A place my friends and family can go to keep up on whats going on with my life and other random things.
Early on in the night when Alex was still able to stand in her heels and look like a giant.
Sefer and I dressed up in our traditional Christmas attire.
Han Min enjoying Steve's gift to Yuzuro even more than Steve and Yuzuro.
This must have been taken in the two sober hours before the party really got started.
Aside from my favorite shirt getting burn marks and wholes in it, the evening was quite splendid. We got to spend it all together with all the new and old trainees and some new and old AIESECers Celal even showed up for some time. It was good to see him. Although it wasn't traditional, it was fun.
Someone's pet sheep that I see every day walking up the hill on the way to work. They keep in these little grassy areas and tie it to the fence. I am not sure if they are keeping it for the Kurban Bayram (where a sheep is sacrificed as part of the traditional celebration) or what.
The Bakery. There is a huge truck filled with fresh bread baked overnight that is delivered to the bakeries, resturaunts and grocery stores every morning.
The Butcher Shop. Every time I see this I always get a little freaked out. They deliver the meat out of these trucks. I would absolutely hate to have this job.
The Stray Dog Sleeping. This is one of many sray dogs I see on my way to work. Here it is sleeping on Gule Cadesi (Happy Street) side walk. Actually, there are way more stray cats on this street than stray dogs.
More to come....
Iva's Birthday was quite a while ago but I never had a chance to post anything about it. Aakash and I went to Ankara to visit our dear friend Iva. She is busy with grad school and was lucky enough to get some time off over the weekend to spend with us.
Although Iva is only 5 hours away by bus, it is still feels really far in comparison to just the five feet away her bed was to mine just a few months ago. I really miss her. At least we were able to spend a very nice weekend together in her new place that she calls home.
She is coming to Istanbul again before New Years. I am really excited to hang out just her and I. Its gonna be just like the good old days!
I was reading Iva's blog and noticed this post about Istanbul. Iva lived with me in Istanbul for the last year but then moved to Ankara for grad school at Bilkent University. Her post about Istanbul was a great reminder to me about how gorgeous the city is. Sometimes all the people, the traffic and the chaos get in the way of really enjoying the beauty of the city. I didn't realize it before, but I am really gonna miss this place.
I miss seeing Istanbul every morning after I wake up... I especially loved the morning bus rides from Besiktas to Taksim to work or driving across the bridge in the evening right before sunset or watching the mosques across the Golden Horn during the evening call for prayer, when the voices of the muezzins filled the warm evening air...
This post is about six moths late, just in time to help us all dream of a warm paradise on a blistering cold Christmas morning. Maybe this will give some people some good ideas of what to ask Santa for for Christmas.
It all went down about mid summer 2005. After my good friend Alex came to visit me in Istanbul in March, she knew she had to come back to this lively city for an internship. We strategically planned a mini vacation in June on the near-by Greek islands before she would dive in to her work. Because of some freak accident and visa issues we were prohibited from going Greek. We were heartbroken. We decided to go with Plan B, which was to stay on the Agean coast of Turkey, but soon enough we found that plan B should have originally been Plan A. Turkey really is a Diamond in the rough. We found the most wonderful whimsicle hostels to stay, the beaches were beautiful, the water was crystal clear, there were secret little swimming coves, and the people were absolutely wonderful. I couldn't have asked for anything better. All of this for a fraction of the cost I had planned for for Greece.
We started on the weekend in Bodrum with four other friends, a total of six. It was such a great group of people. Somehow we all seemed to get 
along perfectly. The first day was the best, spent on the beach teaching Saad to swim, playing beach volleyball, playing pool at the outdoor bar in our bathing suits, and laying around on the pillows and hammocks at the end of the day. Aside from our hostel, it was perfect. The next few days we spent doing much of the same including a little trip kayacking on the crystal clear water and the beautiful white houses lining the shore. It was wonderful. But definitely the best day was the day of the Blue Cruize.
We went on this amazing 5 hour boat tour around the islands off of Bodrum.
I swear every second we were not chill'n on the front of the boat listening to beach music on the way to our next destination, we were in the water. The first time we stopped I thought it must have been six feet deep. I could clearly see the floor of the sea. I was way off, it had to be at least 20 feet deep. It took some courage but finally all six of us were able to jump off of the second floor of the boat, even Saad who had only a little practice 
swimming jumped with his life jacket. In fact he was in the water more that anyone, except maybe me.
