Merhaba!!
Or hello, in Turkish! I am currently indulging in yet another round of imprudently timed travel to foreign shores -- for those of you fortunate enough to escape my whirlwind departure, I spent the beginning of June dismantling my erstwhile life and dispersing it across various temporary shelters around Berkeley. I also was beset by a pack of technological demons, which managed within a week to kill my phone and compromise my laptop in both soft and hard domains. And so, homeless, computerless, banned from my work network and bereft of most of my phone numbers, it seemed like a good time to get the hell out of Berkeley, which I did with far more than a little help from many friends (thanks!!!).
Flash ahead 2 weeks, and I've just disembarked from three days of lounging aboard a gulet making its leisurely way along the southwestern coast of Turkey, re-learning how to do nothing, save for take regular dips into the aquamarine, head ashore to explore local Lycean ruins and generally soak up the Mediterranean rays. (The best measure of my relaxed state is my current finger-bandaid count: zero!!!!) So yes, I am officially recovered from all the craziness, and nearly ready to contemplate coming home. A few highlights from the interim follow.
0. Getting to Istanbul. In my usual frenzy I neglected to bring even a shred of information about where we were staying in Istanbul, so Diego and I had to improvise upon arrival and intuit our way to the hotel where Paul, Ambika, Lesley, Gerard and Richard were worrying about us. (On the upside, I learned from the high-end-bed-selling guy next to me on the plane to London that the average person sweats three-fourths of a pint every night!) Upon reunion Lesley and I simultaneously suggested a Turkey theme cheer: gobble gobble gobble!
1. Istanbul. The next few days passed in a blur of yummy breakfasts overlooking the Aya Sofya and the Bosphorus; requisite awed appreciation (and a slew of jokey posed photos) at requisite mosques/sights/etc.; increasing familiarity with
many varieties of kebabs, baklava, borek (flaky filled pastries) and ice cream; and mixed success with the limited Turkish I'd osmosed while dishwashing/packing/driving before the trip (I discovered late in the game that I was confusing "What's your name?" with "What's my name?", an odder though arguably more interesting opening conversational gambit). A bit European for my taste (and less crowded, colorful and generally alive than I'd expected), but an impressive place nonetheless, and a fine setting for us
Todi-ites to reacquaint ourselves and welcome our new and provisional member (Richard) into the fold. Though our past travel partners were much missed, our international band (American, Brit, Irish, Polish, Italian) furnished plenty of entertainment and general delight, even taking into account Diego's ceaseless attempts to wind me up by running circles around me and Paul's predictable pseudo-lascivious offers to save showering time by doubling up.
1A. Turkish hospitality! We befriended a young Turkish woman who, after teaching us some colorful turns of phrase (and, with some encouragement, an obscene gesture!), invited us to meet her English students. Perhaps it was because she found us all "sooooooo cute!!!!", or because she was besotted by Diego and his "movie star"
looks; maybe she felt bad after Paul did his normal "So, tell me, what do you know about Poland?" schtick, to which she replied (to our great satisfaction), "Nothing!" (By the next time we saw her, she'd researched the entire history of Polish-Turkish relations to report back to him!) But somehow our visit mushroomed into having dinner (complete with musical performance and whirlwind Turkish-coffee-cup-reading) with her entire extended family, who were all bursting with curious goodwill and treating this as a once-in-a-lifetime experience -- which I guess it was. I shudder to think how long they slaved to prepare the delicious meal and how much they went out of their way to treat us, but it was a highlight of our time in Istanbul.
