Shopping, moving, and Parising

Subhanallah, I should have been on my way home right now, but much has happened in the past week. I apologize for the long break since my last post – I have been busier than expected, even though I predicted a rough couple weeks, and in different ways. I am actually typing this out in an airplane – on the way to Paris (I will post upon reaching my hotel, in sha Allah).

Since my last post, I flew to Konya, spent Eid there, sent out a few hundred Eid greetings, got pulled onto a project back in Detroit, visited Cappadocia, slept in a cave, puttered around in an underground city, took a long bus ride back to Istanbul, started working on said project on Thursday and through the weekend, was told to extend my stay in Istanbul to the 17th, picked up gifts and packed in my spare time, was told to head to Paris ASAP, made my emergency travel arrangements, and emptied my apartment! Subhanallah – all this in just over a week. Now, I am not expected to reach home until Friday! After trying so hard to get staffed on an international assignment for three years, I haven't even made it home from my first such assignment before going to my second! Strange, how the world works. Alhamdulillah.

My Eid trip to Konya and Cappadocia deserves its own entry – in sha Allah, I will complete that, as well as the Osmanli Cumhuriyeti and mall entries at some point. Probably, that will have to wait until I am home. I will also have an entry with concluding thoughts, in sha Allah. For now, I will just address the weekend and the running around since returning to Istanbul.

I haven't eaten much over the past few days – maybe one real meal a day, if that. I was rather ravenous actually when the flight attendants brought by the food. There was only one choice, and not vegetarian. The attendant reassured me that it was from Turkey, but I only started eating the cold cuts once I saw an insert that said "This certifies that your meal does not contain pork," or something like that.

I am on an Air France flight somehow. I say somehow, because I had booked my flight on Turkish Air. It turns out that flight was postponed until 830 – I think it might have even been canceled because of low ticket sales. There were four of us that the Turkish Air personnel walked over to Air France and had us check in there – if we were the only four people who bought tickets on the Turkish Air flight, I can see why they would have wanted to cancel it. This flight isn't full either – I have a whole row to myself, as do a lot of others. Khayr in sha Allah. Instead of leaving at 715 or 830 with Turkish Air, I departed at 645 with Air France. Works for me. It is a good thing I got to the airport early.

I'm not sure, but I think this may be my first Air France flight. So far, so good. I noticed one new thing. When the flight attendants were doing the safety demonstration, they went much further than typical airlines – they actually put on the masks and life jackets and buckled them. Then they did something weird, doing a little march up and down the isle in the life jacket. Strange.

Anyways, I got back to Istanbul from Cappadocia/Nevsehir on Thursday morning. I'm not sure if I dozed off during the Mecidiyekoy/Sultanahmet drop off/stop or if they just skipped it, but I ended up in the Esenler Otogar. I had to add another hour on top of everything else to get back home using the Metro/tram/funicular/Metro. I got home and slept for a few hours. Then, I got ready and headed into the office.

I worked for a few hours on the project work for Detroit. I also wrapped up a couple of documents I had been saving for Friday for Istanbul. I thought I was in decent shape – at that point, my plan was to shop/wrap up on the weekend, return home on Monday, and finish the Detroit work back in the DTW office. I was more or less relaxed, and even went to Profilo to hit up the Pizza Hut buffet (ended up going to Sadik Effendi for lahmacun instead though).

Things got a little bit busier on Friday. Erkut wanted me to close a few outstanding issues (including dissecting a laptop!), we had a team lunch, and I was getting calls from Detroit to check my progress. Apparently, deadlines were being moved up. I was asked if I could work over the weekend. At first, I thought it would be extremely difficult, given all that I had to do, if I was to make my Monday morning flight. However, we agreed for me to work Sat/Sun/Mon/Tue all in Istanbul, fly home Wed, and take Thu/Fri off instead. It would still be difficult to wrap everything up by Tuesday without a full day off, but I figured an hour or two here or there and I could do what needed to be done. I had my flights changed and now planned to leave Istanbul on the 17th (which worked out nice, since that is when my lease expired anyways). I settled on a quick Burger King for dinner.

