Ski Vacation: Day One

We stopped for breakfast here.



From left to right, Elsa, Omral, and Jess



Driving up to the Ski Basin, would anyone care for some mountain spring water?

It's a quarter to two and I'm sitting in my room in the ski lodge watching the cloud banks below. This place is incredible! Here is a picture from out of my room's window. I'm heading out to ski now.



And I'm back from the slopes! After taking a long, long shower followed by a long, long soak in the tub I'm very relaxed heading into this new year. Now, I hadn't been skiing since I was twelve or so, and I fell down a lot at first. But after the first hour I was getting back into the motions and taking turns right. We went on one final run from the very top as the sun was setting. The setting sun turned the snow deep red and the mountains really looked like Santa Fe. I miss that city, maybe one day I will move back to it. It feels good to be in the mountains again.

We met with Omral's brother Omer and Omer's wife for dinner at the lodge where they are also staying. He asked me to put the following onto the blog. "I was in the mountain with my friend Omer, today we skied very good. I was almost afraid my legs would break." We have been invited to visit him in his house on the black sea, I would really like to visit there in the spring, the hills are supposed to be a lush green.

The ski lodge is very large, heck it even has a pool on the top floor in an atrium. We'll be heading up to the lounge to relax in a minute and have dinner later this evening. Elsa is a very good skier, she was an instructor in Vermont, Jess didn't go on the slopes today since she "has to get psyched up and then spend a whole day skiing" and Omral got some lessons since he had never been skiing, and by the end of them he was gliding along with a big grin on his face. Everyone's having a great time, I couldn't think of a more spectacular way to close out 2005 and move into 2006.

Wishing everyone the very best, have a safe and joyous new year.

-Alex

Correction

We are on the ferry right now about to go down the Bosphorous. Somehow I picked up a wireless network on this ferry for trucks. Turkey is full of surprises. The ferry is moving now, I'm going to post incase I lose connection.

Just a Quickie

We wrapped up the work week here on the eve of winter vacation, yep I went to work today, by doing a very thorough inventory while no one is around to buy anything. For me this meant doing very little in the way of speaking english. After a few hours of this all seven of us walked down to Beshitash and were all given huge gift baskets from our employer. When we got down to the street where his office was there were police barricades on the other side of the street and officers looking very serous patrolling everywhere. I found out this was because some big time Mafia boss was having his trial right over there.

The ski trip will not leave tonight as planned, but early tomorrow morning, this works fine since we wouldn't do anything but sleep out there tonight. For whatever reason I'm totally beat, I think I'll go to bed increadibly early again.

Jump Start the Weekend, Go to Bed Early!

The weather has been gradually warming as the winds shifted south, the rain has been light and brief, a welcome change. But this is bound to be temporary, it is December here after all.

Istanbul seems to be perpetually under construction, from the roads torn up for utility work in Taksim to the apartment building being built on my walk to work, there are even three high rises under construction across the little valley from my neighborhood. Last night was perfect, I went home with nothing to do, did some laundry, played some games, and was asleep before nine. For fans of Futurama I'm beginning to feel a bit like Slurms MacKenzie, the original party worm. "Infact, Slurms has to party all night, every night, or he doesn't get paid." Lots of the students want me to go to their parties and almost every evening some important social event is happening, so it felt good just to relax and sleep.

Today is the second day of exams at the school, and if I understand correctly, I don't even need to come to work tomorrow, my vacation starts. But it's only a quasi-vacation, since I will still be overseeing some improvement projects at the school. The ski trip is still on for this weekend it seems, I'll be taking the camera for that adventure, as well as the little single use heating pads I ordered from Japan last winter. I still have about five left.

Slow Day at Work, Perfect Time for Playing with Gadgets.

On my way up to the school several cats along the sidewalk ran up to me for petting, I think they're beginning to recognize me. Some fast plans have been made for this weekend, instead of laying around doing very little in my pajamas, I have been invited to go ski outside of Istanbul. So this will be my first trip outside the city, kinda funny to think I haven't left one metropolis area for a month. Though I suppose I might have done that in Davis a few times this last year. It looks like we're going to put in a real espresso machine at the cafe so we'll all be good and peppy when school comes back into session. Now for some pictures from work, Gokcha took these with her phone then we got the phone to sync up with my computer. That part was really cool, now I'm considering getting a fancy phone that will wirelessly sync with this computer... but I'm not sure what I would transfer between them.



This is me of corse.



And this is Gokcha, she's a sweety.

