Olivium and Towel Shopping

Alhamdulillah, despite getting a late start on both Saturday and Sunday, I had a pretty eventful/productive weekend.

I wanted to make a daytrip on either Saturday or Sunday to Edirne/Adrianople or Troy. I was kind of leaning towards going to Edirne on Sunday when I went to sleep, and that is what ended up happening, alhamdulillah. I will follow up about Edirne in the next entry - today I will just cover my shopping trip to Olivium, aside from the pictures.

I figured I would get some work done on Saturday, both in terms of business school (Berkeley) apps and preparing for Muhammad Baba's and Atiya's visit next week. I made decent progress on the latter issue, but none on the former. Certainly, not as productive a day as I would have hoped.

I got up late Saturday, and after getting ready and putting in a load of laundry, I headed to the internet cafe to send an email to call for a Skype telco with Osman, Mom/Rabia, and Muhammad Baba at 5pm Istanbul time (10am Eastern, 11pm Singapore) - it had slipped my mind that I could have done that on my Blackberry, but it was running low on juice anyways. In any case, I needed to access the internet to figure out where to go to buy towels and sheets, since Mom didn't want to send towels to a country that is apparently famous for producing nice ones. Aside from Bursa (where I should have found excellent towels but didn't know where to look), I found recommendations for a store in the Grand Bazaar as well as an outlet mall in Zeytinbornu, the Olivium. I was pretty certain that I would get ripped off in the Grand Bazaar, so I took my chances with Olivium, figuring I would be less likely to get ripped off in an outlet mall in working class Zeytinbornu than a tourist trap. Also, a trip to Zeytinbornu would be a test run for my trip to the airport next week in terms of timing.

After praying Zuhr at Konyali, I headed down using the Metro, funicular, Kabatas tram, and a dolmus/microbus to the mall. Alas, the trip to Olivium took a long time - 1hr 45min - longer than I expected. I thought I could walk from the Zeytinbornu tram station, but I ended up having to take the dolmus, which added 20-30 minutes.

The tram from Kabatas to Zeytinbornu was quite packed. I stood almost the whole time. Some people got off at the Sultanahmet station, but only after the A.O. Yurdu station could I sit. I had never been past the Grand Bazaar/Beyazit on this tram. There are twenty four stops in total, and I got off on the last one, Zeytinbornu. Some of the stops had rather interesting names, like Seyitnizam, or Akşemsettin (the light of the sun of the religion, or maybe white/pure sun of the religion; on a side note, I have taken to introducing myself as Şemsettin from Hindistan, since I had not heard of anyone named Nauman in turkey before; I still don't know how they pronounce it hear, but a week or two ago I learned that apparently there is an Islamist successor to Erbakan named Numan Kurtuluş who may challenge Erdoğan for power; alas, the AK Party has been undergoing some trouble in recent months; I will blog about it later, in sha Allah).

The trip was also a sight more expensive than it should have been. One way was YTL 5.4 (the microbus guy took 1.2 going, and 1.5 returning) and the way back was YTL YTL 5.7. If I had an AKBIL, the outlay probably would have been closer to half that. I need to get one in sha Allah. I have never seen them being sold though - only the recharge stations.

The Zeytinbornu area reminded me a bit of going down to Zablatani or parts of Midan from Mount Qasiyoon where I usually lived in Damascus. It was south, seemingly more polluted, more condensed, and just strangely, weirdly new and disorienting for a city I had been living in for two months. While in the dolmus/microbus, I had absolutely no idea where I was, where we were going or any sense of direction. That is kind of how I felt when I went to the southern areas of Damascus.

Olivium was a decent sized mall, but not as large as some of the ones near my apartment (like Cevahir or Profilo - more on that in the Mall entry, in sha Allah). It seemed like a typical outlet to me, with expensive stuff selling for less than normal, but still a lot of money. The place was about half foreign brands and half local brands. It wasn't packed, but there were a lot of people there. Apparently, it is a pretty well known mall, and my colleagues had been there several times before, I found out later.

I ended up staying in the mall area for almost six hours - I had reached at about 2pm and left sometime after 7pm. I had to pray Asr soon after I got there, but no one knew of any nearby masjid. Luckily, I knew that these big malls typically have a masjid/prayer area somewhere from my experiences at Astoria. I asked and was directed to the parking area (I guess this is the usual spot - that is where it is in Astoria as well). It was small and cramped, but it did the job. The one downside to the location is that I had to go through security again. I repeated the process at Maghrib as well. It felt like I should have been traveling, given the journey, but Zeytinbornu is only about 10 miles away from my apartment.

I walked around the whole mall, all four floors - I wanted to see everything, so I could make an informed decision if I thought of making the long journey again. Lots of clothing stores - typical. I did see three places that sold towels. They all had sale signs, but I tried to figure out what had the best deals. I ended up coming back to a place that seemed to be relatively specialized in towels and beddings. I just got some towels, after thinking for quite a long time - I think the salespeople must have thought I was quite strange, staring at the towels and bathrobes so long. In fairness to me, I did have a number of variables I was considering - cost, color, quality, towel vs. robe, weight, bulk, feasibility/logistics of taking home, purpose, etc. I settled on a large green towel for myself, and a couple of matching bathrobes and towels for my guests. We'll see how the washing process treats them - I have no fabric softener, and drying on a rack is no good. The only tip the guy gave me was to wash them at a maximum of 30 degrees (Celsius). Still, I was happy with my purchases alhamdulillah. I would probably go back for gifts if I decide to take back more than Turkish Delight for everyone. The robes were YTL 29 each, and I spent YTL 19 on the large towel and YTL 8 for each small towel - the total was about YTL 93 I think. It was a decent deal - I need to learn how to bargain though. The bulkiness and weight may preclude me from taking many back though.

