the Peace boat, rode many a water ferries, saw one of the water ferry terminals/piers overturn during a rough thunderstorm (as in the whole thing flipped over with all the building, turnstiles, shops, counters, etc. still on it). My CELTA friend Desta who I mentioned earlier and hopefully you’ve checked out her music got a gig singing at a lounge in the Sofa Hotel. We checked her out one rainy Friday night and had a great time. Nicely done Desta! I also found out that reselling lotto tickets in Turkey is totally legit and how some people make money. I guess people pay for the convenience of just being able pick up a ticket as they are crossing the street. The markup is only about 1/5 of the price. I also ate fresh seafood at the complete northern tip of the Asian side of Istanbul, saw some sheep just roaming around the area, and saw the Black Sea which was super cool.
Oh yeah, I finally posted pictures on my Facebook page. One weekend took the ferry to the biggest of The Princes Islands where we hired a horse and carriage to tour the island then did a little hiking up to what seemed like an old monastery. The view from there was astounding! I started to become an expert of the lay of Istanbul (at least the central part of it). I pretty much walked everywhere and became familiar with all the shortcuts, watering holes, and dining spots. I found a few lokantas where I would eat almost every day. It ended up saving me more money than grocery shopping as I could eat for the equivalent of 2-3 dollars. One place would even give me free Ceylon tea since I became such a frequent visitor. From time to time, I would indulge in a Sunday all you can eat brunch buffet , and as you can imagine I ate a lot and then some! What can I say, I’m a sucker for a smorgasbord of food AND desserts! I also started frequenting a place called Khave Dunyasi (Coffee World) which, as you guessed it, serves great coffee, sandwiches, and desserts. The last week I was in Istanbul I managed to eat some Kunefe (pics can be seen on my FB page), which was absolutely delicious. Basically it consists of cheese, pastry, cream, and syrup all heated up.
I befriended some random Americans along the way and enjoyed swapping stories about their overseas experiences. I even spent some of the holiday time with them all! I also found it interesting that no matter how cold it got in Istanbul, people would always sit outside. They really made good use out of the propane gas heater lamp thingies. I have to admit, I became homesick one day and ate Popeye’s chicken at one of the malls (which was huge and had a rollercoaster and a bowling alley in it). They didn’t have the spicy chicken that I so dearly love at the American Popeye’s but it kinda hit the spot, sorta, but not really (oh yeah, one day some of the CELTA folks and I did visit KFC, too, we really didn’t know what we were thinking)! I guess besides the normal other sites to see in Istanbul: Aya Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Galata Tower, etc, etc. I did see a cat just hanging out in Aya Sophia which was a little surprising at first, but I guess it shouldn’t have been when you consider how many damn cats there are!
This is getting entirely too long since I took too long to update this all so I guess I’ll end by saying I did get to see some amazing other places like:
-Izmir
-Efes or Ephesus
-Selcuk and Sirince (which was a neat little wine town that specialized in fruit wines)
-Pamukkale (which means cotton castle and is a MUST see and stayed at a very nice little bed and breakfast type place)
Random funny thing about the buses in Turkey is that they are very nice but they decide to forego the bathrooms on the bus and instead install a kitchenette so that people can get their tea fix, go figure!
Oh yeah, also went to Thessaloniki, Greece on my visa run which was a pretty cool place. For one, you could get a better variety of beers and wines!!! Done with Turkey (on to the South Korea blog).
Monday, August 10, 2009
I swear I wrote this Feb 2009 (Turkey Still)
Really I did, but I'm just publishing this now!
