How is it the Grand Bazaar is Never Open?

Yesterday morning I somehow invited a wasp into my pants and got stung repeatedly on the ankle. That was not fun. It swelled up and made it difficult to walk the rest of the day, which, as anyone living in Istanbul knows, is inconvenient. Later on, we went to the Grand Bazaar again because it was Saturday, and it is "open" that day. It has always been closed before, because we somehow always try to go on Sunday, when it is closed. It was closed this time, too because of the holiday, but a few shops were open.

In the evening I had death-by-flu/stomach flu. Still feel feverish and yucky today, but most of the stomach bug seems to be gone. I still have some nasty head cold thing though. If I got it from the roommate, I'm looking at three weeks of misery as I hack, cough, sneeze and sniffle my way to healthier days.

Today is partly cloudy. We may go out to the kids' park later and let Maria play on the toys. I don't know if I'm up to much more than that.

Lazy cat is practicing sleeping in the sunny spot on the couch while Maria does leg exercises on the other couch and sings little songs about people riding bikes. She is happy again today =)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday and a Happy Republic Day (tomorrow).

This is me, signing off...

Holidays, etc.

Over the weekend and into the first part of the week, we worked on settling into our apartment. I had been looking for beds, but even the second-hand store was so expensive that I eventually decided to buy a matching set of really bright red futons that were on sale because they for some inexplicable reason hadn't sold. We had them delivered, and they actually don't look half bad in our room. I wanted a rug because the floor is cold and collects dust bunnies after mere minutes, but our housemate assures me that he will wash his used Turkish-style rug and we can use that, so I'm waiting. Meanwhile, we got some other essentials, such as two wooden shoe-racks which stack precariously into a tall bookshelf-looking thingy, some plastic boxes to protect our undies from dust bunnies, fuzzy blankets and sheets. I also got Maria a little tub to take a bath in, since she doesn't like showers.

On Monday, the same day I got brand new furniture and woolly blankets, the flatmate asked if Maria would like to have a kitten. I reluctantly agreed, assuming that the kitten would be from a litter of house cats. To my dismay, when they got home, the kitten was dirty, skinny, and crawling with fleas. It was a street cat! They gave it a bath, but I was still concerned about getting fleas on my new bedding, so put the thing out on the porch for the night. The next day all the fleas were dead, and I let it into our room. We are fattening it up on milk, eggs and small portions of other people-food. Maria is learning to clean the litter and entertain the kitty whenever we are inside. She complained a little at first, but is getting used to the responsibilities of caring for an animal.

 

Maria and her Kitty

 

Our room at bedtime

 

On Wednesday or Thursday I sent out a huge pile of job applications, answered some preliminary questions from one, and am still waiting.

Friday was a major Islamic holiday, (Eid Ul Adha) Kurban Bayrami--AKA Feast of the Sacrifice. Most people left to go to their hometowns to perform the sacrifices and Istanbul has been silent. The neighbors slaughtered a cow in the space between the apartment buildings, and I listened to their chatter for several hours as they skinned the animal and portioned out the meat to each family. In the afternoon, when the last of the meat was gone, they washed the area with water.

Monday is a national holiday, Republic Day, the day the modern state of Turkey was founded back in 1923. We'll probably go down to Taksim and see if we can buy a flag and participate in the festivities.

We have stayed inside for the past two days, only going out last night to buy some pide and stock up on some essential groceries. Today we'll get out and enjoy the sunny weather.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading.

This is me, signing off...

Where Have I Been for the Past Eight Days, You Ask?

So, it's been a long week and a half since I last posted. Much of my time has been spent moving and settling into our new apartment and then working on a family emergency.

Despite everything, we have had some very nice excursions, and I am posting pictures from those little trips. Enjoy!

========= @ =========

 

Shortly after my last post we boarded a taxi and tried to find our apartment, but after what should have been a five-minute ride turned into an hour and the taxi driver got angry after asking about 15 people for the location of the street and not finding it, we had him drive us to my old school where I piled my suitcases and waited for one of our new roommates to show up and lead us to our house. At the same time, we were supposed to be meeting a friend who was planning to take us to Eyup for some sightseeing. We met at the school, then took our huge pile of junk to the apartment and set off.

 

At Eyup we explored an old fez-factory-turned-expo/conference center. Next, we strolled along the streets past booths selling religious articles and books, to a nice fountain. Maria enjoyed feeding the pigeons.

