Night in Istanbul

Yesterday was my 30^th birthday. Such a unique experience to be in the field at this date. My fellow anthropologist and dear friend Carlos sent me a very nice present-email with a poem by Mario Benedetti entitled 'No te salves' (don't save your self) and he wrote me that this number (30) sounds like a liminal age...for the better. I certainly feel like that, otherwise I would be ungrateful.

So, my day started as usual, I had breakfast with Kanber and then I went out to Istiklal caddesi, the big shopping street just 5 min walking from my house. I wanted to buy some kind of sweet, cake or something more traditional, like baklava, but at the end I bought the best profiterole in town! I know, it is not Turkish, but it is a scandalous delight! I bought 2 boxes because now we are more in the house, Andre from Germany moved in last week and he also has a friend visiting. I was thinking to gather all the people to go out for dinner in the evening but they were out, spread around in Istanbul and I did not informed them earlier. Therefore, Kanber, me and Corrado went out. First, we went to a restaurant at a terrace with a remarkable view in the city, had some food and drunk raki (traditional alcoholic drink made from seeds of grapes and anise). As usual, we were the last to leave the restaurant!

Next, I was in the mood to continue somewhere else but the guys said there was nothing open on Monday, 01 o’clock at night. So, we were walking in Taksim when we saw the taxi-rank and an idea hit us. Some nights ago we watched the film 'Night on Earth', five different stories of taxi drivers around the world. The guys loved the movie and suggested that we should do the same in Istanbul, take a ride with a taxi around Istanbul and film it as well. So, this was the perfect time to do it. Kind of drunk and cheerful, we entered a taxi and we asked him to take us to Tarlabasi; as I was told, this is the most dangerous district in Istanbul, the people that you see there are usually prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, etc. The poor taxi driver was a bit scared and he asked if we were going to buy drugs! What could he think if he saw 3 drunk people asking to go to Tarlabasi? During the ride, I was filming the rout but it wasn't that interesting, even these 'bad' people were resting on Monday night. Thus, we asked him to bring us back and on the way I saw a very, very interesting bar and asked him to stop. We got off and went inside the bar. The place was square, 6-7 tables, some girls were sitting here and there and a guy was singing live Turkish songs. His band was one (!) other guy playing keyboards! They greeted us very warmly; one girl came and kissed us on the cheek and Corrado on the lips! Downstairs were rooms for ‘private meetings’ and men kept coming out, appearing from a hole in the ground. The waiter- (owner maybe) brought us the beers and then the girl took me to dance with her. After a few seconds, the boys were dancing as well, but they couldn’t dance with the girl, because men should pay even for dancing with her. The singer was reading the lyrics from a paper and the waiter- boss open for us a champaign that we didn’t order. After finishing the beer we had to go, because we were broke, and the guy was pressing us to buy more alcohol.

The night came to an end at the house, smoking our last cigarettes and eating my delicious profiterole! What a birth-night!

Pazartesi, 15 Ocak, 2007

It’s been 10 days that I am in Istanbul and by now I can say I have found my way around, I am used to the money, the Turkish lira, and I can buy simple things like food, tickets etc. The people here use a lot their hands therefore it is easy to communicate with.
This last week I had mainly been looking for a place to stay, I moved for four days to an apartment of a Turkish guy and on Saturday I moved to a student house in Taksim. The owner, Kanber, is a very friendly young business man who wanted to make this hostel, ‘Hostel de Pera’ is called, for people that come and stay for a while in Istanbul-not just travellers- so, as he said, to create more secure and cosy atmosphere. The truth is that nobody locks his room and in fact there are no keys in the doors. The other renters are all men and consequently I am the only girl in the house, which is funny and convenient some times. On my first evening there we all had dinner together;Kanber and Corrado (from Italy) cooked fish and shrimps from the Black Sea, rice with peanuts and salad, a very delicious meal! The other renters/housemates are Vedat from Turkey, Phillipe from Germany and Sebastian from Poland. The dinner ‘thing’ takes place almost every night which is very enjoyable and usually if one prepares something in the kitchen, asks the others if they want, whether it is coffee, tea, breakfast, launch or dinner. Thus, individualization is not the case here! We all do cleaning, cooking or helping in cooking and everything works out pretty well.

About the city, I haven’t been much further than the areas that I know already, Taksim, Eminonu and Sultanahmet. On Friday I took the ferry to the Anatolian side, it was a glorious sunshine so I sat on the deck, had a tea and enjoyed the trip. Then I went to the Greek Consulate to begin my research although my research had begun already; a Turkish girl I met on Thursday told me that she has a friend from the university that is of Greek descent. I made arrangements to meet her after her exams this week. I have also made an appointment with the head of the Department of Education of the Greek Consulate for Wednesday morning.

What is interesting about my research, and quite complex, is the fact that the two identities in question -or cultures- (Greek and Turkish) are alike to the extent of not distinguishing what is Greek and what is Turkish, like for example food and language. The other night, I cooked together with Kanber meatballs ( kefte or köfte) and it was funny because we said it was a Greek-Turkish teamwork which resulted in Greek-Turkish meatballs (which is in fact one thing). The same happens with the language, they seem surprised when I use Turkish words (besides food vocabulary) and they think I am progressing in my Turkish (!) but the truth is that these are words that we use in Greek, as well. Only an experienced linguist could help us solve the mystery of the origin of these words…

This expands of course to my research subject, how can one distinguish a Greek from a Turkish identity, especially after living in Turkish ground since….forever? And what are the reasons that make the Greeks of Istanbul to want to be differentiated from Turks but also from the Greeks of Greece? That is something I have to figure out…
What I find amusing are the conceptions that Turkish people have about Greeks. Like Kanber, who was teasing me last night: “And how should I know that you are a student, as you say, and not a spy for the Greek government? What are you doing here? It is suspicious!” We had a great laugh!

