Fortuitous Discoveries

As yet another weekend draws to a close, I have (as usual) accomplished slightly less than I really had wanted to during the weekend. Forgoing a good bit of the reading I had intended to complete for my honors thesis in favor of eating ice cream and watching a movie I bought for $2 USD - a legitimate one. As my title suggests, I have a few fortuitous discoveries to share with all of you. The first of these is the aforementioned ice cream.

One of my favorite things is pistachio ice cream; however, I have always been saddened by American ice cream producers’ apparent need to always put the actual nuts in the ice cream. I just do not enjoy crunchy things in my ice cream (I think it’s more of a consistency thing than anything else as I generally like pistachios – just not in my ice cream). Here is Istanbul, not only do they have nut-free pistachio ice cream, they have the Neapolitan of the gods. Yes, forget the strawberry and replace it with pistachio. This three-flavored delicacy has been making frequent field trips out of the freezer to come visit my mouth over the last few days.

In other food-related news, my beloved Tombik place may, I repeat may, have found a competitor. Just down the street, the opposite direction from where I’m staying, there is a chicken döner place that offers up delicious sandwiches for half the price of a tombik (a whopping 75 cents US or so). They feature crunchier bread and a higher concentration of pickles, leaving me to question the intensity of my devotion to the venerated Tombik. Those of you how know me well know that this can only mean one thing. Yes, I will simply have to buy both in one evening and have them side-by-side to make a final decision. I will not, of course, give up either in favor of the other, as variety is the spice of life - even though both are extremely similar foods. Such an epic food showdown, very much worthy of a half-hour segment on Food Network, will be thoroughly documented, fear not, in both photographic and verbal form. I also think that such an event would hardly be complete without some ice cream to wash it down.

As I’m sure you noticed, my attempts to write about more profound topics in a more critical manner have hardly progressed as I’m back in my rut gushing about food and little else; however, that probably does go to show you how much time I spend thinking about food….

Speaking of food, I made another great food discovery this weekend. Saturday during a grocery outing, I spied a block of cheese. Considerably cheaper than many of the other neighboring blocks, but still a splurge at the price of 3 or 4 Tombiks, I just couldn’t help myself. In was in my buggy faster than you can “moo,” and there was not turning back. I expected it to be like the other similar-looking white cheeses I’d had in Turkey. Oh was I wrong. This cheese could be the creamiest cheese that I have ever had. Think cheesecake creamy. Think TCBY’s white chocolate mousse creamy. Yeah…. It’s some creamy stuff. Though it lacks a strong flavor, it went excellently in the pasta salad I made. I would have taken a picture for you, but I was hungry and then I ate it all. I will, however, probably make some more this evening in which case, I’ll immortalize its creation for you all.

Though I have failed to provide you with photographs of my feeding frenzy, I do have some additional photos of Istanbul to leave you with. My final fortuitous find of the weekend was a great bridge that I walked with some new friends, which offered some stunning views of the city at dusk.

On a more serious note

Shortly after leaving my recently discovered Wi-Fi-equipped Starbucks, I started reflecting on the posts that I have made thus far. Many, if not all, have reflected many of the things I have done, seen and eaten in Istanbul; however, few have really discussed my actual experience. I have been writing the surface, giving a cursory overview of my time here. Yes, I have gone on about some of the things I’ve eaten and places I’ve visited, but I have also been omitting many details, particularly those that are more unfavorable.

Thinking back, I realize that my blog is not truly reflecting the entirety of my opinions and thoughts regarding Istanbul. I have written about a lot of the good, but largely skipped over the bad, and I feel that I have, in some ways, omitted a lot that I should have included. Thus, I am going to go over a few things that have been slightly less than peachy:

Linguistic Frustrations:
Having never lived in a country where I couldn’t speak the language, I don’t know that I was properly prepared for what I have been encountering here in Turkey. I assumed (stupidly) that English would be prevalent in Istanbul since it’s a major world city and was one of last year’s European Capitals of Culture. I thought that there would be plenty of signage in English, especially on the public transit system. That, however, has proven to be completely false. On several occasions, I have realized that what I was doing could have been accomplished in half of the time with incredibly heighted efficiency if only there were even poor attempts at having signs in English in some places. Take, for example, last Thursday when I went to pick up my residency permit from the police station. You would think that at a major police station in a city of over 10 million people would have signs in English, especially when it’s where foreigners must go to get registered to reside in the country. No, I had to walk around with me receipt with my best Bambi-like expression on my face until someone pointed to where I had to go at which point the Bambi face had to continue until they finally gave me my permit without a single word of English. Similarly, I’ve spent countless hours wandering around because I couldn’t figure out where to go because of a lack of signs. At several metro stations, you have to just magically have to know where to go or speak Turkish because there is no indication in English as to where the different exits let out, and I have found a few stations where the various exits cannot be accessed from one another (Thus to get from Exit A to Exit B, you have to pay to go through the metro station). Once I wandered around at an interchange station for almost an hour realizing finally that the signs to the other metro line just take you in a circle back to the original line that you just got off of. Don't get me wrong, a lot of places do have good signage, and I have to acknowledge that there have been some enormously helpful Turks who, despite speaking no English, have helped me get where I need to go. This talk about the metro leads me into my next frustration…