The boat stopped in about five different little coves where we could get out and swim. Saad and I were prunes by the end of the trip. We had lunch on the boat and made a final stop at some hot springs and a mud bath. At the end we were exosted but totally satisfied. It was a little sad because our friends had to leave us at this time, but Alex and I were excited for the next 5 days of our trip. 
It was nice because Alex's man was there and Sefer flew down and joined us the last night in Bodrum and came to our next destination, Fethiye. Again the water was beautiful. We got to spend the day on the beach with our men and then moved on to this small little beach town of Kas.
Kas was my favorite. The guy who owned our hostel was super cool. He gave us a ride to the beach on his motorcycle. 
We swam in a secret little rocky cove and went Kayaking the next day. We took a full day and kayaked with a group over a sunken city. We went to an Island where the people use no electricity and live off the tourists that come in their kayaks. It was quite weird actually.
The next night we headed off to Olympos. Olympos I had heard was supposed to be the coolest place for travelers in Turkey for the summer. We were sad we only had one last night to spend there but were greatful 
we at least had that. We stayed at the absolute coolest hostel I have ever experienced. It was a little villiage of treehouses. There was a place to play volleyball, a place to chill outside on pillows, an awesome bar upstairs, and a danceclub with a firepit in the middle about half a meter away through the woods. It was like a frathouse for backpackers. 
We got there late and met a group of Aussies to hang out with and drink for a while. Then we headed to the club and danced our asses off. We ended up back in our treehouses at who knows what time, probably about 4 or 5 in the morning. It was a blast. It also had the best breakfast of any Hostel. Good for our hungover asses. We got breakfast and watched top 10 countdown on VH1 and then headed to the airport satisfied and ready to get back to the big city of Istanbul.
Honestly, if I could take this vacation again I would. It was absolutely wonderful and so god damn cheap!!! I am so glad we didn't go to Greece.
The world's a big place, and planning a trip can be mighty confusing when you've got no idea where to start. I mean, India's cheap, and there's all that culture and stuff, but everyone goes to India andmaybe you'd get more respect if you went to Uzbekistan, but that'skind of daunting and and really, deep down inside, you'd rather go to New York City, but that's not really travel, that's tourism, so perhaps you should do an ecotour in Botswana, but you might get some hideous amoebic dysentery and besides, you don't know the first thing about Botswana, whereas you majored in pre-Renaissance art, so maybe you should go to Italy but it's so expensive, whereas India's cheap...
It was maybe the second weekend I was back in Istanbul when Alex, Emre, Sefer and I decided to get out of the city to experience nature. We went to the quiant little town of Agva. We found an overly expensive hotel by the river to hang out at for the day. It was absolutely gorgeous. 
We had lunch right next to the water and then resorted to the huge pillows under the willow trees for after-lunch tea. We layed around for about four hours until set out to find a hostel where we could afford to sleep. After spending only a week in the big city of Istanbul the fresh air really cleared my mind.In the morning we took the tandem bike out for a ride around the town and next to the bay. We had a long breakfast by the sea and then hopped on the bus back to Istanbul. It was one of the most relaxing weekends I had for a very long time.
After spending two months in the creative department of Saatchi and Saatchi, Istanbul, I just transfered to the strategic department and found my home. Most of my background is in strategy so I understand so much more about whats going on than I did in the creative department. For that reason they give me much more work and the work is much more fun than stupid photoshop tutorials.
So I was thinking of going to Egypt to renew my tourist visa for Turkey but with my trip to India and the possibility of doing another two month traineeship in Italy, I really don't have the money to afford it. If for some reason the trip to India gets canceled (we are getting a bit nervous being that there is no malaria shot available in Turkey) then I would take that time and go to Egypt instead.
Friday night we had an amazing girls night. We had some crazy Balkan liquor that got all the girls hammered. I think 6 out of the 10 girls ended up puking. Aside from the after effects it was a great night.
After nine months of blowing in the wind, I finally have a stable plan. It is so difficult to concentrate on work or make time to develope yourself in areas of personal interest when your constantly trying to figure out if next month you will be in South America learning a whole new culture and a whole new life during an eight month traineeship, or if you will just take a week long vacation in Egypt so that you can be home for Christmas. Finally I feel free. Instead of always worring in the back of my mind what I will be doing next month, I can be fully engaged in my work and play. It feels wonderful.
One day I was looking for some information after I had read an article about some stuff going on with the new Iraqi government. I was a little confused about the Sunni and Shii groups. I emailed and asked Sefer for some clarification and this is what he wrote. I thought I would share.
