Goodbye February

Hello from the twelfth floor of Istanbul Conti, which offers a beautiful view of the city from it's twelfth floor lounge. it's a spectacular finish to the mercifully short month of February. And what a month! I saw Cyprus, learned more Turkish than I knew existed three months ago, and the excitement keeps coming. Seagulls are circling around the window, catching the last thermals before night falls. Looking South I can see the sea of Marmara as well as the distinctive forms of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.






Today was also a fairly exciting day down at the school, I got to speak with more students than usual and even said hi on the phone to Apo's little brother back in his home town in Eastern Turkey. Now, there is a funny story about Apo's hometown. It's name is Batman, as in the dark knight. So often as is the case I sit and listen to Turkish spoken by all the cafe workers at an accelerated pace and only pick up a few words. Words like "Alex" and "America." Then one conversation I heard Hasan and Apo talking about Bat Man, they talked on and on, I assumed they had gone to the cinema, but no. I had made some off handed comment about comic books and got blank looks in return. Only until many days later while watching a video of Turkish folk dances that featured the Batman dance did I realize they had been talking about a village.

The sun has set and the city lights are coming on, the call to prayer rise from the city below to meet the setting sun. Tomorrow is March, the season is changing.



Here's Thomas doing what cats do best.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Rambling Descriptions

I went to Haci Baba's again for lunch today. I just can't get enough of their kabobs! Here is what I was trying to describe yesterday. My neighborhood is bounded by some some of Istanbul's most gigantic landmarks, Cevahir Shopping Mall, Galatasaray Stadium, and this bad boy.



Goodnight folks, my weekend is done.

Saturday means Light Exploration at a Relaxed Pace

I took a different route to my favorite restaurant today, after looking at Google Earth I realized what looked like a back alley went right to my goal meaning I wouldn't have to walk along a busy street breathing car exhaust. True, the walk along the busy street is a very short one, it's also one I have been down many times. Leaving the apartment I turned right instead of left, it rained last night and this morning and the city streets and everything about them were thrown into a fuzzy shine under thinly overcast skies.
To my delight the alley was actually a very narrow residential street lined with trees. The buildings looked new, and I think that whole neighborhood has been getting a make over, many old building have scaffolding around them and the abundant trees all look very young. Kids were everywhere, either playing on the sidewalks and front porches or walking in packs down the street. Up a hill and down some stairs I approached the familiar door of Haci Baba - Lezzet Sofrasi from the opposite side.
My Turkish is still abysmal and besides telling them that I was well and ordering lamb shish I think I fumbled every other question they tossed my way. But to the questions I didn't know I just replied that the food was delicious and thanked them profusely. Haci Baba's is really a great place with some of the best home style Turkish cooking I've run into here. After a great meal wrapped up with a few cups of tea I wandered the neighborhood I had walked through to get there. Now facing the other direction I saw that framed between the narrow apartment buildings was the tower of steel and blue glass that rises above Fulya avenue. I'm not sure what that building is called, but it's big! When I arrived in Istanbul and had to tell a taxi where my home was I would just tell them Fulya and then gesture wildly with my hands to indicate a gigantic building. Worked every time.
In one of the small shops I picked up some coffee biscuit things and some mineral water, crossed the street, and I was home. Instead of a planned lay out with easily found addresses Istanbul feels much more organic, it's a mass of hidden neighborhoods and great tucked a way places run through by a few large roads that divide things up into neighborhoods. I could live here for years and find a whole part of town with it's own feel that I'd never seen before.

Home, most apartments in Istanbul are painted in more vibrant colors. Like the hall in Jess and Elsa's apartment that is painted bright, lime green. And here's a picture of the cat visiting window with my head in the way.

Today there is a new addition to my blog family, a Persian blog I have been meaning to make for a long, long time. (it's the funny squiggle under the links) If you know Persian (Farsi) take a look at it and then tell me where I've screwed up your beautiful language, I still have a lot to learn. And if you don't know Persian, still go look at it. You might get an idea for a tattoo.