Public Transit:
The transportation system here is a bit ridiculous. One of my biggest pet peeves is when there are multiple metro lines and you have to exit and re-inter the metro at interchange stations to get from one line to another. Istanbul has this system, and I find it enormously vexing. Washington D.C.’s metro, though it hideously looks as if it’s been neglected since the late 60’s, does not have this issue nor does Singapore’s world renowned system. I do not, however, really feel it is fair to condemn Istanbul’s transit system simply for being less clean and magnificently efficient than Singapore’s impeccably designed one. There are, several other reasons that I justified in deeming Istanbul’s system as obnoxious. Like Beijing’s metro, Istanbul’s transit system (busses included) operates on a flat fee, so if you want to go 20 stops or just 1, you pay the same price. This is another practice that I find annoying. Instead of paying just a few cents when I want to hop over to the nearest mall, I have to pay the same price that I’d have to pay for the hour-long ride into the heart of the city. I just don’t care for it, but such is life. We can’t have everything we want all the time, and it’s far from the worst system I’ve seen.

Coffee:
The next in the line of things that I will complain about is the Coffee situation in Turkey. Yes, Turkish coffee is good; however, it’s not really a drink as much as something you sip gingerly as it’s extremely thick and comes in a cup the size of a shot glass. This alone does not constitute my minor bafflement regarding coffee in Turkey. No, what baffles me is that in a country that is famous for it’s coffee you have two options. Option 1 is Turkish coffee – strong but palatable, tiny, and not really a viable option for something you want to drink instead of sip. Option 2 is Nescafé – a rather vial branded instant coffee drink popular also in China. Why anyone thinks this is really an OK beverage, I will never know. It doesn’t really taste like coffee. It tastes more like a memory of coffee, as if you kind of recall the flavor, but are having difficulty remembering most of the subtleties and nuances of it. It reminds me of foods that have been left in the refrigerator and have taken on a flavor that blends the tastes of its neighboring items in the fridge. Nescafé has taken on the flavor of the packaging. It is truly only something I can drink when desperate for caffeine and willing to endure the unpleasant feeling it leaves in my stomach. Why Turkish citizens allow for this injustice on their shelves, I don’t understand. Although, I also don’t understand why they like Ayran (Salty yogurt drink) or car horns that play the theme to the Godfather. Some things I will never understand, but to each their own. At least there are plenty of Starbucks outlets here that provide me with my much needed "real" coffee.

Limes:
My final frustration that I will voice is the lack of limes. Why is it that so many places don’t have limes? They are delicious! Do people just not like them, or are they just such a foreign item in some places that there is no demand for them? I couldn’t find them in China. I can’t find them here. It makes me sad. Singapore sold lime juice like it was crack – they have the right idea. Perhaps there are some small little exotic grocery stores somewhere that may stock them.... I'll have to check with some Turkish friends.


What this teaches me:
When people ask me “do you miss the United States?” my answer is inevitably “Psh, no” with usual caveat of “except Mexican food.” When thinking about it more thoroughly, I have learned that there are a few things that I will forever be convinced that the United States does correctly.

Number 1: Mexican food
It is delicious, and I do not understand why the rest of the world does not share the American affinity for it. Everyone I know who has been to the US remarks on its amazingness, yet it is not a prolific cuisine in the world…. Why? There is so very little better than a 2am burrito when you’re a little bit hungry and need something to hug you on the inside like an old friend. The availability of Mexican food is priceless.

Number 2: The Drier
I will forever be convinced that laundry is a several hour process, not something that takes over a day to complete. I do not like air-drying clothes. The feel weird afterwards, and it takes forever. I want the instant gratification and the wonderful feeling of a warm towel. So many other places in the world do not seem to understand this simple joy. The people I have met outside of the US who have driers don’t use them. Why not? Again, some things I will never understand.

Number 3: Central Air
I like central air-conditioning. It feels nice, and it makes sense to me. Window units are just kind of strange, and I just can’t get over the fact that they don’t cool evenly. Also, why is it that so many places don’t have air-conditioning in Kitchens? I will acknowledge the logic of not putting on in there because it’s going to get hot anyway; however, I will always believe that logic is intrinsically flawed.

I have to say that Istanbul is teaching me a lot about myself – things I like, things I don’t like, and much more. It makes me sad that we can’t get fresh produce in the US without paying ridiculous prices (probably our just reward our insanely cheap fuel prices), and it constantly challenges me to reevaluate my perspective on things and reminds me to try not to be too quick to cast judgment. Yesterday, I had a stray dog follow me for about 5 or 6 blocks, and the entire time I was a bit freaked out with my inner dialogue bashing this country and some of its ridiculous ways. A half hour later, with the dog safely outside and myself inside sitting on the couch, I realized how easy it is to jump to quick and ridiculous conclusions about things, especially in stressful situations. Thus, I have far from made up my mind about Turkey, and I’m sure that my thoughts and opinions about the country will continue to change and develop. Simply sitting here and writing this all down forces me to take stock, so we’ll see how things go. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of ups and downs, but for now, I can definitely say that I’m having a good time – I just wish I had some salsa to make it even better.

