A Tale of Two Continents: Part 3

                          Our last day began routinely, breakfast, showers, relaxing, only with the added bonus of packing.  We dropped off our stuff at reception, had her call the bus company to figure out where we were catching the bus from, and then headed out.  We went to the Blue Mosque first to wait in that monstrosity of a line (to be fair it moved at a decent pace) for 45 min (not  nearly as long as it can get) before they closed for call to prayer.  I put on my head covering (all women need to- men long pants) and then we headed in.  

Entering the Blue Mosque

                After the Hagia Sophia, it was a bit underwhelming, but still impressive none the less. Fortunetley it is free, as you really don’t need to spend much time in there.

The Blue Mosque

  

             We headed to the Basilica Cistern next for that line (only about half an hour) and paid the 20TL entry free (although it is neat down there) found the statues of Medusa, drank tea and then headed for lunch.  I had the Izgara Kofte and Joe had fajitas.  Although  I wish I had the eggplant dish again, as I can easily get Izgara Kofte in Malatya but have been unable to find Hunkar Begendi yet (although I will be undergoing a search upon return, and have also looked up the recipe to attempt to make it at home, so fingers crossed it will be eaten again soon).  We reclaimed our stuff from the hotel, and walked to the Metro (a couple km) instead of taking the tram. 

Joe and I in the Bailica Cistern

          The bus station was uneventful: boring killing time.  The most exciting moment was when my limited Turkish paid off to help us figure out where we were going (granted I think the nice man’s hand gestures paid off more than his words, but I was pleased with myself nonetheless)  We watched a couple shows that Joe had downloaded whilst waiting, and then Temple of Doom helped kill the first few hours out of Istanbul.  Our bus attendant didn’t  speak English, so he gave us little notes explaining what was happening.  After we awoke, and he called Joe for a conversation, we discovered that his girlfriend is an English teacher and he had been calling her to find out what the expressions were so we would understand.  Turkish hospitality is beautiful sometimes.  Although leg room wasn’t as plentiful on this bus, it was a better sleep than the way there, and Southern Turkey had beautiful landscape to watch as we passed the last few hours.  All in all a successful trip.

Basilica Cistern

Things I wish I had known before Istanbul:

1.                  1.   Be careful with prices.  All the restaurants have their prices listed outside the restaurant, and although we got good deals, I would have been pained to pay 40TL for Hunkar Begendi instead of the 26TL I actually paid.  That little bit of extra wandering pays off, but be prepared to spend.

2.                 2.There is a museum pass!  You can pay (I forget how much) for 5 days of access to all the museums!  We didn’t know this until it was too late, and in turn missed out on Topkapi Palace and a few other museums that looked quite interesting.

3.                  3. While shopkeepers are less abusive than say Mexico, they are more subtley manipulative: particularliy in the sale of carpets.  In attempting to be not be rude, I had to be quite rude to one in order to get us out of the shop, leaving a sour taste in my mouth, and I’m sure in his as well.

4.                     4.(A lesson from Malatya) Corner stores that sell beer and wine have a blue sign on them.  It looks like an Effs beer logo but without the name on it.  Much cheaper than the restaurants.

5.                     5.  Be prepared to stand in line.  We found lines started to get bad after 11am (I suppose most people are enjoying their Turkish breakfasts) but for the Blue Mosque and the Galata Tower specifically, try and get there around 10am if you don’t want to wait longer than an hour.

6.                     6.  Try the borek from the back stands.  Cheap, delicious and filling.  Can’t go wrong.

7.                   7. Wander aimlessly.  Joe and I discovered a lovely seaside walk this way, and the back streets are pretty nifty.

8.               8. If you are travelling elsewhere in Turkey afterwards, you may want to save some experiences (like a Turkish bath or buying a carpet) for somewhere slightly less touristy.  Beware of prices given in euros or dollars.  There are better deals if you go to the source rather than book it from someone off the street.

9.              9.  Embrace the crowds.  They are insane.  One can see how Istanbul is such a touristy city, but the effect can be mildly claustrophobic at times.  See point 7 as a way to avoid them a little.

1       .   10. Enjoy!  Istanbul is a very cool city.  Well worth the trip.

