Waiting

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Greetings from Istanbul!

Turkish keyboards are a little different, and I am not all that big on proofreading, so bear wıth me.

I, Janie, not being as adept at this as John just realized that the Traveller's Prayer which I found in Ireland never got posted. So I posted it (I think).

Well this is our last day in Istanbul. We spent the first half of the day trying to find our Havaş (HA-wash) (airport shuttle) stop, and the second half of the day trying to find things to do that didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Our time here has been very interesting. We saw the sights, ate the kebabs, and spent alot of our time observing. There are several very distinct cultures here. There are the Turks, then there are the tour group travellers, then there are the independent travellers (backpackers) like us. It's been really fun to watch all of the different interactıons that take place or don't take place. For example, the tour group people often just follow around the man with the pink umbrella or gıant sunflower looking bewildered. Then there are the backpackers feeling lofty and superior, yet who never really leave the backpackers bubble. On the street where our hostel is there are SEVERAL hostels, cafes, restaurants, bars, and hookah bars all filled completely wıth backpackers. People are by far the most interesting sights.

Yesterday we saw the Blue Mosque. It is incredibly beautıful. Islamic art doesn't use images of living things, but I really love the symmetry and patterns that were used to decorate the Mosque. There were some very pretty stained glass windows and tile mosaics. I was disappointed in what some of the other tourists were wearıng though! People were wearıng shorts, tiny skirts, sleeveless shirts and so on. However, the people at the mosque were prepared with dark and light blue sheets. Dark for your bottom half, light for your top half. I especially enjoyed seeing the male tourists who had worn shorts walkıng around in their dark blue skirts.

Well, I see that I've rambled on, so to sum up, we've had a really great time here even if we're experiencing some culture shock (how much fun can you say you've had until you've gotten completely lost with absolutely no knowledge of the language?)!

Only 2 more hours until our bus!
Janie

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Comments

[PJ]

Well I hope you found enough time amongst all of the hoopla to hit a hookah. I might be wary, however, to put my mouth on a tobacco tube in a foreign land.

[PJ]

I'd be wary in Austin too though.