This evening, unless I get some unexpected phone calls I think I'll just lay around on the couch and do very little, play games, read a book. I've been so busy going out to dinners for the last week!

The students are taking exams today and tomorrow, the cafe has been pretty empty and from what I hear Turkish students skip class and don't pay attention until right before the exams, then try hard to pass them. This doesn't sound too different from the United States, so I guess some things never change. The teachers are lamenting this as the average grade at this school is well below passing.

Uh oh, I just heard there will be a reception at this school satrting in three hours. Will I get away, or be caught until the late hours? We can only hope.

Shave and a hair cut, Yirmi Yeni Turk Liras

Good morning, this week is zipping right along, and it's really great to have Makena and Eric in town and coherent so soon after their journey over. After work yesterday I decided to try hitting a coiffure parlor and getting a split end trim. Things turned out really nice, but there was a little adventure before hand. Right below Jess and Elsa's apartment there is a hair salon with some very nice people, it was recommended and I decided to give it a shot. I felt pretty thick-skulled when it finally dawned on me that the salon only did women's hair after a few minutes of explaining and fishing for words.

But no matter, I just decided to try out this hair shop along my walk to work. Walking in I was greeted and someone was just finishing their haircut so the wait wasn't long at all. And wow, this guy was pretty amazing. I got half an inch trimmed off, then some styling done, a straight blade razor shave, then the apprentice fellow took over and washed my hair, massaged some lotions into my face and gave me a massage. That was my idea of a trim, I walked out of there feeling godlike. Then I bought a bag of cat food to spread the love to the kitties. I met a really friendly cat yesterday and fed him my last cat treat slim-jim thing, he was leaking a bit of blood out of his nose though, and one of his eyes had closed. I think I might try spreading cat vitamins and feline medicine around, I don't want to see my favorites stiff on the sidewalk, or any of the other cats for that matter.

Last night we all went out for dinner then opened some presents over at Jess and Elsa's apartment. Thank you all back home, the gifts are lovely, and very useful! Evon, I really needed something warm to wear around my apartment, my pajamas just weren't cutting it, thank you. Makena made this really whacky pillow-cover for me that looks like a sea anemone. I'll put a picture of it up tonight.

Update on the cellphone, I use it to text like mad, but I hardly make a call because of the price. I've only made three voice calls since having it, but the number of texts I don't want to begin to count. Will I get one pack in the states? Probably, le sigh.

Archeology Museum, Round Two

I spent my Christmas morning in the Archeology Museum copying down the Sumerian tablets and then treating myself to a near-empty museum full of classical sculpture. It was heaven. Not having anyone along this time really helped, I swear it felt like half the statues I had never seen before.

So you like the classics? You like ancient times?



Do you like really old works of art?



Lemmehearyousayyeah,yeah!



He was a hunk.


A man playing a lyre, exquisite, and intact.



Cornelia Antonia, empress and definetly a hottie. This statue is amazing, since the dress seems to show through the shawl she has wrapped around her. Exquisite!



And a wonderful statue of Artemis, my favorite of the gods, that I had somehow missed of my last visit.



And of corse there are the kitties. This very effectionate one posed atop a pillar for me, but most of the time I was taking pictures outside he was jumping up and rubbing against my hands, or climbing on me when I kneeled for a shot.

Merry Christmas Eve, from Istanbul

We're having a white Christmas here. The snow was really coming down and sticking this morning, so I got a few pictures when I went to the bakery for bread. I spent the afternoon down in Taksim with a rug salesman I've really come to like, I bought some presents while I was there, so clear some display space back home, you'll like these!

After riding the metro back to my home neighborhood I ran into Apau and one of the cooks who were working on Saturday, bringing in a few things for the cafe. So I had a quick meal with them and we started a Tom Hanks movie that had been dubbed into Turkish. Then a quick walk home to find some cats hanging out on my window still.



I'm getting ready to go to a Christmas Eve gathering over at Jess and Elsa's apartment

The Students Have Already Checked out.

Break may start in a week, but it seemed there are half as many students around after lunch. Probably skipping out for lunch and not coming back. Too bad the attendance policy is unspeakably wicked... You continue through the class as normal, but when the final comes along they see if you've skipped too many, if you have, you don't get to take the final therefore ensuring a failing grade. At least that's how it was described to me, this education system is so weird.

So forget about it! It's Friday, here are some cat pictures.

Adventure all Around!