There were a lot of emotions and unsual feelings about going home and being home once I was there. But quite honestly the culture shock was definitely not the same as the first time coming back after going abroad. Yeah there were a few things that I "couldn't believe," about our culture and there were so many things that I looked at in a new perspective, but overall it was just a warm feeling to be back with my friends and family.
Traveling in Europe alone has its ups and downs. Its not so much fun when you are lost with walking around for two hours 40 kilos of luggage past midnight in the gayborhood of Madrid. But there is also a great sense of accomplishment after finally following the right tourist to the fround door of the hostel you have been searching for for the past two and a half hours. You feel that no matter what situation you are in, you can make it on your own. But thank god I traveled alone for less than a total of 5 days :-)
Anyone been to Barcelona?
After my unsuccessful job search in Barcelona I stopped in Valencia for one day. It just happened to be the day of La Tomatino.
Every year, on the last Wednesday in August between 11am and 1pm, the little town of Bunol in the east of Spain is almost literally painted red - by over 125,000 kilos of tomatoes.It's one giant throwback to the rebellious days of your adolescence as complete strangers spend two hours hurling ripe fruit at each other and generally causing total mayhem. The rules are simple: squash the tomatoes before you throw them, don't throw anything else, and… well, that's it. La Tomatina has been part of Bunol tradition since 1945, when a food-fight broke out in the town square. Since then it has gained international renown. So handpick your fittest friends, grab some tomatoes and go forth. Oh, and trust no one. (Image and article taken from www.thisisthelife.com)
Thank god I didn't get wrapped up in this mess alone. Luckily I just missed it and got in to town just as everyone was showering off and getting ready for a long night of partying. After hours of searching for another hostel I finally begged an old women to let me stay in one of her hostel rooms . She was screaming at me in spanish from out the third floor window and I was yelling ''por favore" up to her from the street. Finally, after trying to bargain using Spanish numbers I barely remembered from high school, we settled on a pretty hefty price for a room with two double beds that I obviously didn't need. She dropped the key down to me from the third story window and I took another 45 minutes to get to the room after trying to figure out how to open the old antique Spanish door and lug all my bags up three flights of stairs. Honestly, I didn't care anymore, all I cared about was having a place to put my luggage and having something nicer than a bus station chair to sleep in. I was happy. I watched clips from La Tomatino on news with the old woman and her husband while they were eating dinner. They asked if I had gone to the festival. The two warmed to me after I told them I missed it.
I ended up really liking the city. It seemed so Spanish, more so than Barcelona or Madrid. No one spoke English, there were little to no American chain stores, and la paella was excellent!
After a night alone I caught a bus from Madrid to Lisbon to meet up with some friends. As soon as I found the right car on the t
rain I asked the girl who was sharing my room which bed was mine. As she turned around I recagnized her as the most anoying girl I had ever met while traveling. I met her a week earlier at a hostel in Madrid. We chatted a while and I found she is actually much more interesting than I originally thought. She is studying theater and women studies and great university in Canada and writes for Rollingstone! Although she doesn't drink we made our way to the bar and met some crazie Aussies. One was a stockbroker that works in London and makes frequent trips to Abiza to entertain his clients. This company made for one hell of a night. We bought a bottle of cheap wine off of the bar after it had closed down and drank until the early morn. I only had a few hours to sleep before we arived in Lisbon but all was good. This is a picture of the crazy music journalist from Canada with the Australian DJ-stockbroker from England on the train.
From Lisbon I set out for my mini 603 reunion (http://www.istanbul603.blogspot.com/). I met up with Ashfaque, and we then made our way to Aveiro to visit Natercia. She was an absolutely wonderful host! She brought us out to a party on the beach with all of her friends. I love the protugues when they drink. They always seem to find the need to by a foreigner a drink. They play a game called "Till the End," where the whole group will look at you and sing a song in portuguese, this is when you are supposed to start chugging your drink and then they dont stop until you finish it. The night was a blast. Somehow Ash lost his belt in the sand after the shots of absenth, I started balling because I am American and everyone hates me, and we lost Natercia in the crowd and slept in the car and ate cookies for breakfast. Twas a great party. 
After Aveiro we went up to visit Cristiano (A.K.A. The Captain) in Porto. Porto is such a fine city. He showed us all around the city day and night. My favorite was dinner with his family. His mother grew up in Brazil and his father in Portugal, and both his grandmothers live together in the apartment next door. The food was excellent, and the company even better. 
The Captain put together a very fine itinerary as our tour guide. We got to see everything from historical buildings, to beautiful parks, the seaside, modern art museums, and his favorite little cafes in Porto. It was really wonderful. 