A final note on portions:
Getting used to the metric system is something that I always have to do when outside of the US, and it’s strange how I’ve come to acclimate to some things while others continue to seem completely foreign. I’m fine with Celsius. In fact, can better gage how the weather is going to feel in Celsius than I can in Fahrenheit. Why that is the case, I have no idea. I actually had a revelation today when I figured out that what I though was my ideal temperature in Fahrenheit was actually about 10 degrees colder than what it should be. How did I figure this out? I converted the displayed Celsius temperature (which was, in my opinion, perfect) to Fahrenheit, only to realize that I really don’t even know my own system. Kilometers and meters, however, confuse me. Though, I do have to say that I also can’t estimate in feet or miles. Distance in general confuses me. I also can’t estimate weight in pounds or kilos. Though I can’t pick up a bag and guess how many kilos it is, I do enjoy buying things by the kilo. I have found that I do have a pretty good grasp on how long something, say a kilo of cucumbers, will last me. I am also pretty good at eyeballing produce and guessing how many cherries I’ll have to stuff into a bag to make one kilo’s worth. Alternatively, I do not enjoy buying fluids by the liter. How long does a liter of fruit juice last? The answer is – not long enough. I think it’s a strangely small unit to purchase in; however, I do enjoy the 1.5 liter coke bottles. It’s a great size since you finish it before it looses all of its fizz, unlike the American 2 liter size. Today I discovered that they also have a 3 liter bottle. Why they don’t market that in the US, I have no clue. It would be enormously popular with Americans’ affinity for grotesquely large serving sizes. Confession – sometimes I seriously miss being able to buy things in disgustingly massive sizes/quantities. Sometimes, you just really want to be able to buy a 5 pound bag of gummy-bears and sneak them into the movie theater or purchase milk by the gallon instead of by the liter.

Life’s a piece of cake

As I indicated in my last post, Turkish cakes are quite the phenomenon. Referred to as “pasta,” these delicacies have confounded me a bit since arrival. Countless little stores have displays showing off their arrays of different cakes, most sizes that we would call “personal sized” in the US. These displays remind me a bit of the ones you encounter in China; however, few of the cakes are decorated with slices of dragon fruit, kiwi, or lychees here.

Serendipitously, after I made my last post on Thursday, Friday not only brought a chance to wear jeans to the office, but also yet another cake at the office. Seeing it in front of me, I knew that my post on cakes was going to be next. This one was an ice cream cake with thin wafer-like layers making up the top, bottom, and a middle layer that separated the two different ice cream flavors (Each hardly a 4th of an inch thick). The bottom 1/3 of each slice was a layer of rich fudgy chocolate ice cream, and the top 2/3 was vanilla. It was probably my favorite of the cakes I’ve had thus far; however, some of the others have been quite excellent as well.

One has almond slivers on the outside with chocolate icing, two layers of chocolate cake, and a middle layer of icing, chocolate chips, and the occasional cherry. At this point, I will interject that putting fruit in or on cakes is evidently quite popular here. Another one that I had had layers of vanilla cake, chocolate cake, bananas, cherries, and a layer of what tasted like Bavarian cream…. It was definitely the most interesting of the cakes I’ve had thus far. (In case I haven’t already mentioned it, Friday’s cake was either number 5 or 6 in Turkey almost all of which were eaten at the office).

It’s difficult to really describe, but cakes here are not what we think of in the US. They don’t typically have that moist, spongy, well… cake-like quality that we normally think of. Sometimes they have wafer-like layers like in the ice cream cake, and sometimes they are more like the consistency of sourdough bread (although, generally tasting considerably more like a desert). I have a strong inclination that I have not eaten my last piece of cake in Turkey, so only time will tell what other peculiarities that may arise with these confections. I will, however, keep you posted if any pop up.

In other, non-cake related news, I now have tickets to fly to Greece on July 8th; thus, my International adventure will be getting more international soon. We’ll have to see what adventures country number 18 will bring. Considering I’ll be there with AJ (a friend from UNC who is a classical archaeology major for those of you who do not know), I’m sure it will be profound, enlightening, and sophisticated with a healthy dash of delightfully ridiculous (I’m also hoping things will be abnormally cheap since Greece’s economy isn’t exactly thriving right now – I’ve been to plenty of developing countries, but an economically dwindling one, never). Pantheon, here we come...

Steve Jobs is ruining my Life, pasta, and peace offerings

As the title suggests, Steve Jobs is ruining my life. More specifically, my Mac has completely destroyed my PC tolerance. As I’m working with a PC at work for 9+ hours a day, I can’t help but let my mind float off from time to time imagining the scene from Office Space when they take the fax machine out to the middle of a field and beat the ever loving crap out of it. I can picture the entire thing in my mind while waiting for my email client to open up – what joy. Every 2 or three minutes or so, I long for my Mac, grieving lightly for it sitting at home all alone. It’s a very sad situation.

In other news, I have learned another peculiarity of Turkish – the word “Pasta.” It does not, as we North Americans may believe, refer to delicious Italian noodles smothered in tasty sauce. No, it means cake – like a birthday cake with the frosting and decoration. I learned this at an office function (note this is the 4th or 5th time I’ve had cake in Turkey, all of the with my office). Interestingly, I found out that cake is something more along the lines of a bunt cake; yes, they have them here. Apparently it’s only in neighboring Greece that they think a Bundt cake is broken and in need of a geranium in the middle… That or My Big Fat Greek Wedding lied to me – but of course, that couldn’t be the case. Movies are always right…. Right?