Every time I walk outside I have an adventure. I try to speak as much Turkish as possible, I don't want to be just some jerk tourist. I did my shopping at a small store on the way home in halting Turkish and then stopped and talked with an old man about cats, but he asked me a question I didn't understand and I told him I was sorry, but I was an English speaker. He just grinned and shook my hand. But it's amazing, people say 90% of communication is non-verbal. It seems exaggerated, sure. But go to a country where you desperately struggle to communicate verbally and you see how much communication is non-verbal, since that becomes your primary way of dealing with people.

Someone came into the cafe waving a Fenerbache flag today, (futbol team in Istanbul) meaning there was probably a match. Maybe I should have gone down to the pub and watched.

Tomorrow is Friday, and honestly, I'm ready for the weekend. I'll get to see the sun, also there is a bit of a Christmas-Eve dinner in the works that I will be attending. Sorry people back home! I'm getting you all presents, but I'll have to wait until I am able to send them back with someone.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Overlooking Fulya avenue right before dawn on the shortest day of the year.

Spread that Yuletide cheer!

Slow Tuesday

I saw my ill-tempered friend as I walked to work this morning. He hopped up a few levels and came through the bushes and fence for some petting. People are tired today, and it's really cold still, but the snow melted yesterday afternoon. Last night was spent with Jess and Elsa having dinner, relaxing and making light of everything that one could. There is this really great local bakery about half way between our flats, we can get these slabs of flat bread that are about a meter long and really tasty for 35 cents. If you want to live cheep in Istanbul, it's very feasible, though having my weekday meals free makes that squeeze not so hard.

Everyone's english is improving here, including mine. Having to insure the comprehensibility of everything I say is a task requiring constant attention. In the US I was very free to babble and most people would at least get the gist of what I was trying to get across to them. But in a foreign country where some of these students have only been studying English a few weeks, I really have to watch what I say, otherwise all I get in return are blank stares. Of corse this doesn't keep me from doing this when I really feel like it.

Tomorrow is the winter solstice, at least for out here. It makes me get all mushy and remember Ptolomey and want to build a bunch of instruments and start recording the hight of the sun and whatnot... Of corse I would have to be at the instrument at noon to measure the sun's hight... and the skies would have to be clear... So it's not a very practical thing, but it would be fun!

Snow!

That's right, it's snowing, and sticking on everything but the roads (thankfully). I hear that sometimes the snow becomes so treacherous on all these hills that whole neighborhoods close off for a day or two. And it's cold cold cold! COLD! A year and a half in california sissified me I guess. Though I suppose I could have dressed a bit better than I did for today. Not surprising the only cats I saw while walking here were ones peeking out at me from their shelters against the weather. Though I am really glad I got out to Hagia Sophia the day before the horrible weather started. The five-day forecast says there is hope for next weekend, so maybe I'll get inside some other places of interest. One I would like to see is called the mosaic museum. It's behind the blue mosque on the sight of the Byzantine Emperors' palace. Now he's the kicker, the museum is the intact pieces mosaic floor of the palace. You walk around and they are still there on the ground. (under glass of corse, and a few have been relocated to the walls)

Tomorrow I'm wearing a sweater!

Walking in the Rain

It was a slow Sunday morning, rain has been pretty coming in pretty steady since last night. After laying around the apartment until one in the afternoon I decided, rain or no, I should walk around the neighborhood at least for some exercise. So I bundled up and headed out the door.

I started out just walking the route my feet normally take me, towards the school. Rain was coming down pretty good and for the last bit of this leg of the walk the rain beat directly against me. So I passed the school and turned the corner beginning to head back down hill. I just wound around the back streets for a while, the rain wasn't so bad between the buildings and to my eyes the way the rain highlights all the greens and glasses over surface textures accentuating them, is very beautiful.



Running between the apartment buildings are many brick staircases, and occasionally I would emerge from the buildings to be on a small hillside looking out across the city. The rain makes Istanbul feel very lush, even though the trees are bare, the gardens are still green as snow hasn't come yet. Though I hear there is usually a few inches of snow on the ground by this time.

While I was walking on a staircase the mosque a block away began the call to prayer. It echoed just slightly among the buildings, but where I stood the sound came very clear and strong. I took a small movie clip of this, and I'll try to figure out if I can get it onto this website.



And of corse, the mandatory cat photo. She just watched me from her place under the shelter of a porch overhang.

Hagia Sophia (handover your bandwith)

Today was big, bigger than big, it was so big it had an interior dome 70 meters high involved in it. I can't begin to express how amazing this building is. The acoustics are incredible too, heck, they'd better be since the thing is made of marble. So enough jabber and let's get to the pictures.

As always, I have absurdly high resolution versions of these pictures (and others) available to anyone. Just let me know and I'll send them your way.



