Socialization

Alhamdulillah, I was able to see some people I hadn't met in a while over the past couple of days. While I have yet to meet the local Turkish friends, I saw Yousuf Uncle from India on Friday and some colleagues from the Detroit office on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

I had known that Yousuf Uncle was going to be coming to Istanbul for some time now. However, no one ever told me the exact dates, so I was a bit surprised when my Mom told me on gchat last Wednesday that he was in the country. She gave me his number, and I called immediately. Apparently, Yousuf Uncle had been trying to get ahold of me on both my numbers, but he was unable to connect. I had left my Turkish cell phone at home, so I felt pretty bad, but when I checked, it had no missed calls, so I felt a bit better. He had reached Wendesday afternoon, and had wanted to know where the Nizam's grandfather's palace was and how to get there. He walked around all day, trying to find that and some saffron, but without much success. I would have seen him, and potentially taken him to Dolmabahce, that very night, as I was free, but alas, he had already taken some sleeping pills just before my call, so it wouldn't have worked.

I had some business events the next evening, and though I tried to work around it, that proved impossible. He was leaving late Friday morning, so I could really only see him Friday at breakfast. Yousuf Uncle tried to discourage me from coming the whole time, saying that it was too far and too much of an inconvenience. Me being me, I pushed harder - it was a great opportunity for me.

I made my way down early on Friday. I stopped by the Konyali masjid to pray fajr, but after waiting for a few minutes after the adhan with no activity, I just prayed and left for the Metro. On my way over, I saw a bus heading for Eminonu, so I just took that. It only took 20 minutes that early in the morning (640am), which is probably better than the Metro. I had told Yousuf Uncle I would try to be there by 7, but I ended up reaching around 720 or so, due to the walk and getting lost a few times. Not only did I have to contend with the typical misdirections, but even though I knew the roads I had to go on, most of the roads in this area did not have signs! Eventually, I found the place, the Olimpiat Hotel, alhamdulillah, and my exposure to the area had benefits afterwards.

I was able to spend a couple of hours with Yousuf Uncle, and we had breakfast together. The cereal I had was quite awful actually, for some reason, but the rest was ok. We chatted for a bit - he had a great time in Tanzania and Egypt, although he was pestered by horrible flies in Tanzania and didn't like Egypt as much as Istanbul. The previous day, he had seen Topkapi, the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia - he covered a lot of ground, if not everything he wanted. On my way inbound, I had seen the Spice Bazaar, which was set to open at 8. It was very close to his hotel, and since he still wanted to find some sealed Spanish saffron, I figured that was the place to go. He thought it was a good idea, so we set out. Alas, he was unable to find any that fit the exact bill - he didn't want to get the wrong thing, so he didn't buy any here - in sha Allah, I hope he found some at the duty free in Doha, which was his backup plan.

In the meantime, I had stumbled upon what my colleagues later told me was the best baklava place in Istanbul - Gulluoglu (http://www.gulluoglubaklava.com/). Apparently they have a branch in NYC as well. When I tasted it afterwards, it did have a bit of an edge on Shatila in my mind, although to be fair, I usually eat Shatila that is a bit older, not fresh. Anyways, when I bought the stuff, I just wanted to make sure Yousuf Uncle took some baklava and Turkish Delight (lokum) back with him to India (I was unable to find the local branch of Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir (http://www.hacibekir.com.tr/eng/hbekir.html), the best Turkish Delight place, in time). I bought a bunch of the stuff, maybe YTL 40 or so worth, but Yousuf Uncle was only able to take about a third of it, one box of each, because he was already above the limit - I hope everyone liked it!

We walked back to the hotel and hung out for a bit longer. Then I had to take off for work, and so I took my leave. In sha Allah, I hope we meet again in Hyderabad soon. Alas, no pictures this time!