One thing that I’ve really enjoyed about living in Turkey is drinking the fresh squeezed juice and eating the freshly baked bread. I’ve become partial to the “nar suyu” or pomegranate juice but the portakal (orange) and havuc (carrot) are also good. If you know where to go, you can score the nar suyu for 2 liras ($1.20) and orange for about 1 lira ($0.60), not bad for a refreshing drink. In fact, we’ve started squeezing our own orange and grapefruit juice at the flat here. Oh yeah, this is a good segueway about my living situation. As you may recall, I was living with a lively bunch of folks (5 in all) in a flat that didn’t actually have any real bedrooms. It was an ok flat, but since people were sleeping on couches (not me, thankfully) scattered throughout the house, it made moving around the flat a pain. You couldn’t really use the kitchen in the morning because you’d wake the people sleeping downstairs and you had to creep to the bathroom, ugh. It was just a pain. Another annoying thing was since I was on the third floor any cigarette smoke (the model would not be without one for more than a few minutes) would rise up and just sit in my makeshift bedroom. My German roommate Matthias also became sick of the setup, so he decided to move into another apartment. He asked if I wanted to join him, which at first I hesitated but after a while I just couldn’t take it either, so I did! The new flat was literally a 2-3 minute walk from the old one and very near the Galata Tower. The best part of the new flat was: it was completely newly constructed, the bathroom and shower kicked ass, we each had bedrooms (with doors), and the view was absolutely stunning. The flat sat on the sixth floor and overlooked the Bosphorus River. I could see Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Asian side, and the Princes Islands to name a few of the amazing sites.
One thing that I’ve really enjoyed about living in Turkey is drinking the fresh squeezed juice and eating the freshly baked bread. I’ve become partial to the “nar suyu” or pomegranate juice but the portakal (orange) and havuc (carrot) are also good. If you know where to go, you can score the nar suyu for 2 liras ($1.20) and orange for about 1 lira ($0.60), not bad for a refreshing drink. In fact, we’ve started squeezing our own orange and grapefruit juice at the flat here. Oh yeah, this is a good segueway about my living situation. As you may recall, I was living with a lively bunch of folks (5 in all) in a flat that didn’t actually have any real bedrooms. It was an ok flat, but since people were sleeping on couches (not me, thankfully) scattered throughout the house, it made moving around the flat a pain. You couldn’t really use the kitchen in the morning because you’d wake the people sleeping downstairs and you had to creep to the bathroom, ugh. It was just a pain. Another annoying thing was since I was on the third floor any cigarette smoke (the model would not be without one for more than a few minutes) would rise up and just sit in my makeshift bedroom. My German roommate Matthias also became sick of the setup, so he decided to move into another apartment. He asked if I wanted to join him, which at first I hesitated but after a while I just couldn’t take it either, so I did! The new flat was literally a 2-3 minute walk from the old one and very near the Galata Tower. The best part of the new flat was: it was completely newly constructed, the bathroom and shower kicked ass, we each had bedrooms (with doors), and the view was absolutely stunning. The flat sat on the sixth floor and overlooked the Bosphorus River. I could see Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Asian side, and the Princes Islands to name a few of the amazing sites.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Past Five or So Weeks (Abridged Version) – Part 2
*I guess another lull so this should be titled " . . .Ten or So Weeks"*
The alarm at 7:45am seemed to arrive too quickly. For the past few months, there weren’t many days I had to actually get up before 8:30am. Regardless, today was the first day of my CELTA (Certificate of English Language for Teaching Adults) course. It was only a three hour orientation class from 9am-12pm. I arrived with about fifteen minutes early (again, if you know me this is impressive). I sat down and began chatting with a few students. I learned that apparently I had one of the shortest commutes here at about 10 minutes. One girl had to come from about an hour and a quarter! In case you haven’t heard, many things in Istanbul aren’t necessarily far but the traffic can hold you back. In fact, it seems to be a common phrase/excuse in Istanbul “. . . well, it depends on the traffic!” After orientation, a group of ten of us went to lunch at Dilek Pastanesi right next to the school. It was nice to better get to know my classmates, and a few of us exchanged mobile numbers. After lunch, two others and I decided to do some meandering and tea drinking. We stopped by a small café and started chatting. The two people I was with were from Belgium and England. It turns out the Belgian girl, Desta, is a singer, and a quite good one. She has had many concerts and has traveled all over the world; she has even sung backup for Michael Bublé. In any case, I would like to shamelessly plug her so you can check her and her music out. Her name is Desta Hailé and she sings both solo and with her band The Elements. You can hear her and her band’s music at www.myspace.com/destahaile and www.myspace.com/theelementsbxl and http://www.the-elements.eu Anyway, we sat down and enjoyed the weather and some drinks for a few hours before heading to our respective homes for the day. Also, I determined that there are 15 of us taking the CELTA course (10 girls and 5 guys) and the countries we came from are: 4 US, 3 England, 1 Ireland, 1 Belgian, 1 Australian, 1 Argentinean, and 4 Turkey.