I had some manti at a restaurant in the food court for dinner, as well as some soup. It was ok, and the service was quite quick, since the place specialized in manti. When I have ordered manti in the Astoria, it takes at least ten minutes usually. I also left the mall briefly to try and find an internet cafe for the Skype call. I did end up finding one - alas, however, the place did not have Skype. Quite a few internet cafe's do not have skype. Shortly after that, I prayed maghrib, got the towels, and left. It took another 1hr 45min to get back home. Alhamdulillah, at least the tram was not packed going from Zeytinbornu to Kabatas - it only filled up at Sultanahmet. Still, the Kabatas to Zeytinbornu tram I saw going the other direction was packed. I guess in the morning, it must be the other way around - there is no way the same direction is full all day long.

I stopped again at the internet cafe and Skype'd with the family. After going home, I did some more laundry - in sha Allah, more on Edirne tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are some pictures I have borrowed from the internet to illustrate my weekend (because my camera is currently out of battery). In sha Allah, I will try and upload what I have stored on my camera later, but these should suffice for now. In no particular order:

The Eski Camii, or Old Mosque (it had several names before this, but after the other ones came up, it got the name Eski; currently undergoing repairs):


The Üç Serefeli Camii, or Three Balcony mosque, built by Murad II, named after the three balconies on the original minaret, which was revolutionary at the time I guess (each minaret has a different style, built by a different Sultan; also undergoing construction):



Nice view of the Selimiye, Sinan's masterpiece, named after Selim II, the wastrel:

Dome of the Selimiye - very intricate:

You can see the nice park surrounding the Selimiye:

Inside of the Selimiye:

The Olivium outlet mall in Zeytinbornu - it reminded me a bit of Castle Wolfenstein or some other fortress, given the layout and the guards as well as people on the roof (they turned out to be customers):

Sweater Vests and Risk

Alhamdulillah, the weekend is hear. However, I have still not made up my mind about what to do this weekend. I have narrowed it down to Edirne, Troy, or staying in Istanbul. I am leaning towards Edirne. However, I had wanted to bundle Edirne with a border crossing to Greece, and I don't feel like dealing with that this weekend. Either Edirne or Troy would just be day trips, so the free day I could work on Berkeley essays in sha Allah. We'll see what happens. As for Konya, Cappadocia, and Izmir, in sha Allah, I will work on them over the next few weeks. I think Konya and Cappadocia I will try to visit in one trip over Bayram, since they are the furthest.

After dinner today, I had gone to try and buy some winter gear. In particular, I went shopping for some sweater vests. I have always like sweater vests (despite the recent emergence of Jim Tressel), and it seems that they are also rather fashionable in Istanbul. From what I can tell, about 10-15% of the men I see walking around are either wearing sweater vests or sweaters patterned to look like vests. Consequently, there are quite a variety of sweater vests for sale, mostly in the YTL 15-25 range. Mostly, I have seen either plain colored ones (ranging from traditional colors like navy blue and gray to more exotic colors like green, purple, and pink) or sweater vests with some kind of diamond pattern - I cannot recall seeing any other kind. Some of these vests look kind of wierd. I was quite close to buying a couple of solid colored ones, but decided to shop around a bit more. Maybe I'll have a chance this weekend in sha Allah.

Also today, I noticed a commercial for Risk on TV. Now, I have never seen a commercial for Risk before, and I don't remember seeing commercials for conventional board games in America for many years. That being said, I have not come across any place selling board games here in Turkey; I would presume the primary entertainment is video games these days, same as America. Perhaps Risk is a new entrant and board games have yet to make a splash. That would be wierd, considering that Risk was for sale in Syria when I first went there almost fifteen years ago. Maybe it was banned in Turkey so the people would feel bad thinking about how they once controlled most of three continents - I really can't think of any other reason Risk would be entering now, so late. Perhaps I should have brought Settlers with me to speed up the evolution.

Smoking and Geography

Alhamdulillah, Turkey has a pretty good position with respect to smoking, compared to other parts of the Middle East I have visited. Most indoor places are no-smoking areas, although some restaurants have smoking areas or are not smoke free. The buses are smoke free, alhamdulillah. Signs are everywhere, and more importantly, people follow them.

That being said, Turkey is between Europe and the Middle East, two of the most smoker-intensive places I've ever been. Naturally (or unnaturally), a lot of people smoke here as well. I think half of my colleagues here smoke. Most of the men probably smoke, and a lot of women as well. I must admit, it is a little disconcerting to see so many hijabis smoke. But then, after jumuah, most of the guys have lit up, so I have to deal with that as I walk back. Truth to tell, it is when I am walking that I get most of the secondhand smoke - people can't do it inside for the most part, so they smoke in transit. Whenever there is a lot of foot traffic, usually someone or the other ahead of me is smoking, so I smell it.

In other news ...

The dollar is rebounding again against the lira. It had dropped down below 1.5, but now is back near 1.7. Of course, my US holdings have fared quite horribly in the meantime.

The last veteran of the Turkish War of Independence died earlier this week. The last Ottoman veteran of WWI died last year. Only eight WWI vets are still alive around the world. Sad, but natural.

I am still watching quite raptly to see what becomes of my hometown - decisions made over the next couple of weeks in DC could have long lasting impacts on Michigan.