Here is the entrance, as you walk up to it it just feels bigger and bigger.



This is a picture through one of the two smaller interior doors flanking a larger central door. The main door I couldn't get in frame also right now there is restoration work being done and the center is filled with scaffolding on one side that reaches the dome. I really hope by the time I leave the scaffolding will be gone, but really it didn't detract from the amazing experience.



This is the Sultan's personal spot in the church (after it had been converted to a mosque of corse)







Okay, this is the best place to pray I have ever seen. I was on my knees to take some of these shots, but I don't think that really counted. Well maybe it did. Then it was up the ramp (which felt like walking uphill in a cave) to the second level where the really amazing photography took place.









One place in the upper gallery had such perfect lighting I wanted to cry, but I didn't! I just took pictures instead.







There was one aspect that was very disheartening to see... the defacing that had gone on. Besides the graffiti scratched into the walls in places all the crosses embosed on the bases of columns and just about anywhere except the ceiling had been broken off or otherwise defaced.



The mosaics were amazing, I have some others photographed but the beauty of these two stood out to me.





Some small windows were open and I snapped a few pictures of the outside world.





This railing was too cool not to get a picture of. This is stone and I have to say, "they don't make things like the used to"



And as the sun began to head towards setting, amazing things happened with the light inside.







The Emperor who commissioned Hagia Sophia to be constructed apparently said the equivalent of, "Solomon, take your temple and step, coz I've hit the scene like a freight train!" And I agree with him.

And what trip of mine would be complete without a cute kitty? Everyone meet the kitty of the holy wisdom.



Sorry for breaking your internet connections with the pictures, but you had to see them. Hope you enjoyed.

Because Cats Are Easy To Take Pictures Of

Walking home today I was very pleased to see my ill-tempered friend. Except today he actually walked up to me and seemed pleased to see me. Probably because of the cat treats I was holding, but I can pretend. I knelt down to pet him and he kept hoping up to put his paws on my knee.



Gokcha at work loves my cat photos and had me send some to her email while we were at work. How we communicate at work is amazing, from outside we just gibber at each-other in a Turkish/English hybrid mixed with lots of hand gestures and facial expressions. As I walked away from the kitty he started to follow me, it was really too adorable. He's no Oberon, but it's nice having a neat cat in my day again.



I'm heading to bed now, the plan is to wake up early and hit Sultanamet with camera in hand. I just wish there was a cheeper way of getting there than by Taxi.

Friday, planning for the Weekend and Beyond

So the students here are all hip and fashionable, that means right now many of their shirts have bits of english written on them. From strange things like "wHERE's the secret message" to things I really wouldn't expect, like a guy wearing a UCB sweatshirt and my favorite that I unsuccessfully tried to eplain to the girl wearing it. She was wearing a sweatshirt that read Yuba City, CA Physical Education Department. Of all the places to be a Gym teacher... Well, I suppose it beats Fresno. Maybe when her English improves she'll look at her cloths and throw them in the rubbish.

Well, today is Friday, I think I've finally recovered from Monday night's ordeal and I'm ready to go out touring a bit more this weekend. It's raining today, but if it has cleared up by morning I think I'll hit Sultanamet at dawn and get as much daylight photography as the approaching solstice will allow. Asli, one of her Co-Workers, and Murat want to take me out Saturday night. Murat is the student president at Bacheshire University and wants to intoduce me to the dean.

Makena and Eric will be in town in nine days, I'll still be working for that week, but the big vacation hits the thirtieth and then I'll be able to drag them around this city that's quickly becoming home. There are some vague ideas to go skiing in eastern Turkey in early January, but I might rather just stick around town, there is still so much I haven't seen.

Cell Phone Use: Calls: 1 Texts: 4 (I sent a couple texts Monday night, I keep forgetting to update this counter.)

Funny stories, muddy paws.

Hassan told me a hilarious story today about a former girlfriend of his. The two of them had gone touring around Turkey on vacation and to make their bags lighter they had brought only one of certain appliances to share. (One Iron, one hair drier, etc.) This story is about the iron. Hassan had just finished ironing some shirts when his girlfriend came in and asked to use the iron. He handed it to her handle first and she clasped it to her chest in a sign of cute affection. And unfortunately she had been wearing something akin to a spaghetti strap tank top. Hassan said it was like she had been branded and added, "She'll never forget me."

Now, I know it's very cruel and wrong to laugh at human misery, but his closing remark made me just start cracking up. It's a bad thing that happened sure, but probably not the worst thing at which I've laughed. Like that story Dave told me about the midget hooker he knew in Denver who ended up dead and stuffed in a trash can one morning.

