April Showers and Istanbul

April Showers bring May Flowers???

Okay, that works in America but here? Not so much - in fact, the tulips have bloomed and are now starting to die. I always wondered about that - why would you want a flower that takes all winter to come up again and only blooms for what? a couple of weeks and then dies again. Seems to me the flower spends more time germinating and less time making my world prettier - let's go with something a little more, permanent. (Don't ask me what, I'm not a gardener!!) Just some random thoughts for you. I'll add a recent photo of the tulips in Istanbul. Just so you can see what I am talking about.

Which brings up the point, I finally made it to Istanbul!! Yes, it was lovely. I spent the day as a tourist. I normally do not like to do this but I felt in order to truly experience the Sultanahmet area, I should act as almost EVERYONE else there - a tourist. I took a "tour" bus to Harem (pronounced - Har-um) and then took the ferry across the Bosporus Sea to Istanbul. It is also the same ferry that takes one from Asia to Europe. Pretty cool, if you think about it. I drank beer on two different continents in the same day! Life is good.

I arrived in Sultanahmet. This area is beautiful. I started with the Spice Bazaar. It reminded me of an exotic flea market. People spoke every language possible and I believe, one could find just about anything there. Myself? I was drawn to the Harley Davidson Shirts! How often would that opportunity arise? Harley Davidson, Istanbul...I know what my brothers are getting for their birthday's this year!

Speaking of Birthdays - I spent mine here last week. Thanks for the all the well wishes. I ended up having food and fun with friends. Good times!

Back to Istanbul... The Blue Mosque and Ayia Sophia are beautiful. The Palace is lovely ... I took more than 100 pictures. One needs to be a tourist when coming to here. Of course, since I am less than an hour-and-a-half away, I chose to stay outside of everything. I will wait for a dreary day to explore the insides of these structures. The Hippodrome is pretty cool and it is conveniently located in the same area as everything else.

I also found a pub or two and enjoyed libations with my travel partner for the day, Sam. Sam's mum works with me. Sam and I managed to do an informal assessment of pricing of the beer in Istanbul. With a random sampling of just three establishments, we determined, the mean price for a pint is about 6 Lira which converts to about $3.60. A bit pricey but in a Moslem country - I'll pay it, depends on how thirsty I am.

I enjoyed my day in Istanbul and plan on returning but I am going to be exploring the lesser "touristy" places next time. Although not less touristy but possibly more interesting, I am hoping to go to Izmir next month... I'll keep you posted.

Turkey remains an interesting place. I have yet to get bored and for those that know me - well, it's always a fear. I'm learning Turkish and might be up to 100 words, if you count 1-20....ha Seriously, though, it's not as hard as one would think. It's a fairly easy language if you understand pronunciation... that being said, I still don't have a complete sentence down.

Enough for now... Turkey is a hidden jewel. Others can have Italy and Western Europe - I'm digging it here!

So much can happen in just a couple of days... Turkey remains an adventure... Who would have thought just getting a package could lead to a trip to the back door of a post office? Or, asking to hang out in another country (ie: residency visa) could lead to not one, not two but three trips to the not so local police station? That's right... I am finding my way around a new country and without a sense of humor, I'd be at the airport, crying, asking for a one-way flight to anywhere! So, in all, Turkey isn't for the faint hearted, nor is it for those in the "high-maintainance" department. Sorry. No time for all that.

The post office, although a lot like what one would expect - you know - mail in and out, people waiting in line for stamps, sorta thing. Yeah... so not happening here. First, don't use the front door - are you kidding? One needs to know who to talk to and where he (yes, it's almost always a He) is located - in this instance - in the back, a hole-in-the-wall, office. So as you are looking for your package - you might want to know when it was sent and do the math... you don't get notification of arrival. If you did, that would put too much pressure on the folks that pilfer through your packages! We wouldn't want to rush their "inspection" - afterall who would

know what they might want to take, I mean "need", for themselves. Maybe some clothes? Maybe a DVD or two? or Maybe, just maybe the MnMs your mom sent you. Don't worry, when you pick up your package, it will be "resealed" with PTT tape (The Turkish Customs/Postal System "official" tape) and you will be left remnants of your original package (ie: custom slip with "clothes" on it, or empty MnM boxes). Unfortunately, the rules of "mail" are not the same here as in the United States and most other civilized countries.

