Conversations

Dessert - Pistachio and pomegranate Turkish Delight - chosen from about one hundred selections - from the baklava shop directly across from my wooden house apartment:

Store owner:  "Hello! Welcome!" (Very little English spoken in this neighborhood.)
Me:  "Which one?" (make a hand motion spanning the treats and shrug my shoulders)

SO: (chuckles) "Your problem! Your problem! Not mine!"

 

It's good, for sure, but if I am going to treat myself to a buttery, fattening treat, I would rather have a meat-or-cheese filled borek for breakfast every day:

 

 

Here is how conversations have gone up until today with men on the street. Guides, carpet-sellers, etc, from age 20 to age 60. I have about twelve cards in my bag, and could have hundreds. I'm telling the truth when I say that these conversations vary very, very little:

 

"Hey, Lady, where are you from, Holland?"

 

"USA." And eye-contact makes them stick like I am fly paper.

 

"Ah, very nice. Which part of USA?" (they begin walking beside me)

 

"Seattle, Washington."

 

"Ah, my favorite place. So beautiful. What are you looking for?"

 

"Hagia Sofia."

 

"Ah...I will take you there. I have a shop along the way. I sell carpets. Do you want to buy a carpet?"

 

And when I hesitate, they say, "Don't worry, I'm not like those other men."

 

"No, thank you."

 

"Ah, well, you should buy a carpet. When you get home you realize how valuable they are. You can sell it to your rich friends and make lots of money."

 

"No, thank you."

 

"I get you high quality carpet. Everyone else in this city will cheat you. I promise."

 

"I appreciate it, but no, thank you."

 

"Do you want a guide? For 30 Lira, I will be your guide. You won't miss anything."

 

"No, thank you."

 

"Let me give you my card. I have a holiday tomorrow. We can go to the Galata Tower, all over Istanbul!" (hands me the card.)

 

"Thank you. Goodbye."

 

"You are alone? Be careful Istanbul. Do not trust all Turks. Be very careful."

 

"I will, thank you."

 

"Ok. Good bye. Call me!"

 

Here is how they go now, after I decided that I didn't want to be flypaper anymore:

 

"Hey, Lady, where you from?"

 

(no answer, look straight ahead)

 

"Hey, where you from? Holland?

 

(no answer, guy runs up beside me anyway)

 

"Hey, why don't you talk?"

 

(keep walking, look straight ahead, guy eventually gives up)

 

Today, however, a guy with very bad teeth followed me for a few blocks, talking at me the whole time (mumbling, really) and STOOD IN LINE with me at the Cistern. Just stood there next to me. Like we were together.

 

He out-waited me, so finally I said, "Why are you here?"

 

(gibberish response)

 

"I don't want you here. Go away."

 

(keeps standing beside me in line)

 

"Go away. I don't want you. Go!"

 

(doesn't move)

 

I ignore him for a few more minutes and turn my body away, crossing my arms. I wonder if the people in line think it's a couple's quarrel. Finally, after about five long minutes, I see him slinking away out of the corner of my eye. I have no idea what he had in mind - was he going to go into the cistern with me?

 

Well, anyway, here it is:

 

The largest surviving cistern in Istanbul, the Basilica Cistern - built by Justinian in 532. Constructed using 336 columns that were salvaged from temples:

 

One Medusa column base:

 

 

Two Medusa column bases:

 

 

 

True story: the history in this city may just blow my mind. There is so much to see and absorb. I need a 24 hour tour guide who can tell me stories that make linear sense. But not one for hire on the street.

 

Later, at dusk, I am up near the aqueduct, gazing at the view while standing at the side of the street, when a guy pulls up in a car, singing his heart out while he is stuck in traffic.

 

When he notices that I am standing right outside his door looking at him, he laughs at himself and addresses me directly. "Oh, hello! Enjoying Istanbul?"

 

I nod and point to the view.

 

"My city is beautiful! I'm glad you love it!" he says, and then he moves on with the traffic.

 

Underneath this structure is a night restaurant scene that is something else. I walked through it at about 8:15. It was packed with people - whole families - sitting at long tables, plates of food in front of them. Only the food was wrapped in plastic, and no one - not one single person - was eating one single bite. I'm serious. They were all waiting for the sun to set so they could break fast together. No one is eating in this picture: 

 

And I will leave you with a dusk-time silhouette that is so common in Istanbul that this mosque isn't even listed in a guidebook...

 

Oh, and I had another two-hour conversation with a very nice travel agent today, who has booked me for a week of seeing the rest of Turkey by bus:  Cappadocia for underground cities and cave houses and fairy chimneys, Pammuke for snow-white, cliff terraced waterfalls - a natural hot springs, and finally to Ephesus, to see some of the most significant ruins in the world. Not bad, right?

 

Eggplant note: it was in my chicken, eggplant and yogurt kebab.