Wrap it Up

Continued from previous post

The day is March 20^th and while the greater city of Istanbul didn't change much, mine sure did. My family, my real family is here in Turkey for a week. For me and the rest of the exchange students the end of March and April saw a few different people's families come and visit and we all went through the same cycle of feelings. In the days leading up there was lots of anxious feelings, What will they think? Are we gonna be good hosts? What the heck will happen with our host families and our real families? Then when our families were here there was a lot of pride. It has become our city and we got to show it off, speak a little Turkish, and be a local. And then by the end we were glad that they had come, but also glad to see them go. Glad to get back to life here, to what we now consider normal living.

With my family here I got to show them around the city, Galata and Istiklal, Grand Bazaar, Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque, Cistern, Spice Bazaar, Hippodrome, Hamam, the Bosphorous. We even took a two day trip to Cappadocia (Kapadokya) in Central Turkey which was just about the coolest place and one place where I felt like I wasn't on the planet Earth anymore. The week finished with meeting my two host families and on the 27^th they flew home while I slept after a long week of hosting. Back to school for a little normal followed by a weekend of Paintball in the pouring rain. For a first time dang those things hurt.

My 19^th Birthday followed the next Tuesday (April 5), Took the day off from school and met some friends for a relaxing day in the city. Can't say my next few days were as nice while I was more sick then I remember for a very long time. The weekend brought some other friends to Istanbul and some more showing the city. That Friday (15^th) saw Logan and I make pancakes. Oh man, pancakes, so simple, but oh soooo good. That night was a Maroon 5 concert, right on the Bosphorous. Can't say I got to really enjoy it as much as I wanted to but as the phrase of the year has taught us “What Can I do Sometimes?”. Not much but just keep on trucking.

Friday the 22 Logan and I helped our two friends Natalie and Caitlin move apartments. Just a few streets over and very little things still was an experience. The turks we had along to help were nothingThe following weekend saw a very bumpy time. Some bad news on Friday night made for a somber Saturday where Amanda (yeah we're always together it seems like, and annoy each other like siblings) and my family took us across the Marmara Sea to a small coastal town of Trillye. Easter Sunday saw us do a large brunch at Lauren's house where I got to use another box of Pancake mix (my family brought me 3! when they visited) and we enjoyed company, bacon (supplied by another family who visited) While no eggs or jelly beans it was a great Easter.

The week saw great weather start to creep into Istanbul. We tried to go up the strait to Rumeli Castle but it was closed so we enjoyed the coast and some Nargile. The weeks kinda just blend together that point with a day of school here and there and lots of crossing off last things of “List of Things to do in Istanbul this year”. We move into May, and my good friend Natalie went back home. That just started getting me thinking. Home. No I can't start thinking about that yet. NOT YET. Which brings us to last week. When Amanda and Alex and I spent a Wednesday afternoon.....dying my hair....Brown. Yep it's not it's red/orange right now but it will be back to normal soon enough.

The last weekend saw 70 degree weather and sun hit Istanbul. Sunscreen is call on YOU! Oh and my sister (Grace Griffin) just about made me and those exchange students who I showed get on a plane right away and come home. Sis, you got a way with words (that I only wish I could duplicate in my writing as well as these blog posts). Careful how you use them.

So now we're up to present day. With little time remaining. What else will happen? No idea but let's find out.

I Play Catch Up

So this is one New Year's resolution I profoundly bombed. It was all going so well, a weekly post, feeling like I was getting it all down, feeling like I wouldn't forget a thing and then wham-bam-boom it blew up in my face. The end of January saw me leave on an 8 day trip with the exchange students over semester break, I got back with so many stories to tell and write only to move host families (no prior notice) and spent the next week out with them. By then I'm busy in the middle of February. Life was so different with a family. I talked, interacted, had things to do. I found I didn't have the same amount of time I used to and so suddenly over a month of not a single blog post. I was just so far behind I didn't know where to start, so here I am accepting defeat from life. But I have one more story to tell, the quick, and widely unheard of, tales of my last few months.

I left off right before my trip around western Turkey. The end of January had all of us exchange students a little restless, ready for an adventure I'm pretty sure we got it. We started in Pammukale where we got to see these hot springs in salt beds. Down to the south coast and Antalya where we rode camels, saw one of the best preserved Amphitheaters I've ever seen. Over to the church of St. Nicholas, with no mention of any of my holiday favorites like the reindeer, elves or Frosty. Continuing around the coast we hit Fetihye, Bodrum, and met another district of Rotary exchange students in Izmir, on the 8^th and final day we finished at Troy and Gallipoli and drove back to Istanbul. It was 8 crazy days of 12 of us on a small bus with hours of travel time, hundreds if not thousands of pictures between us, and many sites and things seen, a trip to be remembered, no doubt.

