Ah Istanbul ah

First things first – after months of putting it off I finally installed a wireless connection at home which means that the chaos of cables on the living room floor has been cleared away…

Then – some observations from the recent trip to Istanbul:

Religious Education from the Taxi Driver

As we were driving along the road accompanied by a radio station broadcasting prayers from the Quran, he asked ‘does it contain alcohol?’ about the wet tissue my aunt offered to him…I never knew that the alcohol in a wet tissue counted as ‘alcohol’ that is banned by the religion…

“If someone calls you ‘kafir’ (non-Muslim), you must immediately deny it” he said. Apparently if I don’t, in the God’s eyes I accept the supposition and am as bad as a non-Muslim. “Could this be? Is the God so blind? Doesn’t the God know how religious, what kind of a sinner, how good and how bad you are better than you? By believing in such nonsense don’t you in fact betray God’s trust in you and all that he endowed you with?” I didn’t say any of this as he is a local taxi driver and I didn’t want to cause any embarrassment for my aunty…But I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry…

All marriages have their ups and downs

Those couples who were arguing in my last trip were sitting arm in arm watching the lights of the (Princess) islands in this one. Those who said “ours is, honest to God, the best marriage around” in the last trip were having an argument at the dinner table with friends in this one.

Marriages continue by one accommodating and understanding the other and each taking this in turn. In any case, at the end, all decide to talk about safe topics like the taste of the latest orange juice brand so that nerves are not rattled and prides are not shattered.

The Bosporus is always beautiful

Especially when celebrating the marriage of a new couple with a group of happy people;

Especially when watching ladies dancing the ‘horon’ (a high velocity dance from the Black Sea coast) on 5 inch heels;

Especially when laughing at the 5 year old girl saying ‘I practised at home’ as a response to ‘how come you belly dance so well?’;

Especially when the sea and the sky get darker and lights of the houses come on;

Especially when counting the lights of the shanty town upon dark hills as if they were the stars;

Especially when singing ‘sevgili yarim nerelerde’ (where is my loved one?) on the top deck with a glass of raki in hand…

Naki Bey Beach overlooks the Sedef Island

I never knew, until about two months ago, that the sea in Istanbul was now clean enough to swim in. But ever since I heard about it, there’d been butterflies in my stomach with the anticipation of swimming there again after 20 years exactly…

I never knew there was a Naki Bey Beach on Buyuk Ada.

I never knew it overlooked the Sedef Island where I had swum the last time in Istanbul 20 years ago. I could see all my life for the last 20 years floating by…I wanted to swim after them but there were a few jelly fish around, oh and the waves…