And, dealing with the police... ha ha; Alcohol may be required. Well, that depends. It depends on 1. how much you HATE public transportation and 2. if you can lie- I mean, think- on your feet. Yes, I hate public transportation almost as much as I hate having unnecessary surgery (I tend to avoid that at ALL costs) and as for thinking on my feet - I'm good, however, I have less than s

ix weeks of Turkish. Enough said. Thankfully, a big smile can go a long way. Although, smiling too much can lead to a "friendly recommendation" of not smiling - never know what others might think if you are smiling. (Isn't that the best reason to smile? You know, the old adage... Smile, so others can wonder what you are thinking/ are up to?)

The first trip to the Police Station was interesting, the second, boring (as well as entirely too long) and the third, a trial. I'm just glad it's over and I don't have to return for at least a few months, besides, the head- chick- in- charge scared me - for those that know me, that's hard to do. (And her English wasn't the best, however, there was no way you could misinterpret what she was trying to say.) Wow!!

Other than that experience, Turkish people are great. Okay, the people in Turkey that I have met are fantastic. Most are very friendly and want to be helpful (if they spoke my language, they would be). I like the food, although what they call meat here is more like, well, it's not your angus beef from Texas. It's good, however, I'm seriously considering becoming a vegetarian. I have nothing against a good steak, God knows, I'd eat it, if there was one available... so, it looks like stuffed grape leaves and cheese are the main courses. I will say this, I had dinner tonight out in town and it only cost $4 and it was awesome!! I had cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese (three different types), stuffed grape leaves (vegetarian), a cucumber sauce (it kicked butt) as well as toasted bread. I had some kind of dessert as well and it looked like fudge but was a little different - very rich, very chocolate and very good. I had all of this as well as fresh squeezed orange juice ... life is good. I was full and, did I mention the price? OMG! I'm liking this. :)

In all, I have to admit, with so much happening already, I am SO looking forward to seeing what Turkey can throw at me in the near future... I will say this, bring it on! Better make it interesting as well... :)

Stay tuned...

Carpe Diem!

Seize the Day!

It isn’t hard to acclimate when you are around good people. I have to say, the couple of Canadian teachers I met initially upon coming to Turkey, have really had a positive effect on me. Okay, I am not a negative person, but sometimes when others are nothing but down on everything, it happens. Well, this couple have such a great attitude, even when things were less than perfect… I am very happy to have started this adventure. Meeting people like them makes it worth it!

So, now I am here and I am teaching. I have always wanted to be a teacher. I’ve thought about it since I was young girl and finally, I am doing just what I wanted to do! And, as an added thought- eventually, I will be getting paid for it.

The area of Turkey that I am living is very nice. The bus system is highly developed in that you can take the bus almost anywhere. In fact, I haven’t heard of a place that you can’t take the bus to get to. However, I will admit, I’ve never had any love of public transportation so I took it upon myself to solve this little inconvenience.

I bought a bike. That’s right. I am now a cyclist! What fun. Of course, for anyone who has had the “luck” of experiencing European drivers, you will know the risk I am taking each time I decide to pedal, anywhere. Luckily for me, there is a designated bike path almost the entire way to the school where I work. Also, the times that I am on the road are “off” traffic hours. So, I am pedaling my tush off (quite literally) and I love it!! It’s great exercise and it allows me extra freedom. I can come and go at my will – no need to wait for the bus or worry if I have money for the bus. Life is good.

The time has moved so quickly. It’s hard to believe it’s been a month already. In fact, last month I was in the UK. Life is about taking opportunities. I have always believed in no regrets – I don’t know that it’s possible to have absolutely NO regrets however, when I am old and sitting in my rocking chair on my porch, I want to have so many memories of all the things I did – NOT the things I wish I had done.

You only get so many Seasons – how are you spending yours?