A Tale of Two Continents: Part 2

Topkapi Gardens

Topkapi Gardens

            



















We awoke slightly more refreshed on Saturday, ate breakfast at the hotel (a poor imitation of the gloriousness that is a Turkish breakfast, but free food is free food and we can always eat a good one back in Malatya for half the price) and then, armed and ready with our jackets and cameras, we hit the city.  
          

Joe and I in the gardens.

Very cool green parrot.

            Although it wasn’t raining (thank heavens) it was also very grey outside- not masking the beauty of Istanbul, but not enhancing it in photos either.  We headed to the gardens at Topkapi Palace first and spent a good hour wandering through.  We couldn’t get in (we think due to Bayram) so we decided to try again later.  It was the same at the Ayasofia, and the Blue Mosque had a line that far exceeded my patience levels. (Apparently it was cruise ship day and all the day trippers were out and about) so Joe and I decided to head to the little Ayasofia and have lunch.  

Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Actually, we were just wandering away from the tourist hords and stumbled on the little Ayasofia by happy coincidence, but that version isn’t as glamorous.  We  had lunch (sans booze) at a little café- I had the Iskendar kebab (apparently a favourite of Alexander the Great) and Joe had chicken stew. Both pleasant dishes, although my eggplant one is still winning.  

Chicken Stew

Iskender Kebab

We finished lunch up with Turkish tea and then headed to the water.  We did a beautiful seawall walk with the looming city overhead, and the ancient walls bright and crumbling beside us.  It was a beautiful walk indeed.  We took an afternoon siesta, and then headed back out for dinner (lots of fun- Joe had this amazing kofte thing and I ordered a fish dish- and we used our limited Turkish with the waiters: much to their amusement).  They gave us free tea, and we hit up a couple more restaurants for beer (I would say pub crawl, but it was a restaurant with beer crawl) and then called it a night.

Seaside walk.

Joe making friends

By Day 3 we were starting to get a bit tired.  The fish dinner I had indulged in the night before was sitting a bit funny, but alas.  We headed down for breakfast, then got ready and headed out across the Galata Bridge to the other (still European) side of the river.  We followed signs, climbed a giant hill, and found the Galata Tower. Since it is one of the oldest and most beautiful towers in Istanbul, with stunning 360 degree views of Istanbul and the Bosphorus, (built as a lighthouse in 528, and then rebuilt in stone in 1348 to be captured by the Turks in 1453) it also has a queue reflecting this.  Fortunetely Joe and I were there early enough that we didn’t have to wait too long.  We paid our 20TL each to get to the top, and enjoyed the panorama immensely.  By the time we descended, we found a quaint and pricey little coffee shop to grab an Americano, and then headed back down to the Bosphorus.  

Views from Galata Tower

More views

             We had been talking about doing a boat cruise down the river to see the Maiden’s Tower, the Bridges, and a couple of palaces and castles we were running out of time to see.  All the tours by the Hagia Sophia, etc were averaging prices of 40 Euros per person (which seemed like a lot) but as we wandered through the harbour, the prices dropped significantly.  We hopped on a  boat that was about to leave, paid 10TL each, found decent seats at the front and were off on a two hour journey.  Granted if you pay more, I think they have running commentary, but all you really need is a map and to do your research before and then you can be your own running commentary. 

               

Famous Palace I can't remember the name of.

Mosque

Maiden's Tower

             By the time we got back to dry land, we were quite hungry.  We found a cheap (albeit delicious) borek shop just outside the touristy areas (I have missed borek since I was introduced to its fabulousness in Albania) and dined for the wonderful price of 4TL per person.  We still had to go into the Basilica Cistern, but upon viewing the line, we decided to go spice shopping, have a rest and then try again later.  I bought five fabulous spices (upon much hemming and hawing) that I cant find in Malatya and am very pleased to experiment with a couple of new ones (Ottoman Spice and Kofte Spice) as well as the old faithfuls (Tumeric, Garam Masala and Corriander.)   An hour or so later, we were refreshed and ready to go.  The line for the Basilica Cistern was still lengthy, and as the Hagia Sophia would be closed on Monday, we decided to give it a shot.  This was the most expensive tourist attraction we saw (at 30TL) but well worth the money.  While the Ayasofya doesn’t look overly impressive from the outside, the inside was to die for, and the history along with it. (Again they charge 20TL for a headset so do your own research ahead of time if you don’t want to get ripped off).  

