Istanbul

Day 4--
Oct 4 2004 Monday.
Oct 4 2004 Istanbul - Tel Aviv
The wake up call came but I was already awake, I had a hard time sleeping so I watched some television.... A show much like the twilight zone.. except with religious tones. A girl was apparently pregnant.. so she was out buying things for the baby to come, with her mother.. happy and excited about the baby, planning things ect.. Then she had gone to the doctor and apparently there was something wrong with the pregnancy, so they would have to abort it. She was very upset and sad, as was her mother and husband. So her mother made her prayers to God/Allah, and also the girl (the pregnant one) passed by a retarded boy, begging for money (Lira's), and even though she was in quite a sad state, she gave him some money, a good sum I guess. And when she did so, the retarded boy's mother came by and was so thankful that she asked Allah/God for a blessing on the girl. Later on the way to the hospital, the car broke down, so the girl and the mother went on to the hospital, while the man stayed to get the car taken care of. He then had a visitor, it was the retarded boy, in a kind of hallucination, and the apparition, told the man (most likely told the man.. as I couldn't understand the words), so the man rushed to the hospital, but it was too late, as when he arrived at the hospital, the wife was in the room. But fortunately, the nurse who was just about to put the woman to sleep for the operation noticed two heartbeats and stopped just in time. The woman was very happy and came out and told her husband, who was sooo relieved........ as was the mother. Kind of a cool show.

Right now while writing this, I am watching the Flintstones, dubbed in Turkish. I have found here also that watching Sesame Street in Turkish I can pick up a few sentences, much more easier than reading that phrase book. But phrases like 'I see the dog' wouldn't really be useful. Funny thing, this country (as is in Palestine, and probably most all of these) are very international, it is like a whole wide world, when I go back to the USA, not so international, it will seem like being in a closed room or a little box. But I have very good memories of Istanbul and passed a great time. It seems that yes, once you set foot in another culture, it changes you, you can never look at yourself and your home in the same way.

Well what a day.. Mess was supposed to show up at the hotel at 10:00 so I had about an hour after I finished a quick breakfast to get some shopping in. I got a waterpipe, t-shirts, a coffee cup set, and other assorted gifts and souvenirs from an out of the way store in Taksim district, then got back to the hotel. Just right at 10. I hope I didn't miss her.. I waited, waited and waited. Finally, I knew that something was wrong, because it was 11:30 and no Mes, so I called her cell.. she had just pulled up and was right outside. But as it turned out she had gotten in an accident. She was okay, it wasn't real bad, a crease in the right front door, doesn't look too major..... But it was her first accident. I felt terrible because it was me who she was on the way to pick up. Believe me, I would put any driver here in Istanbul, or Palestine up against any big city driver any day, I know I wouldn't be able to do it... well, it would take some getting used to, knowing someone can cut in front of you any second, or pull in front of you and stop, or someone walk in front of your car with no notice... wow. Off we went to the airport, it was funny because on the way, we stopped at an intersection and a small boy came running out, and cleaned our windshield, for a Lira, lots of drivers have coins available for this, as these boys can sometimes be at every intersection... you can get quite a clean windshield. We got to the airport at 12:00 and had the regular run around going through checks, going through x-rays.. etc.. I had to pay $100.00 because I was 20 K over the weight limit! (NO not me, the suitcase... grrrrrrr) Finally, in the passport check line, Mes couldn't go through with me, so I gave her a hug and bid her farewell and set off for gate 209 - Tel-Aviv. My short visit to Istanbul was wonderful...Thank you Mes..

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A tour of the Palace, and more information
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