Other than that, I am trying to figure out if/how/when to visit other places in Turkey over the rest of my trip. I think Muhammad Baba and Atiya will probably want to stay in Istanbul for the most part during their visit, so I am keeping a few of my Istanbul to-dos undone for now. I still have a few extra weekends however. I am trying to figure out the logistics and feasibility of visiting Konya, Izmir, Cappadocia, Edirne, and Greece in particular. I probably won't be able to see all of them, but in sha Allah, I hope to visit at least some of them. Konya is a 10-13 hour trip, depending on if I take a bus or train, so it would make the most sense over my Bayram holiday, I think. Edirne is about a six hour bus ride - I could do that over a weekend, and see the Selimiye mosque, Sinan's masterpiece. Edirne is right next to Greece, so I could do that in one trip if I just want to go for visa purposes. Thessaloniki is a bit further - that would be about an eight hour trip total, but still doable on a weekend. Izmir is about eight hours away - also a possible weekend trip. Cappadocia is the furthest I think, out in Nevsehir. I should probably try and bundle it with the Konya trip, since it is three hours further from there. We'll see.

Anyways, I wanted to show you a map so you can see where all of these different places are. The orange dots represent places I've been this trip. Light blue are potential destinations. Dark blue, I have seen in previous trips.

Izmir is on the western end of Anatolia. Konya is in the south center, north of Cyprus. Cappadocia is near Nevsehir, which is northeast of Konya. Edirne is northwest of Istanbul in Europe. Zonguldak was on the eastern end of the Black Sea coast. Bursa was just on the southern side of the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul.

Hmm...while I have this map up here, I may as well explain some geography and the different bodies of water as well, since they confused me for a long time. The Black Sea is clear - north of Turkey. The Mediterreanean is clear as well - south of Turkey. The Aegean sea is east of Turkey, where all of those islands are near Izmir. Anatolia refers to the part of Turkey that is in Asia. The Sea of Marmara is the body of water directly south of Istanbul, that is separated from the Aegean Sea by a narrow channel. This narrow strait is the Darnadelles. Between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea is the Bosphorus, which cuts Istanbul into Europe and Asia. An offshoot of the Bosphorus is the Golden Horn - this cuts into the European side of Istanbul, but you cannot sea it on this map. Those are the main bodies of water in Turkey. Of course, the Euphrates and Tigris rivers lie to the east, but they are not clear on this image either.

Zonguldak weekend

Alhamdulillah, I have been able to check off another to-do this past weekend - I saw the Black Sea! I wanted to see it sooner rather than later, since it is getting cold. Thankfully, the weather was quite beautiful - it didn't rain at all, and it was quite warm (in the sun - in the shade or wind, it was on the cold side). I also wanted to go to a nearby city, since I didn't want to fly last minute or take a very long bus ride. However, I didn't know where to go - Trabzon and Samsun are the big names on the Black Sea coast that I had heard of, but they were too far. Erkut suggested Zonguldak (later, I learned he has some family/historical ties to the area) on Wednesday or Thursday, so I did a little prep work and went for it.

Regrettably, there is not a whole heck of a lot of material out there on Zonguldak. It is a 5-6 hour bus ride. There are a lot of caves. There are some historical cities nearby. There is a nice waterfall. There are a lot of trees. It rains a lot. They make nice canes. The mine coal there (it grew as a result of the coal industry). It is on the Black Sea. That is about all I knew when I jumped on the bus. I found a bit of material on http://www.turizm.gov.tr/EN/ and one or two other sites - I emailed the relevant stuff to myself on my Blackberry so I could travel as light as possible - I didn't take anything other than money, keys, phones, camera, and the clothes I was wearing!

I left my apartment at around 9am on Saturday and took the same route to the Harem bus station - a bus to Besiktas (YTL 1.5), a ferry to Uskudar (YTL 1.4), and a taxi to Harem (YTL 6). I keep on forgetting about the dolmus from Uskudar to the bus station. Anyways, right as I entered the bus station area, one of the bus people was yelling Izmir, Bursa, ZONGULDAK, etc. I had to doublecheck the name on my Blackberry (I kept on forgetting what it was called), and then followed him to the right bus. I hopped on and it left a few minutes after 10am. It was YTL 30 for this trip. Another bus, another bus company - there are so many there. I am glad I haven't had to wait for a bus yet.

The bus was rather empty, compared to the Bursa trips. I had both seats to myself for some of the ride, although a kid sat next to me for part of the trip. There were a lot of empty seats, both going and coming. Zonguldak just isn't on most people's radar I guess. Probably for good reason. None of my other colleagues had ever been there besides Erkut.

The bus ride was okay, alhamdulillah. Not much traffic, except in a couple of spots. I dozed of for much of the trip. What I did see was quite beautiful though, subhanallah - lots of trees, hills, mountains, changing fall colors, pink and green mosques, windy roads, the Black sea, etc (thankfully, there was no rain, otherwise the trip might have been more dangerous). We made several stops to pick up or drop off people along the route, including one 10-15 minute break about halfway at a rest stop (the bus pulled out, so I thought I missed it, but perhaps it just went for fuel; all the buses were getting washed by the service station people as well, I noticed) where I got a chocolate bar (YTL 1). Most of the stops came in Zonguldak province, in smaller towns on the way, including Eregli, which is named after Herakles/Hercules. It is there were he supposedly entered Hades and defeated Cerberus. Eregli was on my radar as a potential place to see. More on that later.

We reached the final stop, Zonguldak terminal station, at around 330pm or so. I could see the Black Sea right away - it is quite easy to see from the central city area. I walked to the downtown, which was about 1 km away from the bus stop. I prayed at the only mosque in that area - there are a few in the city, but rather more spread out than even Istanbul. I saw other mosques, but they were in the distance. As I was walking in, I saw a hotel, the Mer Hotel, so I was relieved that I at least could stay somewhere - I couldn't find too much hotel info online and wasn't sure if there were any in Zonguldak or if they were in Eregli or what. I hadn't made up my mind if I wanted to spend the night or take the midnight bus back, but after darkness fell at 5pm or so, and all I had done was walk to the pier and gaze at the sea, I knew I had to stay the night to have a better experience for my time invested.