2. Cappadocia. After a long bus ride under the thumb of a power-hungry attendant (no taking shoes off, no crossing legs, endless waves of tea and superfluous lemon-scented hand oil), we found ourselves in the otherworldly landscape
of central Anatolia. We stayed in a cave hotel, gaped at the famed fairy chimneys and other geological oddities around us, clambered up into fortresses and monasteries carved from mountains and down into cities dug from the ground, and even greeted the dawn from the lofty perspective of a hot air balloon (whose grandeur was only mildly compromised by being emblazoned by Coca-Cola sponsor insignia). The scenery was truly spectacular, though occasionally challenging -- we tried to leap (like gazelles!) down steep ridges, but after escaping serious injury from a comically ungraceful descent straight into the bramble I favored Gerard's more conservative tactic ("My butt is like a pickaxe: it anchors me anywhere!"). Here too we were surprised by Turkish generosity -- one local entreated us to sample nearly every fruit tree on his property (even the less than fully ripe ones) and then invited us into his home for ayran (yummy yogurt drink), and the sincerity of his desire to connect was clear despite the considerable language barrier. (I was stymied here in my attempts to find appropriate material in my phrasebook under "Making friends" -- "Can we go someplace quieter?", "You look great!" and "I'm not ready for that" seemed geared to a rather different situation, and "What a lovely day" struck me as so blatant a sop to the dictates of smalltalk, and so completely lame as the (non-)fulfillment of everyone's prolonged anticipation as I rifled desperately through my book, that I couldn't help dissolving into a laughing fit just contemplating using it.) Other thrills included a visit to the (slightly too friendly) local barber and my first "motorbikle" ride ("You can rent motorbikle and bycle", read the flyer) -- we zoomed on rented scooters for a last adrenaline rush, which I thought was very cool (even if Gerard said we looked like "prats on hair dryers"). We bid a regretful farewell to both the land and our compatriots here -- Lesley, Gerard and Diego all decided they'd rather return to their non-motorbikling lives than continue malingering with the likes of us. :(
2A. More Turkish hospitality! After another long bus ride, our remaining crew prepared for the lazy boatride part of the trip. Somehow Ambika worked her usual charm on the tour operator (Katia, a Dutch woman with a local Turkish partner), and we wangled not only a free hotel to rest in for the day and a free ride to the cruise start point, but even an invitation to come to a family wedding that night! So we found ourselves in the little town of Demre (whose historic associations with St. Nicholas accounted for otherwise unseasonal plastic figurines of the jolly fellow in full Christmas attire), joining the entire village (minus tourists) for a traditional
wedding on the coast. Besides Katia, we were the only non-Turks about, but as soon as we arrived we were whisked to the women's seating area and made to feel right at home. Lots of dancing (and yes, Ambika and I were pulled onto the stage area and captured on film -- I imagine the bride and groom will be puzzling over us for a while), rows upon rows of onlookers, adorable kids scampering about in varying degrees of finery. The most notable departure from more familiar wedding traditions: the part when a clutch of gift-bearers surround the announcer/musician/DJ and one by one shove their present forward as they give the pertinent identifying information (name/relation to bride/groom, present description -- including amounts and currency for the cash!) to relay into the microphone. For at least half an hour, the festivities consisted of the translated equivalent of "Yilmaz, family friends, gold bracelet... Imre, bride's cousin, 30 million Turkish lira... Mustafa, friend of groom, 20 U.S. dollars". (We were announced very carefully as friend of the groom's cousin, with our offering of a traditional Turkish gold wedding coin.) We're guessing this will be a good point of comparison with Paul/Ambika's friends' more modern wedding this weekend and for mine in Pakistan next week.
3. Blue Cruise. I'm not really one for cruises in general, but it turns out that I can handle sitting on a small boat for days on end, falling asleep watching for shooting stars on the deck of our gently rocking boat, playing backgammon and cards through lazy afternoons and letting the pace and timing of our sleep/eat/swim
cycle be dictated by our amicable captain and crew. There were only 8 tourists on the boat, and the others were some quite tolerable Aussie/Kiwi types; had our entire company been able to stay for this, it would have been just about perfect -- and it came pretty close to that anyway. I see more Turkish gulets in our collective future! (And I'll put in a plug for
V-go tours -- ask for Katia!)
We are now nearly at the end of our Turkish circuit. Richard having departed, I am officially a third wheel to Paul and Ambika as they begin the wedding portion of their trip. Then I'm off to Karachi for my friend Ferakh's wedding, where I hope to keep my head about me and conquer the 4-event wedding attire challenge. Hope all is well with you wherever you are, hope we meet in the real or virtual world again soon, love & hugs &cet.
Hosçakal!!
nancy
p.s. Taken me several days to get to internet again to send this -- most notable events since then have been our inevitable visit to Ephesus; unfortunate occasions to sample Turkish doctors, police stations and pharmacies; the beginning of wedding-related activities (they really ARE super-hospitable!!); and ultimate (but very tolerable) 3rd-wheeldom. So sad to be leaving so soon -- but the next phase is about to begin...