Saturday, I got into the office around ten (after a short Simit café breakfast) and worked for about five hours. I submitted my material to both Paris and Detroit for feedback, then headed out for some shopping. I headed over to the Grand Bazaar, figuring I would do some recon at least, and maybe pick up a few items. I hadn't "gotten lost" in it yet, and I figured it was now or never. I ended up spending a good three hours or so in the place, though I probably only covered 5-10%. While there are thousands of shops, many of them are quite repetitive, so there isn't as much variety as you would think. Certainly, I didn't come across the Ottoman tie I wanted. Anyways, I looked about, and saw some interesting things, like Ottoman based chess pieces, a sword with a mosaic wooden sheathe, nice scarves, colorful fezes, and ornate plates.

My mom has been after me about the plates for the past few years actually (she always asked me to ask Erkut to bring some from Turkey). However, I didn't really know what she is after. Given the vast price range (YTL 25-2500), I touched base with her and took some pictures (where allowed, some places didn't allow). Apparently, it is all about the clay quality. Most of the designs are painted on – those are cheap ones. The textured ones aren't so great either. Mom wanted an orange and blue one. I think most are in the YTL 30-60 range. I will try to get a matching set before coming home in sha Allah.

All I ended up getting this trip were 4 more colorful fezes (YTL 5 each) and some pictures. With one of the fez guys, I told him I was Indian, so he started talking in Urdu. I think I passed the test though – he quoted me at YTL 5, which is the right price (not YTL 10 that I've seen elsewhere).

I prayed Maghrib at a mosque inside the bazaar – it was decent sized compared to Taksim mosque, but it wasn't as full as you might have expected. I prayed Isha at a nearby mosque right outside the gates.

I headed back to the office for another few hours of work. Not much feedback, but I had pretty much taken care of deliverable one. I got started on the second of two deliverables in the meantime, before heading home late. Still, after I touched base with Detroit, they wanted me to be prepared to go to Paris on Monday if necessary, as project requirements were changing so rapidly.

On Sunday, again I rolled into the office around ten. This time, I only worked for about four hours before heading out – I was given the green light to get as close to wrapped up as possible by Monday.

First, I headed to the Konyali area, where the Sunday bazaar was taking place. Alhamdulillah, the weather was great. I bought 14 scarves from one guy for YTL 72. I bought another two from another stand for YTL 6. Then, I went to the store that sells just about everything and picked up nine little ceramic boxes with Islamic designs on them for YTL 18 (YTL 2 each). After praying Asr, I dropped this off at home and headed back out.

Given the renewed possibility that this was my last full day in Istanbul, I planned to get prayer rugs from Eyup, head scarves from Fatih, bath robes from Olivium (if possible), Galatasaray jerseys from the stadium store, baklava from my nearby Gulloglu branch, and Turkish Delight from Haci Bekir in Taksim. I got on the 55 to Eyup and prayed Maghrib upon reaching there. It was a much different atmosphere than Laylatul Qadr, but the mosque was still full for Maghrib and Isha. I was quite impressed with that. There were a lot of interesting things there. There was a stand selling Ottoman era drinks, like Tamr Hindi, Ab I Hayat, Macedonia, and some other interesting drinks. The guy was nice and let me try all of them. I got a Macedonia (since Tamr Hindi was out) for YTL 2 (I gave 3) – less than what I had paid at Sultanahmet during Ramadan). I also saw some stores selling warm boza – I didn't go for it however.

I bought more scarves and prayer rugs from a couple of different outlets. I had brought mom's sample with me and took it around. Alas, while the chiffon material scarves are available, they are not available in that design. Mom's preferred design is available on polyester or silk. Turkey is a fashionable place when it comes to scarves I guess, and that design is out of date here. One lady said it was "ancient," in a rather insulting way I think – I didn't buy from her store.