It was getting chilly, but I walked up and down the sea wall area around sunset time. The waves weren't too big, but they did break on the rocks and I did take a little bit of splash damage. Not a whole lot of people out watching the waves, but I wasn't alone either. It was very rocky - no beach. I didn't see too many boats at first, but then, a bunch left the harbor area - I think they went out to help guide the much larger Rafi back in. I saw it enter the port as I ate a very late lunch (Kofte Burger and Ayran for YTL 4.5) at a small cafe that was built on the water. Some people were selling fish, so that smell was there. Many of the restaurants seemed to specialize in fish as well.

There were a lot more people closer to the inner harbor/dock area, as the seaside restaurants were full from about 4-9pm. Lots of people playing backgammon. However, after walking up and down (and avoiding more dogs, even here), I decided to go and check out the hotel to see what the rates were. It is always nice to have a base (and bathroom) in any new place. Alhamdulillah, YTL 70 is what I paid as a single person for a decent room - more people would have a higher rate. Hotel Mer purported to be a two star. It was clean, and my room was quite large. No AC, but there was a TV and (I think) even wireless. Alas, the elevator was worthless. Still, the lights were motion sensing and the key card was needed to power the room's electricity. I also got some tourism material and maps to help plan my activities. I was happy with the place and it was in a good location. My target rate would have been YTL 50, but 70 was close enough. FYI - I haven't needed a passport to use the bus system, but I did need one to check in.

It was still early when I got the room, and even though the staff wished me a good night, I wasn't quite ready to sleep. I had passed by a movie theater earlier, so I figured I might as well do that. I went and saw Max Payne at the 745pm showing for YTL 7. I walked in right as it started I think - I didn't feel like I missed anything other than the previews. An usher showed me to an empty row. It was a decent movie. A little dark, and somewhat predictable, but in English! About halfway through however, the lights came on and the show stopped - there was an intermission! That was wierd.

After the movie, I went to an internet cafe for half an hour (YTL 0.5), but they didn't have Skype. I walked around a bit more. I almost walked into a different restaurant that was packed, but upon closer inspection, it appeared as though a wedding was happening there, so I went to the same restaurant for a late dinner (hamburger combo for YTL 6.5) - this time I sat inside though. I went back to the hotel, watched a bit of TV, and slept early.

Some things in Zonguldak are relatively cheap compared to Istanbul. Aside from the hotel, even candy bars (I got two for YTL 1) are about half off, and movies in Istanbul are closer to YTL 10-12. It is like Damascus in some ways actually, with some guys picking up garbage with donkeys, and it got quiet even earlier than Damascus - nine or ten at night. Still, I didn't hear the adhan at all during my visit.

Alhamdulillah, I was able to start my day early. I went back to the sea wall/rock area at sunrise and hung out for a while - the primary purpose of my visit was to see the Black Sea after all. The Black Sea is not really black. I am not sure how it got the name, or how the Red Sea got its name, or even the Mediterranean, which the Arabs call the White Sea. Rather, I saw four colors - cloudy green, sea green, aquamarine, and blue. Alas, there were some clouds that morning, so I missed the sunrise part anyways.

I went back to the hotel and got ready. I grabbed a simit (they are growing on me; I know think of it as kind of like cram) for breakfast for YTL 0.75 and went out. I wanted to see the nearby Gokgol caves as well as the Harmankaya waterfalls before coming back for a noon checkout. Gokgol was only 2 km away, so initially I figured I would just walk or maybe take a bus. However, I wasn't sure how to get to Harmankaya from there, so I ended up going to a taxi stand and asking how much it would be for two hours, to take me to both places and bring me back. I got a quote of YTL 40, which I thought was reasonable, so I went for it. Alas, taxi drivers are ever scammers and not to be trusted.

A short, five minute drive brought us to Gokgol. The place opened at 9am, so we waited about 10 minutes before the caretaker arrived. Entrance was YTL 3, although I paid after I exited. I went in alone, as the taxi driver stayed to chat with the caretaker at the entrance. I certainly had not planned on entering a huge, dark cave that was actually quite dangerous by myself, but that is the situation I ended up in. The cave itself was actually secondary - I really wanted to see the waterfalls, However, I decided to go forward, despite the possibility that wild animals might have taken up residence in this out of the way Turkish cave! Alhamdulillah, the cave was completely empty except me. No evidence of bats or bat guano at all, unlike the caves I saw near San Antonio. Another difference was the presence of an underground river that would overflow with any rain from above. It was quite wet throughout, with lots of dripping and puddles on the path itself. The deeper I went into the cave, the more that worried me (I had seen The Rescuers on the plane just a few months back!). Another thought that troubled me was the possibility of being buried alive in an earthquake - after all, I am in an unstable, quake-prone part of the world. Still, I kept pushing forward until I reached the end, almost 1 km in. I was quite impressed that even here there was motion sensing lights - they are everywhere in Turkey!

Alhamdulillah, the cave is quite beautiful - lots of neat formations, stalactites, stalagmites, crevices, and open areas (alas, no pics or touching allowed though - no one was watching, but I don't like breaking rules unnecessarily). Still, I wouldn't recommend it, given the potential for earthquakes and flooding I mentioned. The flooding risk is quite serious. I was quite thankful that I wasn't exploring the caves in Eregli - those caves are named the Caves of Hell or something like that (after Hades), and I would rather not be buried alive in the Caves of Hell or even give fate the chance to do that. Needless to say, once I reached the end, I hurried back.