Monday, January 8, 2007

Today I woke up well after a nine-hour sleep and no alcohol in my body. Two days of continuous hangover – and a lot of walking- was kind of exhausting. So, I took the way to the harbour, I had to find a Turkish sim card for my mobile. On my way to the harbour, I passed from Topkapi Palace and I entered. I took pictures and walked around its gardens. Then I sat in an outdoor café with a view in Bosporus. From there I could see the bridge that connects the European with the Anatolian side and many ferries pass by. I also saw a lot of minarets; the city is full of mosques.
The French guys left on Sunday evening with the bus to Skopia and after that Rafael would go to Hungary and Jean to Paris, probably with some more stops in between.
Yesterday I met Ozkan, a close friend of my Turkish tutor in Amsterdam who offered to host me in his apartment for some days. Not that the hostel is bad, it is actually very cosy place and the people are very nice but I have to save some money and wash some clothes. Maybe I go back again for some days. So today I check out and I will meet Ozkan at 5 pm to go to his place. Consequently, I am changing neighbourhood and Istanbul is so huge!
Two observations concerning the city: First, the majority of people in the streets, or in the bars are men.
Second, there are a lot of policemen around, in the streets, in the metro, everywhere.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

The previous night ended up quite strange because the beer consumption led to a small quarrel between me and the other Turkish receptionist. He couldn’t control his dislike of Greek people and naturally I would defend my self if I felt offended. But, no worries, I knew I was going to deal with that; likes and dislikes, Greeks and Turks. That is why my subject is so exciting for me,it is a challenge!
Anyway, I woke up quite tired, had Turkish breakfast at the hostel(included in the price), which consists of an egg, a slice of orange, a slice of apple, three olives, four slices of cucumber, three slices of tomato, one marmalade, butter and cream cheese, and a lot of bread. And Coffee or tee, of course. After I went for my regular(!) walk around the city, although my feet were very tired from all these kilometres of walking last night. I walked a lot, heard for the first time the call for praying and watched the ceremonial washing before the prayer. I walked until I reached the Grand Bazaar, the biggest bazaar in the city. Actually it is so huge, you can get lost very easily. Then I came back to the hostel for an afternoon’s rest; I haven’t stopped walking since I arrived. My French roommates- actually they are two in one bed because there wasn’t a free bed last night- were there and I proposed to go the hamam, the Turkish bath. They liked the idea, so after some hanging around in the hostel, drinking tea with lemon and talking to people, we left for the hamam. It was a great experience, very relaxing and pleasurable. My body needed that so very much! After that we went to Taksim again, it is the centre of the city in every sense; a multitude of people and lots of restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes, everything that your heart wishes for! The guys took me to a bar were some people were dancing with very nice Turkish music. On our quest for our next stop, I met on the street a Turkish guy I had met last night when I went out with Onur. He took us to a bar with live heavy metal music, because it was already 3 am and many bars were closed. Beers kept on coming to the table, Turkish guys kept on lighting my cigarette (!) and finally we came back to the hostel at 5 am.

Friday, January 5 2007

Today I woke up at 05 am and I arrived at Schipol Airport at 7.10. The flight lasted 3 and half hours, from which the 2/3 I was sleeping. So, when the pilot informed us of our arrival, I woke up and saw beautiful sea all around, nice blue waters. Istanbul, here I come!
I exited the airport and took a taxi to the hostel I had booked. The taxi driver did not speak English at all, so I showed him the map and this way he managed to find the place. I got off the taxi, and carry my luggage to the entrance of ‘Antique Hostel’, where a young Turkish guy welcomed me in English and offered to help me with the luggage. I went to check in, another Turkish guy was there, very friendly and full of jokes. He introduced himself, his name is Onur.. The place is cosy. Some people are sitting in the living room, I go and take a sit as well. There is a small table with a coffee ‘machine’ on top and the sign “coffee break from 11.00- 23.00 daily”! I met Jason from the States and Selma from Germany. There is also a Canadian of Chinese descent and a girl from Israel surfing in the internet. Jason and Selma met in Istanbul and they seem quite nice people. We exchange emails, since Jason is always travelling and he might visit me in Amsterdam and Selma plans to stay in Istanbul for a while, she will do a research about art in Istanbul. We might look for an apartment together.
My room is a 4-person mixed dorm, I have the lower bed, a French guy sleeps on the one on top of mine, opposite there is a girl from South Korea and above her bed a girl from Israel. Good choice to live in a hostel for some days, I meet people from all over the world, young travellers.
Onur, the Turkish receptionist, offered to show me around the city, so we left when he finished his shift at 19 o’clock. We walked a lot, starting from Aya Sofia, passed the Galata Bridge and finally reached Taksim, the most famous/touristic place in Istanbul. We had a kokorets(chopped meet from intestines of lamp) sandwich and ayran, a drink made of yogurt, salt and water. Then we walked around and went to a café-bar and had some beers. A colleague of him with his Korean girlfriend joined us after a while.