I spent YTL 240 at the first store, negotiating down a little bit (YTL 262 was list price). I got 2 hats, 2 silk scarves, 2 shawls, 3 or 4 prayer rugs, and 3 or 4 other scarves and a couple of other things. At the second store, I spent YTL 110 (down from YTL 125 list price), for a few more scarves and a bunch of prayer rugs. I headed home on the 55 bus back home. Given all the scarves I had purchased, there was no need to go to Fatih, although I think the scarf stores there are more fashionable.

Anyways, walking home, I touched base with Mobaba and picked up the Galatasaray gear from the store. The outlet branch said it was closed, even though the door was open and the guy was sitting behind the register. I ended up using my credit card for only the second time in Turkey, to get a couple jerseys (YTL 82 each) Mobaba wants to give as gifts and a T shirt (YTL 20 or so) for me (since I didn’t have that many liras on me).

I went back to the office for a couple more hours of work. I found a bunch of recent emails that I had missed on my Blackberry (it has been having connectivity issues over the past few weeks) – the new plan was for me to go to Paris on Monday evening! I acknowledged this plan, than made my travel arrangements with the after hours travel agency. The initial thought was to just go back home from Paris on Thursday. However, this would require a new ticket that cost upwards of USD 4000. After discussing the matter with Detroit, I ended up deciding to go to Paris and return to Istanbul on Thursday, heading home on Friday. This way, I could leave my suitcases at the office, and at least have a chance to wrap things up better in Istanbul. Also, the cost was one tenth of the other option.

I was up until two in the morning, packing , cleaning, doing laundry, etc. Alhamdulillah, I was able to squeeze pretty much everything in. It is a good thing I didn't pick up any more towels or bath robes – I don't think there would have been the space! I turned the heat on high so I could dry my clothes quickly on the heaters while I slept – I hadn't been planning on working on Monday, and my complicated laundry pipeline did not match well with my schedule's gyrations.

I got into the office at 10 again, after some final cleanup and packing – after all, I had to give the apartment back today. After a couple hours, I had to go back to meet the realtor. Everything was in order. He initially wanted to charge me YTL 450 for utilities, but this came down to USD 100 for the last month. He also wanted YTL 50 for cleaning, but I thought that was a bit outrageous, given the state of the place and the junk all over the place when I moved in, so I refused. I got my deposit back, alhamdulillah, minus USD 100 withheld for utilities. The whole process took about an hour. Alhamdulillah, the guy did help me take all my stuff to the office in his car, which was a big help. I gave him the keys early, and was done with the flat. It was decent, and I wouldn't mind staying there again, if need be and if it is available (he put up the realty signs while I waited), since you really can't beat the location.

I transitioned over my Istanbul work later in the afternoon, after doing some more Detroit work. I also had a wrap up conversation with Erkut. I asked Gizem for a big favor, and she is coming through in sha Allah – she will take and distribute the bags of clothes mom sent with Muhammad Baba. I have been trying for the past few weeks to talk to the muezzin at Konyali, Muhammad, who I had given the first shipment of clothes to. However, I hadn't seen him for a while, so I thought he must be at hajj or something. Finally, I asked someone yesterday – apparently he is in the hospital. I was in a bind. I even thought about visiting him in the hospital (not to give him the clothes, but to ask what I should do), but (and I hadn't noticed until now) there are two hospitals right next to each other by my house, and I wasn't sure which one he was in! I asked Gizem today, and she agreed. Otherwise, I would have been in big trouble. Alhamdulillah.

I took a taxi from Astoria to the airport. It only took half an hour or so alhamdulillah, and YTL 31. Other than the hiccup with Turkish Air, everything else was a breeze. It is a pretty big airport though, I've noticed, walking from one end (Turkish Air) to the other (Air France). I would have liked to price check at some of the stores, but it is better to get on earlier flights if possible, so alhamdulillah.

…

I am now at the hotel – it cost EUR 45 to get here in a taxi!. The room was as cold as my cave hotel room when I entered – someone had left the window open! – but it does have two heaters – one electric and one gas. Too bad I couldn't have had this brief jaunt to France last week – it would have saved me the day trip to Greece!