The alarm at 7:45am seemed to arrive too quickly. For the past few months, there weren’t many days I had to actually get up before 8:30am. Regardless, today was the first day of my CELTA (Certificate of English Language for Teaching Adults) course. It was only a three hour orientation class from 9am-12pm. I arrived with about fifteen minutes early (again, if you know me this is impressive). I sat down and began chatting with a few students. I learned that apparently I had one of the shortest commutes here at about 10 minutes. One girl had to come from about an hour and a quarter! In case you haven’t heard, many things in Istanbul aren’t necessarily far but the traffic can hold you back. In fact, it seems to be a common phrase/excuse in Istanbul “. . . well, it depends on the traffic!” After orientation, a group of ten of us went to lunch at Dilek Pastanesi right next to the school. It was nice to better get to know my classmates, and a few of us exchanged mobile numbers. After lunch, two others and I decided to do some meandering and tea drinking. We stopped by a small café and started chatting. The two people I was with were from Belgium and England. It turns out the Belgian girl, Desta, is a singer, and a quite good one. She has had many concerts and has traveled all over the world; she has even sung backup for Michael Bublé. In any case, I would like to shamelessly plug her so you can check her and her music out. Her name is Desta Hailé and she sings both solo and with her band The Elements. You can hear her and her band’s music at www.myspace.com/destahaile and www.myspace.com/theelementsbxl and http://www.the-elements.eu Anyway, we sat down and enjoyed the weather and some drinks for a few hours before heading to our respective homes for the day. Also, I determined that there are 15 of us taking the CELTA course (10 girls and 5 guys) and the countries we came from are: 4 US, 3 England, 1 Ireland, 1 Belgian, 1 Australian, 1 Argentinean, and 4 Turkey.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Past Five or So Weeks (Abridged Version) – Part 1
So this is where I began to fall off the world, the net, my blog, etc.
The Saturday after Halloween was Matthias’ birthday. He decided to celebrate by inviting friends to Tophane, an area in Istanbul with outdoor nargile bars. What’s nargile, I can hear you all say? You may know it as hookah or water pipe. It’s quite a nice setup. You can either sit in booths or opt for the more casual bean bag chairs. I looked around and noticed many people smoking nargile while playing backgammon and drinking tea. We opted for the bean bag chairs with some apple teas. Unfortunately, we found out later that these particular apple teas were made from powder (available from any store, boo). People started trickling off from Tophane around 11pm and a smaller group of us decided to head to Taksim to check out a pub or two for a few hours before heading home around 2am.
Sunday was a beautiful sunny 70F day. Three of us started walking around town just to do some exploring. We ended up taking a small private boat, for giggles, to cross the Haliç (or Golden Horn) River then perused a market (or bazaar). We ended up taking a water ferry (or vapur) from the market to area called Eyüp which is considered a very holy area for Muslims. During out ferry ride, we had some tea and met a couple Canadians spending a few days in Istanbul on their tour of Turkey. They joined us as we explored the area and had some lunch. We took a few wrong turns but a couple of kids guided lead us where we wanted to go. Atop a high hill in Eyüp, there is tea garden called Pierre Loti which boasts a scenic view of Istanbul and the Golden Horn. The five of us had some tea and watched the sunset. I even have some pictures that will eventually get posted, I promise. Instead of walking down the hill we rode the funicular to the bottom then took the vapur home. Overall, it was a great day with my first real venture outside of my neighborhood.
The Saturday after Halloween was Matthias’ birthday. He decided to celebrate by inviting friends to Tophane, an area in Istanbul with outdoor nargile bars. What’s nargile, I can hear you all say? You may know it as hookah or water pipe. It’s quite a nice setup. You can either sit in booths or opt for the more casual bean bag chairs. I looked around and noticed many people smoking nargile while playing backgammon and drinking tea. We opted for the bean bag chairs with some apple teas. Unfortunately, we found out later that these particular apple teas were made from powder (available from any store, boo). People started trickling off from Tophane around 11pm and a smaller group of us decided to head to Taksim to check out a pub or two for a few hours before heading home around 2am.
