things i love about turkey

im so behind, its ridiculous. and for the next 2 weeks i wont really have any down time. let alone journal time.

so for now i want to capture some of the things i love about turkey.

i love that the sidewalks are not poured even cement like ours. dont get me wrong, its a modern day miracle every time i walk down one that i havent broken an ankle or even died. the sidewalks are stone laid and consist of marble, granite, shale, cobblestone, brick, tile, or a combination of all of the above. so much character and personality, but very hazardous to walk on as they are uneven and broken in a lot of places or loose when you step on a stone and it moves on ya. but you get used to it, and i think its awesome. there are lots and lots of pictures of various sidewalks in all my albums, some too pretty to even imagine that that is what they are, especially in classier parts of town.

i love all the stone work. its literally everywhere and everything. the things we consider luxury like granite countertops and marble staricases are just the norm here, they have a plethora of rock resources and they use them efficiently, its not a high class thing, the poorest looking slums have marble and granite and beautiful hand painted tiles... its so awesome, i love it. it can be slippery as hell when wet, but so beautiful! since when did americans decide that formica and laminate was cool to surface things with? cuz it sucks. and why did we decide to make it a luxury for only the rich? cuz were dumb that way.

i love that no one ever guesses that im american. german dutch and british are the top three guesses, in that order. so glad im american is not tattooed to my forehead. phew! i love that jaws drop when they say something to me in german or english and i respond in turkish. to me, its simply common curtousy to try to respect the local environment you are in and reach out of your comfort zone a bit, it has been my experience that most americans dont think so.

i love how friendly everyone is, even if theyre a tad too friendly. ex - hi im your new best friend cuz i went to NYC once 25 years ago, come into my silver shop and buy my pieces. i ask strangers for clarification on directions and schedules n such all the time and most go out of their way to not only tell me, show me with nearly undecipherable hand motions, and write it down, but some also guide me to the street corner i need to be at for the minibus or similar. some old turkish lady talked to me in turkish for 20 mins cuz i said tamam 2x and i kept smiling at her, tamam = ok, alright, sure, etc

i love how every single meal includes multiple forms of tomato (fresh, grilled and salsafied), cucumber, and bread. yes that was sarcastic. i dont like tomato or cucumber and im allergic to wheat. but usually its 'eat those three things or starve' so im learning to enjoy toms, cucs and trying to eat the bread sparingly. at least its really good bread.

i love that they try to put pistachios in everything, me really luvs pistachios.

i love that i have rarely seen a mcdonalds, although there is a starbucks on almost every third corner.