Well, it's a slow morning, I'm finally waking up after being here for three hours. I started out a bit earlier this morning and played with more cats. I tried to take some pictures, but none of them would hold still enough. My favorite was asleep in the ivy and I woke him up with a treat to his nose. Most of the others seemed more interested in petting than food, so I guess not only are they not starving, they must be fed well and regularly. During my fifteen minute walk up the hill I see somewhere around half a dozen to a dozen cats, depending on the weather. Passers-by don't seen to understand why I sit and pet the cats and take their pictures.

None of the cat pictures from this morning came out very well, maybe I'll get some good poses during the walk home.

Chugging along through the Week.

Whew, first update this week. Work isn't exactly strenuous, the hours are just really long. (In fact I'm typing this up at work.) Monday night was crazy, there was a room full of the rich folks from around town who went to see some staggeringly talented pianist (I listened to it from outside the auditorium) then they rubbed elbows in the foyer afterwards. I was there presumably to be a waiter, but the event was catered and waiters were provided. Hassan was there helping to run the show, but since I can't give orders to the Turkish workers, I couldn't help out with that either. So I ended up standing around and looking pretty for four hours after a full day.

It wasn't entirely bad, I met some neat people who I'm going to go out with this weekend. Also I caught up with Mr. Omral and met someone of importance around Istanbul who is traveling to Washington DC in two days. He didn't speak any English and Mr. Omral joked that I should teach it to him. Another fellow wants to introduce me to the dean and see about moving me up a bit in dear ol' Istanbul.

It started sprinkling this morning as I walked to work when I ran into my usual ill-tempered friend. Here is a picture of him, sitting in his usual spot.



Here's another picture from the museum that I finished messing around with the levels to get the glare off the marble. (sorta) It's of me between two statues of Marcus Aurelius. I'll go back to the museum some day where there is a lot better light.



Internet at the apartment is pretty spotty, I can't wait until the DSL line is installed.

A Trip To the Archeology Museum

Lots of pictures today. I had to wait until I was at work with high speed internet. (which I should be getting at the apartment in the near future.) I was totally blown away by the visit to the museum, I don't really have much to say. So here are the pictures.

I have high resolution (4.0 mega pixel) versions of any of these and more if anyone wants them, just email me.

First we arrived in Sultenamet right between the two big big beautiful buildings.


Hagia Sophia


Blue Mosque

Then we went to the Archeology and Antiquity Museum.


A statue outside the Antiquity Museum


This is a tablet in Sumerian, it appears to be a dedication by the king of Lagash for a temple. This is old Sumerian, Third Millenium BC. Totally hot.


Here is a tablet, I think it's Phonecian.


Alexander the Great.


Alexander the Great's Tomb


A peice of a statue of Goddess Artemis


Here is the man himself, Marcus Aurelius. My heart went pitter-pat when I saw this one.


And here is Asli next to a statue of a women from Ancient Greece.

That Sunday was a seriously religious experiance for me I think I'm going to go back there many many times. Also, it's only about 1.50 USD to get inside the museum.

I hope you enjoyed the picutes as much as I enjoyed taking them

Three stops in Taksim

This morning I woke up late, I didn't go to that party after all, I had decided to take a nap before hand and ended up sleeping for ten hours instead of one. I was not to be outdone though, Geoff woke up a whole two hours after I did, and by ten we were wondering what to do for the day. Being Saturday neither of us had to work. I said I was planning to go to old Constantinople to tour today, but the weather was absolutely wretched. It's snowing right now actually.

With horrid weather we decided to try for indoor events today. So the two of us went to Giselle, a French ballet. It was very wonderful, I forgot how beautiful ballet was. From the magazine, Time Out Istanbul, "First performed in 1841, Giselle is French composer Adolphe Adams' most famous ballet. Featuring many novelties for its time, Giselle find out her lover has been unfaithful to her, she loses her mind, and then dies, becoming one of the haunting forest spirits of other betrayed lovers, thus taking revenger on their former lovers. The lyric and romantic feel of the work has made this one of the most famous popular ballets of all time." I thought the second half, where Giselle is a spirit, was very well done. All the dancers would move a few steps and stop in a pose. The whole experience was very ethereal. The woman who played Giselle was amazing, this is one of those times I'm glad I don't get scared away from checking out the ballet because there are men wearing tights. I described the ballet as "bitchin" when it finished.