Anyway, it is now time to discuss today and my fiasco with Istanbul public transit. I’m not sure if it’s actually the system, my idiocy, or a combination thereof that was the culprit behind today; however, I spent over 6 hours on transit systems today, had to reload my transit card at least 3 times, and ended up missing work. The moral of that story is under no attempts attempt to pilgrimage out to the boonies where work is located on the outskirts of the city without speaking fluent Turkish, a cell phone that is fully charged, and … well, basically, just don’t plan to do anything during work ours other than take the company-run shuttles. I have now purchased a peace offering/token of apology to bring with me to work tomorrow. Based on the company-wide affinity for cake, I’m hoping the coconut wafers things I just bought go over well. If not, I know I love them and can, with little provocation, demolish them all completely on my own. The highlight of my day however, was my discovery (about 45 minutes ago) of a Starbucks not far from my house that not only has free wifi, but also stocks the Starbucks mug that I have been searching for since arriving in Istanbul!

As a final side note, I think I may have found a new hobby. That is, joining the surprisingly substantial number of people who critically post their sometimes-scathing commentary and heavily opinionated analyses on Wall Street Journal articles (at least in the “China” subheading). I recently read an article about “The 5 Myths about Business in China,” and decided to toss in my 2… no, more like 20 cents worth about my thoughts on the accuracy and legitimacy of the material discussed. I was highly inspired after some of the commentators said things that I know, having read far too much for my honors thesis, are completely untrue. I think it may be the beginnings of a new pastime….

At that, I’ll leave you for the time being. As I’ve said before, let me know what you want to know about, and I’ll try to oblige you. (I think my next post may be completely dedicated to the phenomenon of Turkish cakes…. They are half way between Chinese and American ones – It is kind of blowing my mind).

p.s. Above is Turkish Delight - aka, heaven in my mouth.

Weekend Adventures

Firstly, allow me to apologize for the great delay that has been associated with this post. This past weekend was packed full, and I am only just now sitting down to recount everything to you.

Friday was a glorious day. I did a lot of interesting work during the workday, and I made an interesting discovery. Online, I discovered that the French Cultural Institute of Istanbul was presenting a play that evening (about 2 hours after work, leaving me just enough time if I took the shuttle to the city center). The play was called Les Nègres(Link is the wikipedia page), and looked quite interesting. Arriving at Taksim Square 15 minutes before the play was set to begin, I briskly walked to the French Consulate, ducked inside and followed the stream of people heading towards the theatre. At first, I was a bit confused because there was no mention of ticket prices on any of the flyers I had seen for the play, so I wasn’t sure if it was ticketed or free. A few quick conversations in French and 10 lira later, I was in the theatre ready for the play to begin. I made one error in this whole situation. The whole cast was on stage, whistling and staring out at the audience as we filled in and moved down the rows. It was not until after the lights had dimmed that I realized the one detail that I had not ascertained prior…. Though it was a French play, it was in Turkish with French subtitles. An hour and a half later, I emerged, my brain fried from attempting to keep up with the rapid (sometimes seriously lagging) French subtitles while watching the bizarre events of the narrative unfold (including two rape scenes, and several members of the aristocracy acting out their own deaths in effigy with pupets dressed like them). To be entirely honest, I’m not sure how much of it I actually understood – I though I understood at least the vast majority of the French; however, with what was happening on stage, I can’t really be sure. {Note to self: find a copy of this play and figure out what it was that I saw….. no, experienced}

Saturday was my lazy day. After a full week of work, I ended up tossing my original plan to get up at 6:00am and go sight seeing out the window and, instead, joined the living sometime around noon. The was not lost however, after taking care of a few things and showering, I realized I had just enough time to poke my head in the Grand Bazaar for a bit before it closed at 7:30. I snagged a 1 lira döner which I devoured on my way to the metro bus – (I have adopted a no eating in the city center where things cost 6 times more policy, it’s serving me well – hopefully so well that I’ll be able to use the savings for a weekend in Serbia or, dare I say it, the UAE).

I was utterly unprepared for what I was going to experience in the Grand Bazaar. I was thinking something along the lines of the massive market I went to in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where I got my custom fitted suit for $70 US complete with knock offs, cheap touristy knickknacks, cramped little pathways, little food vendors, and a pleasantly rustic and reassuring omnipresent layer of grime. What I found was the upscale king of markets - Full sized cafés, stores with glass windows, rugs, pottery, cleanliness, and a delightful number of vendors all offering so graciously to give me the “friend price.” I flirted with the price of a couple of items, and after about 20 seconds (and prices falling by about 80% to well below what I would spend in the US, and almost to China but not quite Burma worthy prices) I knew that this place and I are going to have some history. I will be going back once my Turkish improves. If China taught nothing else, I know that if you haggle down in the native language, you get the “impressive foreigner” discount, which is, of course, my ultimate goal. The vendors better watch out…. I might just pull a Burma on them and start haggling across currencies and getting bulk discounts. If all else fails, I’ll always revert to my standard “oh, I can just it cheaper in china” comment and walk away, aka my favorite way to get that them to shave off those few extra numbers keeping me away from my dream price.

I then headed over to the Blue mosque and was thoroughly amazed at how beautiful the building was on the inside. The impressiveness of the structure from the outside is absolutely nothing compared to the ornamentations on the inside. It is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful structures I have even been inside of in my life – far outdoing Sacré Coeur, Notre Dame, the National Mosque of Malaysia, and even giving the Taj Mahal a serious run for its money.

Sunday adopted a slightly relaxed version of my original plan for Saturday. I got up at 9:00, picked up some essentials in my area, and was going to grab some lunch at the place that makes the tombik that I am in love with. Sadly, they were only just beginning to open when I walked past around 11:00, so I had lunch somewhere else – I don’t even remember where I was so sad to miss out on my tombik. I’ll go ahead and interject here that all day I looked forward to dinnertime at which point I was going to get my tombik on, maybe even two of them. I was looking forward to it, that is, until I cam back and discovered them closing shop. I almost cried. Instead I had another anticlimactic meal. Don’t worry, I got one on Monday and I inhaled it and all its gloriousness. The owner now knows me and greets me with a “Merhaba!” and a handshake each time I go.

