I've now been here for a full week. It's been great so far, and I suspect it will only get better when I explore more of the city. Apartment is beautiful, roommates are wonderful, work is interesting, food is delicious. Everyone should worry about me less!
Kebab guy asked me on a date yesterday, in adorable broken English. The conversation went like this:
Me: Ah, nasılsın? [How are you?]
Him: Oh, şimdi Türkçe konuşuyorsun? [Oh, you speak Turkish now?]
Me: I am learning! Uh, ögreniyorum!
Him: Maybe we...uh, how you say...practice some time?
Me: Yes, some day we should talk.
Him: Bu akşam [tonight]...uh, this night...you and me...maybe get coffee?
Me (shaking head): Oh, sorry, benim...erkek arkadaşım...var? [I have...a boyfriend?]
Him: Ah, yes, tamam [okay]. See you later.
At the time I felt like I had successfully shot him down, but I realized later that my shaky Turkish could have very easily been interpreted as "you are my boyfriend?" and thus kebab guy might have been waiting for our date last night. I suppose I'll find out next time I run into him. I was flattered by the whole experience, though a little frustrated. Can't we just keep it platonic, kebab guy? That's my favorite place to eat and now it might be awkward.
Ramadan started today! As I am in a 95% Muslim country, I thought this would be a bigger deal. However, Istanbul doesn't seem to care much. I've only met one person so far who is observing it, which entails fasting from dawn to dusk for the next month and never imbibing alcohol. As a post-doc in my lab said, "In Istanbul we love our food and our alcohol. Why give it up?" I wholeheartedly support this way of life. Secularism rocks
Here's one of the views from my kitchen. Be jealous.
AND A KITTEN:
haha, love the kittens, they're so cute! and i am totally jealous of the view from your apartment.
ReplyDeleteI never realized how few ppl in Turkey followed Ramadan... you should ask them if they still celebrate Eid, lol. I guess it's comparative to Christians here not following Lent?
I think it's more celebrated everywhere else in Turkey. Istanbul is just very Westernized and any public displays of religion are kept to a minimum (or are flat-out illegal). My roommate's boyfriend is observing it, but even he doesn't follow everything strictly. He acknowledges that he (as well as most everyone else here) is sinning, but nonetheless considers himself a Muslim and tries to follow the major tenets of the religion. So yeah, it seems pretty similar to Christians in America and their selective religiousness.
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