Night Out With Burcu in Taksim

After making a trip to Beşiktaş, I got a call from Burcu who happened to be in Taksim (which is close-by). We decided to hang out and so we went to the Tünel part of Taksim for a glass of wine. Later on, we went to a place close to Meydan for a beer. We sat on a balcony overlooking the other cafes. We took turns making observations about different tables. One had a guy with two women his age. We tried to guess what his relationship was to them. Another table had two really bored looking guys. Burcu deduced correctly that they ran the place, which is why they weren't drinking and were bored. It was a fun game to play. After the beer, we went back to Tünel to a really kickass club called Cuba. The music was excellent, people were dancing salsa, and Spanish was floating in the air all night. Burcu and I shared a table outside with some friendly Spaniards and an Aussie. We joked around a bunch and had a great time. The guys invited me to play football with them during the week, and I hope to take them up on the offer sometime soon.

Throughout the night Burcu and I talked a lot about guys' and girls' expectations in a relationship and how those differ across cultures. We talked about what we look for in other people in terms of their character. It got me thinking a lot about my past relationships, mistakes and my present social life. After Burcu left, I chewed on these thoughts while also chewing on the handful of deliciousness that is a burger from Kızılkayalar. Seriously, the definition of restraint is eating only one of those things.
All in all I can say that the night was great. I wasn't planning on making it a late night, but it quickly became one. I'm happy it's the weekend, and I'm glad it started well.

A combination of several memories

Safiye and I went to Ortaköy to meet up with Mehtap. When we first got there, we went to Destan, where I saw Doğu, my potential roommate from back when I was first looking for an apartment. We sat there for a bit but decided to go. We soon found ourselves by the water.

At the end of my last day in İstanbul, the first time I came to visit, I went to Ortaköy to drink a salep by the water. This was my first time back to that exact spot since then. It was a sweet kind of memory, and it wasn't the only one brought to mind.At the end of my first day in İstanbul, when I moved here 4 months ago, I had an impromptu birthday party (also in Ortaköy), where I reunited with Safiye and Mehtap. I met them in Boston a couple years ago, and I have seen them separately on many occasions in İstanbul, but this was the first time since that birthday party hanging out all together.

On the docket for the next few days or so:

- New phone plan. I will finally be able to use the phone which I brought with me to Turkey, but it means that I have get a new phone plan. However, it will be much cheaper than the one I am using so hurrah!

- Going to touristic places with Mehtap in the first installment of our plan to hang out as much as possible before she moves to Switzerland. I think as an American living here and a Türk who is moving soon, we will make an interesting pair in Kapalıçarsı (our first stop).

- Football. Playing it, watching it, podcasting about it. Strangely, as I follow it more and more closely, I find myself becoming a fan of the Turkish League more than any of the teams.

- Hyde coming to visit me a week from the day after tomorrow. I often find myself daydreaming about all the places I will take him and the things he will experience here. I really can't wait.

A hard picture to explain

But I'll try to nonetheless.

Went to the İftar tents in Ümraniye where different cities' traditional things were on display and for sale. One of my friends is Sivasli (from Sivas) and so we went to that tent. And we dressed up. Then we had tea and chatted. A little later we went to the Rize tent (cuz my other friend is Rizeli) and saw some of the traditional dancing. So in short, the evening, in addition to rocking, also produced some funny photos.

Radio show, night run and farewell to Hytham

Friday night, I connected via Skype with twitter friend and fellow Turkish football fan, Ata Dizdar, to be a co-host on his podcast, Turkish Football Weekly. The show was mainly a preview of the Turkish Süper Lig as well as an account of the national team game that I went to (described in the previous post). You can listen to the show here.I was at my good friend Batuhan's house, because it was a quiet place to make the recording. After recording for a couple hours (which was totally fun by the way; I absolutely loved the experience), Batu and I spontaneously decided to go for a run. The time was about 11:30pm and so the air was not too hot. We ran ~10 kilometers round trip between Bostancı and Caddebostan. There is a bike path that runs along the sea. I found an excellent panoramic photo of the place we ran, from the photographer Yığıthan Doğan (click to make it bigger).
We were both really tired after that, but we agreed that we felt much better.