 

 

Rose and Maria by the fountain in Eyup

 

We looked in the mosque where there are some relics, then had pide, pizza and dessert before riding the cable car (teleferik) up the steep hill, over the old cemetery to the Pierre Lotti Cafe with an excellent view. We had tea and Nescafe but soon got cold anyway and had to go back.

 

At Pierre Lotti Cafe

 

The next day was a sunny Friday. We got up early and walked down to Kabatas pier where we caught a ferry to Prince's Island (Buyukada). On the way we passed the Blue Mosque, Ayasofya and Topkapi Palace. The ferry ride took about an hour and a half.

  

 

Rose in front of Ayasofya (r) and the Blue Mosque (l)

 

Along the way we entertained ourselves watching the seagulls following, taking lots of pictures of each other all over the boat, looking out to sea, chatting with other passengers and drinking tea and eating cookies. We saw a dolphin in the distance, but weren't quick enough with the camera. We also saw a fishing boat being trailed by a huge swarm of seagulls. 

 

 

Maria on the ferry to Buyukada

 

When we got to the island, we met our friend and spent the rest of the day exploring, enjoying the calm atmosphere of this tourist haven during off-season, looking at the scenery, and eating at various locales. First, we had to pose in front of the Founding Father. 

 

 

Maria and Rose in front of Ataturk

 

As we went up some stairs, we had an unexpected "Peanuts" moment. The quality of graffiti seems better here than in Chicago.

 

Maria and Lucy

 

Maria insisted on carrying the backpack for most of the day.

 

Maria and Rose in front of "Rose" apartment. This place has my name on it!

 

Maria found a litter of kittens.

 

Abandoned orphanage: The largest wooden building in Europe, second-largest in the world.

 

 

 

This orphanage was inhabited during the wars, and on until 1964.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Orphanage

 

We continued walking up the hill past the orphanage and through a nice little pine forest. It was pretty amazing how quiet and peaceful it was up there, considering Istanbul is so close.

We decided to go ahead and trek up the even steeper trail another few hundred feet toward a small Greek Orthodox church at the summit.

 

It is a place for pilgrimage, and people say that if you go on pilgrimage up to that church you have accomplished half of the Haj...Sometimes I wonder where they get these sayings.

 



 

Rose at the top of Buyukada

 

 

Rose and Maria on Buyukada overlooking Istanbul

 

Maria waits for her dinner at the restaurant on top of Buyukada.

 

Maria and Rose on the way back down Buyukada

  

 

We had a wonderful day.

 

Thanks to all who keep reading!

 

This is me, signing off... 

Relaxing Day and Moving Day

Good Morning,

Maria decided she wanted to stay in today and we need to get ready to move anyway, so we're sitting around the house being lazy. We had a late breakfast then sat on the balcony drinking our tea and watching the seagull feathers swirling in the breeze. Next, we put together Maria's Sponge Bob puzzle and listened to music.

This afternoon I'm going to attempt to pack all our stuff back into the two tiny suitcases we brought with us. We still haven't settled on a place, but I'm going to ask a classmate who offered a room a couple weeks ago. Either way, we have to move out of here by noon tomorrow. Wish us luck!

.....................

Today is moving day. I packed most everything yesterday, but still had to wash the sheets and towels before we can leave, and it's taking a while. We'll be moving farther up the hill from where we are now, but still on the metro line at least.

I'm supposed to go sightseeing in Eyyup with a friend today but not sure how that's going to work with moving and buying beds for my unfurnished room. We'll see. Fortunately Turks aren't as picky about time as Americans are.

Maria is being forced to eat all the leftover ice cream for breakfast so it doesn't melt when we move. Meanwhile, I'm eating leftover soup for the fifth meal in a row. Anyway, I'm not terribly hungry this morning. Something didn't agree with me last night and I'm still recovering.

There has been a truck driving around the neighborhood these past few days playing a creepy little tune on a loudspeaker. They are selling gas, but it sounds like one of those horror movies where the antique dolls come to life and eat people.

I hope you all are well. Thank you for reading...

Monday and Tuesday

Hellllooooo Everybody!

Yesterday after we finally got out of the house, we had a pretty good time sightseeing. We went to the Sultanahmet area again and walked around looking for the other cisterns. I thought there were two, and the second one was on the map, right--there--but there wasn't anything actually--there--so we had a questionable cheese and egg sandwich, some simit and Special for Tourist water (oh, and some chestnuts too), and then walked to the other cisterns. Maria loved it as much as I did. She spent quite a while admiring the fish swimming around under the walkways, and was excited at the opportunity to wear her new coat and be my twin. She was delighted with the Medusa heads, although she admitted they weren't quite what she had expected.

