I landed in Istanbul then let my mom know I was safe and sound. Because, moms. I had misplaced the address and location of the hostel. I had a vague idea of how to get there. Metro into the city, and then tram into Sultanahmet. I remembered it was past the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. I wandered every street of that patch of Istanbul looking for my hostel. There were loads of other hostels but not mine. Everyone I talked to had never heard of it. After a couple of stops at different hostels asking about it one girl looked it up for me and sent me in the right direction. By the time I checked in I was hot, tired, and hungry.
As I wandered through the streets of Istanbul I was realizing the reality of what is Istanbul. I had a bit of a different more ancient look and feel to the city built up in my mind. I was (naively)expecting hoping for a city that looked and felt the way it did 500 years ago. I mean sure in Sultanahmet it had that ancient vibe to it but it also had 10,000 tourists pointing at things but once you left there it had a normal vibe. All the buildings were very westernized and not as different as I wanted. Reality.
One cultural aspect I was excited for did not disappoint. It was the call to prayer. I told a friend how I liked it so much and he said the first time he heard it it was "other worldly" and I can not think of a better description than that. I would always try and be near a mosque whenever I knew it was almost time for it. Everyday I ate lunch near a mosque to listen to it. My hostel was just a stones throw from the Blue Mosque so every night I heard it as well. I always slept through the morning one though. It also made me think how the call to prayer would be received in an American city. Would a mosque meet with much resistance from the community over it? I felt it would. Why though, it lasts a few minutes and it's like a song? I thought it no different than church bells chiming the hour every hour. And the half hour every half hour. And in some cases, the quarter hour, every quarter hour. Not much of a difference really, except the whole different religion bit.
I knocked out all the touristy things I wanted to see in a few days and spent the rest of my time exploring, haggling, and eating. The Anatolian (Asian) side was like a different city. A 20 minute ferry crossing and people were much calmer, drivers nicer, and the feel more relaxed. A shop owner even gave me a free water when I tried to pay him for it! The other you realize very quickly when you're in Istanbul is that there are tons of stray cats. I mean you can't swing a cat without hitting another cat. They are friendly if you want to be friendly with them or if you don't want to pet them they leave you alone. I had a hard time capturing the scale of some of the buildings. It didn't help they all had trees around them and I get lethargic with my camera when I'm shoulder to shoulder with tourists. And I was never around when the sun was in a flattering position for lighting mosques.
Since I was expecting a different experience before I arrived I had a different plan in mind for my time there. The city was different and my plan changed. My hostel was unlike any other hostel I've stayed in. I was the youngest person there, it wasn't very sociable. I only made friends with a couple of Kiwis (New Zealanders) and everyone else just kept to themselves. Because of all the time I spent by myself and Istanbul not being what I thought it would I had plenty of time to reflect on the past 4 months. Time to think about things I hadn't realized I learned about myself. Time to think about where I wanna go. Time to think about how to get there. All of this time and self knowledge has given me a course I want to follow. I know I want to go back to school, now I have the motivation and a goal to work for. Spending time in Spain was a lot of fun because I got to use the Spanish I hadn't used in 6 years. I want to (re)learn Spanish. I also want to learn the violin. That's the short version of the next 5 years of my life. It also made me excited to put it into action for when I do return.
Next up Bucharest and the nightmare of a bus ride.
As I wandered through the streets of Istanbul I was realizing the reality of what is Istanbul. I had a bit of a different more ancient look and feel to the city built up in my mind. I was (naively)
One cultural aspect I was excited for did not disappoint. It was the call to prayer. I told a friend how I liked it so much and he said the first time he heard it it was "other worldly" and I can not think of a better description than that. I would always try and be near a mosque whenever I knew it was almost time for it. Everyday I ate lunch near a mosque to listen to it. My hostel was just a stones throw from the Blue Mosque so every night I heard it as well. I always slept through the morning one though. It also made me think how the call to prayer would be received in an American city. Would a mosque meet with much resistance from the community over it? I felt it would. Why though, it lasts a few minutes and it's like a song? I thought it no different than church bells chiming the hour every hour. And the half hour every half hour. And in some cases, the quarter hour, every quarter hour. Not much of a difference really, except the whole different religion bit.
I knocked out all the touristy things I wanted to see in a few days and spent the rest of my time exploring, haggling, and eating. The Anatolian (Asian) side was like a different city. A 20 minute ferry crossing and people were much calmer, drivers nicer, and the feel more relaxed. A shop owner even gave me a free water when I tried to pay him for it! The other you realize very quickly when you're in Istanbul is that there are tons of stray cats. I mean you can't swing a cat without hitting another cat. They are friendly if you want to be friendly with them or if you don't want to pet them they leave you alone. I had a hard time capturing the scale of some of the buildings. It didn't help they all had trees around them and I get lethargic with my camera when I'm shoulder to shoulder with tourists. And I was never around when the sun was in a flattering position for lighting mosques.
Since I was expecting a different experience before I arrived I had a different plan in mind for my time there. The city was different and my plan changed. My hostel was unlike any other hostel I've stayed in. I was the youngest person there, it wasn't very sociable. I only made friends with a couple of Kiwis (New Zealanders) and everyone else just kept to themselves. Because of all the time I spent by myself and Istanbul not being what I thought it would I had plenty of time to reflect on the past 4 months. Time to think about things I hadn't realized I learned about myself. Time to think about where I wanna go. Time to think about how to get there. All of this time and self knowledge has given me a course I want to follow. I know I want to go back to school, now I have the motivation and a goal to work for. Spending time in Spain was a lot of fun because I got to use the Spanish I hadn't used in 6 years. I want to (re)learn Spanish. I also want to learn the violin. That's the short version of the next 5 years of my life. It also made me excited to put it into action for when I do return.
Next up Bucharest and the nightmare of a bus ride.
Just bathing in a public fountain in front of a million tourists
Siesta
Blue Mosque
Blue Mosque
Hagia Sophia
Chickens in the street
You could buy anything anywhere
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He really wanted me to take a picture of him, I wish he hadn't danced down the street by the time I realized his eyes were shut.
Driving through the streets
Hagia Sophia
Dad (and everyone else) this is how they frame houses. The only reason I can think they do the X's is to make it sturdier during an earthquake. Yes? That or they like making things difficult.
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