Anyway… Saturday was my day to hit up the other tourist attractions that I had missed thus far. I needed some legitimacy to be added to my experience here. I couldn’t simply keep answering “I’ve walked around stuff and grocery shopped” as my answer to “Have you done anything in Istanbul? Seen any sights?” I headed off for the Hagia Sophia which is also now hanging out with the Blue Mosque on my list of most beautiful structures ever (I’m sure that they are unfairly waited due to the chronic love I have for Islamic art that was instilled in me at the Islamic Civilizations Museum in Kuala Lumpur). The structure was exquisite, and I used my usual method for getting someone to take a picture of me – that is, look for the person who has a more expensive camera than you do, and get them to do it. After the Singaporeans with the 2,000 dollar cannon that they didn’t really know how to use gave it a go, I got a much better one taken by the German guy with the Nikon version of my camera. He clearly uses the same method as me since he was looking around and then saw my DSLR, and asked me to take a photo of him and his friends. His handy work is now being displayed proudly on my Facebook, asserting to the work my presence in Istanbul.

After the Hagia Sophia, I went to the Topkapı Palace. As I walked around and saw the treasury, a nice view of the Bosporus, and several decorated rooms and structure, I started narrating in my head the exact post that I was going to leave for you all. It went something like this:

“Dear friends, family, and those of you how I don’t know but are, for some reason, enjoying my blog, I wish to impart upon you all a few words of advice regarding Istanbul. Entrance to the Hagia Sophia – 20 lira and totally worth every cent. Entrance to the Blue Mosque – free and obviously worthwhile. Entrance to the Topkapı Palace - 20 lira and completely not worth it. The artifacts were nothing that I wasn’t satisfied seeing on Wikipedia, and the decoration leaves a lot to be desired after the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. I could recommend some back streets that are far more entertaining and considerably cheaper”

About 2 minutes later, I ate those words. I got to several of the more intricately designed areas of the palaces, and the designs and calligraphy on the walls were stunning. The colors were brilliant, and it was completely amazing. I continued into another portion where they had, on display, a large number of religious artifacts included a stick that, according the placard, was Moses’ rod... I think I’m with the other American I heard saying “I seriously doubt that’s the real thing. It would be way too big of a deal.” I did, however, note that the rod did not say anything about being a replica while several other things in the exhibit mentioned that they were models or reproductions. This requires further investigation, and I’ll keep you posted if I figure anything out. If the rest of the palace didn’t suffice to make me eat my words, the harem (an additional 15 lira entry) was more spectacular than the rest of the palace combined. The decorations were incredible – definitely the best part of the palace.

After the palace, I decided to walk to Taksim to poke around a bit, and then wall my way up to Şişli where I would grab the metro bus back home. Along the way, I encountered a mall that seemed creepily Singaporean, complete with a Krispy Kreme, Claire’s, a Carl’s Junior, and even a mall Chinese food place (not something you’d find in a Singaporean mall). Note that I have yet to really find Chinese food in this country. It’s an ongoing search, which I feel, sadly, will end in vain. The few venues I have located thus far were all being run by Turkish people, and I’m just not sure if I can trust that. It’s ok, though, I’ll have my fill in August when I head back to China. I’m sorry for the long post, but I had to get caught up a bit. I’ll keep them coming more regularly over the next few days.

I’m now going to go back to my tea break (meaning that I’m sitting down consuming an entire pot of çay) and my epic cleaning of the kitchen while I wait for the internet to get back up and running. It was down when I came home from work today, and I’m hoping that it’ll magically come back sometime before I go to bed. If not, you’ll see this post soon enough.

Oh, and…. As I’m starting to get into that quotidian, living here kind of groove, let me know what you want me to talk about. More food? (I could happily oblige talking about the delicious carton of pistachio and vanilla ice cream that I finished off today). The climate? (Nice). The people? (Turkish). Work? (think office space, only less boring as I enjoy what I’m doing). You let me know, and I’ll yap at you about it. Until next time, I bid you all au revoir and (to those of you in North America) I remind you to rejoice in being able to use dryers to dry your clothes. Later this week, I'll have my laundry day, and I will be hanging mine up on the line.

A splash of Theatricality is the Medicine for the Mundane

Hello all! I am rapidly approaching the end of the workweek, and it can’t come fast enough. As my work day starts with me getting up at 5:30am and getting back home at 7:30pm, it’s a bit taxing, and I’m ready to hit Saturday hard. I have yet to actually go inside the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapı Palace, or Grand Bazaar; thus, My plan on Saturday is to get on top of that until my camera dies or I do – whichever comes first. In the meantime, I have a few interesting experiences to share with everyone.

There is a van, a white van to be more specific, that I have encountered several times – especially at night. To clarify, I did not know this vehicle was a white van when I first encountered it because I did not see the vehicle, instead I heard it several times late at night. I discovered the identity of the vehicle this morning when it drove past me. Now I know what you’re wondering. How could I possibly identify this van purely by sound? I’ll tell you. A la Dukes of Hazard, this van has a highly unique horn (They must have payed a visit to car horns and more) – it’s the theme to The Godfather. The first time I heard it, I was taken aback and had to think for a while before I identified the tune. I have now heard this van several times, and it never ceases to amuse me. Ah the choices people make….