Hagia Sophia

View of Blue Mosque from inside Ayasofya

               We headed for dinner, and shared the Testi Kebab: cooked in a ceramic jar in front of you and then broken and served for your enjoyment.  It is a two person dinner, ranging from 75TL to 40TL (we managed to find a 40TL place) and just goes to show the price range difference just by walking two blocks off the main drags.  We called it a night after our fabulous meal, heading back to the hotel to rest before our final day.

Testi Kebab

A Tale of Two Continents: Part 1

                Crossing continents via transportation that is not an airplane was a first for me as Joe and I made the hideously long(er than anticipated) bus journey from Malatya to Istanbul.  This was due in part to the 45 min roadside engine trouble stop but the other (more) frequent (than I would have liked) stops for tea along the way were also not appreciated- particularly the one at 2:30am where they turned on all the lights and dulcet Turkish recordings, informing us of are stop- came over the intercom.  By the time we neared Istanbul, we were making quite a few stops to drop people off, and as Joe and I had been told to get off at the last stop, we had to wait quite awhile.  We made it to the bus stop, managed to locate the metro station- which took us to the tram line and then from there to our hotel.  We are staying in a very touristy area- only about a ten minute walk to the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Baslica Cistern, Topkani Palace and the Galeta Bridge.  The hotel itself is small and nothing to write home about, but the price and location are superb, so all in all it works out.  As we arrived, we were told that because of Bayram, the Grand Bazaar and Spice Markets would be closed.  This was a sad realization, but the receptionist called a friend and it turned out they were still open that day only.  Joe and I quickly put our stuff in the room and headed to the Grand Bazaar (about a 20min walk) sprawling through the covered market- a person could easily become lost, too dazzled by the colours and smells and sounds to pay attention to where one’s feet are going.  We didn’t buy much (I bought a mug, Joe another bracelet to add to his spreading collection) but you have to say ‘I bought this at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul’ about something.

             

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar

   It was about this point we realized we hadn’t eaten all day (it was about 3pm) and so we headed out to find a restaurant.  The food prices in Istanbul are shocking (about double what we pay in Malatya) which was a bit of a mental adjustment, but they do serve beer and wine most places so that’s a plus.  I got the Sultan’s favourite (lamb and tomato stew on eggplant puree) which is possibly the best restaurant meal I have had since last Christmas- it was superb, and Joe got kofte- always a crowd pleaser.  

Joe was really excited about the beer.

Hünkar Beğendi: The Sultan's favourite

Kofte

After lunch we headed to the Spice Market- wandering through back roads until we found it.  It was absolutely mobbed (Istanbul is a mirage of tourists and languages- and while it is exciting to hear so many languages- it is also a little overwhelming at times.) so we just pushed our way through, stopping ocassionaly (Joe bought some Turkish delight) and then coming out by the water and the New Mosque.  By this point we were pretty wiped from our days adventures and lack of bus sleep, so we headed back to the hotel, watched a movie, and called it a night.

Spice Market

Lots to See, Lots to Do

               Joe ended up cleaning the oven.  It was a pleasant surprise- but as I had to go into town and explain my name predicament to the bosses (more to follow once I have news one way or the other.) he was put on dinner duty.  I spent a pleasant hour chatting with Habib (the guy who makes tea upstairs- although I am sure he has other responsibilities as well) before wishing daddy-o the best birthday in the world and heading home for meatballs.  We have sort of been cooking more the past few days- but the problem with working evenings, is that you leave the house around lunchtime, and don’t come home until past dinner so a late afternoon meal is the seeming compromise to our situation.     

A selection of vegetables from the market

                Weekdays have become a nice routine.  Wake up early, drink a cup of coffee, try and figure out what to do until it’s time to go to work.  I am still having a hard time adjusting to the relaxing mornings with evening classes as I very much got into a rhythm at the Japanese school, but I managed to download some yoga videos onto my computer at work (we still have no home internet- and won't until our visas come through) so I plan to start adding some exercise into my mornings in order to be more productive than reading and playing cards on my computer with the occasional self-taught Turkish lesson thrown in.

