kindness of strangers...

Today started out as a typical day in the life of Istanbul Emily. Woke up , made some filtered yummy coffee from America, rode the bus to Mimar Sinan University, did some silk screening, rode the Tram way Funiknler to Taxsim for my language school and tried to absorb as much Turce dil as possible. After class I was quite hungry. There are tons of tiny fruit and veggie stands around Turkey. I wanted some bananas before I went to yoga. I grab three bananas from one of these little fruit stands and then realize that I am out of cash. I only need 2 YTL (Yeni Turkish lira) but yok/ none. I say pardon...para yok (my broken way of saying never mind). Basically I start to go and he basically in Turkish tells me no problem...sonra sonra/ later later. So basically this man tells me I can pay him later, smiles and goes back to reading his newspaper. I was so shocked and touched by his willingness to trust that I will come back and pay him later. Especially in the big city of Istanbul. It made me smile today.

Living here I take the bus, tram, ferry etc. etc. public transportation. Some days it sucks, I'll be honest. Crowded, so much traffic and you never really know how long it will take 15 minutes or one hour? blah. But It does force you to interact with other human beings. One other kindness of strangers situation I love watching(or being part of) is giving the seats to old people or others that need it more.

Simply, I just feel good about the world when I see honor and trust in or for others.

Spring time!

I don't know the name of this flower but it looks like a creeping sweet pea vine. It is a lovely spray of lavender color around Istanbul.


















Yildiz park is across the street from my house in ortakoy. Tulips are blooming left and right. It is a wonderful natural area in the heart of the choas that is Istanbul. Huge beds of multi colored tulips have popped up and every time I turn my head I think that color must be my favorite...


















or is it this one?

Happy four twenty friends.

meat.

Meat in America is cut, cleaned and packaged(like many things). This builds such a disconnection that it once was a living breathing animal with a white breast or choice cut steak let alone other organs. Here in Turkey the butcher shops have the carcasses hanging in the refrigerated windows for all to see and come pick what you would like cut from this body. You go to the butcher shop the man opens the door and cuts you off what part you asked for. OK this may seem gross to some but think about how fresh it is. No plastic for it to sit around and leech from. Also some of the butcher stores specialize in the organs. Ciger is I believe liver and the cigerci store has all the "disgusting" parts of the cows and sheep displayed(reminder this is a Muslim country so forget the pork) and ready to sell, the hearts, brains, testicles, feet, tongues, intestines all that good stuff ready to go. I am trying to get in to it??? But not very hard. Makes me think of my grandpa and his pig's feet and Grammy loving cow's tongues. My boyfriend's mother had to quick fry him up some sheep's testicles before we left their house the last time we visited.If you can get past that it is a dead animal visually I think it is quite beautiful. They clean the parts so well. The repetition of multiple organs...hearts...etc.

cappadocia continued

So peaceful floating at sunrise.

HONK-HONK.....hoooooooonnnnnkkkkk!

HONK-HONK-"hey look at me while you are peacefully walking down the street(side note actually you really need to fully stay awake and be aware of your surrounding when walking in Istanbul. I don't always feel secure even on the sidewalk.) HONK-HONK-I'm a taxi driver in Istanbul."

HONK-HONK-"hey look at me, I think that if I sneak up behind you and honk at you that you will want to magically jump in my taxi so I can try to ripe you off even though you had no intention of taking a taxi."

HONK-HONK-"hey look at me, Jump in my taxi, forget that I just scared you and made you jump 5 ft.(meters in this case) in the air and had no intention of taking a taxi or else you would be actively pursuing me."

HONK-HONK-"Hey look at me, You should jump in my taxi, just wanted you to know that I am here so you can get in but if not get the f-out of my way because I am not slowing down-actually I am going to speed up because there is no such thing as pedestrian right of way in turkey."

HONK-HONK-"move it or loose it sister(abla in Turkish) or get in so I can see that you are a yobanci(foreigner) and try to rip you off by not starting my meter or by charging you night rates during daytime hours or keep the meter going since before my last victim got out."

HONK-HONK-Hooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnkkkkkkkkkk! just a quick HONK-HONK- "just to make sure you saw me and hey, do you want a ride?"

This is one of the pages from my Turkey Book. Last year I made a accordion style collage book about things I experienced and cultural differences in this then foreign to me land. The Turks are normally kind, considerate and extremely hospitable people...then they get into their cars. Madness!

My Cali friend and I used to always hold hands and mentally prepare ourselves for the crossing of the street and that was even in our little Eskisehir city. Also the truck hauling is hilarious(see my picture)! They are so overly stuffed full of whatever and sway slightly as they putt down the road.

Also the cars make up lanes. "Oh look there is a tiny little spot that I can squeeze through so I can make a third lane and get up front-great!" Pedestrian right of way seems to be unheard of. Seat belts are barely worn.

On a less comic note, sadly, there have been many deaths from this culturally accepted do or die way of driving.

My boyfriend came to the States, "wow. It's so calm to drive here." He is a good driver though.

Ok off to school and no I will not be taking a taxi.

floaty not flighty?

My sister told me before I left for Turkey the second time that I am floaty. My personality I guess. Not to be confused with flighty meaning spacey or ditzy. I think this was meant to be a compliment? I mean I handle what I need to though I do not always know what my next step might be. Normally I am confident that I will find that next step.

I just read the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I recommend it. She is funny especially if you are American. She termed this the great age of the spazzy free-for-alls. I got really nervous in the beginning that I might just be too much of a spazzy free-for-all. What do I do after I graduate? What is my next move? oh my gosh marriage...How do I feel about being connected to someone for the rest of my life?(smile)

What if? What if? What if?

I don't have a job blah blah blah? Question mark? question mark? question mark? I regained my confidence after finishing the book. I want a creative, flexible job...huh? This is a photo from our hot air balloon flight through the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. Peaceful and serene at sunrise.

Hanging out the laundry...

I haven't been posting this month because many wonderful things have been happening. I went back to Cali for a dear friends beautiful wedding. Then my amazing parents traveled many miles from Minnesota. We went around Istanbul, to the cave cities of Cappadocia and then went to meet my beautiful boyfriend's adorable parents in Didim. A few minor bad things are my photo shop trial membership ran out so I can't edit photos and the wiring at my Istanbul apartment is so bad that I am having major problems connecting the Internet. My beautiful computer is feeling very underutilized! Anyways everything went even better than expected with our parents and everyone should be expecting big news soon. One thing my parents and I discussed is why are there no dryers in Turkey? Is it because they are expensive? They suck up energy? They have most other appliances? Also their laundry washing cycles are about 2 or 3 hours long...huh? They just hang the clothes outside to dry or one big rack in their houses. I need photoshop again because I have many new photos to share. xoxo