As the title may lead you to suspect, I had a wonderful theatrical moment today. I found out that my supervisor is a musical theatre enthusiast, and I got the esteemed privilege of introducing her to “Taylor the Latte Boy” after finding out that she like Kristen Chenoweth. It was definitely not something I expected to be doing in Turkey. I’ve had some interesting things happen recently.

I’ll leave you with some additional images that I’ve yet to share. Stay tuned for more updates – I’m about to run grab some dinner in a few, so I may have some more for you tonight depending on what crazy things I get myself into. Also, I'm going to share below a few phrases I've come across recently that made me snicker:

"this is an exceptionally rare example of production value elevating mediocrity" - Article on Chinese Branding regarding China Mobile

"We should not cause visual pollution by using
excess font and color." - email protocol document

Work - Day 2

Work day number 2 went well. I think I have an idea of what kinds of projects I’m going to be working on for the summer, but I will not be certain until my intro meeting on Thursday – things are running a bit behind due to my department getting struck by a bought of marriage and pregnancy and off time etc. As it looks right now, I’m going to get to recycle a good bit of research I did while in Singapore and for BUSI 554 last semester for some projects – hopefully I’ll be able to prove my worth despite my inabilities to communicate in Turkish.

Speaking of communicating in Turkish, I think I may have made a new friend – or at least a new fan, and by that, I mean the guy who sells the delicious Tombik down the road. I know just enough Turkish to get a Tombik and a tea, and to explain to him that I’m from America and here for an internship with Mercedes – or at least those were the answers to the questions I think he was asking me. He seemed pretty amused, and I was blissful because my mouth was full of spicy street food. After dinner, I hit the grocery stores to stock up on some drinks. About to check out in one, I thought to myself and decided that I should use some of my free time to enjoy myself grocery shopping and hop around and price compare. Little did I know where that was going to lead me.

On my way to grocery store number 4, I looked to my left and stopped dead in my tracks. It was a delightfully grungy night market – I’m talking about some wooden spoons on a blanket on the street kind of night market. Do I even need to tell you that I took that detour? It was glorious. I left with a kilo of apricots and a kilo of cherries (roughly 4 or 5 pounds of fruit) all for around 4 or 5 USD. I then proceeded to the grocery store and grabbed a cheap carton of cherry juice, and triumphantly made my way back home. I’m probably going to snack on some of my fruit tonight before bed, which will be soon since tomorrow is another wonderful morning of getting up at 5:30 am.

Work - Day One

Day one of work was an experience. I had to get up at 5:30am to get my shuttle to the immaculately designed compound that houses a host of Daimler entities pretty far west of the City. Arriving at 7:30am, I met my fellow marketing intern, a Turk named Ufuk. We chatted until work actually started at 9:00am (or at least that’s when my department tends to show up) – yes friends, that’s right, I get the joyous pleasure of arriving at work an hour and half early every day due to the transit situation. Leaving work at 5:30pm, my brain was dead, and I was thoroughly exhausted. I got back to my apartment, put on some jeans, and then life started. More accurately, life started at 8:00pm when I ventured out for some food (I know, I know, another food post- I just can’t help myself…. It was SOOOO good).

The Turkish word of the day is “Tombik.” Say it with me now… “Tombik.” Good. That word is my new best friend. It’s difficult to describe, but think shavings of meat from a spit, pickles, spices, peppers, and other goodness stuffed into something along the lines of a sourdough hamburger bun – exquisite. After a 3 lira dinner consisting of a tombik and çay from what may have become my new favorite local venue, I decided to treat myself for my thriftiness and grab a post-dinner treat in the form of a pastry and a cappuccino.

Weird pastry that I will probably not order again: 1.5 lira
Cappuccino: 4 lira
Turkish waitress 10 minutes later explaining that there was no more cappuccino: -4 lira
Subsequent free çay: 0 lira
Getting money back: priceless
Thank you tip: 1 lira

Tonight turned out quite well. I’m not going to discuss work for a few days so that I can properly process my opinions, thoughts, and experiences once I have a better feel for what kind of tasks I’ll be doing – right now it looks like I’m going to be doing a lot of editing and supporting web 2.0 applications like search engine optimization. I bid you all a goodnight, and I’ll update you soon – probably next time I get a tombik. (I linked a picture of a Tombik so that you can see what it looks like - I failed to bring my camera out to dinner tonight. Alas, I do not have a photo of my new beloved)

Food Part II – the feasting continues

As if there is nothing else to write about, I’m going to yammer on to my hearts content about the food that I have consumed thus far. By thus far, of course, I mean within the last 24 hours because they have been, in short, gustatory heaven. My previously sad existence revolved around düner and durum and street food of many shapes and sizes. Today, to say I branched out would be an understatement. I spent the better part of over 12 hours today looking at, preparing, masticating, swallowing, and digesting foods of all shapes, sizes, colors, and difficulties of pronunciation.

To simplify things, allow me to provide some context. Today started bright and early as my room mate and I went to drive to a very removed forest within the city to have a picnic with some of his other classmates. A few grocery stores and a wonderful car ride in a convertible complete with Alexandra Stan, Ke$ha, and a fantastic jubilee of international and Turkish music later, we arrived. We had salad, mineral water, çay, meats, and breads, and cheeses, and watermelons, and probably a bunch of other things I’m forgetting right now. Long story short, we ate quite a bit.