 

Maria at the Basilica Cisterns

 

Medusa head, leftovers from the Greeks, used by the Romans...Those guys knew how to recycle!

 

Rose and Medusa

 

Maria and Medusa, BFFs (forever)

 

Maria at the Column of Tears

 

Rose at the column of tears

 

After the cisterns we headed back to Taksim where we met up with some CELTA classmates for a final group potluck. We enjoyed some delicious Indian food and homemade pasta courtesy of Shiv and James. We decided to leave before it got too late, but due to a suicide at the metro, it was closed and we had to take two buses home. James threw us off the bus at Besiktas and told us to quick, hop on that bus--a bus line I had never seen before--and since it was leaving right then, I didn't question him until after we boarded. Since it was nearly 11:00, I hoped I would recognize something and not end up taking a taxi halfway across town. As it turned out, we got out at a stop I didn't recognize, but as soon as I was off the bus, I realized we were a couple blocks from home, and we got back without further incident.

 

Today I woke up early, looked at a map and decided to go to Rumeli Hasari http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumeli_Hisar%C4%B1 instead of the Archaeology Museum because I was tired of going through Taksim every single day. There is a nice walking path that goes along the Bosphorus, so we strolled down the hill from our house and along that for a few miles. We stopped at a beautiful little park where Maria played for a while, then continued on. We walked under one of Istanbul's two main bridges (which cross the Bosphorus). We really enjoyed the view along the water line, with trees across the way and beautiful old houses lining the streets, and the cool breeze. Interesting sights of note today included a garbage can advertising "Barf" brand cat food and a gentleman wearing no pants. 

 

Rose on the Bosphorus

 

Maria on the Bosphorus

 

As we walked along, I unexpectedly saw the sign for the Rumeli thingy, so we trekked up the very incredibly unbelievably steep hill past a lovely cemetery, some lovely houses with lovely security fences, a lovely bus...sweating all the time and wondering how long my knees would hold out and how in the world one can be expected to actually climb that thing without gravity sucking one back to the foot of the hill. When we reached the top, surrounded by security fencing obstructing the lovely view of the Bosphorus and bridge, we encountered a nice, polite little sign informing visitors that the museum is currently closed for renovations. We trudged back down the hill and caught a bus to Besiktas and home, arriving before dark for once.

 

I skillfully cooked a delicious soup, which Maria condescended to eat for her dinner along with some bread. And now, for a nice, relaxing evening in which no trudging up hills happens.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

This is me, signing off... 

Pictures of Istanbul--in Two Languages!

OK, the pictures aren't in two languages, but the writing is...enjoy! (English is located halfway down the page).

 

Sayın Okuyucularım,

 

Bu hafta sonu sonunda evden dersten çıkıp gezebildik. Maria ilk önce Yerebatan'a gitmek istemişti fakat Cumartesi günü çok geç kalkıp yavaş yavaş hareket ettiğimiz için maalesef oraya kadar ulaşamadık. Metrodan Taksime inip İstiklal Caddesinden yaya gittik. Gerçekten çok eğlenceliydi. Amerika'dan ceketlerimizi getirmediğimiz hava serinlediği için yenileri almak istiyordum. İkimize birbirlerine çok benzeyen zeytin yeşili trençkot aldım. Sonra da CELTA'yı okuduğum yere gidip güzel öğle yemeği yedikten sonra Galata Kulesine kadar yürüdük.

 

 

CELTA yerinden İstiklal Caddesine manzarası

Istiklal Street from my CELTA school

 

Yürürken bu güzel kiliseyi görünce foto çektik.



 

Maria

 

Maria

 

Rose

 

 

Galata Kulesindeyken hava çok güzel, manzarayı çok net gözüküyordu. 

 

Maria Galata Kulesinde

Maria at Galata Tower

 

Galata Kulesinden Boğaz manzarası

View of the Bosphorus from Galata Tower

 

Galata Kulesinden Topkapı Sarayına manzarası

View of Topkapi Palace from Galata Tower

 

Galata Kulesi

Galata Tower

Çok yürüdükten sonra acıktık. Peynirli pideyle ayranla beslendikten sonra ders arkadaşla buluşup, yeni daireye baktık. Güneş battıktan sonra arkadaşlarla Creamery'den çok lezzetli dondurma yedik. Harika bir gündü ve ikimiz çok eğlenip rahatlandık.