Not to get too snobbish, we left the AKM (Ataturk Cultural Center), met up with Asli and her boyfriend Ozan and headed down to a pub to watch the big futbol match between Beshitash and Galatasaray. I have decided my team is Galatasaray, partially because it is so damn hard to pronounce and because all my co-workers seem to root for them. Ozan and Asli also were rooting for Gala. Now you might think sports are big in the US, but matches in Turkey are more important than Politics, War, and Sex combined. Beshitash and Galatasaray are both in Istanbul along with the third team, Fernerbatche. Immediately Beshitash scored a goal, people went wild the in the club, but then Gala came back with a goal. About five minutes before the half Beshitash came around and scored another. So during the break we were feeling pretty down, but early in the second half Gala scored two goals in succession, like you didn't have time to sit back down after cheering and singing before they scored the second. Here is a picture of us at the pub, from left to right are Asli, Ozan, and a friend of Ozan's he's known since Jr. High.



So the first time out rooting for my team we won. That's a good sign I think.

After the game we walked down another side street in Taksim and went to some hip joint. This place was so cool it was on the fourth floor of a building. It looked like a converted flat, but the place was pretty cool, couches and hookahs, they brought us tea and horrible coffee, and there was a fellow playing guitar and singing. All the moulding on the ceiling was painted a very dark, shiny red, it looked like sealing wax. After about half an hour at the club we split, Geoff went to see some gypsy music band down the street for 25 YTL (more than I can pay on music that I might fall asleep for) Ozan's friend took off in some direction, and Ozan, Asli and I took a cab back to the apartment.

Cell Phone Use: Calls: 1 Texts: 2 I sent a text today! We wouldn't have been able to organize without it! (I'm sure.)

Karena, Cassandra, I found you a new Toothpaste

Like the title implies, Karena and Cassandra, I found you a new brand of toothpaste.



Okay, it's not toothpaste, it's Nutella in a toothpaste looking tube. I haven't tried it yet, but I saw someone buy four of them. At one Lira a pop they're a steal, and will give your teeth a nice hazelnut freshness.

On the way up to work I saw my fluffy, ill-tempered friend on his usual perch, staring out over the city. He accepted some petting, I didn't get a picture because I was running a bit late. The hill I walk up is unbelievable, but it's getting a bit easier each day.

I mixed up my dates, the Piano reception and shmoozing won't take place until Monday, but the late late night party is still tonight. A few people have come up to me to check to see if I'm still going. So it looks like I'm pretty well locked into this one. The plan is to go home, sleep for four hours then go to the party, sleep for an hour or so afterwards then just go through my day. Work is good, the food is slightly above standard cafeteria level, but I'm not a gourmet. It's free. The kitchen staff is always very excited to practice their English with me, I just wish I knew a bit more Turkish so I could untangle what they say and help them improve. But that's why I'm here for nine months instead of two weeks, eh?

I think I'm still going to old Constantinople tomorrow afternoon. I'm dying to get inside Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The people at work are really adorable, the day is winding down, and since it's a friday afternoon the students don't seem to be sticking around as much. The Funky Cafe is nearly empty so Apau, Gorcha, and I are just hanging out around the till and try to talk about things. The dictionary we keep behind the counter sees a lot of use when we are trying to describe things. Apau was trying to tell me the singer who's song we were listening to on the radio was killed recently. By the time I understood the song had finished.



Here's Apau sitting behind the counter.

While I'm out here I think I'm going to go visit Egypt. I have to leave the country every three months to renew my Visa, so I might as well take a little trip. If I could swing it for 600 YTL (Yeni Türk Lira, New Turkish Lira, old Turkish Lira would be 600,000,000. This year they made the transition) then things would be just peachy. Infact I wonder if I can get it as a business expense with these guys... Probably not, most I'd get is a bus ride to the Greek border, the funny thing with renewing Visas in Turkey is you have to physically leave the country one day, and re enter it the next day. So what people often do, is go to a town on the border in the evening, drive across at 23:50, have a drink, and then come back across a little after midnight. It may sound ridiculous, but it seems to work well enough.

Cellphone Use: Calls: 1 Texts: 1 I'm not using the damn thing!

Rain and Live Music

Rain clouds rolled in today and dumped buckets. Fortunately, I didn't have to commute (walk) in any of it. But the poor kitties had to put up with it. My favorite fluffy cat was drenched and just giving the world these hateful glares. The way he sat on the edge of a concrete wall reminded me of some feline gargoyle, gazing over the city of his prowl.





