Testicular Cancer

This past weekend I went to ISTANBUL! As they say in Turkish, it was CHOK GUZEL! My best friend in the whole world Kay is studying in Ankara, Turkey this semester. I really wanted to see what she was experiencing in Turkey but apparently Ankara doesn’t have a lot of culture or fun sights. So what better place to meet up then Istanbul, which houses remnants of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman Empires! Not to mention it’s the only city in the world resting on two continents (aka I can now say I’ve been to Asia!). If any of you know Kay and I, you know that whatever we do there are bound to be loads of adventures. Needless to say in just a short weekend we racked up enough fun to probably write a novel… but no need to fret, I’ll only recount a few of the fun times and some cultural experiences.

A Warm Welcome:
I stayed up all Thursday night out with friends and took a taxi at 4:30am to the airport. Two flights, one visa, and an excruciatingly slow customs line later I was in TURKEY! The hostel I was staying at had a shuttle and said they would send someone to pick me up “holding a sign with my name on it.” I walk out of the customs area only to be greeted by a SEA of literally hundreds of shouting Turkish people with signs. Perfect. Laughing I eventually found my name and got into my shuttle. The sights along the way were ridiculous. Mosques and minarets and markets and the sea and people just EVERYWHERE. I think the thing that struck me the most was just the amount of people. When I arrived at the hostel I was impressed with the cute, side street area we were staying in and the warm welcome I received, but not so much with the fact that the power was out in my hostel. haha. They had to take me to my room by candlelight through the dark halls. Compared to Poland, everything just felt so exotic (and chaotic for that matter).

Sweet Reunion:
Kay arrived and I literally jumped on her, best friends should never be apart for two months! We treated ourselves to a nice dinner in celebration of our reunion at a terrace restaurant with a view of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and of course the lovely Bosphorus (strait that connects Europe and Asia!). After dinner we met up with several of her friends who’d also come up to Istanbul and went to a really neat bar near the district we were staying in. If I thought Turkey was exotic, I think they think Americans are just as exotic. Everywhere we went throughout the weekend we were treated as the guests of honor. From free tea to free fruit plates for dessert to many a waiter slipping us his number I decided I could get used to being a blonde in Istanbul. The particular bar we went to on Friday night let us even choose songs that they then went and downloaded for us to listen to. The owner of the bar took a fancy to me as well and brought us free drinks as well as protected us from unwanted company. However, I’ve learned Turkish people are very friendly and some of them really do just want to talk, even share their life story. Though it was still nice to have the owner sticking close by for those who dropped lines like “hey baby, are you from heaven?” After hours of good music, great conversation, an impromptu magic show from our new found friend Shak and a little dancing we were surprised to see that it was 5:30am. The owner, fearing for our safety, flagged down a taxi for us – and yes, it was free. I’ve never felt more welcomed before in my life, nor so exhausted.

Shopper’s Paradise:
The highlight of Saturday was, of course, the Grand Bazaar. It was chaotic and huge and colorful and completely disorienting. It’s all indoors but has many “streets” and “sections” inside. You can’t see the light of day and you never know where you are – Kay compared it to a casino and I agree, you loose all sense of time and direction. I was in heaven. Because there are sooo many stands selling many similar things, the marketing scheme here is to attract customers by yelling, sweet-talking, hounding, following, and begging customers to see their stand. Once invited into a particular stand they offer you tea and begin the sales pitch. The first few stands we went into we felt awkward not buying anything. But as one guy put it when Kay said, “We’re just looking,” he responded “I’m just selling.” Well put. After that we were out of control. I think we must have had a thousand cups of free Turkish and apple tea. It also helped that we were two young girls – oh the pick up lines we got. The two best directed at me were “Hey Barbie!” and “Hey baby! Want to change my life?” although the ultimate was directed at Kay, “One hour. Just give me one hour baby and you will be like… Awww” Amazing. I really wanted to buy a jacket since I need something lighter now that Poland is warming up. I’d gone shopping in Krakow but clothes are very expensive. Luckily, I ended up finding the red jacket of my dreams at the bazaar as well as my new favorite hobby… haggling! I say I’m good at it, Kay says I’m funny. Either way its ridiculously fun and I think I get away with it so well though because I’m a young girl. We also met some really interesting people along the way and I still can’t get over how easy it is to strike up a conversation here. I’m sure after a while the hollering and pick-up lines from those with certain intentions would get annoying living here. But at the same time the readiness of the people gives you an open view into the culture. I couldn’t help comparing this to Poland where it is very difficult to get to know the people, as they tend to be less trusting and more closed. On the flip side it’s much easier to assimilate into Polish culture where as in Turkey I would ALWAYS stand out as a foreigner.