Wake Up with Alex

Today is another exciting multi-media day! To get you ready for the weekend and various holy days here is the call to prayer. This is what it sounds like to wake up early with me and open the window. My window faces a large concrete embankment and the calls to prayer ricochet up and down between it and my building, amplifying them much louder than can be heard on the street in front of the apartment. The embankment is overgrown with ivy which can be heard rustling in the wind. You can also hear a dog howling at the prayer call and Thomas coming over to visit. Despite the occasional passing delivery truck, Mecidiyeköy is very quiet in the early hours.


Click the Mosque to listen!

Here is an old movie clip I took in the rain. It's from early December when I was just beginning to explore my neighborhood. It's also during the call to prayer, double the fun!


And what post would be complete without a cute kitty!


Besides being a fun multimedia day, today is Cuma (Joo-mah) and that means more students than usual skip class and those that stay are more inclined to go someplace else when their classes finish, leaving Funky cafe nearly deserted. Jess and Elsa are also gone, taking with them a pack of students to let loose in the United States. This leaves Abdulselam, or Apo for short, as my only conversation partner. How far can a person's language skills regress from lack of practice? We shall see.

We're on a Roll with Good Weather

The students have returned to school and the weather just keeps getting better. I notice more people outside, not just walking around, but standing around talking and sitting out in front of their apartment buildings, taking in sun and good conversation. Yesterday I stayed at home all day to wait for the Telecom workers, enjoying every minute of it with the windows open. The sun moved lazily across an azure sky and I just drank coffee at the window waving to passers-by and saying hi.
Tomorrow Jess and Elsa take a bunch of hopefuls across international borders to tour colleges in America. Good luck, ladies! And my friends back home, if you run into some Turks or really any other foreigners, make them feel welcome. Like that ancient greek saying we learned with the imperative voice, "Be kind to strangers because you will one day be a stranger."
And I highly recommend going and being a stranger. With nothing familiar and easy to grasp, I've been forced to explore and learn more about myself and the world. Yeah... go be an explorer.

Happy International Tourist Guide Day!

Hasan, who among other things is a professional tour guide, has informed me today is an international holiday celebrating tour guides everywhere. You may think they're annoying and unnecessary, but think of all the times you've repeated something a tour guide told you to sound in-the-know. Give it up for the tour guides, people!

Bureaucracy is Not an Obstacle, it's a National Pass-time

Yesterday was the great excursion around Mecidiyeköy and Bebek to fist find the Telecom office and then buy DSL service from them. The weather has been just incredible the last few days. Abdul and I strolled along in the sun, talking lively within our shared vocabulary. Passing Galatasaray stadium we walked and walked until we were sure we had missed our destination, but shop keepers urged us on and we eventually came to the gates of Türk Telekom. The bureaucracy is a spectacle to behold, the building itself seem like something out of a Thirties spy movie, or the police offices in Bladerunner, we found the correct office and was told by a very friendly woman who was with us right away that we needed to visit another office across the district first and file some kind of residency bit.
This might seem like a hassle, but the weather was perfect and being outside is a real treat after a cold winter. The bureaucracy there wasn't the unfriendly, no volunteered information, California DMV type. I met one of the worker's children who had just gotten out of primary school where he is learning English. With some encouragement from his father the young boy spoke a few sentences with me, asking my name and bidding me welcome to Turkey. The whole process took a relatively short time, no lines, just lots of desks with very specific functions. If I had to sum up the comparison in a meaningless analogy I would say my bureaucratic experiences up until now have been wood grain pattern laminate while this was polished oak.

Today is another low key day at school, the students are gone for the most part, and those remaining have more opportunities for conversation with me

Monday, Exams are Over and the Word is Relax.