The next day...

We got up late again, but not nearly as late as on Saturday. Maria was determined to go to the cisterns, so we got on the metro, funincular, tram to Sultanahmet square. We were supposed to be meeting some friends, but they hadn't shown up yet, so we wandered around, ostensibly admiring the scenery, but actually because I was lost and couldn't figure out where the cisterns were located, even though I had a really awesome map...I need to stop being too embarrassed to ask for directions--but I don't want to look like a dumb tourist, even though I actually am. Pride killed the cat...wait. Huh? And now, back to your regularly scheduled program...

So we wandered around, bought a bag of chestnuts, wandered around some more. Finally found the cisterns, stood in line for a while, then got a call from our friends saying they were on their way. Maria decided she would rather go see our friends than stand in line anymore, so I promised her we would go back later, and we headed across the square to the Blue Mosque, AKA Sultanahmet. I have noticed that they have two names for everything here: one for locals and one for tourists. That way, if someone uses the tourist name, the locals feel justified in charging triple the price for whatever the poor tourist is buying. Fortunately, the Blue Mosque is free, and triple free is still free.

We saw some of our group waiting on the steps and waited with them for the rest of the group, which finally showed up, but not until it was prayer time. We went to a restaurant where I ordered some delicious Mexican food (to split, because it was triple the price). We had a nice visit with my classmates, then some of them took off to go to a jazz concert which was also offering free wine. We stayed, then did a quick tour of the Blue Mosque. I was annoyed at being made to move to the 'tourist' line in the back instead of being able to go in the front door, like I did last time I was in Turkey. It was pretty crowded, but still as beautiful as ever with thousands of blue and white tiles lining the inside walls. For some reason I didn't get any pictures this time, but we'll go back again before we leave Turkey. That's the neat thing about free stuff, you can keep going back.

 

Courtyard of the Blue Mosque

 

After this, someone in our group mentioned a little cafe on the hill near the Grand Bazaar, and suggested we go there to drink some tea and admire the view. We strolled through the completely deserted bazaar (closed on Sundays) to the cafe, whose view was just as dramatic as he had promised. We sipped triple-priced beverages as slowly as we could while Maria dashed around taking pictures of everything, from the beautiful view to the slightly muddy speakers from which drifted high-class music at precisely the right volume. The view of the Bosphorus and city skyline, already impressive enough, was improved by the evening light which had taken on an odd honey-like quality.

 

After this, we dragged our tired feet to the bus station at Eminonu and, trying not to get run over, found the bus that would take us all the way back up the hill to our doorstep. I didn't take into account the Istanbul traffic, and we sat on the bus for a solid hour, maybe more, before we finally made it home. Next time I'll get out at Taksim and take the metro from there...Live and learn, I guess.

 

Last night I spent a while doing three loads of laundry--I can start wearing clothes again today (yay!), washed a week's worth of dishes, and wiped a thick layer of Istanbul dust off the table so we could eat again.

 

Having planned to go sightseeing again today, I first slept in, then made a leisurely breakfast, then worked on this blog. Maybe by dinner time I will have gotten my shower and be ready to go sight seeing. For now, I'm enjoying the change of pace and just relaxing. Maria has been racing around the house with her usual energy all morning, singing at the top of her lungs, making up songs about anything and everything. When I laugh at her cuteness, she gets angry at me.

 

Thanks for being so patient with my sporadic and short blog entries these last few weeks. Now that I'm done with the program and doing a lot more sightseeing, my blogging should pick up again, and there should be more pictures too.  

 

Happy Monday, everyone!

 

This is me, signing off...

 



Gone Sightseeing...

Gone sightseeing...

Please try again later...

=)

Cats

Has anyone ever noticed the cats in Istanbul? I guess they are like cats everywhere, but there are so many of them, so it's easy to catch them in especially cat-defining moments. The other day I was leaving the metro station and I saw one sitting on the edge of a manhole, staring intently into the little slot, not blinking or moving at all as hundreds of people streamed past. The next day I saw one staring at the sky in the same way...What do these cats know that we don't? They are trying to send us subliminal messages, but we're too blind to understand that they are talking to us in a secret language. This morning I saw one sitting in the middle of the Istiklal Street in Taksim, just watching people walk by. Everyone is hurrying, but these cats know how to chill.

It's possible I'm starting to lose my mind...only one more day of CELTA.

