Since Cem started sharing his thoughts in English, I thought it was time for me to start doing so. Keep in mind that I am using a Turkish keyboard at work so some words might have Turkish characters in them. I am warning you in advance though, if you are a grammar freak (I don't think I use punctuation at all, get used to it haha) stop reading now :) There is no way I am editing my posts. Especially since I am writing these from work, I don't have the time to spend on proof reading.
This past week my friends visited me in Istanbul. They stayed for 5 days and 4 nights, which isn't much time to experience Istanbul or Turkey for that matter. Once again I had the privilege to see my city from the eyes of a tourist. My journey began at the port where my friends' cruiseship was docked (They came with the Semester at Sea programme: 7 countries in 60 days with transferrable credits from UVa [sounds like a commercial haha]). Okay so Megan and I took a cab from the port to my house and when we got back to my house the cab driver told me thank him for turning on the meter. WTF?! That's Turkey for you. Traditionally we don't tip cab drivers here but even though I tipped him 3 liras (1 dollar=1.54 liras) he was not satisfied!
When Megan and I went back to the boat to pick her friend up (Karla) from the same port, I have noticed that the cab drivers weren't there anymore. I think they coordinate the ship schedules with customs officials so they are only there when new boats dock (also illegal). We attempted to take multiple cabs from the port to Ortakoy -right under the first/Bosphorus Bridge and is famous for its baked potatoes and hookahs/shishas- and that failed miserably also. I don't think our cab drivers are aware of their job descriptions. Seriously man, transport me!!! Why are we so addicted to applying our personal whims to our jobs, I don't know.
Another interesting moment was at Dolmabahce Palace (where Ataturk died, 9.05 am November 10, it is famous for its art collection also). First of all you have to line up in front of the main gate to get tickets but the line is not straight. That's unusual but the reason why is so much more unusual, it is mindblowing. Since Istanbul is over 35 degrees celcius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) and around 60 percent humid, we (Turks) decided that it was brilliant to line up under the shades in a snake-like pattern: absolutely brilliant :) If you survive the first line, then you have to line up to join a tour because you can't visit the Palace individually. There are two lines one for Turkish speakers and one for English speakers. We got inside considerably faster but were waiting for an English tour for at least 30 minutes when a nice gentleman included us in his tour of 50 people (!) The reason why I included this part is because when we were in this line some Turks started a fist fight over it. A fucking fist fight!! We are so excited to see our own history/culture we even fight for it ahaha! so sad.. Seriously, if we had average organization skills we would be one of the most advanced civilizations. Unfortunately we can't even form a straight line.
One last observation before I end this mood of self criticism, Arabs/religious Turks can't respect the law. I don't understand why they think wearing a headscarf or reading the Qoran (terribly spelled sorry!) makes them so much better than us that think being able to see one's face is crucial to being civilized. I refuse to accept that God wants us to cover a woman's entire body with black cloth (birka). He wouldn't be that vain -hopefully not-. Okay, so we were in a line in Topkapi Palace (headquarters for the Ottoman Sultans) to see the Spooners Diamond (bigger than the Hope Diamond, fist-sized diamond but an Ottoman guy sold it for 7 spoons haha) like regular people but a huge group of Arabs cut the line. Obviously this caused another fight at the line. Where are the morals to your religion? Where is the respect? That is why Muslim countries are not civilized or rich.
I lied about the previous observation being the last. I also noticed thanks to my American friends that we have an unusual amount of flags. I never paid attention to the amount because, let's be real, I love the flag haha. I noticed that we love ourselves. Child indoctrination is how we created this nation-state from the ashes. Maybe and that's is a big maybe we should relax on the nationalism and begin indoctrinating democracy and civil rights. For example, we should be able to criticize the Prime Minister publicly and not get sued for it.
I am very critical because I see potential and I love my country. I think Istanbul is one of the most beautiful places in the world but we need to take care of it because if we don't, who will?
No comments:
Post a Comment