TurkeyDaily

Peaches here are far better than the peaches you eat at home. I know, it's quite a claim. But I've had a few peaches in my 27 years, and these win all over your peaches. Slam dunk. Imagine the sensory difference between your 5th grade halloween parade and going back in time to Julius Ceasar's triumphal march through Rome. Imagine that in your mouth. Wow. Not only are peaches here, in Turkey, amazing, but a peach was the first fruit I ate here. It came from the manav, which is the green and fruit grocer on every other corner. I was living in Arnavutkoy at the time, and I went to the manav out of sheer hunger. I could not steal from the other hostel guests. Despite having taken 6 weeks of great Turkish classes back ... read more

Today is day 12. The notion of a cohesive narrative or some jazz at this point would just be silly. I certainly don't want one, and if you do then Sammy Two-Toes will show you right out. So far, each day contains lots of novelty and lots of the quasi-familiar. Like a perfectly modern intra-city bus system which takes me everywhere, everyday, but on which I have yet to see ONE PERSON read a book, besides me. And there cats everywhere. I think my best offerings right now are word-bytes and anecdotes. Also, because days are episodic this way: I sit in the next cafe that comes along and order a little glass of çay (tea, pronounced ch-I) for 1 lira. See left. Doesn't that look good? The Turks do this really well. And this ... read more