The taxi guy was waiting for me - about one hour had passed since I hired him. The sunlight was quite amazing as we left Gokgol - it seemed almost solid (perhaps due to smoke or dust; we did pass a coal mine shaft). We drove back into the city and then back out again in another direction (even though the map showed that we could have just gone further past Gokgol). Then the guy says, sorry, we can't go any closer to the waterfalls - you have to walk. He should have told me that to begin with! Then, he said, well, you can pay me YTL 20 more to go to the forest which is actually closer and on the way to the waterfall. I was angry and said just take me back to Zonguldak, which is probably what he was aiming for. I am not going to curse him to hell, but I will admit that I won't be disappointed if I get some of his good deeds on Judgement Day. I paid him the full YTL 40 upon reaching the hotel, even though there was still half an hour to go on my time. I certainly didn't need him just for Gokgol - I could have walked, taken a bus, or even paid a cab YTL 20 for that much. Khayr in sha Allah. I hate it that I spend more on taxis inside these random cities than I do on the bus to get there in the first place.

I cleaned up a bit, checked out of the hotel, and then started walking up the coast, trying to find a beach. Alas, all I could see was rock, rock, rock in Zonguldak. I went to the western end of the city limits and found a beach like area. The approach was a bit dangerous though, and I didn't want to risk it by myself. I called Osman as I tried to find a good place to stop and we chatted for a bit. I saw another beach further west, so I kept walking for a couple of kilometers and found it. Unfortunately, as I walked down towards the beach area, a dog started barking at me, so I ran back up to the road. Foiled again. Some things just aren't meant to be. Still, it was nice to watch the sea for so long anyways, alhamdulillah. I even saw some rainbows form in the spray as the waves smashed against the rock.

I had lunch at a nice looking restaurant with a penguin logo that is right next to the bus station. I had the house special, which was chicken in soy sauce with rice and some Ayran for about YTL 15. It was okay and the view was nice. The waiter took a while to break my YTL 100, so when I got my change, I rushed out to the station to see if I could catch the 1pm bus, since I had enough of Zonguldak and didn't want to get home too late. Alhamdulillah, I caught a bus right as it was exiting the station - I just stopped it and hopped on, without a ticket. I paid the attendant YTL 30 and it seemed everything was ok. However, at the first stop, he gave me my money back and told me to take another bus, so I went and got a ticket and jumped in the second bus, only paying YTL 20. Strange. We reached Istanbul at the same time, I think - certainly, we reached the rest stop at the same time. I'm not sure what the transfer was all about - it is not like the bus was full.

The ride back was also nice and beautiful. I felt a bit queasy, but it passed, alhamdulillah. The trip was a bit longer though, because of traffic near Istanbul. Erkut says traffic on Sunday afternoon is always bad. It took closer to 6.5 hours, including the transfer to Mecidiyekoy - the shuttle/transfer bus guy almost dropped me off very far from my place, and I indeed got off the shuttle, but I think the other passengers must have yelled at him, because he told me to come back on. It would have been quite a hike for me. Alhamdulillah.

I tried to Skype after eating dinner, but I think the internet connection wasn't working well in MI. That is too bad, since everyone was at our house. Khayr in sha Allah.

Overall, I had a nice trip to Zonguldak. It was an interesting place. I think more time would have been helpful. to hike to the waterfall and maybe see some other things. I am also disappointed I couldn't find a place with local cuisine (other than fish, which I didn't want). It was worth it to see the Black Sea, although I am a bit disappointed I didn't find a good beach. I saw some nicer beaches in Alpali, which is in Zonguldak province but closer to Istanbul. Perhaps that would be a better place to stop and stay to access beaches. Also, there is some Black Sea frontage very close to Istanbul - I could try checking that out as well. Khayr in sha Allah.

My trip set me back about YTL 200, or USD 130, which isn't bad. Alhamdulillah.

Here are some pics, not in any particular order:

A borrowed image of Gokgol - since I didn't take any pictures. A beautiful cave, but keep a weather eye on the weather forecast:


Me with the main area of Zonguldak in the background:


You can see the different colors within the Black Sea - none of them black:

The sunlight seemed almost physical, possibly due to smoke or dust or whatever that is:

Some nice fall colors just outside of Gokgol cave:

This boat was just sitting there the whole time I was in Zonguldak:

I couldn't tell this was a wedding for sure, until I saw the wedding car:

I saw this wall - it looks like a memorial or something; I couldn't figure out what happend to 1983 though - almost everyone was ripped off for some reason:

Fish mongers - no thanks:

Alas, the sea front area nearest to the city was just a bunch of rocks:

Alhamdulillah, I caught a nice sunset:

The bus ride had some nice views:

More bus views:

Catch up and Ataturk Day

Alhamdulillah, I've had an interesting few days. I am sorry for the delay since my last post - it has been over a week! There is much to relate, and a few pictures as well. In this entry, I will address general happenings in recent days, while I will dedicate the next entry to my Zonguldak weekend.

Work has been okay alhamdulillah - nothing too exciting going on. Still working on acquisitions. Mom keeps asking if I know if I will be extended past December. I can't say for sure, but I think not. Either way, I will at least come back for a visit. However, if I am on a project at that point, I could easily stay longer. We'll see what happens. Khayr in sha Allah.