               

The main fountain

              Weekends are a little more hectic- early mornings, lots of classes back to back and finish.  A polar opposite to week days.  It isn’t so bad, busy certainly.  The weather is slowly taking a turn into autumn and you can feel the days getting shorter and the chill seeping through the air.  It makes it harder to wake up in the mornings, but it is a very refreshing change from Jakarta.  After work on Saturday, Joe and I went on a hunt for the pub.  We had looked the day before, but settled on a kebab restaurant when we couldn’t find it.  However, a keen eye of mine managed to put two and two together (they aren’t allowed to advertise alcohol openly in Turkey) and with the help of some internet photos we located the pub.  It is pretty typical of a pub: large, open and reeking of old cigarette smoke- but as they don’t serve food, we had a celebratory beer and moved on, thinking to come back and try and make friends some evening.  The thunder kicked in that night and we lost power, but as my Kindle has a light on it, it made for quite a nice ambiance – although we will be investing in candles shortly.

               

Malatya is well-renowed for its apricot harvest

           The school finally had our carpets cleaned.  They picked them up about 9pm (which I thought was an odd time to be on carpet retrieval) and dropped them off three days later.  Or they were supposed to.  They didn’t.  We talked to Yashar- who is quite a chatterbox- and he called and said they would be by after 9pm that night.  (He said that the women used to clean the carpets, but now they don’t.  Now they (women) don’t do anything.  I said they were doing more important things- I watched three women scrubbing carpets outside that day on my way home from work and thought there was something to the sending them away business)  Again, an odd time in my head, but people here do seem to work quite late.  We waited till 11pm, but due to the power outage, they didn’t show.  The next day we were exhausted, and once again told they drop them off around 9pm.  This time I waited until 11pm.  Still nothing.  The next morning, I was confused and decided to check outside in the hall just in case.  Sure enough, when I opened the door, there they were.  All propped up and cleaned.  It was a lovely discovery as our home now has some colour again.

Autumn is approching!  Umbrellas await!

                We embark on our first holiday this coming weekend.  Eid-al-Adha (in Indonesia) but it is called Bayram here.  No matter what you call it, it is the holiday were the sacrifice a lot of goats and cows to remind them of Abraham and Isaac, but it has much more of a family feel to it here.  One of my co-workers told me they are expected to go visit all their relatives and then have their relatives come around their house.  He works seven days a week so I think he would prefer to sleep, but alas.  Joe and I are using the free holiday to go to Istanbul- a trip we are very much looking forward to and that I can’t wait to share with you all, but that will be next weeks news.

Odds and Ends

                The exploration of a new city is one of my favourite things to do.  The sights, the smells, the delicious state of unknown.  Although we haven’t been teaching  a ton of hours, there is nothing boring about not working.  Last Tuesday, Joe and I attended a conference given by Oxford University Press about the books and how to teach.  This turned out to be a sales pitch, so we payed fairly little attention- and even less attention when the second session was given in Turkey.  Instead we passed the notepad back and forth, jaunting down thoughts that passed and conversing that way.  The flashbacks to communicating that way with friends during church sermons came rushing back.  It was given at the Hilton Hotel- new in town- but with a fabulous seating area on the 18^th floor overlooking the entirety of Malatya.  Dinner afterwards was quite tasty, but, despite being in a room full of English teachers, there were precious few people to talk to.  Tea afterwards was served on the 18^th floor, and despite being bombarded by a woman wondering what kind of English books were good to recommend for children (it’s been a long time since I read children’s books) that was a bit odd, it was quite pleasant.  One of our bosses drove us home afterwards and I think it was the first time we were in bed past 9pm since we arrived.

              '

The main mosque in the center of town.  The third pillar is incomplete becauses the architect died before it was completed.

                 We started actual classes on Saturday, and for the most part it was a lot of fun.  Turkish students are friendly, if a bit shy to start, and their levels are considerably lower than I was expecting, but that’s easy enough to adjust to.  One of my students told me Taylor Swift was her idol: I didn’t know how to respond.  It’s fun getting back into the swing of it, although the system is once again different than I am used to.  The Turkish teachers teach the majority of the books, and we go in to each class for one hour a day (of the three or four) and teach a section of the book, that comprises of vocabulary, speaking and ‘everyday English’- a hard sell when they don’t need to use English every day, but alas.  It means that we have no say in how the grammar is presented, and although there is communication with the teacher, I am still figuring out how best to use my time for the benefit of the students.  It may yet take a few more weeks until I can determine this: for now I will do as I’m told.

