so tamam, finally!
its good that im posting about my project now, because i know more about it now (after 1,5 week of working we finally know what were sppose to do yeah [thats turkey - everything yavaş yavaş]).
the institution were (ania, jagoda, corrado & me) working for is called TEGV - Türkiye Eğitim Gönüllüleri Vakfi, meaning sth like eh turkey education volunteers foundation...xD
its one of the biggest and most serious social institutions in turkey with many branches all over turkey.
so the project were in is a "summer school" project. right now there are school holidays in turkey and for that time parents could have signed up their children to participate in this. in general were teaching english, but theres also one lesson called "zaman machinası". in that we actually can do everything we want; sports, arts, dance, spanish, cooking w/e, whatever you want to do. apart from the foreign volunteers therere also turkish ones, doing arts, computer or drama lessons with them.
were working in pairs, ania and jagoda & corrado and me. every morning at 0745 theres a service bus to pick us up, so at ~0800 we arrive at the school. 0830 the first lesson starts, always sports, always alone. after that we (in pairs now) have 3 lessons, either english or zaman machina (corrado and me are doing sth about italy and germany), until 1230. lunchtime starts and at ~1345 another service is bringing corrado and me to another place outside tegv to teach english "seriously". in tegv we have 6 different classes, ranging from 8/9 - 14/15 years and outside tegv we have 3 different classes, one on monday, one on tuesday and the last one wed&thursdays, all of them about 11 yrs.
im saying "seriously", because the children outside tegv are different. theyre there because they really want to learn english, in general theyre much more quiet and hm...attentive? (aufmerksam). sometimes i have the feeling that it doesnt really matter what were doing in tegv, its just some way to occupy the children, so theyre not on the streets all the time, but the classes outside tegv i really like, because i know what im working for. of course children in tegv are learning sth as well, more importantly of nonformal education, so actually i shouldnt think that way.
the children and this program in the afternoon will change after 3 weeks, then corrado & me will stay in tegv after lunch and jagoda & ania will go outside, but theyll continue to take care of "our" children. so at 1600 we finally finish work and considering to have some rest, waiting and walking were home at 1700.
on wednesdays we dont have classes in the morning, because were doing some trips with the children (last week we went to the zoo, this week itll be the dolphinland) and on fridays there are no classes outside tegv.
its really really good that we dont have to work the whole 5 days, because i really need some rest after some time. working with children is exhausting difficult sweet annoying and fulfilling. in germany i was always like "oh nooo, i dont like children, im too impatient, theyre getting on my nerves" etc., but here i like it. not all the time of course, every child is just too different from one another, but after the lessons (esp the ones outside tegv) i feel good and i like and want them to learn sth. most of the time my mind is occupied with thinkin bout the lessons, what we can prepare etc., but sometimes im overdoing it as well i guess. you have to be able to be spontanious as well, but hm, then again i think that we will be when it comes to that point (yeah of course, you cannot plan sth in case you have to be spontanious =P [imsosmart]). but also i think its difficult for me, cause i cannot really speak the language (corrado was here with erasmus for 6 months and hes turkish is quite good) and since im strongest in communicating with words its challenging...hooooo, but oh well, we will see how its going to develope!
im curious and open to everything.
btw its already ~27°C at ~0800, so you can imagine how it is to work here in antalya. (oh and hello 70% humidity!)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
back from the dead
now, im not even counting the endless times anymore when i kept u guys waiting.
so anyway, here are the "news":
im in antalya again for 2 weeks now - how time passes by! on 21st may i left for germany and on 1st june i left again for turkey. those 10 days back home has been kinda awkward, lonely in a way and somehow i didnt want to / couldnt get used to certain things ("ich mochte mich an einige dinge nich so recht gewöhnen wollen" fits better actually [achtung wörtlich gemeint ja]). its strange when ur suddenly back into ur regular life and to see that actually nothing much slash nothing changed.
its like youve been cut out of the page of a magazine before and now - having experienced so many different things that your shape & colour actually changed, may it also be small changes only - you dont really seem to fit into this page anymore, although you originated from there.
oh but of course i also spend some good time with friends (HELLO COLOGNE, I MISSED YOU!), nice concert & nice dancing and again i could remove a good amount of chaos out of my room (yeah! xD)
so, here im gonna do my voluntary service for 2 months.
