sultanahmet diaries

overcast in marmaris

i'm writing from a little internet cafe in marmaris, turkey. it's a
small town (mostly touristic) and is surrounded by tall, green mountains
and sits on the edge of the mediterranean. british tourists abound here,
which is slightly annoying to me for a variety of reasons.... the main
ones being the interactions between british women and turkish (or kurds
or whoever) men. it's a big f***fest because the women (mostly older)
come here looking for sex and they find it with these guys who come here
solely for this reason. i guess the right people are finding each other,
but it just seems bizarre and wrong to me. like the woman i met last
night, from england-- pushing 50 with 4 kids (younger ones with her here)
who was taking home these 18-20 year old guys who speak no english.
yuck. i wonder what her kids think!??

my other problem is the fact that i had to order a türk kahvaltı (turkish
breakfast) off the menu.... because all the restaurants just advertise
the fact they have "FULL ENGLISH BREAKFASTS." ew! who would come to
turkey and need to order a full english breakfast!?!? so when i ordered
"bir tane türk kahvaltı" the waiter just looked at me and asked, "really?
you want a turkish breakfast?" yes.... it's delicious! please!

in other news.... i took the ferry to greece yesterday and spent the
day in rhodes. it was, in a word, absolutely charming. cute little old
town-- lots of little stores, much like the grand bazaar or sultanahmet,
but cute nonetheless. i walked around for a long time and then settled
in at this cafe on the crossroads of 3 streets.... sat at a table in the
sun, across from an enormous tree with full, green leaves and watched
swallows dart through the branches. it was so relaxing. i had a beer
and chatted with the waiter, a greek guy oddly named "bill" (actually
"villahnos" or something like that).

as i sat there, an old woman came up to me and wished me a happy
easter (greek orthodox easter is tomorrow, i believe) and it was so
sweet. bill the greek waiter translated her kind wishes for me, and i
was really moved by it all. i sat there for about 2 hours, enjoying
the sun, the sound of the wind in the trees, and the easter cookies
that they shared with me at the cafe. it was nice. :)

i also bought a pair of GIGANTIC fake gucci sunglasses. aw yeah. i am
rockin' the fake guccis later today......

flying back to the 'bul tomorrow... then selin leaves on monday for 3
weeks to be with her mom in france. boooooo.

posted by camille @ 12:29 PM