I arrived home on the 6^th of Feb in the late afternoon, only to go out and spend the night watching the Super Bowl start at 1 in the morning. Needless to say I needed to get my sleeping schedule back on track so I spent the next two days close to home. I then moved host families to another area of the city. While it was hard at first it accomplished what Rotary aims to do with changing host families. They want to show that not everyone lives the same, allow you to experience different lifestyles and while it is different I have jelled just fine. The remainder of my break was spending time with my new family. School started back up and the next two weeks were filled with family where we went to a concert and a to a play with their family friends who, as it turns out had a new exchange student too. None other then my school mate, crazy Brazilian, Amanda who I have spent more time with this year then I think anyone ever. Oh are families are best friends? Just more time to get on each others nerves, brother and sister most assuredly.

One Saturday the Inbound exchange students got to meet the outbounds from Istanbul for next year. It was amazing and very reflective to see them, their excitement, their nerves, their thoughts, and afterwords we as inbounds talked about how we could see ourselves a year ago in the same shoes. The following weeks were a trip or two to the Grand Bazaar, and my first trip to a Turkish Hamam, or a bath house. It was like a massage/bath all at once and was quite relaxing. That brings me to the middle of March where I went to my first soccer match. Besiktas has been my team for the year, and they've had little to no luck in their matches, almost making it an art to lose so heart breakingly. Well my host dad and brother took me to a match and glad to say they won! What a great experience and game, America, how can you not enjoy this sport? The following day was going to bring something different. My real family, brother, Dad, 2 Aunts and cousin were coming for a week. And that's where I'll finish this post.

Part 2 coming soon...

Western Turkey Trip

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The One with a View and where I'm Missing it and then Find it

Emma and I sat there, on the top of a roof in Beyoglu. Overlooking the sprawling city around us. Rain had been falling off and on the whole night, yet it didn’t seem to register or we were choosing to ignore it. To the left was the Bosphorous, boats filled with commuters and boats filed with cargo moving up and down the line that seperates Asia and Europe. Moving our eyes right started Sultanahmet and the old city. Our eyes went left to right; Topkapi palace, the Hagia Sophia to Blue Mosque, followed by Beyazit Tower, Yeni Camii (New Mosque), Spice Bazaar, Suleminiye Camii. Turn 180 degrees and we could see Besiktas, the colorful outline of Bosphorous Bridge in the distance changing from blue, to green, to red, past that up to Beykoz and we could imagine the city beyond. Here we were, only 7 flights of stairs up, yet the whole city was in full view, except the area behind Galata Tower, whose shadow we were in. Maybe it was the rain but the lights from all of these buildings, cars, people seemed to shimmer and the play games with you. It was a view that you would want to capture instantly with a camera, but no camera would do it justice. Be able to capture the scope of colors and the whole panorama. At least no camera we possessed and if we did, I doubt the two of us (both avid photographers) would want to capture. To the right a small fireworks display started on the edge of the river. The feeling of being inside a little bubble, frozen from the real world was a given. But we were observing so much activity, we were watching a city move, a city breath. It was a view where you could truly sit and watch the world eat, sleep, work around you.
Emma summed it up with one breathless word
“Wow”

My past week ended on this note, sounds kinda great right? That last paragraph was the only way I thought I could even begin to do it justice.

I think I appreciated that much more, I cherished it, tried my best to engrain it on my brain, because by the time Friday came around the theme running through my mind was ‘you don’t know what you had til it’s gone’ or more appropriately ‘you won’t know what you will really miss until it’s not around’. Best way to do that? Well I decided on the 4000 mile (6500 km give or take) trip to a foreign country and start fresh. You might surprise yourself with the discover. Skippy Super Chunk Peanut Butter, ate it almost every single day at home, here, there hasn’t been one day where I have said I really want a peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread. And yes that’s JUST peanut butter, would never ruin it with something like jelly. Things I have missed, my bike and the feeling of coasting traveling around town, salsa (according to my mother she no longer buys it in bulk), and two things that came to me this past week.