the first week was only relaxing; going to the beach, walking round the city and most importantly talking. therere so many ppl here, its all about conversation (& drinking tea (= ) actually.
oh AND: freakin let yourself be killed by the sun! its so unbelievable hot hot hot!
this week was turkish lessons (great english yes, i know thanks) until friday and today is saturday and-eh...yeah.
the project (school lessons with "disadvantaged children" they say) will start on monday and im fucking afraid. really. but im so happy that im here, that i have the chance to do this.
so im doing my project together with 2 girls from poland and one italian guy. 3 long-term volunteers from germany are still here as well. one girl is living with us, one guy is a permanent "guest" and the other guy is always somewhere else (nice information). life together is working very well and mainly takes place on the balcony. nights are cool and short (very short); i can tell the appr. time by looking at the moons position now (:
so thats about it i guess.
as i said, its all about getting to know ppl and spending time together actually, nothing big is happening. many erasmus students here, many germans (as always), many tourists, many annoying shop-sellers, many concrete buildings - and much hope & sweat.
so anyway, here are the "news":
im in antalya again for 2 weeks now - how time passes by! on 21st may i left for germany and on 1st june i left again for turkey. those 10 days back home has been kinda awkward, lonely in a way and somehow i didnt want to / couldnt get used to certain things ("ich mochte mich an einige dinge nich so recht gewöhnen wollen" fits better actually [achtung wörtlich gemeint ja]). its strange when ur suddenly back into ur regular life and to see that actually nothing much slash nothing changed.
its like youve been cut out of the page of a magazine before and now - having experienced so many different things that your shape & colour actually changed, may it also be small changes only - you dont really seem to fit into this page anymore, although you originated from there.
oh but of course i also spend some good time with friends (HELLO COLOGNE, I MISSED YOU!), nice concert & nice dancing and again i could remove a good amount of chaos out of my room (yeah! xD)
so, here im gonna do my voluntary service for 2 months.
the first week was only relaxing; going to the beach, walking round the city and most importantly talking. therere so many ppl here, its all about conversation (& drinking tea (= ) actually.
oh AND: freakin let yourself be killed by the sun! its so unbelievable hot hot hot!
this week was turkish lessons (great english yes, i know thanks) until friday and today is saturday and-eh...yeah.
the project (school lessons with "disadvantaged children" they say) will start on monday and im fucking afraid. really. but im so happy that im here, that i have the chance to do this.
so im doing my project together with 2 girls from poland and one italian guy. 3 long-term volunteers from germany are still here as well. one girl is living with us, one guy is a permanent "guest" and the other guy is always somewhere else (nice information). life together is working very well and mainly takes place on the balcony. nights are cool and short (very short); i can tell the appr. time by looking at the moons position now (:
so thats about it i guess.
as i said, its all about getting to know ppl and spending time together actually, nothing big is happening. many erasmus students here, many germans (as always), many tourists, many annoying shop-sellers, many concrete buildings - and much hope & sweat.
Friday, May 15, 2009
im alive
yo yo!
ich wollte nur mal ne kurze nachricht hinterlassen, dass ich still am leben bin und auch immer noch in der türkei =P
im in bodrum right now, a quite touristy place in the southwest of turkey. the more you go to the south the more tourists there are i guess.
so slowly my trip here in turkey will come to an end. i know this posting is far away from being informative & important, but i just kinda wanted to say "hi".
greetings from beyond, hope all is well.
susan (lol)
ich wollte nur mal ne kurze nachricht hinterlassen, dass ich still am leben bin und auch immer noch in der türkei =P
im in bodrum right now, a quite touristy place in the southwest of turkey. the more you go to the south the more tourists there are i guess.
so slowly my trip here in turkey will come to an end. i know this posting is far away from being informative & important, but i just kinda wanted to say "hi".
greetings from beyond, hope all is well.
susan (lol)
Friday, May 01, 2009
babakale / GARP
GARP is the eco-village about 2km away from babakale (a small village at the most western point of asia, 500 residents (= ), initially launched by two wonderful ppl named yannis & murat.
normally were going to garp every day for its still under construction. currently a generator room & the main stone house are being built, windenergy is supposed to be installed this month and a lotof cleaning & fixing minor problems has to be done, getting prepared for summer (=
its not a commune yet, garp is just not ready yet for hosting too many ppl, but maybe its going to be one in the future, well see...right now ppl are coming & going, everybody distributing a lil (or more) to garp. im really really curious about how things will develope in here, its such a beautiful hide-away, the only traffic being the small fishingboats, which nonetheless are fitting perfectly into the scenery...
a yoga retreat, jamming sessions with musicians from all over the world & an art workshop are already being planned halfway, so...(=
too bad i cannot be here in summertime, but ill definately come back! so if anybody has any good ideas or/and is interested in contributing as well: youd be more than welcome!
so, this is gonna be an entry full of pictures i guess:
street of babakale, leading up to yannis' place
view in front of the house, look at all those poppy flowers!
(theyre all over the place in here, im in heaven geeeeez~~~~ *_____*)
the kitchen & living room at the same time:
such a great design!
way up to the kitchen
the terrace:
on that day the weather wasnt that sunny as you can see, but still there was a wow-atmosphere...its so great, you cannot imagine, you have the sun all day at your terrace, every terrace was built facing the west, so...: perfect scenery every day...
the room i stayed in the first few days (with private bath room of course (| ):
afterwards (| :
now, welcome to GARP!
the stone house, made of beautiful black volcanic stone:
the main kitchen
and the outdoor one (;
view from behind the kitchen, on the left handside theres one of the small gardens (=
the private beach |D
view from the terrace of the "boat house"...
...which is this:
(=
amazing vegetation...
in that wooden shack theres the toilet & the shower and the two green things are tents which have to be open first...
anf finally: monica with badem, our lovely fellows =D
well, the pictures are maybe not even giving you the slightest idea of how it really looks; and more importantly how it feels like being there...sometimes pictures just dont show you see...
and one more important thing: in here ive eaten the best best -BEST- food (ive ever had)!
bread, yoghurt, cheese, butter, olive oil, salats... - just everything self-made and grown, you cannot believe that man...cheers!
normally were going to garp every day for its still under construction. currently a generator room & the main stone house are being built, windenergy is supposed to be installed this month and a lotof cleaning & fixing minor problems has to be done, getting prepared for summer (=
its not a commune yet, garp is just not ready yet for hosting too many ppl, but maybe its going to be one in the future, well see...right now ppl are coming & going, everybody distributing a lil (or more) to garp. im really really curious about how things will develope in here, its such a beautiful hide-away, the only traffic being the small fishingboats, which nonetheless are fitting perfectly into the scenery...
a yoga retreat, jamming sessions with musicians from all over the world & an art workshop are already being planned halfway, so...(=
too bad i cannot be here in summertime, but ill definately come back! so if anybody has any good ideas or/and is interested in contributing as well: youd be more than welcome!
so, this is gonna be an entry full of pictures i guess:
street of babakale, leading up to yannis' place
view in front of the house, look at all those poppy flowers!
(theyre all over the place in here, im in heaven geeeeez~~~~ *_____*)
the kitchen & living room at the same time:
such a great design!
way up to the kitchen
the terrace:
on that day the weather wasnt that sunny as you can see, but still there was a wow-atmosphere...its so great, you cannot imagine, you have the sun all day at your terrace, every terrace was built facing the west, so...: perfect scenery every day...
the room i stayed in the first few days (with private bath room of course (| ):
afterwards (| :
now, welcome to GARP!
the stone house, made of beautiful black volcanic stone:
the main kitchen
and the outdoor one (;
view from behind the kitchen, on the left handside theres one of the small gardens (=
the private beach |D
view from the terrace of the "boat house"...
...which is this:
(=
amazing vegetation...
in that wooden shack theres the toilet & the shower and the two green things are tents which have to be open first...
anf finally: monica with badem, our lovely fellows =D
well, the pictures are maybe not even giving you the slightest idea of how it really looks; and more importantly how it feels like being there...sometimes pictures just dont show you see...
and one more important thing: in here ive eaten the best best -BEST- food (ive ever had)!
bread, yoghurt, cheese, butter, olive oil, salats... - just everything self-made and grown, you cannot believe that man...cheers!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
çanakkale
iiiiiiiii am leaving for babakale tmrw ya ya ya!
yannis, that guy from GARP, called me today (to my surprise & happiness!) and since hes going to pass by çanakkale when driving to babakale anyway, he can & will pick me up at ~1pm. (which also means free ride again yay (=)
and finally i will go to GARP, im so happy.
çanakkale is a sweet city, not that big for turkey (~75.000) and not too much to do, but with a beautiful view on the dardanelles. i had an amazing view when i was visiting the gallipoli peninsula (gelibolu), 20mins away from çanakkale by ferry and where the gallipoli campaign (çanakkale savaşları) took place during WWI. one local cser took me with his scooter, so it was a perfect way to explore the island i guess. [edit] there are memorial places all over the island, an impressive place. its hard to imagine that sth like that happened, i mean in general. but gallipoli is a good place, all nationalities there are buried together, in "friendship & peace" how they like to say it. and they are taking care of the place very much, flowers everywhere, plaques on all the important spots, many information about what has happened. so despite the history its a beautiful, peaceful quiet place. every year on 25th april theres also the so-called ANZAC day to commemorate the dead (very special day for australians, theyre coming en masse). [/edit]
i also went to troy (truva) of course, funnily enough with one of those germans i met in istanbul. [edit] theres not much to say about it. theres little left (of course). it definately was worth the trip (4YTL one-way, but 15YTL entrance |P), but still it would have been better to have a guide for that. [/edit]
other than that i got to know a realy nice russian girl and her husband, started more serious turkish-studying, learned a tiny tiny lil bit of trad. turkish dance and finally had time for myself (and for reading, yeah!). loved to tell u guys more about it, but its 4am already and ıll go to bed now. i think ill catch a cold soon, greetings from mr. headache & ms. sore throat...hopefully ill be able to finish this post soon, adding more details and pictures of course.
but well see, GARP is lying ahead of me (=
gnight!
[edit]
the trojan horse which was built for the movie "troy"
sweet çanakkale
gallipoli (gelibolu)
troy (truva)
[/edit]
yannis, that guy from GARP, called me today (to my surprise & happiness!) and since hes going to pass by çanakkale when driving to babakale anyway, he can & will pick me up at ~1pm. (which also means free ride again yay (=)
and finally i will go to GARP, im so happy.
çanakkale is a sweet city, not that big for turkey (~75.000) and not too much to do, but with a beautiful view on the dardanelles. i had an amazing view when i was visiting the gallipoli peninsula (gelibolu), 20mins away from çanakkale by ferry and where the gallipoli campaign (çanakkale savaşları) took place during WWI. one local cser took me with his scooter, so it was a perfect way to explore the island i guess. [edit] there are memorial places all over the island, an impressive place. its hard to imagine that sth like that happened, i mean in general. but gallipoli is a good place, all nationalities there are buried together, in "friendship & peace" how they like to say it. and they are taking care of the place very much, flowers everywhere, plaques on all the important spots, many information about what has happened. so despite the history its a beautiful, peaceful quiet place. every year on 25th april theres also the so-called ANZAC day to commemorate the dead (very special day for australians, theyre coming en masse). [/edit]
i also went to troy (truva) of course, funnily enough with one of those germans i met in istanbul. [edit] theres not much to say about it. theres little left (of course). it definately was worth the trip (4YTL one-way, but 15YTL entrance |P), but still it would have been better to have a guide for that. [/edit]
other than that i got to know a realy nice russian girl and her husband, started more serious turkish-studying, learned a tiny tiny lil bit of trad. turkish dance and finally had time for myself (and for reading, yeah!). loved to tell u guys more about it, but its 4am already and ıll go to bed now. i think ill catch a cold soon, greetings from mr. headache & ms. sore throat...hopefully ill be able to finish this post soon, adding more details and pictures of course.
but well see, GARP is lying ahead of me (=
gnight!
[edit]
the trojan horse which was built for the movie "troy"
sweet çanakkale
gallipoli (gelibolu)
troy (truva)
[/edit]
Sunday, April 05, 2009
bursa
so on 05th april i left istanbul at 4 in the morning.
sb i met on the last cs gathering in kadiköy (asian side) had to leave for bursa for work, so he proposed to give me a lift since hes gonna take the car anyway. before that he fetched me and took me to bosporus university, where an amazing view on istanbul was waiting for us. i think if i lived in the dormitory of such a university, id definately go out every night to enjoy the view. ur looking on the bosporus bridge from afar, all these lights and only dimly visible buildings, nothing moves except for the tiny little white-red headlights & the leaves. and the only thing which is keeping you from entering complete, peaceful silence is the distant honking - remembering you that theres still an outside world.