Saturday night the 14th of August 2010 was a night of celebration for Hytham. He lived with me for about 2 weeks, and he was a very enjoyable roommate to have. Through him I met a lot of new people and we all got together the other night for him. I brought my friend Gülşah with me. She's the one from Kartal, mentioned in the previous post. I speak more Turkish around her than with anyone, because she gets really annoyed with me when I try speaking English to her. She was happy that nearly all of the people we were meeting up with were Turkish.Anyway, we were in Taksim which is always nice but also really crowded. We were a diverse crowd ourselves. I was the only person there who knew everyone else, and the six women in the picture below knew on average only two of the others before that night.
From left to right: Aslı, Aylin, me!, Neslihan, Hytham, Pınar, Melek, Gülşah.

It was a late night, but I awoke early to see Hytham off. It was sad to see him go, but I'm sure I'll see him again sometime.

Friends in Kartal and a Friendly in Kadıköy

A couple nights ago, I was invited to a barbecue in Kartal by my friend, Gülşah. I met some of her friends including Pelin, who is also in the picture. Additionally I met her brother, Murat, whom I also quickly determined to be cool. We went to a forest for the barbecue, and though the weather was hot, the atmosphere was nice. I think I spoke more Turkish that night than any other.
Then last night, as I was reading an article about the Turkey-Romania international friendly match in preparation for a podcast that I'll be a guest on, I saw that the game was going to held at a stadium very close to my apartment. So I figured, rather than watch it on tv, I should just go to it. I didn't know how to get to the stadium but I saw some people dressed like they were going so I followed them. Less than 10 minutes later I was there. I never realized how close I live to the stadium. I found the ticket booth where some people tried to scam me while I was in line by selling me tickets for more money than they were worth and also lying to me by saying that purchasing a ticket required ID and a credit card. There was a sign that said this, but that was only for if you bought the tickets online. Anyway, I didn't fall for their sh!t. The lesson I learned from it though: damn it's nice knowing a little Turkish. I've met foreigners who have lived here for 10, 15 or 20 years and know almost no Turkish. But I digress... The match itself was not the best I have seen, but Turkey did get the victory, 2-0. It was rather exciting and unreal to be there because I had never seen a national team live before. I am a pretty big fan of a few of the players, and it was cool to see them.

Return to Büyükada

Last week, I went to Büyükada for the afternoon with friends. I had been in a similar situation 1 year ago, but with different friends. I try to be grateful for the good times, but sometimes I long for them or others like them. It has been my mission to create new memories here in İstanbul- to replace or at least compliment the old ones of times and circumstances that will not repeat themselves. Took a picture from this point last year.
Büyükada was healthy, painful, refreshing, and relaxing. With my mind all over the place, I took a walk alone and called a good friend. "Guess where I am?" I asked. The island where we came together to say goodbye 1 year ago, was not what she guessed. At that time, we were four people with four slightly different directions to go, each containing an uncertain future. That was then, and I'll have to come to better terms with it. In the now of last week, I met friends of friends, including a resident of the island. When I asked about her unusual first name, she explained that she is Jewish. I asked her some questions about hers and her family's views regarding Jewish-Muslim mixed dating and marriage. You may be wondering, as she was wondering, why I wanted to know. My friend who was with me on Büyükada 1 year ago, just wrote a masters thesis on the subject. Anyway, she answered my questions and I enjoyed the discussion that ensued.

I took a picture just before leaving the island, as the sun was setting. I hoped then that it would stand to represent forgetting someday the parts of my past that contain and cause pain. The scene and the night air that followed was therapy enough.

A new roommate and some changes

I have a new roommate for a couple weeks. He is Hytham (on the right in the photo), and he is from Saudi Arabia. In addition to teaching me Arabic and Arabian cooking, he hangs out with me some during my days in Kadıköy. However, the picture is from when we were hanging out with friends in Taksim. It has been nice having some company in the apartment. I have really been fixing the place up more since he moved in. I got some new furniture from an American who was leaving (ironically moving to Saudi Arabia). Before Hytham, I never had people come over because my place was a bit empty and not a fun place to hang out. But now it is really becoming cool. In fact, on his last day we are planning to throw a party. So far the party plans include: Arabian foods, mangal (that means 'barbeque'), lots of beer, and lots of friends.

These are fun things to think about, but I have a million other things on my mind. I'm trying to establish some goals for myself and build a healthier and fuller routine. I've had trouble keeping in touch with everyone. I have been getting so caught up in my life here, that I have also been forgetting to write about it here. Forgive me these faults. I'll have some more interesting things to say soon.