I have been quite worried about things back home however, over this past week. It seems like we are digging ourselves deeper into the Inferno. While I supported the Green party last week, I was cautiously optimistic upon learning Wednesday morning that Obama beat out McCain. Both pledged aid to the auto industry, but a united Democrat front might speed things up. Friday's results showed that Detroit really needs the help. As a resident of Michigan and Ford shareholder, I really hope things work out. I fear that Obama might be in over his head though, and too little, too late. Complicating matters is Waxman's challenge to Dingell's chairmanship. Dingell is the champion of the auto industry, and while the environment is important to me, the auto industry cannot deal with the state-level regulations Waxman is pushing for. Besides, Dingell has a very high environmental rating as well. I am watching this battle even more closely than I followed the general elections.

Back to Turkey - I have been trying to get Galatasaray tickets for a few days now. In particular, I am trying to get four tickets to the Thanksgiving day UEFA game against FC Metalist Kharkiv. I could have attended any game, but MoBaba will be in town during this time, and he and Atiya were interested. Also, my coworker, Adil, a Galatasaray fan, wanted to go with me to a game and thought this would be the optimal one. I don't need great tickets, probably just the YTL 30 level. Unfortunately, I have been foiled thus far.

I tried to purchase tickets on the Galatasaray website (www.galatasaray.org), but they directed me to a Ticketmaster site (www.biletix.com). That site only had two upcoming Galatasaray games available - not the FC Metalist match. I want to secure my tickets early, because the last UEFA Galatasaray match sold out 10 days before gameday, so today I went to the stadium and the Galatasaray store at lunchtime, but had no luck - they don't sell tickets (except gamedays, I think). I was told to go to the Biletix store in the Cevahir Mall (I still need to write my mall post), so I went after work. Again, no luck - only the next two games are available, nothing after that. The guy couldn't even tell me when they would become available. I will have to check the website every day I guess. I am not sure what the reason for limiting advance purchases is. Perhaps the owners don't want the average fan to be sidelined by season ticket holders or scalpers. Or, maybe they just like to see long lines and people camped out, waiting for tickets.

My trip to Cevahir wasn't a complete waste though - I found a Johnny Rockets and had an Original Burger (YTL 12) and Big Apple malt (YTL 8) for dinner. I've always liked the idea of Johnny Rockets (it is a nicer version of Steak n Shake) and had to eat there, even though I had a big lunch at Clementine Cafe (pizza (YTL 17) and coke (YTL 5)). The burger was okay, but I would only go back for the shakes, and maybe an apple pie on Thanksgiving - every Turkish restaurant I have been too that advertises shakes tells me they aren't available when I ask - I didn't try getting shakes at the typical fast food places, so I had quite the craving upon seeing Johnny Rockets.

Yesterday, I witnessed something very strange on the way to work. I was about halfway to the office (I would later find out, at 905am) when all of a sudden, EVERY car started honking their horns. I thought it was because of some horrible traffic jam at first, since every car on the road was also stopped/not moving. I saw that most people had stopped as well. I thought they were gawking at the honking cars trying to figure out what was going on. I did a quick scan and couldn't see anything, so I kept going. Another hundred yards or so and I realized EVERYONE was stock still except me and one or two others. Perhaps I would have caught on earlier if no one else was moving, or if they weren't all looking at the cars, or if there was complete silence, but when I got to the office, they told me it was a commemoration of th 70th anniversery of Ataturk's death. It was quite a bizzare experience I must say. For two minutes, it seemed like the world had gone mad.

I don't feel too bad about disrupting the ceremony or whatever it was (It wasn't really a moment of silence, given the horns), since at least a couple of others were as oblivious as me. Also, there are my views on the guy. The typical Turk has raised him to deity levels from my view, which is quite disturbing - a combination of Jesus, MLK, Lincoln, Jefferson, and maybe Paul Bunyan in the US. There was even a commercial on TV yesterday (sponsored by the largest conglomerate in the country) showing a picture for each year of his life. It is rather difficult for me to relate to.

Buyukada

Alhamdulillah, my power and water are both currently running. That has inconveniently not been the case for much of the past couple of days. When I awoke on Sunday, there was no water. When I got back home that evening, there was water, but no light. In the morning, still no light (or hot water). When I returned home after work today, the light was working, but not the water again. I'm not sure what is going on, but it is getting frustrating. Alhamdulillah, I had planned on cooking something, but I just had some bread and cheese instead (The cream cheese here is really good - I had it before in Frankfurt with Masood Uncle this summer. I don't know if it is available in the US, but it is saltier and more fluid than normal cream cheese. Maybe I'll bring some home). I waited until both water and power were working again before I came to write this blog, since I had to put in a laundry load. In sha Allah, I hope both are working when I return tonight.

Alhamdulillah, I am also feeling much better. Only one more day of Zithromax to go, in sha Allah. Now, back to Buyukada...

I got up later than I had hoped on Sunday (I was without my alarm clock/Blackberry, having left it to charge in the office). Still, I figured this was the weekend to see Buyukada, given the beautiful weather and the fact that I didn't have any imminent B school deadlines (I am going for the second round at Berkeley, in sha Allah). I stopped by the office to re-check the port I had to go to, pick up my phone, and then was off.