Shortly there after, a few of us drove up to where the Bosporus meets the Black Sea and had yet another mini-meal there. It involved several foods that I do not know the name of including two desserts that were unlike anything I’ve ever had before. One was a dish made of figs with a dusting of nuts and a little sliver of very creamy cheese on top – AMAZING. The other I could only describe as crème brûlée-like. It was a warm pudding-like substance that tasted of butter and pecan with a browned crusty laver on top, floating on which were two pecans. It was incredible. This dining experience also featured fried mussels with a fantastic yogurt sauce, a salad with pomegranate dressing, and fresh fish – you know how I like my seafood, and it was superb. The view was equally fantastic as we watched ships come in and out of the little marina.

You would think that after all that I’d be through, but oh no…… I rode into Taksim (the city center) on the metro where I poked around a bit and got the chance to fully experience Istanbul’s population. Let’s just say that last time I was packed in like I was tonight in Taksim and on the ride back out to the suburbs, I was attempting the insane – traveling during the Full Moon Festival in China (Just to put that in perspective, imagine the American travel rush for Thanksgiving combined with Black Friday and Christmas eve and cram it all inside of one train station). Anyway, I decided to reward myself for a day well spent, and got myself a delicious chai tea latte while simultaneously continuing my hunt for the ever-illusive Istanbul Starbucks Mug – I was in a dairy kind of mood, so the chai hit the spot…... for a while. When I finally arrived back in my neck of the woods, Florya, I was almost at my front door when I stopped and took note. There were simpy WAY too many people out for it to be quarter ‘til midnight, but a quick check of my watch confirmed that it was, indeed, almost midnight and there were people with children perusing the shops that were still open. I kid you not, there was a guy getting a shave in a barbershop… at midnight…. In a residential part of town – not even the city center. This place rocks. Of course upon discovering the unexpected wave of late-night energy these Turks seem to have around here, I walked over to the main pedestrian street to see what was happening. It was love at first sight. To fully express why it was love at first sight, I’m going to have to channel Julie Andrews and put it (at least initially) in song form.

Lit-up café signs and jeans from a sketch van
Fruit stalls are open and nowhere a trash can
Some venders all selling some very fake rings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cones full of ice-cream and brand new converses
Wallets and knickknacks and cheap L.V. purses
Blue plastic beads strung up on some strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Needless to say, I had almost as much of a blast wondering around there for 20 minutes or so as I did writing the above verses. Anyway, I thought it worthy to note that my local Burger King, according to what I assume are the days of the week in Turkish and the numbers that one can only assume to be times next to them, stays open until 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays and closes at Midnight all other days of the week. From the looks of it, the Domino’s does as well. Sadly, Little Caesar has an earlier bedtime as he was already put down for the evening when I walked past.

Tomorrow is being designated as a far more “cultural” day, so stay tuned for some slightly more erudite commentary, and fewer posts that seem like the daydreams of a human hippopotamus… maybe.

Food

Let's talk about food. I've mentioned it a bit before, but I haven't gone into nearly as much depth as I feel is necessary. Yesterday proved an interesting bundle of experiences with the Americans who should be shipped off to rural Serra Leone for some intense character building and a fresh dash of perspective. Regardless, Today is a new day, and I know that I have carelessly skipped over some of the most exciting highlights of the past few days - namely, what I've been eating.

Actually, let's start with what I've been drinking. As I have already mentioned, I have tried Turkish coffee, and I must say that I’m a fan. It’s bold, delicious, and best when sipped gingerly while editing photos to upload and share with all of you wonderful readers. A slightly less potently caffeinated beverage is the ever-popular çay (pronounced chai) which is basically a hot black tea (not like spiced masala chai from India). It’s really nothing strange or different from drinking tea in most places, although I’ve never seen it served with milk. The think that is interesting about this çay is hardly the drink itself, but the container in which it is served. The glass, like a mini-vase holds a few ounces of the hot liquid, and I will most definitely be picking up a few of them to carry back home.

I’m also a big fan of the juices here. I believe I’ve already mentioned Cherry juice (vişne suyu – yes, I’ve learned the Turkish for it), and it is excellent. Also, peach juice is readily available; however, its deliciousness is not quite on par with its cherry counterpart. There is one drink I have tried here that I did not care for. It's called Ayran, and it's a yogurty drink think. As I cannot handle the tanginess of yogurt normally, drinking it is not exactly my think. It's kind of like one of those gogurt things back in the US, only it tastes fresher and I'm sure it has far fewer preservatives and additive.

Not surprisingly, American fast food chains are readily available. On this topic, I do have a bit to say. Going abroad, you pretty much expect your McDonald’s or Burger King; however, yesterday, I saw one that truly threw me for a loop. I saw a Little Caesar’s. I didn’t even know they were still in existence, much less international, but I saw one yesterday only a few blocks away from where I’m staying. Speaking of pizza, I am sorry to report (for those of you who have been to China) that Pizza Hut here is like it is in the US, and not the glamorous ordeal it is in China with linen napkins and waiters in black-tie (I poked my head inside just to check).

