In Istanbul, finding an English speaker is like finding Waldo – not the easiest thing to do at times, but definitely doable. Outside of the city limits, finding an English speaker is like finding a needle in a haystack – as close to impossible as it gets. Knowing this fact, I shoulda/coulda/woulda prepared myself more, but as I have the tendency to float around in a cloud of optimism, I never got much farther than, “Merhaba. Nasılsın? Hi. How are you?” From the moment I got off the bus in Safranbolu – or what I thought was Safranbolu but, to devastating effect, was really the nearby city of Kıranköy – I felt hopelessly lost. I didn’t even know where to begin to ask for directions, so I just started walking, keeping my eyes peeled for the
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