Istanbul'da Bahar

The time that Ebba was here was sort of like an alternate universe. There we were,a Swede and an American speaking Spanish in Istanbul, a city I have spent practically no time in this year. It was a wonderful universe to be in though, and I miss it already. Ebba and I were in Istanbul for lovely five days, and we were able to see a lot. We stayed with our friend Mertcan who was also on our exchange to Spain. It was nice to see the a more residential area of Istanbul because it is a HUGE city and those parts tend to get missed by travellers. Plus his family was super sweet and seemed to enjoy having us there. Mertcan lives on the Asian side, so to get to the European side we took various different methods of transportation. During the day we took the bus and then the ferry, the quickest way to cross to the European side, and at night, buses or mini-buses called Dolmus. Depending on the traffic it could take anywhere from 45minutes-2hours to get to his house. The ferry boat ride was beautiful though, a little picturesque boat that crosses the sparkling blueish-green water. We spent most of our time on the European side though because that is were the main sights of Istanbul are located.


Sultanahmet is home to some of the worlds oldest and most famous sights, such as the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque. If you had been with Ebba and I as we toured these places in awe you too would have been subjected to listening to me read excerpts out of the guidebook, just as my mother would have done. Ebba and I had no real agenda except that we wanted to see as much as possible of Istanbul without ever feeling rushed, and for the most part we accomplished that. We were able to see most of the main sights-Istanbul has and endless amount-with the freedom to just wander around. One day we wandered from the Kapllı Carsı (The Grand Bazaar) down the hill towards the water and ended up in this very quiet little neighborhood completely empty of all tourists. We sat down at a quaint cafe with roses on the colorful tables and drank tea out of pretty glasses. The friendly old man who owned the cafe immediately switched the roses on our table for prettier ones saying that pretty girls needed pretty roses. It was exactly the kind of place you hope to run across in a city like Istanbul, a place that holds onto the past without effort. We enjoyed our tea in the quiet and then asked for directions back to the center. Turns out we had wandered so far away that the easiest way was to take the train back. The owner of the man reminded us that there was plenty of food and tea, and absolutely no rush, before pointing us in the direction of the train. I love being able to wander comfortable, not because I think we won't get lost, but rather Becca's there is no reason not to get lost. We had no idea where were going a lot of the time, and when we wanted to set ourselves straight I would just ask somebody.

We spent a fair bit of time in Taksim, the center of new Istanbul. It starts at the main square and then you can follow Istikklal Caddesi past tons of European shopping and little roads that lead off like veins from a leaf. There is a ton to do and see there and it seems to be the place to be when it comes to nightlife. I think one of the best parts about Istanbul was being able to communicate in Turkish. It was so fun to respond to the constant stream of comments from vendors and people on the street in their own language. After even just a couple words in Turkish it was instant astonishment. In Spain I felt like it was pretty normal for somebody to speak Spanish, but here it is so unusual that they seem kind of flattered that I am trying to learn their language. Almost everyone asked how I spoke it and where I was from. Ebba was a good sport about my speaking Turkish all the time, and reminded me from time to time that I needed to translate for her.


It is hard for me to believe that exactly two years ago I was on the same timeline as I am here, with only a month or so left to go. I realized after talking to her I am in a  similar mindset to when I was in Spain. Just like then I feel like this year will go on forever, contrary to the evidence. This place has just become so much a part of my every day life that I forget that in no time at all I will be back on San Juan Island. It is a bittersweet feeling, on one hand I am really excited to get home. I look forward to seeing my friends and family and being back on the Island. On the other hand though, I know I will really miss living here, even if that reality hasn't exactly caught up with me yet. For now though, I am trying to be as present as possible, enjoying each moment here.

Friends and Family

On this Sunday morning I am the only one awake, Dilsad has already gone to her lessons, and my host mom and our guests are still asleep. This is usually the case on weekends, I get up at around 9:00 or so, make myself a cup of coffee, and read or write my blog. It is nice to be awake in the quiet. Today though there is one big difference, last night there was a wedding last night and we have some relatives staying with us, and I have a guest as well. My friend Ebba is here visiting from Sweden. Ebba was on the same exchange as me to Spain in 2007-08 and she was one of my best friends there. Though I lived in Barcelona and she lived in a city called Mataro about 45 minutes north we were able to meet up all the time. We explored all over Barcelona and had a bizillion adventures. Many of which we giggled about last night. Her being here reminds me that thought there are inevitable similarities between my exchange to Spain and my exchange here, my life was so different. As is the Spanish way we had a lot of freedom, and we took advantage of that. That is not to say my life was better there, but just starkly different.


She arrived last night at about 10:30 and hurled into the Turkish lifestyle. A bunch of family was over after the wedding so like always we sat around drinking tea and chatting, well not so much chatting as yelling to be heard over one another. They were all curious about Ebba and for the first time I was doing full on translating in Turkish. The tricky part is that Ebba and I used to speak Spanish together, and it is a real challenge translating from Turkish to Spanish. I get it all confused and end up speaking Turkish to Ebba and Spanish to my host family, so eventually we reverted back to English. It was pretty funny, my host family kind of just yelled at Ebba, thinking if they spoke loudly enough she would understand and told her how much they loved me and how I was part of their family, it was really sweet and Ebba took it all in stride. It did make me feel good about my Turkish though, nothing makes you realize how far you have come than seeing somebody who can't understand anything.


