daytrip to bakirkoy
More Bosphorus fun!
Originally uploaded by Camille L..it was hot today. not just regular heat, but mind-numbing, swelled-up, humid-scorch heat.
i woke up and brewed some coffee for selin and myself. showered (after the water was turned on, dear lord.... i have decided that the occasional lack of water is NOT cool in the summer....!). then selin and i walked over to istiklal caddesi and had some cold drinks at starbucks, sat outside in the sun, watching people walk by.
at noon, i popped over to the dolmus (note: a "dolmus" is a minivan packed full of people.... it also means a delicious pepper stuffed with rice..... i prefer the food to the minivan). got to bakirkoy in record time, hung out at my old workplace for a while, saw some familiar faces.... then didem came and didem, hande and i went around the corner to eat sandwiches and talk about life. it was nice. they had to go to work afterwards, so i wound up going to carousel to do a little shopping.
i miss them.
it was nice to be in bakirkoy, but once i left i had to get on another dolmus and the traffic was UNBELIEVABLE. worse than normal. it was like a nuclear bomb went off inside the van.... i swear! the girl next to me offered everyone some little wet wipes to cool their brows... i took one, thanked her profusely, and enjoyed the 2 minutes of reduced temperature that the wet wipe provided.
ahhhhh the return of the sweaty american. welcome, summer!
NOTE: some people have written comments about "dolma" vs. "dolmuş." yes, a "dolma" is a delicious stuffed pepper and a "dolmuş" is an overcrowded, sweaty minivan that transports you within a city. however, they are both based on the verb "dolmak" which means "to stuff" or "to fill." ahhhh hell.... a fountain pen is known as a "dolma kalem" i.e. "filled pen" so there you go.
heat
summer is well on its way here in istanbul... walking the 10 minute walk up siraselviler caddesi to the metro makes me break a sweat; not because it's far (it's not) but because it is hot, hot, hot outside! the new granite on the sidewalks (see taksim photo) absorbs and holds the heat, so it's like walking on the surface of the sun. then, after entering the metro station, i'm never sure if they will have turned on the A/C underground or not. if it's on, no problem. if it's not, it's like entering the bowels of hell! i feel like i'm slowly being cooked during the 10-minute ride to sisl.
ding. i'm done!
one of the best things about istanbul in the summer is the terrace restaurant (or terrace cafe, bar, club, tea garden, whatever). turks love a terrace and so do i! there is nothing better than sitting outside, drinking a coffee (or tea), and watching the sun set.
i did a bad thing
ok.... so...... today, i went to besiktas and experienced my first, full-on, *completely* illegal bootleg DVD/CD shop. no signs, no clues that it existed, other than a guy just hanging out, smoking a cigarette on the street. went upstairs and was let into an apartment FULL of DVDs and CDs of music, movies, computer programs, you name it.... it was like an illegal paradise! dear lord!
i have mixed feelings about bootlegging, especially here in turkey. on one hand, having worked in the film industry, i am against the purchase of copied films, music, or other creative works. millions of dollars are spent on the creation of these products and the people working on them deserve to be renumerated. however.... in turkey, one music CD costs approximately 35 USD. DVDs are probably 2-3 times what they are in the US and the income of the average Turk is significantly less. maybe shockingly less.
but.... people want to see films, they want to listen to music, they want to enjoy the same creative things that people in wealthier countries enjoy. so.... 1 CD in this bootleg store was 2 YTL.... which as of today's exchange rate, comes to 1.25 USD. a DVD of a film was 4 YTL or 2.50 USD.
did i buy anything? maybe. maybe not. but let me ask you this.... if you went into a store with thousands of CDs and DVDs to choose from for these prices, would you be able to leave empty-handed? hm.
i think that the only way to curb these kinds of places would be to bring the prices of legal copies DOWN. that means governments would have to change and regulate import/export taxes. the prices for CDs and DVDs in turkey is RIDICULOUS-- so of course i am NOT shocked at the amount of bootlegging that occurs. if the government lifted the shocking tax rates on CDs and DVDs, perhaps bootlegging would wane.
anyway.
came home. got hungry. tried a new website out and ordered a little pizza (from little caeser's! ha!) online. immediately after placing the order, someone called to confirm the order (in english!) and ask if i needed anything else. ah! service! really nice customer service! i hardly knew what to do other than gush "thank you, thank you so much!"
summer in istanbul
it's monday morning... sitting here with some coffee, listening to the simit man outside, followed by the pocha man (pocha! pocha!), and the bread & cigarette man shortly thereafter.
it's a nice morning, not too hot, and the coffee (a french brew brought back from france) is delicious.
i'm exhausted though. my eyes are red. why? i'll tell you why..... "lost."
how is it that i somehow got by without watching this show? one of my friends, isilay, gave me her DVDs of the 1st season of "lost." big mistake. after the first episode, i can pretty much liken "lost" to heroin. people always say that 1 taste of heroin gets you hooked, much like the first episode of "lost" was for me. i've only seen the first 4 episodes, but it's only because the other DVDs wouldn't play on my DVD player. ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. it's making me crazy!
lost = televised heroin
