Our first day

Dated 29-7-2010 (crazy backwards Turkish writing system)

Will and Lee arrived in Turkey today, safe and sound and really excited!

It was a 10 hour flight from Chicago. We got to taste two terrible Turkish wines and both of the national beers, which weren’t bad (Toroug was much better then Effes). Lee sat next to an Air Forces officer headed for some small base in the east where he plays golf all the time (your tax dollars at work). Will sat next to a girl from Uzbekistan who was on her way home from school in the states, but was stopping in Istanbul because she said it was her favorite city in the world.­­
In customs we learned that the concept of the line is not a natural one too many people. A quite large group from Turkmenistan attempted to cut us in line multiply times and we had to employ “boxing out techniques” to maintain position. While we were pushed forward from behind by a pack of women, Will: “personal space is not a universal concept.”

Sadi, picked us up at the airport and drove us to our apartment. He got us our first real Turkish meal… Dominos Pizza!!!! Toppings included corn, sliced hotdogs, mushrooms, and peppers.
We drove into the city, traffic was crazy and the driving was crazier according to Sadi, “Driving in Turkey is like playing play station.” The drive in was breathtaking, we passed through ruined fortresses, ancient city walls, and under Roman aqueducts.

We arrived at the apartment and met the landlord. Let just say this about the apartment; we need to go outside to change our minds. In other words, it’s quite quant and yet quite nice. Our street is, for the most part, a nice family area. Some of the buildings appear to be brimming with life while others are abandoned and literally falling over. But the street itself was a constant source of activity and entertainment. There were small children playing soccer (futbol rather), dogs and cats running wild, all the while mothers shouted from balconies as they hung out the laundry. Our street is so small and the buildings are all five or six stories tall, making it feel like walking in a hallway. The buildings lean over the street and have creaky balconies that hang into the corridors that barely fit one small Turkish car.

Once the land lord, Murat, and Sadi left us in the apartment we started to have some problems. First we discover the bathroom door wouldn’t open and the key was jammed in the lock. We spent twenty minutes until we discovered you merely had to use a little elbow grease.
We unpacked a little but not fully and decided to go explore a little bit. We had a grand total of twenty New Turkish Lira (TYL). We know we needed toilet paper but we were also excited to see what we could get in this foreign land. We arrived in Takism Square in about ten minutes and then walked the unbelievable “Istiklal Caddesi” which was part Bourbon Street, part Time Square, meets Turkey. It was getting dark but instead of turning back we kept going, neither of us had ever seen that many people in one place or over such a long stretch (in retrospect maybe some of the big Mardi Gras parades, but this was a random, hot, Thursday night).

We then walked back. Bought toilet paper and headed home. We both were impressed that we were able to find our way home. The streets are such mazes, they’re incredible. There is no rhyme or reason to any of the placement.

We arrived home to no internet. Murat will get a call in the morning. We are now watching Turkish Soup Operas and making lists of stuff we need to get.