A Mix of German, Arabic, and Japanese

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Observations by day three in Turkey:

1) My brother and I know next to nothing about this country. This is good, yet horrible, as we are bopping around pretty much blind on what there is to see, what there is to do, and how far everything is from one another.

2) We are in Europe. Turkish people consider themselves European. Brad and I couldn't stop staring at the trams. 'Trains, fully functioning, in the middle of a city?"
"STARBUCKS?"

The closest thing I've seen to Starbucks in the last 9 weeks was the "Star & Bucks" men's coffee shop in Ramallah.

3) The prices are European. Brad and I went to Topkapi Palace; the admissions fees were so high, we ended up having to eat ketchup and mayonnaise packets straight for sustenance. This is still after spending pretty much 15 dollars for a small thing of french friends and yogurt, the cheapest things on the menu.

4) The crown jewels are put to SHAME by the sultan's bling in them old Ottoman days. I've now seen multiple 80+ carat diamonds. And just a giant box of giant emeralds. No biggie.

5) I've seen clippings of the prophet Mohammed's beard, his swords, David's sword (as in the David from David and Goliath), and the rod of Moses (that he used to part the Red Sea, etc.). They are all, consequently, dibbed to my team for the End of the World battle game. I've been KILLING Brad in this regard over the past couple of days- my team is going to DOMINATE his.

6) The blue mosque is sweet. Although I don't think we properly appreciated it- we were busy trying to come up with terms for our future 'Pirate Scrabble' game. (patented by us, don't ye dare try and be thinkin' of stealin' the idear). Wow, we are five years old.

7) Couchsurfing is AMAZING. Seriously, everyone should sign up. The people that hosted us are total ballers, and the nicest people ever. I mean, we slept on comfortable beds, took warm, high pressured showers, and chilled out in the nicest apartment with suggestions and company of local people in Istanbul FOR FREE. Couchsurfing is AMAZING.

8) We took the most uncomfortable bus ride ever. Literally, you could not design seats more uncomfortable, with air conditioning so strong. it was 12 hours. I slept. Bub didn't.

9) We want an oasis-like pool, filled with fresh, cold spring water from the neighbouring spring, in the middle of a mandarin orchard, with kitchen amenities and alcohol galore in Canada.

10) Ephesus is sweet. Roman ruins are seriously impressive, but we might be getting a little desensitized to 'old stuff' at this point. Worth it though- mostly dibbed to my team, and then I won the amphitheatre in a game of gin rummy. (I'll try and post pictures- some of the best ruins in the world. If not the best. Certainly the most impressive I've ever seen)

11) Raki, the Turkish national alcoholic drink, is strong.

12) Bub and I suck at Turkish drinking games. (bub and I are bringing those back though- prepare thyselves)

13) Drunk Turkish men (one of our friends, with a little too much raki in his system) are generous, but hard to escape from.

14) Turkish is the strangest language ever. And a lot of people here speak fluent Japanese. Which is even stranger.

Stacey

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