Sunday was a beautiful sunny 70F day. Three of us started walking around town just to do some exploring. We ended up taking a small private boat, for giggles, to cross the Haliç (or Golden Horn) River then perused a market (or bazaar). We ended up taking a water ferry (or vapur) from the market to area called Eyüp which is considered a very holy area for Muslims. During out ferry ride, we had some tea and met a couple Canadians spending a few days in Istanbul on their tour of Turkey. They joined us as we explored the area and had some lunch. We took a few wrong turns but a couple of kids guided lead us where we wanted to go. Atop a high hill in Eyüp, there is tea garden called Pierre Loti which boasts a scenic view of Istanbul and the Golden Horn. The five of us had some tea and watched the sunset. I even have some pictures that will eventually get posted, I promise. Instead of walking down the hill we rode the funicular to the bottom then took the vapur home. Overall, it was a great day with my first real venture outside of my neighborhood.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Halloween
Friday, October 31, 2008 - Halloween
This morning I headed out of the house a little early to meet up with a friend from the language circle for a traditional Turkish breakfast. It was quite nice, and I bet many people have had breakfasts very similar to this with a few additions. There were a variety of cheeses, breads, meats, jams, Nutella, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and maybe a few more random accoutrements, haha!
After the late breakfast, both of us did some walking around popping in and out of stores before heading to a common expat hangout around Taksim/Tunel area. It’s called Linda’s Book Exchange and people pop in and out to have a tea, conversation, peruse books, or just say hi. We ended up sitting there for nearly two and a half hours drinking tea, having great conversation, and absorbing some must do’s and general tips on Istanbul and Turkey.
Around 7pm, I headed back to the flat but not before spotting a small restaurant that looked like it had some fresh looking food. I popped in to see what it was all about. The clerk and I could not understand each other so we spent a few minutes trying to communicate. He had a large serving of what looked like couscous, but I couldn’t quite tell. Finally, I think he just gave up and gave me a little to try on a piece of lettuce. I thought it was great so I bought a wrap. It was absolutely great food that had a little bit of a spice kick. I asked how much and to my surprise was only 2ytl (~$1.20). Finished it up then headed home. Matthias and his friend were hanging out at the house. I told them of my discovery, and Matthias told me I need to watch out because what I ate is called Cig Kofte and sometimes it contains raw meat. I sorta freaked, but later found out this was the vegetarian version. Anyway, you must try cig kofte, it is absolutely great! We decided to walk Matthias’ friend to the metro station around 12:30am and noticed that some people were dressed up. It took us a moment to remember that today was Halloween. Not a big celebration here in Turkey, though a few people were wearing devil ears that light up. Oh yeah, the walk to the metro included another freaking huge steep hill. Bummer! Came home and crashed!
This morning I headed out of the house a little early to meet up with a friend from the language circle for a traditional Turkish breakfast. It was quite nice, and I bet many people have had breakfasts very similar to this with a few additions. There were a variety of cheeses, breads, meats, jams, Nutella, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and maybe a few more random accoutrements, haha!
After the late breakfast, both of us did some walking around popping in and out of stores before heading to a common expat hangout around Taksim/Tunel area. It’s called Linda’s Book Exchange and people pop in and out to have a tea, conversation, peruse books, or just say hi. We ended up sitting there for nearly two and a half hours drinking tea, having great conversation, and absorbing some must do’s and general tips on Istanbul and Turkey.
