Slow Whirlwind

OK, I am in my last few days here and my head is always spinning. Everything I still want to learn is number one, followed by what I still want to see. Jessica is visiting right now, so the seeing is happening easily enough. Ah, but the learning.

It is falling into place but fast enough, I am not sure. I really don't know. My tutor is great and is helping me stay focused on what I need for the exam itself without trying to learn all things Turkish. The good news is that I love this language - I really do. It is just so cool and logical. Give me a few more years and I know I can get it down.

So I come back this Tuesday. Yes, this Tuesday. Am I allowed to continue writing about my experiences when I am not actually here? Hm. Like this surreal moment when Jessica was looking at t-shirts at the outdoor market in Kadikoy, on the Asian side. She liked this cartoon-y one that had a guy in a tank with the words "Go to Pub" under it. When she put it down for just a moment, it was snatched up... by a woman in a chador. It just didn't make sense and was hilarious.

K, then, just wanted to put something up so no one would worry. I am fine. I am busy. I am nervous. I don't quite want to leave, but have to return for my next State Department interview next Friday. Oh and I just found out that I have jury duty in Brooklyn on April 5th. Slow whirlwind...

And In the End

OK, well time is passing. I hate to think in these terms but, alas, I am entering the last few weeks. And I and keep thinking that they are the last few weeks. I need to think about I still want to do, and what I can still do. And yes, I must still make room for fun.

Well, I stopped the course. No, I didn't advance to Level 4 though that does sound impressive, even to me. Or maybe it is just to me that sounds impressive. Anyway, I decided to concentrate on just what I need for my State Department telephone test and rid myself of the static that I got being in class. Also we had headed into somewhat ridiculous grammar drills land... "the man that had taken my mother's suitcase and brought it to the room was not interested in any of the football teams in the city." Sentences like that. Sentences I could write perhaps but not sentences I could speak. And I also realized that I just get too interested in the other people in the class. I get so curious about them all and would daydream a little during those four hours. And the other students were often funny which I really enjoyed, but also conjured up more than a little anxiety.

So, in an effort to get really serious, I have taken myself out of that maybe too social place and am now studying in semi-isolation. It has been a week so far and I know that this has been the right move. Less fun? Absolutely. More productive? Sure. For one, I have spent more time with my Turkish friends, particularly my friend Gokhan who doesn't speak much English. Talking with him is great though exhausting sometimes. And I apparently make up words, or so he says. As these words aren't in the dictionary, I guess he is right. Gokhan lives near me and is cool meeting for tea or even just a walk by the Bosphorus. I am really really lucky to have found him.

I have also met with the first Italian Veronica (from class) three times to study together. That has been great. We talk our Turkish together for hours, and have elicited laughter from neighboring tables, if we are studying at a cafe. I also have met with my tutor Ozlan who is just fabulous. She coached my friend who also went through this State Department process successfully about 6 months ago and has the best ideas and exercises for me. Plus she talks to me really quickly. OK, maybe it is normal speed and if I stare really hard at her, I can understand her. We seem impressed with each other so far.

So, here is a story. Today Veronica and I were studying in Beykoz, near my house, and were sitting at a picnic table near the seaside. It was gorgeous and sunny today, and we were reading a story in one of her books about how calm and quiet Ankara is. Veronica then mentioned that a fight had broken out behind me. I turned around and noticed that the fifteen or so young men who had congregated earlier behind us were indeed holding back two guys. Besides these guys, we were the only ones on this mini-pier. Next, one of the guys held up a big kitchen knife above his head, threatening the other guy. Veronica remarked rather simply that it seemed dangerous. Yep, a guy brandishing a big old kitchen knife did seem a bit dangerous to me as well. So we quietly walked away from it from the weird scene, but we were really laughing immediately afterwards... Something about reading this story about peaceful Ankara and then her "dangerous" comment struck us as really, really funny. Please, parent types out there - don't worry. Honestly, it is safe here and I am safe.. despite potential drug smugglers in my train cabin and knife-wielding hotheads. So I guess I got a little dose of excitement. A little one.

K, Spencer is here in Istanbul, on business, and it is time for me to go meet him in his swank hotel. I stayed in said swank hotel last night, which was fabulous. Had my own bathroom. And while I do not believe that anyone needs 6 pillows on his bed, I can't say I mind it at all. I hope we do get out though and see some of Istanbul. So far I know he hasn't experienced any of it, really. It is possible to be in this place, for days even, and not ever really see it. Strange.

Out Post

Just a quick little post here from Greece... I am in Thessaloniki at a posh little cafe with a few minutes before my train leaves to take me home. Funny that Istanbul feels like home but it really does. I was going to stay here for one more day but I thought about my house and really wanted to get back there. Plus it is so SO much more expensive here. I am not so into the euro, really.

Well, leaving Istanbul has really given me some perspective. This city, the second largest in Greece, feels very European. And its Europeanness points again to the fact that Istanbul does not feel European to me. What that means exactly I am not sure. What is European? OK, this cafe is European - the lighting fixtures, the furniture, the cappucinos. But I think I could find a cafe that looks like this in Istanbul but somehow it would be different. I guess I need to think on this more.

I was going to write that this trip has been uneventful but that is not exactly true. On the way here I was in a sleeper car with a woman who struck me as a bit odd. I was NOT happy about sharing my cabin as I was convinced I would have the wagoncar to myself. I complained and complained to my Turkish friend Gokhan who had walked me to the station. The sleeper train was very, very comfortable and quite nicely designed... even had a little sink with a mirror - nice touch. The ride was about 13 hours and I slept a good 7 of that. So, anyway, when I arrived, there was this woman as in my car. She was a young black woman, maybe 25 or so, wearing really tight clothes. One of the first things she did was take out a handful of her hair extensions and just held onto them for awhile. Huh. She had the largest suitcase I have ever seen... the kind they sell on 14th Street. She claimed that she was transporting it for her sister who just had a baby. Weird as she said she was from France - so why the suitcase? And she seemed confused when I asked how long she had been in Istanbul. She was odd with all of her answers, so I was particularly careful in not leaving my bag when I went out to the bathroom. Plus there was zero security at the station - surprising as they have metal detectors at all the malls and metro stations. Once the train started up, this woman called someone and said "We are moving" and that was it. And she said it in English... why not French?? All strange.

Anyway, when we got to the border, the Turkish police were not happy with her passport that was actually from the Congo. The signatures did not match when they had her sign something. So they took her and her giant bag off the train... they had searched the bag on the train and I was curious too, so I looked down from my berth.. just looked like clothes in there. Anyway, the train steward came in and removed the bedding.. I tried to explain that she was in the station - apparently he knew that. Next the police came in and removed the cushions and pulled back the metal walls. Basically they ripped the cabin apart but did not find anything. I just stood there, trying to not be in the way. I was in the way though, I think. They did not touch my stuff. Never saw the woman again - wonder what was up there.

K, time to go to the RR station. Hopefully I will get a cabin to myself this time or at least a more normal person. Fingers crossed.