Thursdays at the cafe they have live music, two fellows playing guitars and singing popular turkish songs from the way the crowd was singing along. I'm going to brush up a short set and maybe preform next week. Work goes by pretty fast, Apau and I sit and teach each other language, it's funny because I speak to him in Turkish and he speaks to me in English for all the work we can.

Tomorrow is Friday, that night after work I'm supposed to attend a piano concert and smooze with the fancy folks, then I've been invited to what was described as a "Crazy Party" right in the same neighborhood. Conflict? Noway, this party is slated for 2300 to 0400. I think I'm going to make a token appearance then go find a place to sleep. Saturday is still scheduled for a visit to ol' Constantinople.

On the Job

Walking up to work today I ran into two of the usual cats. One dark long-haired cat walked around then found a little block where he put his font paws. He just looked at me and I took a few pictures. I think I'll bring treats next time.



Remembering how to use complicated English is becoming a bit of a struggle. My day to day conversations either are with people who either are just beginning to learn english, or are with people who I'm trying to speak Turkish. People don't seem to sleep here, Hassan told me he only gets four hours a night and he prefers it that way. Already my weekend has become entirely booked, people want me at dinners and parties after the dinner, then for touring and sight seeing the next day. I think people go to work to relax.

People smoke in Turkey, oh lordy-loo, they smoke like chimneys. Also there are no laws about not smoking inside. So if you're asthmatic you won't last in Turkey.

Cellphone Call Count: 1 Call 1 Text

11 hour work days aren't as bad as they sound.

Today was my second real work day, 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, I left early to run an errand. I know those sound like slave hours and I'm being payed a third of what I would make in the United States for the same hours, but when you consider the free house, free food, and fun experiences, I think I'm coming out in the black. My job is to speak english at a bunch of 17-20 year old Turkish kids until they get it. I don't formally teach, I just hang out in the cafe.

The first questions in English I am asked by these students are without fail: "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" "How old are you?" And the surprise one from the ladies only, "Are you married?"

I'm learning Turkish a bit quicker than I thought I could learn a language. But I suppose it helps being constantly bombarded by the language and the cafe workers are also very eager to teach me. This morning on my way up the hill to work I picked up another one of these cinnamon rolls for one lira. That comes to about 75 cents, but looking at this thing, you'd only find it in a real nice US bakery and probably then for 4 USD. The prices here are all like this, even nice nice designer clothing comes out cheeper. Electronics are sorta another story, but I have all the electronics I need anyway.

Oh, I didn't mention it yet, but all those people who snickered behind my back when I said I never would get a cell phone were right. I have one of the devilish contraptions, but only because it was provided for work and a million other justifications I'm sure I could come up with for why I "need" it and don't just want one. Cellphones in Turkey are all pay as you go it seems. You buy units called Kontors on phone card type things, and then follow instructions in Turkish and add them magically to your phone. If anyone wants to call me international (it won't cost me to receive calls, but boy will it cost you) my number here is 0538 663 10 73. I have no idea what the country code for Turkey is.

The small differences aren't really bothering me. Sure the signs all look different, and the call to prayer goes up five times a day, but the city is definitely western. Maybe I will notice wide spread vibes that will freak up my mojo or something, but this city has been the coolest metropolis to which I have ever been. I get scared in places like San Francisco or Washington DC, but here when I'm outside I really feel outside. It's a feeling that is difficult to explain.

Sunday in Istanbul, Near and Far

Woke up this morning and listened to the call to prayer before heading out. The neighborhood I'm in everyone talks bad about, saying it's boring and this and that, but the buildings here are so nice. Every building has a little garden around it, some actually have a sort of bridge leading from the sidewalk to the building. The stones and walkways are covered with lichen and the gardens are full of roses. I walked up to work, just to see if anyone was hanging around or if there was anything for me to do, but sunday morning isn't in the cards for these people. Heading back I picked up a large roll topped with nuts for one million Turkish lira, about 75 cents. The thing was huge and more than made a full breakfast. Comming back I snapped a picture of a hill next to the one I live on.



Today was also my first real sight seeing day. Of corse the fog had to be thick as pea soup (I swear, this place is just like SF, all hills and drizzling rain.) But I headed out, first to Bacheshire and then across the Bosphorous to the Asian side of Istanbul. The ferries are large (three levels) and actually serve food and drink onboard. I walked around a bit, got a fish sandwich, fresh off the fishing boat, and then hopped back on the ferry and came home. Normally this would seem boring, right? Well, the boat ride takes you past this,



On the Right is Hagia Sophia and the left is the Blue Mosque. I will get better pictures when the weather improves. And hopefully my next excursion around town will lead me into the old city. Take me back to Constantinople...