We stayed up till about 3:00am or so chatting and reminiscing about our friends and families in Spain, and catching up on the two years we have missed. I can't believe that I left Spain almost two years ago, and talking to Ebba it doesn't feel like it. I am so excited to show her around Adana, well mainly just show her the food I have been eating for the past eight months. I guess we will start this morning as we have another family meal to attend. Then on Wednesday we will go to Istanbul for five days! I can't wait to explore that city!

Looking Forward to May Flowers

Last week I reluctantly awoke at the ungodly hour of 6:00am to go for a run. I had no desire to pull myself out of the warmth of my bed especially since I had woken up to the sound of thunder, a sure sign of rain, but my friend Kenzie was waiting. It started drizzling as soon as we left the overhang to of my building but what choice did we have to go, we had already woken up. So we set off, barely a car on the road, trying to avoid the dogs that roam the streets in packs during the night. It felt good to be running outside instead of the basement where my gym was, but the thunder and lightning were foretelling and slightly intimidating. Sure enough it wasn't long before it was pouring rain and we were drenched almost immediately. I considered turning around but Kenzie wouldn't hear of it, and it wasn't terribly cold. We ran past the train tracks in the direction of the Toros mountains. We ran past a man with a little road side stand in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, he looked at us like we were completely crazy. We ran past the big fair building and up a hill just as the sky let loose a round of hail like little pebbles that bounced off our skin. As we got to the top of the hill we could see out see over the sprawling valleys that led to the base of the mountains. We stood still for a minute but soon felt the cold creeping into our bones and ran back the way we had come. The man on the side of the road yelled to us that we would get sick and offered to let us sit under his tent but we waved away the offer and ran home. By the time we made it back to my apartment I was completely drenched, and with each step my feet squished. I was as quiet as possible as I slipped through the door, all was silent and I thought I had gotten away with my crime-that of getting wet-which of course makes you very very ill.


I thought I had gotten away with it but my host mom found my sopping wet clothing from the run and forbid me to run until the weather gets nice. I honestly don't think my host mom has ever forbid me to do anything before, she just kind of suggest that I don't, so I don't. You wouldn't argue with my host mom either. But it wasn't long before I was caught in another Adana-style flash flood.


Kenzie, Sahalie and I had finished teaching our English classes and were killing a bit of time before we had our Turkish class, and what better way to kill time than to get a bite to eat. We went to one of our favorite haunts a Turkish bakery called Kardeşler (brothers), they are all over the place, on almost every block you can catch a smell of the pastries and bread wafting through the air. We bought these delicious fried dough balls that are then soaked in syrup call Lokma and just as we sat down the rain started thundering in. The noise of it was amazing bouncing off the tin roof, we could barely hear make out each others voices. Everyone in the cafe positioned their chairs facing the big glass doors as if were some enthralling movie, or a soccer match. People without umbrellas huddled together under any overhang they could find and even those with went as fast as they could. As the cafe filled up with people in various states of wetness it began to feel like we were all in this together, like we may never get out and like Lost we would all become friends. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea, these girls came over from a table of a big group of kids and just sat down at our table, as if they were people we knew that had just gotten up to go to the bathroom. It was funny and slightly awkward but mostly nice. They were around our age, still in high school, and had noticed we looked like foreigners so decided to talk to us for a while. We talked about school, what we were doing there, where we lived, etc. I love that in Turkey is is perfectly normal for people do sit with strangers without any explanation whatsoever. People are friendly here.


We had hoped that the rain would stop before we had to go to our Turkish class, but it seemed if anything to be coming down harder. The roads had turned to rivers and the cars threw up jets of water as if a parting the sea. I had my trusty U of Chicago umbrella but Kenzie and Sahalie were just in tee-shirts. It was only two blocks to our lessons but enough to attract the attention of everybody we went by. Crossing the road there was water up to my shins, and cars driving by splashed water up to our necks. The rain drenched Sahalie's hair until the ringlets stuck to her face as she squealed and danced through the rain. We giggled uncontrollably as ran by people standing under the awnings, and they yelled at us to take cover. By the time we made it to our Turkish class we were soaking, only to find out it had been canceled due rain induced road closure. We sat in a cafe close by and sipped hot Turkish Coffee as we willed our clothes to dry. Rebecca and Sophie were already there and laughed as we came dripping into the warmth or the cafe and Sahalie actually dumped water out of her flats. We sat there for a while and the rain died down only slightly before we decided to get home. One of the guys at the cafe graciously offered to pay for us because that too is pretty normal here.


The rain has been fun and exhilarating. I like how here it pours for only a few hours at the most unlike at home where is can be constant rain or drizzle for days or weeks. After these storms though, I am looking forward to may, the rise in temperature and the flowers that my host family and I planted to bloom on our balcony to bloom.