I’m not a city guy. The countless streets, shops, restaurants, the people, my brain just isn’t wired for it all. I can thank my upbringing for the great appreciation I have for quiet and small communities. Yet here I am, almost 5 months in a city of 17 million people. I still haven’t gotten used to the sounds of cars outside when I’m going to bed. I didn’t even realize it until I was out at Logan’s house (outside of Istanbul) the sound of silence. Walking to the bus stop I could only hear the sound of my feet, and it was so profoundly weird. How many times did I walk home through middle school and high school? Did I ever once go ‘I can hear my feet on the ground, wow’? I don’t think so. I miss it, that quiet, where you can hear yourself think. Where you can just sit and let whatever is floating in the air come into your brain. And yet for all that I’ve learned to be a part of the city, how to get a seat on the bus, where to flag down a dolmus, handle the money for someone behind you, the unspoken rules for offering your seat to someone. I’ve learned to embrace it, but it will always be the silence, the quiet that I miss.

Over the past few weeks my brazilian sister (Amanda) and I have been attending a prep class for English that meets over 20 hours every week. Imagine, one language class as an 8th grader more then any other class. I can’t even begin. Well Amanda and I go two days a week and we help with English and the teacher (who went to UPENN a few years and knows where I grew up in Philly, talk about small world) helps us with Turkish. The kids are hilarious and always have tons of questions in English and Turkish for us. Amanda has a habit of going all out intense Portuguese when some of the kids try to use advanced Turkish on us. Some of the boys invited me to play a game of soccer during lunch. Have to say the feeling of being on the field, ball on my foot and taking touches (even though I was in those uncomfortable jeans) was a great feeling. You spend years and years of going through sport after sport for every season, and then stop, something is lost, and last week I found it.

The remainder of the week was school and a nice night in Kadikoy where Natalie showed me a store that sold English food, Chips Ahoy, Cake Mix, you name it, only it was ridiculously expensive. Friday saw me drink cay and talk with Ms. Leg from Texas. And finally Saturday saw Emma, Logan, Nancy and I on the rooftop in Beyoglu. You get a great sense of ‘Wow’ when you climb a mountain or get to the top of a tall building and get to see the view. I’ve been on some pretty spectacular views, The Space Needle, Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Mount Washington, Cadillac Mountain, and yet the 6 flights to the top terrace of an apartment in Istanbul is one view that I will never, ever forget. I have half a mind to ask Charlie to let me sit out there for a day just to watch the city of Istanbul unfold. One of those memories you won’t soon forget.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I know it will be an adventure, and that’s good enough for me. Because, before I know it, it will be gone, and I will be missing what I didn’t even realize, all over again.
Appreciate it.

10 Cups of Çay and a book…..or two

My computer has been on a bit of fritz lately. At first I was frustrated, no uploading my pictures, following the news, email, the usual stuff. But it has allowed me to spend more and more time doing the activity that I have enjoyed for as long as I can remember. Reading.

Over the past 5 days I have finished two top notch books. The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak and Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. Shafak’s book is about two families that are intertwined in countless ways, one a Turk family in Istanbul and the other an Armenian family in San Francisco. The story follows as the two children of the families connect and uncover their pasts and the connections that they have. This takes place in Istanbul and the writing on the city, it speaks to me like nothing so far has. It has made me realize just how much of this city I know. I probably will quote it from time to time throughout the rest of the months on my blog.

The second book was one that was sent by my mother in my Christmas package. Every year for Christmas there is always a book or two given to me that is either a hit or miss, and this year I can say after finishing one and having started the second (The Magicians by Lev Grossman) it is a sure hit. The book follows the tale of Pat Tillman, the NFL player who turned down a multi million dollar contract to enlist in the Army following 9/11. This book has so much to it that I cannot begin to summarize it. But one of the things I took away was the determination and the thrill of a challenge no matter how big or small.

These two books, followed by a remedial 3 ½ hours of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings Extended Edition and one quote have given me a bit of a boost to get through the some what homesick, disparaging feelings I’ve been having over the past few weeks. “All we have to decide, is what to do with the time that is given to us” the words of Ian Mckellen playing Gandalf basically sum up it all. And the past few days, I can sure say I’ve stepped up my game a little bit. No more so then this past Saturday. The day I’m now referring to as The Day of Ten Teas.

Starting out early Saturday morning I had no plans, no companions, no engagements. I was as free as I possibly could be, so what the heck was I gonna do. I woke early made myself a cup of çay (1) with a simit and walked out the door by 7:30. Went to my favorite place in the city, the ferry (vapur) and crossed the Bosphorous. I was the only one I guess crazy enough to sit outside on the deck so when the guy came around to ask if anyone wanted tea, coffee or salep he sat and talked to me for a bit, I liked the conversation so I got another cup of çay (2). I arrived on the Europe side and walked through the spice bazaar, the smells of all the piles of spices makes it always a treat to see. I continued through and exited out the back and explored my way up the hill hoping to eventually run into the grand bazaar. As it was still early I watched shops open and vendors start their carts to various corners of the city.

