More shopping!

I had a very eventful (and exhausting) weekend. On Saturday I decided to take a trip down to Beşiktaş, which is a district a bit south of here, on the water. The experience was a little overwhelming, but very fun. It's packed full of stores and people:

I could probably explore this place for days and not see everything. I bought way too much (I bargained successfully, so that means I earned it, right?) and then settled down to enjoy some tasty izgara köfte (grilled lamb meatballs) and a cold beer. I took a nice walk along the strait, which was a pleasant contrast to the bustling streets:

When I got back to the apartment, the roommates and their friends invited me out to dinner, where I learned that I'm not supposed to tip at anything that isn't a classy restaurant. I've been tipping everywhere I go, since it's the American way. They were shocked to hear how much we give in tips and urged me to stop wasting my money like this. I'll probably follow their advice, though it will feel weird. Afterwards, we took a nice walk over to Etiler (the place with the big shopping mall) to get some dessert and had some nice discussions about the US education systems and the craziness that is Brown. They all want to go to the US, but unfortunately Turkish English teachers are not in very high demand there. Interestingly, many people I've talked to have said that they would love to travel in the US, but it is very difficult for a Turkish person to obtain a visa to even vacation there. I wasn't aware that there was such an obstacle, and now feel incredibly lucky that I'm coming from a place where I can travel nearly anywhere.

This post is long and I'm tired of writing, so here's a picture of a cat and I'll talk about my Sunday adventures tomorrow: