My perspective on my life in Istanbul is in total flux right now. I am at that point where I am no longer a fresh off the boat newbie in this town. My mind has raced ahead to me being fluent in Turkish and fully understanding the culture, but alas, it will always be a long time before I get there, and that is frustrating in this gotta have it now culture. I want to download the knowledge, the Turkish, directly to my head in the next few days…BOOM…as John Madden would say, I am fully acclimated! Acculturation takes time. Hey! I have only been here two full days!
I applied for a job at Berlitz language schools and I was given a test as to my English skills. I think I passed. I would be a hopeless person if I was not able to pass this sucker. Still looking for digs. My friend Doa was nice enough to take me in for a little while, and I sure do appreciate it.
Yours truly is using this opportunity to explore new areas of the city I have never seen. I love seeing places that I have been to before from a new angle. It is almost better than plunging into a new city altogether, because you have the oppurtunity to have your notions of certain areas of town disproven. Take the area of Besiktas for example. I thought it was a very westernized area. Then my friend who I had dinner with said there weren’t a lot of places to drink beer in Besiktas and…well…if that is not a warning sign of non-western i.e. “Islamic!!!!” culture, then I don’t know what is. WHERE IS THE TGI FRIDAYS?