Most of the students are on another holiday, so Hasan and I are sitting around Funky Cafe watching videos of Bodrum folk dances. He seems very excited to return, though I have been assured he will be making regular appearances here in Istanbul. I suppose when you get used to a city pace of things, permanently leaving is never really possible. It makes me wonder, when I return to the states, will I spend my time in the cities I before shunned.
Last night I went to the little restaurant near my home, ordering can be hard when no one expects you to speak any Turkish, but things went smoothly and my Kuzu Shish came up with no worries. How should I describe the restaurant? It has no name visible on the building, though their card names the place "Haji Baba." Outside there is a cart outside loaded with vegetables and seasonings that signals to passers-by the building is a restaurant. Squeezing into the building no larger than ten meters by five, half of which is a kitchen, you sit at one of two tables, usually sharing it with a delivery driver taking a tea break. All the food is cooked over a grill of hammered copper on iron spits. There is an older man in his fifties who is the main cook, and probably the owner. He has several men in their late teens or early twenties who act as waiters and delivery drivers, and there are a few young boys who clean and serve tea. This is the kind of establishment I like because it forces me to act out of my element and I have to pretend I'm Turkish.
I'm beginning to think more and more that pretending is more important than knowing in languages. After I have corrected a page of bad grammar for a student and attempted to teach the student when to use who and whom, I always encourage them to just pretend they are using correct English since so few speakers of English actually follow the rules. Confidence bordering on arrogance is the big secret to communicating in English!

Thomas at the Window, Farewell Hasan

One of the neighborhood cats has become so frequent I've decided to name him. Thomas has shown up in quite a few cat photos, he is even in the very first post I made about cats, "The Felines Among Us." He likes warm radiators and open windows and doesn't mind humans who play guitar. I'm not sure why Thomas... well, he's a Tom cat, and I'm reading Hobbes right now, I suppose there is a good reason for why I looked at him and said, "Your name is Thomas now."

Istanbul has really warmed up in the last day or two. It's remarkable how fast the weather changes here when the winds shift. Many people are making bold claims that winter is a thing of the past, while the statements might prove erroneous, the weather seems to be doing well to reflect that sentiment. The winds have been coming in two primary directions during my time here, North and South, bringing our weather either from the balmy Mediterranean or the freezing Black Sea. The only thing that remains constant is a breeze, a godsend in any metropolis, keeping the air more or less breathable.
Tonight Jess and Elsa are preparing a dinner for our best friend in Istanbul, Hasan. He will be returning to his home in Bodrum in a week, where he will resume being the captain of a yacht. The winter season has ended and it's time for him to prepare the boat to take on guests for relaxing among the Aegean isles. Hasan has been a great help getting us accustomed to life in Turkey and always has a sunny disposition, we all will miss him dearly. Our well wishes are mixed with not a small amount of jealousy, while we enjoy fair Istanbul mostly from indoors, he will be enjoying the sublime Aegean from the deck of a wooden yacht. Best luck, Hasan! We are counting on you to give us a discount this summer!

And dinner was very delicious. Thank you Jess, thank you Elsa!

How to Catch a Cat / We're in Video Now!

Simply put a bowl of food out on your nice warm radiator and leave the window open. Endless hours of enjoyment!

As hinted at in the title I have begun uploading videos thanks to the wonderful people at Our Media. Now you will hear and feel life in the original cosmopolitan city like never before. Or just watch videos of cats...

Here we are at the Castle in Girne, warm Mediterranean winds on a quiet Sunday morning, couldn't be better.

And while I'm blasting you with new media experiences, here is a panorama shot of the harbor beneath the castle in Girne. I messed up setting the tripod so the horizon on right side of the picture begins to curve, but you get the idea.

Expect more soon!

(I'm having a little problem getting the full-sized harbor picture up. Blogger cuts things off at 1024 pixles wide. I'll remove this note when I fix it.)

