Brief encounters - Emails from Istanbul, November 2011

---

Mel

I met an Irish couple here at the hostel. The guy is here to have a root canal. He says it costs 300 Euros, so quite a price difference between here and germany. One could have a nice holiday, with a root canal thrown in for the 1500 Euros the root canals cost in Germany. Might be worth considering. Only thing that would be hugely inconvenient is what would you do about the tooth ache while waiting to get to Turkey.

Dirk Jan

I suppose in situations where one doesn't need help immediately, it would be an option.

Mel


I walked to the Marmara seafront today. It was way too cold to hang about there, so I headed in the direction of the Blue Mosque.

Conversations with various Turkish men along the way, all initiated by them as usual:

1st Man

Are you here alone or with a group?

Me

Alone

Him

Why didn't you bring your husband with you?

Me

We don't do that anymore in modern countries.

2nd man, standing outside carpet shop

Helloooooooo!

Me

I don't want a carpet.

Him

What makes you think I am a carpet seller?

Me

Just a hunch

Him

Do I look like a carpet seller?

3rd Man

Are you going to the bazzar?

Me

Don't know. Is it in the direction I am going in?

Him

My friend will take you to the bazzar. He is not dangerous.

Me

Not dangerous is good, but does he have any certification to prove it?

Him

Huh!

Me

I need to see his certificate of safety, before I go to the bazarre. I am going no place with your friend, until he shows me the certificate.

Him

Huh!

Then, I came to an empty but very pretty cafe in a quiet cobbled street. I don't know how those places keep going. Most cafes here in Istanbul seem empty or almost empty, all the time. Maybe they make enough money during the Summer months to last all winter, if their families own the cafes and they don't have to pay rent. I was complimented appallingly by the waiter. I don't know what encourages these guys to keep trying. I can't imagine them having any success at all with tourist women. Maybe they mistake the astonished snigger for shy school girl type giggling. I was going to show him my photos of Lydia when he came back with the coffee. At least, sincerely admiring ones kids is something Turkish men generally do well, and it creates a useful distraction from what they are not good at. But, I didn't get to do that, because another man appeared and sat at a desk nearby, which instantly quietened all the waiters. The boss?

Dirk Jan


Haha, keep this up and you'll make them avoid talking to tourist girls altogether, afraid of being even more confused ^^

Mel


I just got an offer of a travel companion to go to Syria with me. She said, she will have time next week, if I want to go there with her. She is in the next dorm bed to me at the hostel. I told her, I was planning to go, but it is no longer my plan, because it seems way too dangerous. She said, she thinks we can go. She was in Iraq not so long ago too. She said, it is never as dangerous in places are one would think. I told her, I still don't want to unnecessarily enter war zones though. She said, that may be wise, because I look very European. She is from Indonesia, and can get around more unnoticed. She said, the only problems she had in Iraq was some people occasionally pestering her about not wearing a head scarf. She said, not all the Iraqi women were wearing them, so she didn't either. She is now up in the dorm planning when she is going to have a baby, after my giving as much advice about it as I can. She says, she has to tell the company she works for if she is planning to get pregnant. I asked, if she can't just tell them after it happens. She said, no because her job involves a lot of travel, and they always want to know what you are doing with you personal life, so they can support you. I asked, if she is sure it is not so they can fire you, if you become pregnant. She said, they would give her something to do that involved no travel, to accomodate family comittments. She says, concern from them about spouses, children ... is normal and they ask often. I don't know what exactly her job is, because I wasn't sure if it was a bit much to ask directly. An NGO worker? An oil worker? A journalist? Other? My guess is journalist, because I have come accross them before occupying cheap hostel beds in various places, but never came accross an NGO or an oil worker doing that.

---