I took the Metro and Funicular down to Kabatas. That is the only port on the European side that has a ferry to Buyukada (going to Adalar, the Islands). I reached at about 1130am. The token for this trip is YTL 2.8, or double the usual. It looks a little different too. I bought some water and simit, and hung out for a bit, waiting for the 12pm ferry (there is a brochure at Kabatas that has timings - I was shooting blind this first time, so a half hour wait was not so bad; for your future reference, ships depart from Kabatas at 650, 910, 1040, 1200, 1400, 1630, 1830, 1950 and 2300 Mon-Sat, and 700, 910, 1030, 1200, 1400, 1630, 1815, 1930, and 2300 on Sun; you should pay attention to the return times too, since not every boat from Buyukada comes back to Kabatas!). I should have just boarded right away, since by the time I did board, the good seats with a view outside were taken. At least I got a seat inside the cabin by a window. Alas, people eventually obstructed my view outside the cabin. Indeed, some people stood the whole time.
I expected the trip to take about an hour an a half. It was closer to two hours. A lot of Arabs made the trip Sunday. It was the first time since I've been in Istanbul, other than our meeting last weekend, where I've felt I understood what was going on around me, there were that many Arabs. Many from Saudi/the Gulf, but also some Egyptians I think. The trip was rather uneventful. The cabin was a bit warm, and I did doze off. Some guys came around and tried to sell stuff. One guy gave a presentation kind of like an infomercial trying to peddle some kind of tube you stick in a lemon when squeezing it so you can just pour out the juice. Wierd.

The boat made a couple of stops, which probably contributed to the delay. It stopped once on the Asian side, and again on a couple of other islands before hitting Buyukada. Ma sha Allah, even though it took so long, I think these islands are still part of the Istanbul city limits. The trip felt long enough to be considered traveling for purposes of prayer, but I don't think it is.

The islands were very beautiful. Very green. They actually had quite a high elevation. I'm not sure why Buyukada gets all the tourists, other than perhaps it has the infrastructure (e.g., restaurants, hotels, etc.). I think the other ones also looked neat enough to explore, for anyone with more time.

One thing I noticed during the trip is that the sea ports had Arabic script indicating the name of the port, which I thought was interesting. I'm not sure if the ports are all that old, or if the port authority felt sentimental. I also liked the insignia or logo on the ships, with the anchors and the crescent; certainly, it is more appealing than the dolphin logo usually used.

Buyukada struck me as not a terribly Muslim part of the city. I saw quite a few churches, and the mosque was rather hard to find. I never heard the adhan on the island either.

It is a nice enough place, and certainly worth a look see if you have some time and the weather is nice. I didn't see any sandy beaches in the area I explored. I mostly stayed near the downtown/port area, and probably only saw 10-15% of the island. The beaches were rather rocky, but still, the view was great from just about anywhere. Alas, I was denied a seat at the seaside cafes, being an individual - I had to take a less desirable spot in a restaurant further inland - 20 YTL for Urfa Kebab, Ayran, fries, and the tip. Once again, a bit of discrimination.

Most people mention bike riding as a neat activity to do on the island, but that is not really my cup of tea, especially with all the dogs I saw lolling about. I just walked back and forth a bit. I found an internet cafe for our weekly call, but unfortunately, not Skype. I got some ice cream (YTL 7.5) with a bunch of different flavors, but it was just not appetizing. Too much smell of horse excrement in the air, I think. I did discover another private carrier that goes to Buyukada, Mavi Marmara, but it only goes to the Asian side, to Bostanci. Indeed, about half of the government ferries also only go to Bostanci, so the only feasible options for me to return to Kabatas on Sunday were at 3pm (right after I arrived), 515pm (which I took), 645pm, or 930pm. I'm sure they were all packed too - the 515pm one certainly was - so get in line to return early! Now, Bostanci would not be a horrible problem either, as there are doubtless buses that could take me back to Europe, but I didn't want to bother. I don't think there are regular ferries between Bostanci and Europe, at least on Sunday, unfortunately.

The ride back was nicer, as I had gotten in line early and found a good seat on the side of the boat (if the weather had been rainy or wretched, the good seats would be reversed and inside). It only took a little over an hour to return, as the only stop was at Kadikoy - we skipped the other islands for some reason. The view was great the whole time - I was on the north side of the ship. Alhamdulillah - all Istanbul, what a huge city.

I was only there for a few hours, but it was time well spent. It resembles Mackinaw Island in some ways, with the restrictions against motor vehicles, the horses, the tourists, the ferries, etc. No fudge though! I'm not sure if I would try again this trip, since the weather probably won't be so favorable. It is certainly a good place for a picnic or similar outing, but I'm sure other parts of Istanbul, near Tarabya or other places, can say the same. Even the park near Dolmabahce would be nice for a picnic. I think I enjoyed the boat ride more than the island actually. Certainly there is more to Buyukada than what I saw, and it is much more conducive to company than what I experienced. Lots of canoodlers to contend with as well.

Here are some pics from my weekend (I apologize, as they are not quite in chronological order):

Here is the exchange place I stumbled across that takes travelers cheques:

The dervishes whirled just near the Orient Express:

The dervishes whirl:

First, they were sitting less colorfully though:

A huge crowd flowed in from the boat area to Buyukada:

Buyukada looks very nice on the way out:

I was standing on the very edge of this rather big boat as we docked:

Too many dogs in Buyukada (they look harmless now, but there was a lot of barking going on, especially whenever a horse went by):

The crowd on the Buyukada ferry compares favorably to the emptiness a bit earlier at the Metro station:

Lots of people waiting to get out of Buyukada:

The whole ferry ride had nice views:

Eventful weekend

Alhamdulillah, I was able to cross off a couple of my to-dos this weekend.

Alas, I am still sick, but since I started taking Zithromax on Friday night, I think I averted any major setback. I was initially leaning against anything more than Tylenol cold, but I could feel a bit of body ache starting to set in, so I went for it - alhamdulillah, it has paid off. I have two more days of vitamin Z to go, in sha Allah, but already, I feel much better.