I reached the grand bazaar and was not surprised to find myself as one of the only potential customers walking the halls. It didn’t help that I had my backpack on and that my camera was around my neck. And to the men in the bazaar that says “TOURIST” all over it. I have a feeling it is one of the places in the world where the vendors know almost all major languages and can change from one to another with every passing customer. The calls of “look at this” “very nice” and “where are you from” seemed endless.

Fortunately for me I was only answering in Turkish. Nice to see the look of surprise on their faces. While I was mainly ignoring their calls to look at their wares I was finally suckered by walking down a part of the bazaar that hadn’t really opened yet. A man came up and said “I have a question” at once I recognized a shtick to sell me something and kept walking. He said “can I not even finish my question” and in such a voice that I had to stop and answer. He asked me a question about how to say something in English and I answered and he said, thank you would you like some tea? No way I’m turning down free tea. So I sat and had a cup (3) and talked to him about all sorts of things. I got to really experience the bazaar as I watched him bargain with two customers on pipes and watch the other stalls around. When I was done I was feeling pretty good, new friend, used Turkish, tea. The remainder of my walk through the bazaar I talked to many of the vendors and another I was invited in for some tea (4), although this time it was to try and sell me something.

I exited the bazaar and made my way down some streets on the other side of the hill hoping to reach the Marmara Sea and find a place for lunch. Unfortunately when I found the sea, there were only docks and a highway. I walked back up the hill and had lunch (kaşarlı pide a favorite) and another cup of tea (5). I walked some more, visited some mosques and made my way over the Galata bridge, past those fisherman who are always there but seem to never get anything. Up the hill past Galata tower and to the end of Istiklal. I stopped at a small café and finally decided to see what my friends were up to. I made plans to go over to Logan’s house, and then learned Lauren was on her way to Taksim so I’d wait around and finish another cup of tea or two. (6,7) When Lauren got there she was freezing (silly Texans and not knowing what cold weather is) and so we found another small café and ordered, you guessed it tea. (8) We then were called by Laura to come meet her new host sister (she had moved families the weekend before) so we traveled to Osmanbey and failed to find a taksi. We then moved on to Levent where I would catch a dolmus to Logan’s house in Zekeriakoy and Lauren would meet her host mom. I decided to wait with Lauren and we got çay (9) and dessert at Mado. I finally got on the dolmus and took it to Sariyer. It was such a nice night that I stopped at a small restaurant on the Bosphorous in Sariyer for one more cup of çay (10). And that, is the day of 10 cups of tea.

As always would love any comments or emails.

Taste Buds

There are many things that I have while over here. I have great friends, some of which I know I will have for the rest of my life. I have great food, I know I will be bringing home recipes. I have great adventures through what seems to be endless area of Istanbul.

But there is one thing I have not had since I got here….Taste Buds.

For the past 4 months I have not had taste buds for more then 2 consecutive days. It has a little to do with my stomach and wanting to eat, but it also has to do with a little cultural difference. I don’t know if it’s something that is developed, they have a huge threshold, or Turks are just born with no temperature gauge. Everything is served scalding hot. Tea, Soup, even normal main dishes. There is no waiting 10 minutes for it to cool off it is served hot right out of the pot. Now you may say, “But that means you should just let it cool on your plate”, the answer to that, is that Turks don’t work. Every night we start the meal with a bowl of soup. I wait while everyone else at the table quickly finishes, and when they finish I test the temperature, only to burn my tongue. The same happens with tea. It is a puzzle I am still stumped on. Oh and did I mention the fact that while they are eating this çok sicak yemek (very hot food) they don’t drink one glass of water. One of the first things my host grandmother asked was, “do you always drink so much water” and it is a running joke, spoon of soup, sip of water.

The past week was another great time. While I did come down with a bit of a cold last Thursday I tried to sleep it off and rally for Lauren and Laura’s Birthday last Friday night. We went out for dinner, a bit of karaoke and some dancing. Waking on Saturday made me realize, yeah I did not beat that cold, and I proceeded to spend the rest of the day sleeping in bed. My plan unfortunately was to continue that plan on Sunday, but my Brazilian Sister Amanda had other ideas. She got me out of bed early and we went to Uskudar and Kiz Kulesi (picture). Then to Taksim where we met up with fellow redhead Emma and short term exchange student from South Africa, Layinah. Lunch, backgammon, failed hookah (thank you Amanda) and a successful one and the day was over.

As always every day is an adventure and I can never wait to see what happens.
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Iyi geceler

Istanbul Winter

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