well okay, so much for that. only tried to give u a slight idea =P
alrighty, so i stayed 5 days in bursa.
its a nice city in general, but nothing too special to see when ur a "real" tourist (or at least u wouldnt stay for 5 days then). it was difficult to find a host in bursa at first (bursa is a city full of students and as there was the final exam week coming up many ppl had to study), but then i changed couches 2times, the first change only to the friends of my first host tho. it was a pleasant stay; i went to university twice (and i gotta admit that i was missing some educational institutions a lil bit =P), visited a really small, charming mosque, saw the whirling dervishes! & also went to a german lesson together with my two second hosts! (=
in comparison to istanbul bursa is a really little city (only 2.5mio instead of 16mio =P), so accordingly the city looks slightly different. i arrived at about 7 in the morning, so not many ppl around, it was grey & cloudy and i was just thinking "whaaaaaa tf???!" i got so used to (and also got to like to prob...) the crowded streets, the honking, the density, the hustle...i was scared of & felt a lil bit uncomfortable with the weird green spaces inbetween the buildings...(but in fact they were weird. since there is so much space it seemed like the buildings were built just wherever ppl felt like it..."scattered" is the right term i guess =P)
the bus ride to çanakkale (about 4 1/2h, 30YTL with "kamil koç") was uneventfully, but still i enjoyed it since it was the first time i really had time on my own. and besides, i like bus rides, even the long ones. im small, so i dont have any problems with my legs (or rather my legs dont have any problems) and its relaxing to simply look out of the window & enjoy the view, everythings constantly moving.
so thats it i guess, enjoy the pictures.
you see...
my first two hosts making dinner for me yehaw! =D (ive never seen sth like that before, 4 men cooking together, so sweet! (; )
in front of the karagöz & hacivat (main characters of the trad. turkish shadow play) museum. my 3rd host on the right handside
the yeşıl cami / green mosque - small but so stunning in its own way, so much more authentic!
beyond belief - 20minutes non-stop whirling...
men on the ground, women above =P
sb i met on the last cs gathering in kadiköy (asian side) had to leave for bursa for work, so he proposed to give me a lift since hes gonna take the car anyway. before that he fetched me and took me to bosporus university, where an amazing view on istanbul was waiting for us. i think if i lived in the dormitory of such a university, id definately go out every night to enjoy the view. ur looking on the bosporus bridge from afar, all these lights and only dimly visible buildings, nothing moves except for the tiny little white-red headlights & the leaves. and the only thing which is keeping you from entering complete, peaceful silence is the distant honking - remembering you that theres still an outside world.
well okay, so much for that. only tried to give u a slight idea =P
alrighty, so i stayed 5 days in bursa.
its a nice city in general, but nothing too special to see when ur a "real" tourist (or at least u wouldnt stay for 5 days then). it was difficult to find a host in bursa at first (bursa is a city full of students and as there was the final exam week coming up many ppl had to study), but then i changed couches 2times, the first change only to the friends of my first host tho. it was a pleasant stay; i went to university twice (and i gotta admit that i was missing some educational institutions a lil bit =P), visited a really small, charming mosque, saw the whirling dervishes! & also went to a german lesson together with my two second hosts! (=
in comparison to istanbul bursa is a really little city (only 2.5mio instead of 16mio =P), so accordingly the city looks slightly different. i arrived at about 7 in the morning, so not many ppl around, it was grey & cloudy and i was just thinking "whaaaaaa tf???!" i got so used to (and also got to like to prob...) the crowded streets, the honking, the density, the hustle...i was scared of & felt a lil bit uncomfortable with the weird green spaces inbetween the buildings...(but in fact they were weird. since there is so much space it seemed like the buildings were built just wherever ppl felt like it..."scattered" is the right term i guess =P)
the bus ride to çanakkale (about 4 1/2h, 30YTL with "kamil koç") was uneventfully, but still i enjoyed it since it was the first time i really had time on my own. and besides, i like bus rides, even the long ones. im small, so i dont have any problems with my legs (or rather my legs dont have any problems) and its relaxing to simply look out of the window & enjoy the view, everythings constantly moving.
so thats it i guess, enjoy the pictures.
you see...
my first two hosts making dinner for me yehaw! =D (ive never seen sth like that before, 4 men cooking together, so sweet! (; )
in front of the karagöz & hacivat (main characters of the trad. turkish shadow play) museum. my 3rd host on the right handside
the yeşıl cami / green mosque - small but so stunning in its own way, so much more authentic!
beyond belief - 20minutes non-stop whirling...
men on the ground, women above =P
last weeks & days in istanbul
geez, im so lagging behind.
although his overall situation was a lil bit difficult he nevertheless was really caring, he took me for a walk on sunday (starting from kurtuluş, the area where he lived), told me a lot of stuff about turkish life and finally also introduced me to my second host (= so regarding my general experiences with turkish men at that time (not good |P) i was really lucky with him, had a good start into cs-life yap!