Around 7pm, I headed back to the flat but not before spotting a small restaurant that looked like it had some fresh looking food. I popped in to see what it was all about. The clerk and I could not understand each other so we spent a few minutes trying to communicate. He had a large serving of what looked like couscous, but I couldn’t quite tell. Finally, I think he just gave up and gave me a little to try on a piece of lettuce. I thought it was great so I bought a wrap. It was absolutely great food that had a little bit of a spice kick. I asked how much and to my surprise was only 2ytl (~$1.20). Finished it up then headed home. Matthias and his friend were hanging out at the house. I told them of my discovery, and Matthias told me I need to watch out because what I ate is called Cig Kofte and sometimes it contains raw meat. I sorta freaked, but later found out this was the vegetarian version. Anyway, you must try cig kofte, it is absolutely great! We decided to walk Matthias’ friend to the metro station around 12:30am and noticed that some people were dressed up. It took us a moment to remember that today was Halloween. Not a big celebration here in Turkey, though a few people were wearing devil ears that light up. Oh yeah, the walk to the metro included another freaking huge steep hill. Bummer! Came home and crashed!
The Mobile Connection
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thanks to my friend K, I got a mobile today and now I feel super connected. Well not really, but I feel somewhat normal. Kind of crazy how we get so used to our mobiles and life sort of slows down without one. It’s total BS, though, because we got around fine without them even five or so years ago. Anyway, glad to have it!
Thanks to my friend K, I got a mobile today and now I feel super connected. Well not really, but I feel somewhat normal. Kind of crazy how we get so used to our mobiles and life sort of slows down without one. It’s total BS, though, because we got around fine without them even five or so years ago. Anyway, glad to have it!
It's Been Awhile!
What a horrible song that is, but it's been awhile since I've written in my blog. I've kept up some of the writing, but just haven't published it yet. Basically, the course I started November 3 took over my life, sigh!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Random Indian Guy
So I ran into a random Indian guy today (Wed Oct 29). I was walking back to my apartment and saw an Indian looking guy discussing English with one of the market ladies. I could hear the same thing being repeated in English so I knew this guy wasn’t Turkish. So I stopped, waited till he was done talking, then asked him straight up where he was from (that’s what we Indian folks do). We started chatting, and he invited me to his apartment to hang. I met his roommates an American (teaching English, big surprise) and another Indian guy from Australia who is doing the same as the guy I just met (IT for Turkcell, big surprise for Indians). All three of them were very nice, we sat and had a nice conversation. They all offered to be of any assistance, particularly the American offering his number in case of emergency. Pretty simple day today!
Bananas and a Cat
So I woke up Tuesday (Oct 28) morning kind of hungry for some fruit. I may have mentioned earlier that the Turks don’t really eat much fruit or veggies at least in the restaurant scene. However, around every corner, it seems there is a small market with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. So a few steps from my flat, I stop by and buy a couple bananas. They taste different over here in Turkey, but that shouldn’t surprise me since there are supposedly over 500 varieties of them around the world (or so I’m told)! Regardless of the number of types of them, they are still pretty darn tasty! I continued on to Istiklal Street, which, I don’t think I’ve mentioned, to reach is quite the steep hill from where I live. We are talking some serious incline here folks! I should probably take a picture to prove it. Once again, I was unsuccessful at cashing my Traveler Cheques. I did some further side street exploring then headed home for a few. I wasn’t feeling too well today. I think the traveling, time change, heavy food, and rain all caught up to me where I was a little beat down. I really just wanted to sleep if off, but I had read online there would be a Turkish/English language circle meeting tonight at Dilek Pastanesi, a restaurant not too far from me. On my way up to my room (third floor), I see a random cat hanging on the second floor. I ask Matthias if he knows what this cat is doing here, and he was wondering the same. Apparently, if you leave a certain window open in this flat, you can receive a little furry guest. This isn’t the type of “cat” some would welcome, at least I wouldn’t, ahem! Note to self: close the damn window! Finding the restaurant wasn’t a problem, but locating the group in the large establishment was. I can’t really even begin to explain this place w/ their multiple number of levels and half levels and quarter levels. If you think I’m kidding, just wait and see! Finally found the group on floor 3.25, introduced myself to everyone, and then tripped on the uneven floor surface. Apparently the Turkish/English circle meets every week and is for all speaking levels (and, really, any language). I met an Aussie/Brit, numerous Turkish people, a French girl, two other Americans, and a few other regions. A few of us rode out the evening until 10:30pm or so, did a number exchange (though I don’t have a mobile at this point, but I was happy to share my email address :), then headed out separate ways. Not bad for a random Tuesday!
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