Taxi Ride from Hell:
Saturday night we headed to Taksim Square on the Asian side of Istanbul! This area is supposed to be the main area of nightlife in Istanbul but was far away from our district thus requiring a taxi. First of all our taxi driver was a CRAZY driver. He started taking back roads, stalled the car multiple times, skidded on the wet cobblestones, and was smoking a cigarette during this whole ordeal. Awesome. Kay and I couldn’t help but laugh at it all in the back seat. When we finally made it to a main road heading to Taksim Square we got caught in some major taxi traffic. A taxi coming from the other direction was trying to take a left turn in front of us however the taxi directly in front of us was blocking his way. The two taxi drivers were yelling at each other through the windows as Kay and I watched from our “front row” standpoint. All of a sudden the taxi driver trying to turn gets out and goes over to the window of the other driver and started throwing punches and opened and slammed the door on the guy. The driver in the taxi quickly jumped out of the passenger sight and started screaming at the other driver. A violent fight ensued. There was nothing really we could do and we figured that being in the taxi was safer than being on the street next to the fight so we stayed put and watched with wide eyes. Eventually the fight was broken up and the bloodied drivers got into their taxis and traffic cleared up. We made it to Taksim Square in one piece but we were sufficiently freaked out. Just because we were in mainly touristy areas didn’t mean that it was safe. Any big city has its share of violence and crime and it was probably a good experience to witness some in that it reminded us to be cautious. Yikes!

Overview of Sunday:
On Sunday we woke earlier so we could actually do some touristy things (that and the early call-to-prayer from the mosque woke me up). We saw the Blue Mosque, which was magnificent, and Kay was my tour guide using her extensive knowledge of Mosque architecture from her Islamic Art class. We saw the outside of Hagia Sofia as well as Topaki Palace. Afterwards we walked through a neat garden to finally see the sea! We ended up walking along the rocks and eventually sitting on one for a while just soaking up the view of the Bosphorus. I really need to live by a big body of water, there’s something so soothing about a lake, river, sea, or ocean. Great view too. After a stroll back to our district and a cup of tea from a small cafe (and some free strawberry tea from the owner) we said quick good byes and I caught a taxi to the airport. Normally I would be sad to say goodbye to Kay, but seeing as we are going to Cairo on Thursday for our spring break it was more of a “see you lata”.

Yummy Turkish Cuisine:
I’m sure there are a million more things to try there but I only had a few days. Doner is meat that is cooked by turning it on a stand in front of the fire and then carved off. So greasy and sooo good. Can be served in a Kebap or a wrap OR served by itself with rice. The rice here is amazing, I think they cook it with tons of butter. Ayran is a famous Turkish drink… I wouldn’t exactly call it refreshing though. It’s basically a really really salty, cold yogurt drink. I think it’s an acquired taste. Borek stuffed with spinach is basically like a greasy, flaky pastry with spinach, yum yum yum. Simit is ring-shaped bread covered in sesame seeds. The one I had was hard like a pretzel. My favorite dish was the typical “Turkish breakfast” which is cheeses, meats, vegetables, olives, bread, honey, butter, and maybe an egg.

So I bet you are wondering why this post is entitled “Testicular Cancer” and how that really relates to my trip to Istanbul. WELL, I like picking up phrases when I go places for example, when I went to Ukraine I picked up some key phrases to get by. So Kay taught me a few phrases in Turkish one of which was “thanks” which is pronounced “teshekular” but everytime I tried to say it I would respond “testicular”. Um… ya, it doesn’t work the same. HAHAHA. I ended up sticking to the formal version of thank you instead and "Testicular Cancer" became an inside joke.
Here is your TURKISH lesson of the week!
Merhaba: Hello!
Nasilsin?: How are you?
Iyiyim: Good.
Teshekkur ederim: Thank you (formal!)
Chok guzel!: Very nice/pretty/awesome/etc.
Bubbachuk: High five

Istanbul was AMAZING and I vowed as I got on the plane that I would return again for a longer stay. I think it might be one of my favorite cities EVER, just being there two days I was exhausted with sensory-overload. Even though I loved it, I must admit it was still great to come “home” to Poland. I really do love it here and I can’t believe I’m already well into my second month. After my Egypt trip and Russia trip I think I might stay grounded for a bit and soak up some more Krakow.

Until the next, send me emails! Na ra!