We had a internal company meeting in Istanbul for our Operations practice, so quite a few senior people were in town for a couple of days, including Wim and Steve from back home, and a couple others I knew or corresponded with from other places. Both Thurday night and Friday night, the Istanbul team joined the other colleagues for dinner. Both nights, we had fish. On Thursday, we went to a place called Sevic near Taksim. Alas, it wasn't so great, although it was in a decent location, I guess. The second night, we went on a Bosphorus cruise and ended up at Del Mare restaurant, which was much better, although a bit far. The cruise was alright, and we saw some neat sights, although it was a bit chilly that evening. The restaurant was fancy and had an excellent view of the northmost Asia/Europe bridge, and was on the Asian side. The bridge had lights on it and kept changing colors. The food was better, although I guess I think the fish we have at home and US restaurants is still tastier. We took a bus back to the hotel - traffic into Taksim was as horrible as ever.

Since Steve and Wim were staying the night on Saturday, I offered to show them around after the official tour ended Saturday afternoon. I rejoined the group at Sultanahmet Koftecisi the next day, which Maryam and Moddasser had also recommended (there are a couple, make sure you go to the right one). As they had already started eating, I just ate at nearby Lale restaurant, so as not to interrupt. I hung out until everyone came out and then joined the program. They had seen Topkopi that morning, so perhaps I shouldn't have hit snooze so many times that morning. We proceeded to Hagia Sophia, which I had not yet seen this trip. I was looking forward to it, since last time I came with the family, it had been under construction. Alas, it was still under restoration - it has been under constant work since 1992, due to the humidity! We had a guide explain things, which was nice. Sadly, he could not read Arabic, so I was asked to tell the group what each of the eight circles with names said.

Afterwards, we took a bus to the Grand Bazaar in Beyazit, which I hadn't seen yet this trip either. I wonder why we didn't go to the nearby Blue Mosque first. Anyways, we walked around there for a bit, and the larger group split up. Still, about six or seven of us stuck together, as I had offered to take them to the Blue Mosque. Most didn't seem too interested in shopping, so we got out quickly, after trying to get Turkish coffee in the bazaar. We walked over to the Blue Mosque in about ten/fifteen minutes. We stopped at a coffee place and Wim treated us to some Turkish coffee. We were joined by another colleague who had been negotiating down a nice leather coat to about 1/3 the original asking price.

Everyone like the Blue Mosque. I went in through the tourist entrance for the first time, on the side. Apparently, women don't have to wear a scarf if it is not prayer time. I couldn't tell them why this mosque was so special though, out of all the Ottoman mosques. One colleague had a guide book - perhaps the answer was in there.

I wanted everyone to take back some sweets, so I offered to lead them to the Spice Bazaar and the baklava place I discovered the day before. Everyone was interested in this idea and had the energy to walk. It wasn't far, and I actually cut through the alley that the Olimpiat hotel is in, saving some time. It was quite good once again, and Wim treated us again. Most people bought some stuff to take back. As we exited the Spice Bazaar however, it started raining, so I think that dampened spirits regarding additional exploration. I led everyone to the nearest tram stop and back to the hotel using the tram/funicular for a break. We met after a couple of hours at 730pm for dinner. I wasn't sure what type of place to take them to, but as we walked, we found a decent place. Service was a bit slow. I didn't like my dish too much, the special kebab (beef). The others got the lamb, and it looked much better. Once again it started raining (it has been raining on and off for a few days - even now, I am drying off after being soaked - with wind, even an umbrella does no good), so I led them back to the hotel instead of Haci Bekir. Still, I think everyone had a decent time, and they did see and experience a bit more of the city than they would have otherwise.

Today was rather slow. I finished send over the Stanford essays to Tipu Mamu and Jennifer Momani for review. I spoke with Osman, Mom, and Rabia on Skype, and did some more potato experimentation. Other than that, not much. Suffering a bit from ihramitis of all things unfortunately - I think it is from all the walking I did last weekend at Bursa and then again these past few days. C'est la vie.

I think I forgot to mention, last weekend I had a haircut at the barber shop below my building. For YTL 20, they did a decent job, including the beard, moustache, and a brief shoulder massage. They even gave my head a wash with shampoo afterwards and generally did a good job cleaning up - I don't think I would need to shower after going to that place, which is pretty impressive. I'll have to keep that in mind for next time, in sha Allah.