Turkey sandwich and tuna fish
Trip Start
Jun 19, 2008
1
19
69
Trip End
Sep 04, 2008
Istanbul, Turkey
Friday, July 11, 2008
My roommie and I had just gotten back from Grand Bazaar and were surfing online when I read a message from a friend asking about people's reactions to the incident in the morning. I turned to my roommate and saw that she was gravely reading the NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/world/europe/10turkey.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Other students did not seem too worried about the incident even though it had happened at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul. They were more worried that their parents and friends back home would freak out. I am more disturbed that none of the staff members told us about it and tried to console us. I am not technically an American, but the animosity in the air certainly bothers me. One policeman had blatantly said one night that Turkish people do not like Americans. But then again, another policeman has made a very lewd comment to two of girls in the program, so maybe we should tune them out. I am not sure what precautions to take, if any need to be or can be taken.
As I briefly mentioned, I went to the GRAND Bazaar today. I asked my new Turkish friend if there is a good time to go (in Egypt, the market gets livelier at night). To my surprise, she said she had never been to the Grand Bazaar because it is mainly for tourists and therefore is expensive. She also said Turkish people generally go to bazaars in the morning (GB closes around 7). I will definitely have to visit some local bazaars and shops with her. In the meanwhile, I had to fulfill the obligation of visiting this famous tourist spot. We took the tram (tramvay) there, and I started seeing a number of westerners. Then we cautiously entered the place.
It was NOT a stimulus overload. With less than a chaotic atmosphere, the main part of the bazaar was indoors and clean. There were no music, shouting, tents, smoking lamps, flying chickens, old woman carrying a cart full of watermelons. The place was divided by item categories: all the hat shops were together in one section, all the button shops were in another alley, etc.
After the not so bizarre bazaar experience, we trekked down (up?) to Sultanahmed, where Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosques are, to have dinner. We found a cafe-restaurant with a dinner special (meatball/rice/fruit for 5YTL!). The guy must have known we were starving because he gave us two huge baskets of bread. I learned to ask the price of everything before touching them. What you take as complimentary things, like water, bread, and nuts, can be overcharged!
My roommate and I managed to gather a large group to go to the nargile wonderland right down the street from our dorm. This is a street full of nargile shops with colorful beanbag chairs. It was a cool, cheap way to spend the evening chatting with everyone.
July 10, 2008
After class today, some of us decided to go to Sultanahmed to buy the akbil (public transit key), talk to some travel agencies, and visit mosques. The first mosque we went was called _______. It was small but had gorgeous blue tiles and very entertaining "guides". The upper floor, or the gallery, is for female visitors, but a group of 4 guys my age were "studying" and hanging out with their Korans open. One of the guides could not have been more than 18 (he claimed to be 19). Showing symptoms of A.D.H.D., he was too excited to show me the microphone system and how to jump around the small mosque. The mosque seemed more like a hang out area/playground. They even tried to bargain with us on the donation! Ridiculously funny and fun. The second mosque was the little Hagia Sofia, originally a church.
After a very productive day, we went to dine at Istikal, the main street in Taksim, and also go to a SALSA club! One of the girls in our group is a die-hard dancer, so she found a group of dancers who have a salsa party once a week or something. Dancing is such a universal language! Seeing her dance so fluidly with foreign men made me so jealous! (even though it's not my thing). After a while, the rest of us kind of got bored and decided to go to a club. It was pretty much empty, so we left that too. Then we met some Turkish people in our dorm and went out with them to a cafe under the bridge. So that was quite an eventful Thursday night for us... some more so than others... I really like meeting young Turkish people. What they tell me is fascinating- they really are liberal in Istanbul. Many young people I have met are only nominal Muslims, and if they do not drink, it is most likely a personal decision, NOT based on their religion. I hope to continue exploring and meeting locals without succumbing to the stereotypes attached to foreigners.