              

The second President of Turkey.  From Malatya.

                   Other than last minute lesson planning (I received my schedule for the weekend of Friday for fourteen hours worth of lessons, and my weekly schedule on Monday- if this continues there will be a discussion) I have been spending my time exploring Malatya.  The weather has cooled down a bit (particularly in the evenings) and it has been lots of fun.  I found these old stone things on one of my expeditions (they turned out to be Turkish baths from the Ottoman Empire) and have loved the feel of exploring a city with so much character.  Onder took us on a mini tour today to help us buy tickets for our upcoming trip to Istanbul, and then showed us around the open air markets where the vegetables are aligned in the brightest colours, and the smell of the fish market makes you feel like you have already eaten it.  Goat’s heads hang from wires and everywhere the vendors are yelling at you to come and buy their delicacies.  Joe and I discovered a fantastic kebab restaurant, and we tried ayran (a yogurt drink that has been watered down- I would not recommend it.)  We haven’t been doing too much cooking other than breakfast, as the late lunch we have (of a donair, typically) is the most filling food I have ever experience and will fill you up for more hours than there are in an evening.  I love learning Turkish, although I do find their verbs quite challenging to get the hang of thus far.

One of the many drinking fountains in Malatya.  It is good to drink tap water again.

Teach a Little, Relax a Little More

               This past week has given me a good understanding of Turkish culture and how working in it will be different than I am used to.  We found our way in on Tuesday, and met the owners (well, three of the five of them), two of whom spoke excellent English, the third is a computer teacher and also in charge of our visa process.  After the customary offer of coffee or tea each day, we settled into business.  There was some concern over Joe’s visa as he doesn’t have a degree, but it turns out there are grey areas and with his high school transcripts, it can easily be side swiped.  Ironically, it is my papers that are causing the problems due to a single letter.   I was registered in university as Jordyn, while my passport reads Jordan.  This was not a problem with the Indonesian government nor the Japanese government, so I did not foresee an issue here: but it is indeed an issue.  I have spent a week on shitty internet trying to find ways to resolve it, and although there are a couple of options available, we shall have to wait and see.

                

The main park

                 By Thursday when we went in, we were informed that they needed us to teach on Saturday and Sunday- just a one off weekend.  The previous teacher who was here had to leave suddenly a few months back due to health issues, but they had promised the kids they would have a native teacher an hour a week all summer.  This was, of course, impossible, but the school didn’t want to retract on their promise and so they decided to cram these hours into one miserably long weekend of English fun.  Joe and I understood their position and so on Friday we went in for four hours to plan sixteen hours each of lessons over two days with only two different classes.  No books.  No materials. Vague topics at best.  In the midst of our planning we met the other two owners.  Güngör, who described himself as a “bad Muslim” (he drinks) and also stated that, “People have these funny ideas about what is important in religion.”  He is an interesting man, and although he says the Turkish language is not sexist (no differentiation between he/she) I can’t help but feel that I have stepped into a boys club.  Joe has been invited to play football, go fishing, have a tour of the city and most of the owners address him when speaking to the both of us, although I hope that I am noticing things (I do have an overactive imagination) and will butt in on anything I deem interesting enough.  (It didn’t help when Joe got an extra class during the week- rendering me a week of no classes, and causing the secretary to remark that I could stay home and cook dinner.  There was no malice in her tone, but my gut reaction was to never want to cook again.

                

Old men in the park

              Saturday morning we woke early (not that either of us have yet slept through the night-  jetlag is a bitch) and went to the school to ensure everything was ready for our lessons.  We had been warned that Turkish students are quite shy, afraid to make mistakes, and unchatty, but neither of us noticed that with our students.  My first set were Grade 6 students (about eight) and although there were ample breaks- four hours is a long time for kids to sit in a foreign language class.  By the time they left, I had a group of Grade  7 students (perhaps my least favourite age group of all time) for another four hours, and by the time we got home, there was no supper, no nothing.  We were sound asleep by 8pm in anticipation of repeating the same thing the next day.  Day 2 went smoother, perhaps because I knew what to expect.  By hour three of each group though, lesson plans were more or less out the window and it was survival mode.  Get these kids through without having them hate me, each other, or English.  They all seemed happy when they left, so all around it was successful.  Now, other than going in to work to get some semblance of an internet connection, and a dinner and meeting on Tuesday, I really have nothing going on.  Study Turkish, exercise, explore and of course fight with whatever slight amounts of internet I am able to get- perhaps I will get around to cleaning that oven after all….