I don't think a lot of people know that Greek culture and Turkish culture are so similar. But so many of the things in this movie remind me of my first experience attending a Turkish wedding. The dancing, the singing, the family, the food, and the love. All of them are there in full affect.
The main reason for the jewelry ceremony is to help the new couple a little bit financially because the wedding ceremony, renting the house, buying all the new furniture and everything else that comes with starting out is so expensive. I think this is where the practice started but now it’s just a tradition. Even if the couple is wealthy the guests still must give gold or they are looked down upon. Usually, during the ceremony, a line is formed to give the jewelry to the bride and money to the groom. First the couple’s immediate family give their jewelry to the bride. This jewelry must be the most magnificent of all! Then it’s the relatives' turn, after all the relatives give their gifts it is finally bride and groom's friends' turn. If one of your relative's son or daughter marries before your son or daughter and you didn’t give any jewelry, that family will not give anything to your son or daughter when they decide to marry. If you gave expensive, they have to give expensive, if they gave a cheap one, then it’s up to you what you give. (Usually if a family has financial problems, it’s looked down upon if they wont give anything but they must explain the situation to the father of the bride. If the family can not afford to buy a gift but are able to give at least something, usually the family will give something more expensive in return. -Sefer
The Wedding Cake
I don't know if it is some kind incarnation of the western style wedding cake or what, but it is quite increadible.
Henna Night
Henna Night is celebrated by the female relatives of the bride and groom. The night before the wedding the women come together to sing and dance and celebrate however they choose. The bride must apply henna to her hands and wear a red dress. She also wears a red veil over her head and around her hands.(Some people say that red symbolizes the bride’s virginity and something about blood showing her purity and innocence during her first experience after being married.) The women involved in the ceremony also put henna in their palm and if men are involved they will put it on their finger tips. Usually the bride cries during the henna ceremonies because of a song which says, "I’m in a place that I don’t know anything about and I miss my mother.. bla bla". (This references the tradition in which the 
bride is taken from her home and moved to the home of her husband. -NG) Right after the crying session there is another song for belly dancing and the other ladies force the bride to belly dance which is a little ironic because she cries when she dances.. In the old times and still in East, Henna ceremonies are a platform for the single women to display their bea
uty to the mothers of the other men. (I think this has something to do with the competition between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law -NG) So you can ask how I know these things… When you are a little kid you are allowed to goto Hennas with your mother and maybe the guys are having fun and drinking while kids are always at kina. - Sefer
I was a little hesitant to go to the hometown of my hubby but aside from the 15 hour bus ride, it turned out to be such a great trip. I got to meet his mother, father, sister, and his brother’s fiancé. They were all so great. Although we couldn’t really speak to each other in the same language we seemed to get along so well. I absolutely loved their home. They have this great balcony that comes off the kitchen and looks over the sea. If I lived there I would spend every day on the balcony.
This is the beach where we swam. We were a little lazy to swim out to the castle but we did explore the one just behind us on land. It was so intricate. I couldn't believe it. But it was fun to sit on the old walls looking right down to the ocean and a little scary because if we accidentally fell off we would have totally died on all the rocks before hitting the water. A little scary, but sooo much fun.
The AIESECers set up a nice little boat party on the Bosphorus with the Alumni, trainees and AIESECers. The trainees were a little disapointed at first because it took so long to get the drinks flowing but in the end it turned out alright. We saw fireworks both in the sky and between a one cute little Turkish-American and her new Turkish friend who would like to remain anonymous. There were AIESEC dances, Turkish chants, and a public viewing of a drunken man trying to pee in a Turkish toilet while the boat was rocking. After the boat docked we all headed to Cambaz to “bridge the gap.”
In midst of transition between the old an new trainees we were able to pull off an amazing night of fun without the men. We bonded by using straws to drink our big mugs of beer at good old Akdeniz. A place along Nevizade, one of the most popular streets in Istanbul. Just because of us they changed the entire atmosphere from alternative rock to american pop. We pretty much rocked the house. The best were the reactions of everyone on the street to 10 girls without a care in the world dancing from our heart. It was great! At all three bars we were never once approached my creepy men, and none of us even looked at anyone outside our group. We didn't care. We were just having a good time with each other. Telling old stories to train the new naïve trainees and some of us being a little sentamental about leaving all of our "family," to venture home to a familiar yet unfamiliar place called home. This girls night was one of the best nights in Istanbul. Love you guys!!