Cambridge has this weird thing about not wanting people to know what grade they are getting. Everything is hush-hush until the end of the course. And only one or two people can get an 'A,' I guess. They are still living under the old bell-curve ideas of grading--as though all the students were somehow dependent on each other for their individual performance.

Ah, this is the life...Sitting in the cafe in Istanbul, listening to the radio blasting in English...um.?

After this course, my Turkish is going to get a workout.

I'm thinking of moving. There is an apartment closer to downtown, significantly cheaper than my current place. Haven't decided yet though. I think it depends on how lazy I feel after the course.

OK, enough random thought-dumping for today. I'm off to write the most awesome lesson plan ever.

Thanks for reading.

This is me, signing off...

In Class, Chillin'

Hello Faithful Readers,

Here I am, sitting in class again. Two more days to the end of my CELTA. It's been a long month of homework-filled nights and stress-filled teaching with colleagues observing every lesson and tutors picking it all apart...and it has somehow flown by. In two days I'll be free to move about the country and explore. Maria is excited about finally getting to see the sights I promised her were here...I think she has been thinking I made all that stuff up to lure her to this strange country. This weekend we'll get out to the cisterns and maybe the Blue Mosque. I hope the weather is nice so we can stroll through the streets and enjoy the views...and I won't have to carry a backpack!

Keep reading, more pictures to come at some future point...

This is me, signing off...

Another Sunny Weekend with Homework

Hello World!

I had an awesome eight hours of sleep for the first time in three weeks, and I feel really rested. The sun is shining, the birds are singing--OK, OK, cawing and cackling--the traffic is humming along in the street with only the occasional angry beep...Life is good. Oh. I have homework. Again.

This is the last weekend of my course. It has been going really well, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it, except for a few of the late nights, and not being able to get out on the weekends much. Neyse...
I have learned a lot and am really glad I finally took the plunge. Today I'll be ignoring the nice weather again and working on a major project that is due Monday, as well as tweaking my Monday lesson plan. I'll be teaching Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week, which is good. This week will be a bit more creative too, because I'll be designing my own lessons from scratch. That means I can include more interactive stuff like games, and more visuals because I won't be tied to the book like I have been.

Next weekend I'll be done, and I plan to take advantage of every day from here on out to see everything of interest in Istanbul and spend some serious time on my poor, neglected Turkish. I'll have to make some more non-English-speaking friends to practice with. I'm still thinking about whether to stay in Istanbul or travel south a ways to the beaches. I like Istanbul a lot and haven't really had a chance to explore yet, so I'll be staying here at least a bit longer. Then there is the question of housing...I don't want to keep paying an arm and a leg for a single room, but I'm in a nice area which I finally know well enough to only get lost sometimes...Hmm.

OK...Time to get out of bed and do some work.

Thanks for reading!

This is me, signing off...

Derslerim

Merhabalar,

Bu yoğun dersimin üçüncü haftsı ve gerçekten çok yoğun. Aslında böyle olduğuna çok sevindim çünkü zaman harcadığım gibi hissetmiyorum, çok öğreniyorum ve arkadaş buluyorum. Neredeyse bütün ders arkadaşlarım kursdan sonra burada kalmayı düşünüyolar. Ben de kalmak çok isterim ama bundan sonra normal hayatıma dönmeliyim. Belki ileride buraya gelip biraz çalışırım da hayatımda macaradan keyif alırım.

Bu derse katılınca neredeyse hiç Türkçe pratik yapamıyorum. Her gün ödev, ödev ve daha çok ödev çıkıyor. Kızımı götürüp getiriyorum, yemeklerimiz hazırlıyorum arada. Sürekli çok geç yattığım için zombi gibiyim ama şikayet etmiyorum. Gerçekten kurs çok hoşuma gidiyor.

İstanbul hayatına da alışmaya başladım. Her gün gidip gelince aynı insanları görüyorum. Taksimde gazete satan adam, dilenci görmez ağabey, simitci-her gün aynı. Ara sıra da protestucuların seslerini duyuyabiliyorum ve çok ilginç geliyor.

Kurstan sonraki planlarımı çözemedim çünkü her zaman meşgul ve yorugun oluyorum.

Şimdi saat geç oldu. Çamaşırı asıp uyuyacağım. Yarın yine ders anlatacağım için biraz dinlenmek isterim.

Okuduğunuz için teşekkür ediyorum!

İmzalayıp çıkıyorum.....