*moved to my second host on monday, 23th, beşiktaş.
we got along really really well with each other, talking alot about everything actually, went shopping together for her new work (at the british embassy [!]) yeah! xD and going out of course; sometimes together, sometimes not (= so it was a really healthy relationship, i didnt feel pressured about spending 24h with her and neither did she, i felt home at her home.
doing the usual tourist-stuff but also experiencing normal every-day life in istanbul i didnt notice that i ended up spending full 2 weeks at her place. when searching for a host i was going with the males first since i find them to be more easy-going, but i really hope to stay in contact with that woman (=
*i didnt start doing "serious" sight-seeing until 21st march. what i saw:
apart from the cistern and the bazaar i found everything very interesting & impressive. the cistern was nice, but it didnt really give me anything and the bazaar...well, maybe i didnt find it too impressive as ive already seen sth like that in beijıng (but [against my expectations] the salesmen were definately much less hassling than in beijıng!). hagia sophia was f*****cking impressive, but still i think 20YTL are too much (is it contradicting...? Oo) topkapı was also 20YTL, but its huuuuge inside and you can spend a lot more time in there than in the sophia. when leaving the palast in the direction of the archaeology museum there is this really nice & big park. i definately recommend going there for relaxing after the tour!
*went out quite a lot (and became better in drinking i guess xD) and met up with new ppl. a freaky spanish guy, many german-speaking turks, germans |P, weird americans, rasta men & women...(=
the club "araf" (in so-called nevizade) for dancing is reaaaally nice, theyre playing a good mix of jazz, 70s, funk, reggae, rock, balkan beats and of course turkish traditional & modern music. ppl say its a real tourist place there, but still, love(d) it! i became a fan of turkish traditional music, hope to bring back home a bunch of good artists (= also "nayah" is a good place for live music, will cost u 10YTL tho.
attended 3 offıcial cs-gatherings and 1 unoffıcial one. the first 2 meetings havent been too interesting, 90% (turkish) guys and so many freaks! >> but the last one (on the asian side - kadiköy) was really good, decent men who really were just interested in having a good chat & fun. at that one i met the person who gave me a free ride to bursa (=
[edit] that unofficial one was organised by girls from the austrian-highschool in istanbul. she just send random msgs to travellers in istanbul between 18-24yrs, but in the end we all ended up talking in german to each other. we were a group of 7 ppl, 3 from highschool, 3 germans (two other guys who were born around cologne as well! |P) and one "ordinary" turkish guy, who used to live in stuttgart for 1 year...well...yah, germans are EV-ER-Y-WHERE! no kidding. "good" or "bad"?...well, anyway |P it was good & interesting to get to know turkish ppl who were that interested in austria/germany.
walked around the city, ate, talked and later at night seh germans went out drinking & clubbing together with other turkish ppl (livemusic and afterwards reggea = fun fun fun!) so that again was another coming-home-at-6-day...=P [/edit]
*one of my walks through istanbul ended in the northern part of the city: ortaköy.
the center is nice & small, much less touristy & hectic than sultanahmet area, with lots of small antique & jewelry shops (wack! -and afaik also selling real stuff =P). except the noble hotels and huge universities on the way (i also wanna have a university by the sea!!! *__*) the walking route was not too exciting, but still its worth the walk!
also the street from istiklal street leading down to the galata tower (galipdede caddesi?) is really worth seeing. alternative shops with more charm, little cafes...
almost a month has passed since my last entry...but oh well, its not like ur not used to this kind of behaviour...=P
anyway, here are my last weeks & days in istanbul in a kind of summary:
*on friday, 20th, after we came back from our trip to the islands i met my first couchsurfing host. we met in a bar really close to the hostel, had a lil chat (in german =P) etc.anyway, here are my last weeks & days in istanbul in a kind of summary:
although his overall situation was a lil bit difficult he nevertheless was really caring, he took me for a walk on sunday (starting from kurtuluş, the area where he lived), told me a lot of stuff about turkish life and finally also introduced me to my second host (= so regarding my general experiences with turkish men at that time (not good |P) i was really lucky with him, had a good start into cs-life yap!