The Felines Among Us

Istanbul is full of cats. The little guys are everywhere, walking down the street, hanging around on the fence, sleeping on car hoods. Nearly all of them I've seen seem well-fed and healthy. They also aren't skittish around people, and no one seems to mistreat them. And the consequence? Not a rodent of any kind in sight.

This morning one was sleeping in the garden in front of the apartment.



Some of the boy cats seem to be bordering on having manes, many are the size of dear Oberon. It's going to be fun getting to know the neighborhood cats, their personalities and habits.

Thoughts at Sunrise

Yesterday, being Friday, was a bit lower key than the first two days. There is a swing of things here completely unlike the United States. Pacing is not frantic and there isn't the same social pressure to constantly multi-task. Those readers who worked with me at Caffino might be thinking, "Frantic? Multi-tasking? Alex never even came close to either of those, ever." But think of some of our customers, drinking two lates, a fresco and talking on a phone while scribbling something on a PDA. They wouldn't exist here, at least not in the numbers we see. It seems there is level of mutual respect that must be observed at street level that keeps people from becoming too self-centered. Maybe that is just a hopeful observation on my part.

The environment at work continues to be wonderful. I hang out with the workers and they keep teaching me little bits of Turkish. The people here are such wonderful hosts, it continues to blow my mind how well I am treated here.

I think I'm really going to miss the call to prayer when I leave. This morning I woke up a bit before it (5:30) and just stood by the windows listening to the echoing calls from the mosque.

My one complaint. These people don't know their coffee well, at least not where I have been. Even at this ritzy restaurant we went to they had this push-button nestle hot chocolate / coffee / cappuccino / mocha / espresso disaster of a coffee machine. The locals don't drink much coffee, but damn it, I need it.

7 am, the traffic has started and the grey dawn is beginning to slowly shift to an overcast morning.

Sorry, no pictures today.

Off to a Good Start

Everyday here is exhausting, there is so much to see and learn. Yesterday I spent most of my time hanging out in the cafe's at the English schools I will be working at. I sat around with the cooks and helpers and we read through my Turkish grammer, I would pronounce the english for them and they would pronounce the Turkish for me. I ended my time there being able to say some simple sentances. Everyone is excited to try their english on me.

I went to the large market district today, it's all large avenues closed to traffic. (except local delivery) And the streets recently had pipes repaired or intalled under them, leaving much of it unpaved gravel and the entire street covered with mud. I will probably be going to Old Constantinople this weekend. One of the Turkish men I work with, Hassan, is a licenced tour guide and says he will brush up on his history and show me and a few of the other Americans around the historical sites.

Today I woke up to the first call to prayer, when the city is very still. People are moving around now, my one turkish room mate Azlah just left for work.

Here is a picture of the crew working at Maksem Cafe at the main campus in Bahcheshire.



My roomate Azlah is on the left, and I wish I could remember the two men's names. They were really great fellows.

First time out in Taksim

Still somewhat recovering from jet-lag I decided to explore the city a bit with one of my room mates. But before we could explore the electricity bill for the apartment I stay in was due, over due in fact. So we agreed to fist go pay the bill since no one else could do it that day. It took quite a while, but we eventually found the right building, and the right entrance on the building. After waiting in a long line, which is nothing new, lines move much the same anywhere you go, the bill was paid and we were free to adventure again.

Walking down a nice brick paved avenue one fellow, Vedat, called us over to chat. Asking where we were from and telling us about his work. Now, I worked in a market before selling worthless birdhouses to tourists, so I had seen my fair share of swanky sales pitches, but this guy was smooth. Just to avoid spending more I bought a little painted ceramic disk but Amanda, my room mate, was lured back into the carpet room. I went back and had tea with Vadat while his partner tried to sell his entire stock to Amanda. When all was done and we said our goodbyes my experience with being drawn into a carpet store was very pleasant.

Walking around we went to see about tickets to the opera at Ataturk Cultural Center but they were closed. If I have the energy tonight I might catch a cab to see the opera, but I'll probably stick around here and sleep more.

Istanbul is a very contoured city, the roads twist over hills and as you walk around, you are suddenly privileged to amazing views. But enough talk, here is one of them:



This I saw as I was crossing over traffic on a foot bridge looking for the electric company. I'm pretty sure that's looking over the Bosphorus.

Come to think of it, a compass might be more useful in this city than a map.

Here is another picture of my room mate Amanda standing in front of a fountain in a park.



Sadly, the fountain was filled with litter.