"let me get a better look at you"

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
April 5th 2006

Published: April 5th 2006

since my return from croatia, life has been much the same as it was before i left. as little school as possible and as much fun as possible. i have been trying to see more and more of istanbul. we tend to spend mst of our time in the some of the same places so i have been trying to explore more of the city. i have still yet to make it to the asian sde of the city, but i did spend some time in a neet area named ortakoy. it is an area right on the water with plenty of little places to eat, drink, and smoke a little nargile. on sundays it has a little bazaar full of stalls of jewelry and other goodies, as well as plenty of food stalls with delicious little goodies for very cheep. i still dont have a camera since my battery was sent back to the states because i didnt pick it up. unfortunately i was unaware that is was here. i got a call one day from my mother telling me she had recieved it in the mail. needless to say i was a little shocked and annoyed. i have been fortunate to have a friend around when i really wanted some pictures but i still like to have one for any spontaneous picturesque moments i might encounter. i am going to la for my spring break so ill just pick it up then and hopefully it will cure the problem. if not atleast i will be able to take it somewhere and have it looked at. in the end, this camera is probably going to cost much more than ts worth. oh, and my iopd is acting up to. shit is pissing me off.

most of my time lately has consisted of going out and watching lost. when my friend coury went to syria for ten days, he lent me the first season of lost to watch. you might say this was a bad idea. i proceeded to wacth all of season one about 48 hours and then downloaded season two. i am now caught all the way up and am anxiously waiting for the next epsiode to air so i can immediately download it. i dont even think about alcohol anymore. all i need is lost, especially since they are ending the west wing.

about a week or so ago, there was a huge game between two soocer teams here in istanbul. the rivalries here are very intense, so much so that visiting fans can be in serious danger when they attend a game at their opponents stadium. many games they dont even sell tickets to the other teams fans, partly to prevent any rioting. we tried to get tickets but they sold out before we could decide and buy them. we went and watched the game at a bargile bar in this historic part of down on the bosphorus. the area is full of nargile bars and they were packed full of fans. they set up tables and chairs outside, with food stands and huge tvs. some bars were predominately for one team while the others for the other team. the atmosphere was amazing to watch a game and the game was really amazing with some impressive goals. when a team scores, every bar in the area reacts either positively or negatively. they get really into it, drawing you into it whether you care or not. my team won the game but lost the series because of some stupid rule about away goals.

we have been continuing our tradition of chicken night t coury's. it is probably my favorite night of the week because we have a serious amount of good food for very cheap. we eat and then we sit around while evryone else gets drunk, talking about serious and intellectual topics, such as how alex is beginning to look like mel gibson and his mullet from the early lethal weapon days. he inevitably responds that mel was named sexiest man alive during that period while shouting at me that i look like a penis with my shaved head. it is truly academic and world changing conversation. the night usually ends after we go to the bars and all of us come back to coury's and watch the channel with the girls advertising advertising phone sex. sometimes its anime and we really enjoy ourselves.

some of you might have read that there was a big solar eclipse recently and it was visible here in turkey. it was best on the coast of turkey and in libya. i was unable to make it to the coast and i was obviously not in libya (although i wish i could have been) so i did not see it in all of its glory. here in istanbul it was kind of like someone pulled a curtain in front of the sun for a coouple of minutes. it was very hazy outside. i tried to look at the eclipse and then i was blind for awhile. later i put on my sunglasses and tried again. it was okay. nothing too amazing. although, my friedns who saw it on the coast, where it was full and the sky got completely black, said it was pretty impressive. so i guess i just didn't experience it enough to be moved by it. but after i had to listen to my turkish-speaking yoga teacher ramble on about her trippy experiences with solar eclipses and their ability to affect your personality for half an hour, i kind of lost interest in the whole event.

i leave for israel in about 5 hours until sunday night. i am really looking forward to going. i am going with alex, who is from california but goes to school in new york (i mentioned him earlier and i will refer to him as mel from now on), and andreas, a german player who wears phat pharm, likes rap and hasselhoff, and is about as german as i could imagine. it should be a lot of fun. mel has some cousins there who are going to show us around. he and andreas are staying for 8 days but i come back on sunday because i have midterms next week. getting the tickets to israel was probably the most difficult thing i have had to do in a long time. you can not book online or ver the phobe so you have to go to the office. they will not give you directions and there is no sign labeling the office. i wandered around the area of town i thought it was in for an hour in the pouring rain, asking for directions twice and calling them myself twice until i finally found it. once i got there i had to go through the toughest security in istanbul just to get into the office andd buy a ticket to israel. i am sure the israelis have good reason to be so cautious but it is really quite a depressing experience.

i am then planning a trip to jordan and lebanon for later in the week until just before i leave for spring break. we had it all figured out except i have to get a new passport because those pesky lebonese wont let me into their country after i have gone to israel. i have applied but it might not be here before i want to go. i had to go to the american consulate here which is best describe as the compound on the hill. it is this massive, brand new building perched on top of a hill surrounded by fences and barbed wire. it is nice being an american there. you get to bypass the throngs of turks waiting around for visas and wait in a private room. hopefully it gets here before i plan to leave on friday of next week.

hope all is well wherever you are.

what i miss about the us the most this week: mexican food, english speakers, and my car.

until next time......

"let me get a better look at you"

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