From Cyprus With Love

During my time in Turkey I forgot what it was like to go through the rigors of airline travel, beginning with the anxious waiting in traffic on the way to the airport, watching the clock burn precious minutes and praying for short lines once in the airport. Then there was rushing around the airport trying to find my check-in and eventually coming across it on the other side of the airport from where I was told it was. But it's not all bad, the cry of victory in the duty free store and eventually being able to collapse into my seat.
Cyprus Turkish Airlines is no Lufthansa, that's for sure, but it's hard to beat, "Herr Gray, vould you like another Bailey's?" The hour-long flight left an hour late, mostly because the sensitivity on metal detectors at the gate were set high enough to alert police if someone with gold fillings approached them. But I wasn't there for the airplanes or for the in-flight cheese sandwich. Much to my delight, when I landed at Ercan International in Cyprus I exited the plane expecting the usual docking gate only to realize a stairway had been brought up, we exited the aircraft onto the runway and walked to passport control in the warm Mediterranean night. Looking back towards the planes I saw no lights, the night stretched out and joined the sky seamlessly over the pitch-black countyside. I felt as through I had stepped through some portal into a movie, the year wasn't identifiable in the press of suits, my visa stamp came with no questions and hardly a second glance. Back in Istanbul the outgoing passport control official had grinned at me and complimented me on my name, Alexander, it's nice being named after someone who conquered the known world.
Past the final gate and customs, I was greeting with a kiss on each cheek by Fatosh and taken away in a Mercedes Taxi along empty highways to sleep until the next day. Cyprus did not disappoint the eyes. The first place I thought of was Southern California, like Santa Barbara, everything was a rich green and the air was so clean and filled with a warm breeze even in February. Strolling down the road something hit me, it felt at first like someone had shaken up my brains and put them back in, waves of disorientation assaulted me. People drive on the left side of the road in Cyprus.

After late breakfast and wandering around the town we caught a mini bus to take us across the mountains to Girne, the largest city in North Cyprus. We checked into the Socrates Hotel and went out looking for a place to have dinner among the many Casinos dotting the shoreline. After finding the club we wanted to go to was filled with rich morons who can't drive and have horrible and very expensive tastes we just headed back to the hotel to try for an early rise for a day of sight seeing.
The Socrates Hotel is in the style of a British hotel, I know this not because I've been in a British Hotel, but because everything about it's design reminded me of Fawlty Towers, except it was pleasantly free of disaster.

The next day Fatosh and I went to the old castle in Girne, it's built overlooking the harbor and it's a very hands on kind of experience. You pay the ticket person two lira then you cross the bridge into the castle and you're let loose. The castle changed many hands, from Byzantine to Crusader to Venetian to Ottoman before it was retired. Warm breeze next to the ocean, this has definitely been the most pleasant bit of sight seeing I have done.







After the castle we strolled around town, killing time before our bus arrived to take us back over the mountains. Down a side street I made a startling discovery. Draped with Irish flags is the Shamrock Bar, offering you "a wee bit of Ireland." I would have gone in, but it was locked up and with the amount of scaffolding around the building and workmen in the courtyard, it seemed the Shamrock was closed for repairs.



We met our mini bus and settled back for the trip back through the mountains. Zipping back along the mostly empty road we passed a few military bases. I was told North Cyprus has nearly as many soldiers as civilians, and driving past a Turkish Military base I saw a few soldiers out enjoying the weather on a tank that looked like it hadn't moved in years. There are UN bases all over the place too, but Cyprus' violent past feels very distant these days.
Near Fatosh's school is another castle that encloses a small town. Everywhere there are ruins of cathedrals from the Byzantine and Catholic periods, and one very Catholic cathedral on the town square had actually been converted to a mosque. It's incredibly bizarre seeing the stonework that screams "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" with a minaret stuck on the side. The castle wall was climbable and we spent some time gazing at the stars and moored ships.

All the restaurants we went to were all amazing, one had aquariums and bird cages with tropical birds and I saw others built out of the old castle. Also they were the same price as the cheep restaurants in Istanbul, North Cyprus seems like a great place for cheep vacations in a beautiful part of the world.
My last day in Cyprus we walked along the pristine beaches in the shadow of a ruined hotel, bombed in the seventies. When I returned to Istanbul the ground was covered with snow. I'm already looking into returning.