I know I've mentioned it several times before, but the street food is what I really live for. There is a place near where I'm staying that has döner for 1 lira. Döner is like a sandwich of the meet roasted on a spit and lettuce, tomato, and other deliciousness inside. I'm a big fan of getting them for less than 1 USD as well. There are also street stall selling mussels and chestnuts, neither of which I have tried yet; however, I promise to let you know as soon as I do. I have been a bit sketched out by the thought of eating shellfish on a street corner, but they look really good. I think I'm going to wait until I see several people buying from a vendor before I choose to partake. Anyway, I think I'm going to leave my food ranting there and share with you a few pictures I've taken while out and about. If anything exciting happens, I'll keep you updated.

Metro Rides and the Contemplation of Canadian Citizenship

I am still in shock. Today, I witnessed a breed of creature that I had always hoped was completely mythical or at least long extinct. That creature is the terrible traveling American. In my experience, many Americans who go abroad are polite, reasonably savvy, and respectful – however, most of my experience comes from East Asia where, for the most part, only those who are polite, savvy, respectful, and knowledgeable about traveling and local customs go. Europe, however, has long been a playground for young Americans, and I can only say that the ones I witnessed today were worse than anything I had ever imagined. To all of Istanbul, I profusely apologize for them. To all of America, I ask why did we give them passports? To the rest of the world, I hope they are not headed your way next. They were loudly and profanely attempting to navigate the fairly intuitive Istanbul metro system to “go find some f-ing weed.” The conversation promptly turned worse when they started to direct it at me upon realizing that red headed foreigner who sticks out like a sore thumb speaks English.

They asked “do you like it here?”
I said, “Yeah, I really do.”
They quickly retorted, “Well, we don’t. People through there sh*t everywhere, it’s disgusting. How long are you going to be here?”
“Until August”
“Good luck, that’s a f-ing long time.”

And so on and so forth, only they segued into far, far less appropriate topics with considerably less tasteful language and gesticulation to go along with it. Clearly ignorant of the fact that at least the nice gentleman in the suit next to them spoke English (as he politely tried to explain which direction the train was going, though they didn’t take note), they covered a wide variety of shocking topics including but not limited to female genitalia, black jokes, rape, and some jokes about Bosnia that I can only hope to forget. I can only hope they get deported before they can parade themselves around any more. As for me, I spent most of the rest of my way home contemplating Canadian citizenship, and exactly how I would even attempt to recount this is my blog – completely taking the place of countless other topics I had thought about sharing in this post. I think I’m still processing that it happened. All I can say is, if they think Istanbul is dirty, they should be forced to spend some quality time in Chandi Chowk in Delhi. India might just kill them, although they seemed to be good at avoiding dangerous situations as they claimed to have been robbed several times, which they told me was what would happen should I try to visit a whore house here – I informed them that that wasn’t exactly on my to do list. My only wish is that I knew how to apologize to the rest of the train in Turkish – that’s going on my to learn list just in case.

In conclusion: dear friends in America, I know you would never be those people, so when you find those people tell them terrible stories about other countries so that they won’t leave ours – or just send them to Mexico to chill with the drug wars near the boarder. Dear friends from other parts of the world, I promise all of America is not like that, in fact, very little of America is like that, despite what you may see on Jersey Shore.

Home is where the Döner is

Dear all, today’s post is on a wonderful topic that probably belongs on a blunt card: domesticity. Today, I started down the path of truly living in Istanbul. I purchased an Istanbul kart – the public transit card that you use when you are going to be in Istanbul for a while (as opposed to the single use tickets that are also available). Also, I did today what is, perhaps, my favorite thing to do in a foreign country – that is, visiting a supermarket. I love seeing what brands are there and what products are in stock. I made some key discoveries, one of which is cherry juice. I bought a little juice box of it for a half lira and was quite pleased. I also found a little bookshop, which, to my great surprise, was having a DVD sale. I was completely shocked by the selection - I found a great looking Turkish film, and a Chinese film by Zhang Yimou (The director of Raise the Red Lantern and several other very famous Chinese films) each for 5 lira (a wee bit over 3 USD). Needless to say, those are now in my possession as well as a tiny pocket-sized English-Turkish Turkish-English dictionary that cost an additional 5 lira that has proven to be quite useful.

Also, I want to give you an idea of where I’m living is Istanbul. If you will look at the blow map, cast your attention to the green park in the bottom left. That is roughly the area I am living in. Also, below are a few pictures of the area.

Selamat Pagi.....I mean: "Günaydın İstanbul!"

In my attempt to pick up some words of Turkish, I have discovered my fatal weakness – I keep thinking I’m in Malaysia or Indonesia. I kid you not, I have literally said “terima kasih” a hundred times, which stems from a combination of having no clue how to say “thank you” in Turkish and the fact that I continually pronounce written letters like they would be pronounced in Malaysian or Indonesian. Hopefully, today I will order çay instead of teh. (Tea)

The most interesting part of my linguistic adventure thus far has been, however, that I have, on multiple occasions, understood some words, not because they are English cognates, but because they are the same word in French. On my visa, it says that I am here for an internship or, in Turkish, a “staj,” pronounced exactly like “stage,” the French word for internship (not the thing that English actors act on). Last night again this happened when the language barrier was not between English and Turkish but between American and British English. I was helping my new Turkish roommate with a passage from his TOEFL book, and one statement was about a “lorry.” Now friends, I thought that it might be some kind of vehicle, but I really had no clue what in the world a lorry was. Guess how I found out. He google translated it from English to Turkish, and as soon as I saw the word in Turkish I knew what it was. A Turkish “kamyon” is certainly some relation to the French “camion” or what we in the US of A like to call a truck. Silly British English, making trucks sound pretentious…….

a glimpse of one of the back streets I found yesterday