The First Week

                    We have been in Malatya exactly one week although in some ways it feels much longer.  After figuring out the basics (how to take the bus, how to say hello and thank you and other basic Turkish phrases that we still aren’t sure we are saying correctly) there have been subtle differences and I can’t help but compare Malatya to other places that I have lived.  One of the main things is the mosque.  In Indonesia, the mosques went off at 4:00am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm, 6pm, and 7pm, although they would occasionally last for a whole hour or sometimes longer depending on the day and prerogative of the emam.  In Malatya, they tend to go off an hour later than the ones in Jakarta (which I am assuming has something to do with the sun, but my knowledge of Islam is still lacking).  Also, due to the colouring of Turks, Joe and I stand out a lot less than we did in Indonesia, which means no one yells at us, no one stares at us, and other than our eye colours and the fact that we don’t speak Turkish, it is hard to differentiate us. 

               

                This has been a bit tricky as we don’t immediately stand out as foreigners, but the store keepers have been very friendly with our lack of language ability, generally laughing or smiling and aiding us in whatever way they can to help us get our point across.  We have braved a couple of cafes, but typically end up ordering donairs or the like because it is the easiest thing to explain to the staff.  The other main difference (for me) is the amount of people that are out and about in the streets.  They are packed with people at all hours of day, walking, shopping and enjoying the fresh air.  It is a marvelous change that allows you to feel more a part of the culture just simply by being in it.  Malatya (like everywhere in Turkey) is an old city, although the city that we are living in has only been around since 1838.  Historically the city was a major producer of opium, although nowadays it is known throughout Turkey for its apricot production.

               

               Stray animals howl at night (reminding me of the dogs in Albania) and the roosters crow not just at dawn, making them considerably more irritating than the mosque and we look out the window at the yards trying to figure out where they are situated and if it would be possible to throttle them without the owners realizing- a feat I doubt we will attempt but is fun to fantasize over nonetheless.  Day to day life moves at a steady yet enjoyable pace thus far, and although the days can be uncomfortably hot, the evenings generate a blustering breeze that makes the temperature very enjoyable.  We have yet to meet the neighbours, but a plethora of children play outside in the evenings, and I am on smile and nod terms with the produce man downstairs and the lovely woman who works the beer and wine section of the grocery store: both important people and I am very pleased with that progress.

               

             In the apartment we still have things to sort out: the lack of internet is becoming a real pain in the rear end, as the internet at the school is too bogged down to successfully Skype or research or merely browse the web, but hopefully our residency permits will be here soon and we will be able to fix that.  Having successfully navigated the Turkish washing machine and gotten a kettle, things are getting easier.  The school is going to have our area rugs washed, and I still have to brave cleaning the oven- baby steps.  I have only really been cooking breakfast anyways so I am in no rush.

               

             Food is delicious and monotonous.  If you don’t like onions, tomatoes or bread you would have big problems in this city.  Fortunately, I enjoy all these things, but my palate is used to a veritable smorgus board of culinary delights, and I do not see that being fulfilled in Turkey.  Naturally I have taken into consideration that my Turkish cuisine vocab is still lacking and that a wider option may be available in a few weeks, but at the moment it is definitely a comparison of the different types of donairs and whether or not there is too much parsley, or the bread is too chewy or the likes.  I will have to do some digging in the spice department and see how creative I can be with onions, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and eggplant: the total sum of vegetables I have at my disposal in the shops.  It is a simple life that inspires more creativity than the concrete jungle of Jakarta and although I foresee some challenges,  but the lifestyle that comes with a city of half a million people ıs much quıeter, and although I have my misgivings about living so far from the city center, the views of the “outskirts” and the stars and storms allow breath and that is a welcome change.

** I took photos to attach to thıs blog but the lack of workable internet ıs doıng my head ın and the photos wont copy and for the sake of my sanıty you wıll have to waıt.  my apologıes.