Off to a Warmer Climate

Tonight my plane for Cyprus leaves and I will likely be away from an internet connection for the next five days. Of course that won't stop me from taking pictures and preparing some entries for when I return. The rains have come back to Istanbul, washing the streets of all the dirt that has been trapped in the snow and ice. The school is finishing up the module that began when I arrived. Finals week must be approaching, the cafe is going through closer to fifteen Kilos of sugar in a week instead of the usual ten.

Students complain to me that English is a very hard language that makes no sense. I tell them they're absolutely right and I have a very hard time with the rules too. The longer I stay immersed in Turkish the more English I find myself unable to remember. I find myself saying atrocities like, "We all need good English talking with." At times I think it was just a bad idea to move away from dear old Latin.

I'm excited about my trip, not only will I get to enjoy a bit of warmth, but I will see a new part of the world. Besides the ski trip I've been cooped up in Istanbul for near to three months and I've begun to ache for open spaces.

Snow Day: Day Two

Another day of snow has cancelled school again. Yesterday I used the snow day to stroll around Mecidiyeköy and do some shopping. I think people are beginning to believe I can speak Turkish but I'm just mentally handicapped. This is of course better than being considered a tourist. It's amazing how much wool is used here, but I suppose it's more plentiful in Turkey than cotton. Most of the sweaters you see in stores are at least 50% wool, warm and comfy.

Today I'm enjoying the early afternoon in the Mayks Cafe where there is free WiFi, listening to Turkish pop and drinking *gasp* real coffee. Now this is a vacation!

Here are some overdue pictures from the last few days, the Church is in Taksim just stuck back among stores and down a back street where the Belgian embassy also is located. There is another more prominent church in Taksim that is the largest Catholic church in Istanbul. (and maybe Turkey too)


Here we have the Beshitash campus of Bacheshehir seen across the street, on the first day of the most recent snow storm.


And buildings in Mecidiyeköy, colorful walls and snowy roofs.

Snow Day!

What started as splatters of annoying melting snow has now grown into a frosty blanket that covers the city. School has been called off, and even last night the taxi I took home from Beshitash could not make it up the hill near my house. The only plan today is to keep warm at home until the sun makes a strong showing.

The Language of Success and Failure

As remarked upon before I hang out in a cafe in an English Language school in Istanbul and give the students lots of chances to practice. I keep to simple sentences, speaking them slowly, and occasionally I get a response. Easiest is "How are you?" This almost always gets a correct answer, though sometimes I just get, "Thank you, and you?" in reply to my inquiry.

One very energetic, purple-haired girl came up to Hasan and me, said good morning, asked how I was, and then confided in Hasan that those words were the only English she had learned in six months at the school.

The most promising student has been Apau, his English is growing steadily and he remembers a lot. He told me that next year he will be studying English at Bacheshire University and after wards he wants to learn French. Already he speaks Kurdish, Arabic, and Turkish. Maybe I'm working side by side with a future diplomat. The thought is certainly exciting.

Warmer Days, Cat Photos

The weekend has brought sun and warm weather, and I took a stroll around Mecidieköy with Hasan and finally bought a DSL modem. All the animals were out sunning themselves on the sidewalks or wherever they could find space. The taste of warmer weather makes me giddy thinking about what spring will bring.

And now, cat photos.

Like I said, the animals were sunning themselves wherever they found space. Even in planters perched on the edge of sudden drops.


These two I took when a cat that I had been petting leaped onto me and refused to depart.

Hope you enjoyed the furballs

Friday, Scenic Gateway to the Weekend

Good Morning from Istanbul, home of the one Lira Mystery Sandwich. Friday is always the emptiest day of the week at the school. More people cut class or just leave at their first opportunity instead of hanging around Funky Cafe, no matter how groovy our salad are. Satellite television has come to the Funky Cafe and now sports games and music videos flicker on three of the walls. This has prompted my house mate Geoff, a teacher at the school, to request the Cafe being opened for him to watch the Superbowl on Sunday. The prospect of coming into work 6 hours early on a Monday morning to watch someone yell at a sports game and drink Raki is terrifying. But they'll probably have one of the ever present security guards unlock the cafe for him if things go that far.

