Blogs from Kadıköy , Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East

7 May 2023 We walked out the door of the house and locked up at 6 in the morning. It was six degrees on our walk to the airport. Tomas' backpack weighed 3.5 kilos and mine an extravagant 4.3. We call ourselves the 'Extreme Packers' but we did wear all our warm clothes on the way to the airport which greatly reduced the weight. It was easy walking with hardly any luggage. We didn't need to join the long queue to check in. just printed our boarding pass and then straight to the gate: luxury travel! No needs to have 'priority' anything when travelling lightweight. We signed up for Singapore Airlines auto check in which meant 48 hours before the flight our seats were automatically allocated and we ended up getting premium seats for both ... read more

We could not have landed in a more different place than the Columbia Missouri, Istanbul has exceeded my expectations in its uniqueness. As you will see throughout this blogging, I lack the creative writing skills to illustrate our experiences and will leave the nitty gritty to the photos. However, Iistanbul is old, congested, and any complaint that United States citizens have about the traffic in America have no idea how blessed they are! Dodging traffic has not only been a challenge but a necessity for survival, no joke! But the lamb kebabs and grilled sandwhiches have made crossing the street worth it. Anyone who visits Istanbul must visit Taxim, a northern province in the European side of the country that just. keeps. going. As I write this (at our hostel in Taxim, 2:30 am oour time), ... read more

The air was thick with heat as I stumbled through the steam; I craved fresh crisp and cool air, instead I struggled to inhale the sticky moisture. My knees easily bought my body to the ground as I desperately reached for the basin. I greedily used bucket after bucket of icy water, however nothing could stop my skin burning. The door was just ahead, no more than a few paces. I pulled myself to my feet feeling every inch of my weight, forcing one foot in front of another my mind swirled and my head swayed. I was so close yet the battle was lost, as feel into the blackness, I reached out to catch myself though I felt nothing. *I floated into the void as my blood spilled around me, suspended around my ... read more

Never go to a hairdresser in Turkey if you don’t have a good sense of humor, or if you’re not secure in the knowledge that hair grows back – eventually. I’m not one for hairstyle, or even one for hair brushing, but I thought it’d be fitting to get a hair cut for the new year. I suppose I should have asked someone to teach me how to say, “Just a little off the ends” or, “Stop! That’s enough!” in Turkish, but I didn’t. Instead, I indicated how much I wanted cut off on my stylist’s finger and let him have at it. He immediately set to grabbing random chunks of hair and cutting them off at random lengths, all of them longer than the amount I was willing to lose. When one pair of scissors ... read more

After two months, I’m finally saying goodbye to Turkey (the country, not the delicious meat). I would like to stay longer, but I can hear India beckoning to me like a mother announcing Christmas dinner – and so many roads lie between here and there. My time in Turkey has made me a more well-rounded person, both figuratively and literally. Figuratively, I’ve rounded out my cultural repertoire with another country’s customs, foods and language (even if it is only a few handfuls of phrases). And literally, I’m more round, especially around the mid- and hind-sections. As the guest, I’ve been required to finish any food left on any table and, no matter how much my stomach protests, my mouth can do nothing but eat more bread. I would hate to be rude. The past two months ... read more