*moved to my second host on monday, 23th, beşiktaş.
we got along really really well with each other, talking alot about everything actually, went shopping together for her new work (at the british embassy [!]) yeah! xD and going out of course; sometimes together, sometimes not (= so it was a really healthy relationship, i didnt feel pressured about spending 24h with her and neither did she, i felt home at her home.
doing the usual tourist-stuff but also experiencing normal every-day life in istanbul i didnt notice that i ended up spending full 2 weeks at her place. when searching for a host i was going with the males first since i find them to be more easy-going, but i really hope to stay in contact with that woman (=
*i didnt start doing "serious" sight-seeing until 21st march. what i saw:
sultan ahmed / blue mosque (sultanahmed camii)
basilica cistern (yerebatan sarayı / sarnıcı)
hagia sophia (aya sofya)
grand bazaar (kapalı çarsı)
turkish & islamic museum (türk ve islam eserleri müzesi)
istanbul modern
topkapı palast (topkapı sarayı)
basilica cistern (yerebatan sarayı / sarnıcı)
hagia sophia (aya sofya)
grand bazaar (kapalı çarsı)
turkish & islamic museum (türk ve islam eserleri müzesi)
istanbul modern
topkapı palast (topkapı sarayı)
apart from the cistern and the bazaar i found everything very interesting & impressive. the cistern was nice, but it didnt really give me anything and the bazaar...well, maybe i didnt find it too impressive as ive already seen sth like that in beijıng (but [against my expectations] the salesmen were definately much less hassling than in beijıng!). hagia sophia was f*****cking impressive, but still i think 20YTL are too much (is it contradicting...? Oo) topkapı was also 20YTL, but its huuuuge inside and you can spend a lot more time in there than in the sophia. when leaving the palast in the direction of the archaeology museum there is this really nice & big park. i definately recommend going there for relaxing after the tour!
*went out quite a lot (and became better in drinking i guess xD) and met up with new ppl. a freaky spanish guy, many german-speaking turks, germans |P, weird americans, rasta men & women...(=
the club "araf" (in so-called nevizade) for dancing is reaaaally nice, theyre playing a good mix of jazz, 70s, funk, reggae, rock, balkan beats and of course turkish traditional & modern music. ppl say its a real tourist place there, but still, love(d) it! i became a fan of turkish traditional music, hope to bring back home a bunch of good artists (= also "nayah" is a good place for live music, will cost u 10YTL tho.
attended 3 offıcial cs-gatherings and 1 unoffıcial one. the first 2 meetings havent been too interesting, 90% (turkish) guys and so many freaks! >> but the last one (on the asian side - kadiköy) was really good, decent men who really were just interested in having a good chat & fun. at that one i met the person who gave me a free ride to bursa (=
[edit] that unofficial one was organised by girls from the austrian-highschool in istanbul. she just send random msgs to travellers in istanbul between 18-24yrs, but in the end we all ended up talking in german to each other. we were a group of 7 ppl, 3 from highschool, 3 germans (two other guys who were born around cologne as well! |P) and one "ordinary" turkish guy, who used to live in stuttgart for 1 year...well...yah, germans are EV-ER-Y-WHERE! no kidding. "good" or "bad"?...well, anyway |P it was good & interesting to get to know turkish ppl who were that interested in austria/germany.
walked around the city, ate, talked and later at night seh germans went out drinking & clubbing together with other turkish ppl (livemusic and afterwards reggea = fun fun fun!) so that again was another coming-home-at-6-day...=P [/edit]
*one of my walks through istanbul ended in the northern part of the city: ortaköy.
the center is nice & small, much less touristy & hectic than sultanahmet area, with lots of small antique & jewelry shops (wack! -and afaik also selling real stuff =P). except the noble hotels and huge universities on the way (i also wanna have a university by the sea!!! *__*) the walking route was not too exciting, but still its worth the walk!
also the street from istiklal street leading down to the galata tower (galipdede caddesi?) is really worth seeing. alternative shops with more charm, little cafes...
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