Social classes are very ridged in Turkey from what I've seen. There are people called "villagers" who make up the lower tier of the work force. I assume the term originally came from the many people who leave their villages in the country side and come to large cities for work, but now it encompasses anyone lacking an education, even if they have lived in Istanbul their whole lives. According to the civilized folk villagers are harder to understand when they speak and are all crazy. Educational opportunity is limited in Turkey, universities are few and crowded and there is no such thing as community college.

In Turkey there is 16 months of mandatory military service for all men when they turn 20, though university students are exempt. The cooks in the cafe were all asking me about my military service, not knowing the United States uses an all volunteer army at present. When I told them I didn't serve in the military and had no intention to join they laughed and called me the Turkish equivalent for a sissy. In Turkey it is a matter of national pride to serve your time in the military. Hasan then stepped in and told them I was in the Army in Iraq and killed five men then made an necklace from their ears, something that seemed much worse than being called a sissy. But a hurried denial later and we were all laughing.

I keep trying to explain to one student what his t-shirt means. It has a simple spanish phrase on it, "de puta madre." I would assume Turkish students would also spend their study time looking up dirty words in their dictionaries, but he didn't seem to understand my English translation of his shirt.



Obligatory street cat photo.

Ну Погоди Funky Cafe!

I spent the better part of a morning reminiscing about a cartoon of my childhood "НУ ПОГОДИ" meaning "I'll get you!" The cartoon was produced in the Soviet Union during the Sixties and Seventies and features a wolf trying constantly to catch a rabbit. Because I'm such a great guy here's a link to where you can watch all 18 episodes with real player. Clickez Ici!

What does this obscure Russian cartoon have to do with Istanbul? Probably more than I could imagine, because I'm not coming up with anything.

Turkish has different words for the hair on your head (saç) and body hair (kıl). I learned this after Apau covered his hand in rubbing alcohol and lit it on fire, something he had never done before. He's always wanting to build his vocabulary and it surprised him that I called both the hairs on his head and ones he had just singed off, "hair." It was not the confusion that arose from my distinguishing "napkin" and "tissue" which are both "selpak," and not the ultimate confusion that ensued when one of the cooks pointed to a picture of three trees and asked me what is was. (There is no 'th' sound in Turkish and many Turks can only make it with much difficulty, much like English speakers confronted with 'kh' as in "Khabarovsk" or "khub.") Living here has given me a more intimate sense of how vocabularies are formed. Like how it's frequently repeated that Inuits have a whole plethora of words to describe what English labels "snow," an extreme (and probably exaggerated) example.

Current fashion among the students at the school requires the boys to wear button up shirts with at least three buttons undone and nothing underneath. If they are one of the greats, perhaps they have an unzipped cardigan hanging from their shoulder like a cape. T-Shirts often carry phrases like "College Athletic Team" stylized to look like a sports team's logo, "much more," and other inanities I have been unable to read.

I have been given a new task beyond talking to the students. My powers of English will now be put towards making menu boards for the cafe with "funky" names for our menu items. At first I protested, making new names seems trivial and they wouldn't fit very well. Then I realized this is my opportunity to create funny English phrases that would make native speakers chuckle. So it's "Groove Salad" and "Disco Soup" from now on! Eat a Break-dance Burger today!

Happy February!

Good morning. Here in Turkey we missed the State of the Union address because 9 pm eastern is 4 in the morning here. Also I don't have a television. I trust everyone who tuned in played along with the obligatory drinking game and is now in hospital on dialysis. What I'm dying to know is if Mr. Bush pronounced "Mahmoud Amadinejad" correctly.

Happy February! This year has gotten off to an exciting start, and I'm right next to the action! Turkey shares borders, not only with Greece, Bulgaria, and Georgia, but with Armenia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Of course Istanbul is incredibly European on the very Western side of Turkey. Impromptu Turkish lessons are going well, and I'm helping Hasan's English become more sophisticated. Wishing you all the very best for this coming month.