Friday is an Empty Cafe in Beshitash
Beshitash campus is empty today, most of the students have taken off for the holiday and there aren't any classes being held. But since the WiFi started sputtering at the apartment the change in scenery is welcome. Asli will leave for her hometown (and hopefully a dentist) tomorrow for the holiday. That means I'll have the apartment to my lonesome for a few days. Tomorrow I'm taking another trip to the archeology museum with Makena and Eric.
Im very happy with the neighborhood in which I'm living, people aren't always trying to sell me things or treat me like a tourist, like in Sultanahmet. I'm just a guy buying bread who speaks just enough Turkish to say 'thanks' a whole bunch. I stopped for a coffee and a roll this morning in a little cafe that had photos on the walls of what looked like peaceful Austrian country side. The owner asked me in german if I was German "Nein, traurig. American." He just smiled and served me a cup of nescafe. Everyone in Turkey just drinks Nescafe, you'll be very hard pressed to find a cup of real coffee, I don't even think the supermarket near me sells real beans.
The main reason I stopped by the cafe was to try to break a twenty, the taxi drivers seldom can make change and it's awful running out to some market to try to make change while the backed up traffic lets you know they're upset. Turkey seems to have a shortage of small bills, maybe someone should tell the mint, but at all the cafes they scramble for small bills about halfway through the day since everyone pays with twenties and fifties and eats up their change. I begin to wonder where all the small change goes, maybe it just gets kicked down the line or dumped into vending machines. But if you come to Turkey get lots of small change, ones and fives, giving exact change is a very good way to avoid being short changed too. Sad to say, that is fairly common in the touristy areas, just because you can't speak Turkish doesn't mean you can't do basic math, geeze...
So I suggest doing like me, stay in a flat in a quiet, normal neighborhood where you do all your day to shopping, and then take excursions out to the tourist and market centers. That way you don't only see one side of Istanbul and get to thinking the Turks are all rug merchants who want your money. Knowing Asli and her boyfriend Ozan, since I am able to experience Istanbul with them, as a friend rather than a tourist.
Im very happy with the neighborhood in which I'm living, people aren't always trying to sell me things or treat me like a tourist, like in Sultanahmet. I'm just a guy buying bread who speaks just enough Turkish to say 'thanks' a whole bunch. I stopped for a coffee and a roll this morning in a little cafe that had photos on the walls of what looked like peaceful Austrian country side. The owner asked me in german if I was German "Nein, traurig. American." He just smiled and served me a cup of nescafe. Everyone in Turkey just drinks Nescafe, you'll be very hard pressed to find a cup of real coffee, I don't even think the supermarket near me sells real beans.
The main reason I stopped by the cafe was to try to break a twenty, the taxi drivers seldom can make change and it's awful running out to some market to try to make change while the backed up traffic lets you know they're upset. Turkey seems to have a shortage of small bills, maybe someone should tell the mint, but at all the cafes they scramble for small bills about halfway through the day since everyone pays with twenties and fifties and eats up their change. I begin to wonder where all the small change goes, maybe it just gets kicked down the line or dumped into vending machines. But if you come to Turkey get lots of small change, ones and fives, giving exact change is a very good way to avoid being short changed too. Sad to say, that is fairly common in the touristy areas, just because you can't speak Turkish doesn't mean you can't do basic math, geeze...
So I suggest doing like me, stay in a flat in a quiet, normal neighborhood where you do all your day to shopping, and then take excursions out to the tourist and market centers. That way you don't only see one side of Istanbul and get to thinking the Turks are all rug merchants who want your money. Knowing Asli and her boyfriend Ozan, since I am able to experience Istanbul with them, as a friend rather than a tourist.
posted by Alex Gray at 11:58
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