On Friday, I finally recharged my TurkCell credits - I got 150 kontors/credits for YTL 25. I spent about half of that on a call to Baba before he left, but I don't anticipate using much more until I leave - we'll see. Maybe MoBaba can use it when he comes. Alhamdulillah, Baba returned home safely. He had a good trip. I spoke with him and Mom on Skype today.

On Saturday morning, I had my Kellogg interview with an alumna. She graduated in 2002, and works for a competitor actually (Oliver Wyman). She was also sick, so we were on equal footing as far as that went. She came about fifteen minutes late, and I got there about fifteen minutes early. It was in Etiler, a place I had considered living before I got here. It is a bit far for walking, and was a YTL 6 taxi ride. Seems like an upscale area. I got a "medium" (whatever they call it) sized hazelnut hot chocolate and parked myself out in front. She said casual, but I went business casual anyways. The guy who interviewed after me showed up in a suit!. I think the interview went okay. She asked the typical questions, but didn't dig too deep into my work experiences, since she already knows what I do for the most part, and also probably to respect the competitive nature of the business. I more or less repeated the same types of answers I gave in the written application.

I took the bus from Etiler and I went back to the office for a bit, before going home to change and figure out a game plan.

I have been a bit concerned that I accidentally left a soft copy of my Stanford application on the internet cafe desktop, given the tremendous amount of sensitive data in the document (e.g., SSN), so I have visited the cafe several times over the past few days to figure out how their system works. I could not find the document and it appears as though everything is deleted after each session, but I'm making a couple of other checks to make sure.

I decided to go have lunch/dinner at Sultanahmet Koftecisi and then try and catch the Whirling Dervish show that (Saturday) evening. I was going to take the Metro, but saw that the Eminonu bus was waiting at the bus stop, so I literally jumped on. I prayed Asr at the Yeni Cami, then I walked to Sultanahmet, trying a mix of new and old routes. I stopped by at the North Shield, but alas, they don't have college games, only NFL (The timing of our game has not been announced either - if it is a late game, I doubt we can find a place that is open through the whole game. We may have to try streaming a radio play by play over the internet.). I prayed Maghrib at the Blue Mosque, and then went for food.

Now, there are quite a few places all over Istanbul that refer to themselves as Sultanahmet Koftecisi, so make sure you go to the right one. I went to the same one my company went to last weekend, as I assume that is the right one. The food was good, and wasn't too pricey. The menu is rather limited - they do kofte, and that is about it. Not even too many varieties of kabab. Unlike Moddasser Bhai, however, I didn't really like the dessert they gave me. Maybe a bite or two of the stuff is ok, but they gave me four slabs in the small plate, and it wasn't so great. I think I paid about YTL 15-20 for everything, including tip. They don't take cards, so they didn't have too much trouble with the YTL 100 note I gave them. They are very, very busy, which is another way to tell what places are good.

I took the tram back down, as I didn't feel like walking. I was initially going to go all the way to Eminonu, but saw the Sirkeci stop was right in front of a train station. I thought I had read that the show was at the old train station, but this seemed to be functional, so I was a bit confused. I got off anyways, figuring it was a good place to start looking - the train tracks couldn't have moved too far, even if there were two stations. Actually, there is only one station, and it is an old station, being the end point of the Orient Express. A rather fancy terminal, I should say. Still, quite an odd place to have the whirling dervish ceremony. I bought the ticket for YTL 30 right there (although you can buy it from several tour stores), and left to walk around, as the show didn't start until 7:30 (it is also on Tuesday at the same time).

I did a bit more exploring (I think I am getting to be rather familiar with the Sultanahmet/Eminonu/Taksim/Mecidiyekoy areas - at least enough to know where I am and where I have to go). I actually came across a place that takes traveler's cheques in that tourist area! Subhanallah. I may make use of it. I don't think the guy was charging any sort of percentage fee either, other than a slightly lower rate. I hung out at an internet cafe for a bit, then went back for the show.

The doors were supposed to open at 715pm, but I reached about then, and it was already full of people. I lucked into an excellent seat, front and center, that was somehow still vacant. Most of the audience was tourists, as you could expect. A few Muslims, but mostly non-Muslims - Europeans I think for the most part.

After a briefly delayed start, someone came up and gave a brief introduction. It sounded a bit extreme (characterization of Rumi). Then seven people, men and women, showed up all dressed similarly, with various instruments (flute, drums, oud, etc.). The first half hour was more or less these people playing. Sometimes it was just the music. The rest of the time, there was some singing of Islamic type dhikr or salawat songs (I found it a bit relieving that at least they kept this much - the group is some kind of modern Mevlevi sect or something). The second half featured the whirling dervishes. They were also seven. They came in all dressed in black robes/jubbahs with the long caps, again mixed. It was quite wierd to see the women dressed that way. They had a very deliberate walk, and sat down on some rug that had been placed on the floor. They immediately went into prostration (although not towards the Qiblah (or Rumi's grave for that matter), if my sense of direction was correct). Quite a few of their activities seemed a bit pretentious, but it was a show after all. I'm not sure how much their hearts were in it. They did quite a bit of bowing, every few steps. Right in front of me, there was a red rug, and whenever they approached it, they bowed and then crossed it. They went in circles several times, then broke out into the spinning circles. I have to give them props for being able to spin so long at least without any visible side effects. Every five minutes or so, they would break/stop, and walk in a circle again, before bowing and spinning again. All the while, the musicians were playing and singing. Quite interesing. I wonder how different it will be in Konya in sha Allah. The show was done within the hour. They were selling some materials, but I didn't find anything terribly interesting - just CDs, books, etc. I took the bus home, and planned to go to Buyukada on Sunday.

I will write about Buyukada, and post pictures for both days), tomorrow in sha Allah...