Hanging Out in Turkey for a Month!

Looks like an awesome place!

Found this on the internet.

Go to a nice cafe and ask for Tawuk (tavuk?) Durum. It is a chicken kebap roll. They use that wonderful flat Ekmek (bread) that is so soft and chewy to wrap wonderfully spiced chicken with some veggies. It is sometimes called an Adana kebap roll.

Best enjoyed with a nice cold Tuborg or Effes!

Drew K

here maybe this will cheer you up.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Minot+ND+58701

Frosticles!

We compare the weather every day!

I still have not gotten them to understand that what is sweater weather around here in Turkey is still shorts and short sleeve weather for me!

I have noticed some interesting cultural differences here!

One is they do not have have fat people here. Or not by what I define as fat being the scooter riding obese whales seen everywhere in the US.

I have literally seen tens of thousands of people now when out and about and have yet to see a single person who was riding a mobility scooter because they were to fat to walk! To me this seems odd being that the prices for food here are half or less than what they are in the US.

What I am seeing is the overall average of the population is about 2/3 - 3/4 the build as the typical American person.

Also I have yet to see a single beggar bum or steet person either.

I do have to say I like the apparent road rules here too. There are no idiots who wander out in traffic thinking that the pedestrian has the right of way. So far in getting around one cab driver clipped a guy with his mirror and kept right on going explaining that the idiot walking out into active traffic is at fault and not the driver of the vehicle.

It also appears that if at a crosswalk if the sign is not lit giving people the right of way vehicles don't have to do anything but sound their horn and drive right through if there are people on the road crossing illegally.

Lawyers and welfare can take care of all of that common sense within a couple years.

I used to describe the taxi drivers as having one hand on the wheel, the other on the gearshift and the other on the horn! They also have some sort of relay that causes the horn to stutter in a rapid beep beep beep sequence.

I did hear a disturbing story that if your taxi should get into a wreck that you should just get out and walk rapidly away. Something about you hiring the taxi and being responsible for it being there to get in a wreck.

I was riding my sportbike there (my avatar is my bike at Kizkalesi) and only got one ticket; it was for turning right on a red light. They sent the ticket to me in the mail almost a year after the offense (because the police dept didn't have money for stamps till then!). I was told to just pretend I didn't get it in the mail and turn in my plates when I left because they probably didn't have enough stamps to send it to anyone else.

I did see many fat people there, but no mobility scooters, not even the disabled guy who worked at a local hotel and walked on his hands. There were a bunch of beggers who would hang out at a location they had staked out. I only ever saw the same guy at any one location, a Turkish friend of mine said that it can get competitive for a prime location. The Turkish people give to charity differently than Americans or most Europeans, they give directly to the needy. They may not give much but they give often.

Drew K

My wife and I went to the citadel this afternoon for a bit of sightseeing. That was very interesting to say the least!

You can literally walk all over it including the the upper lookout walls that are something like 70+ feet high and have absolutely no railing anywhere!

The safety and liability lawyers would have a field day if this place was in the US.

I really enjoyed it but all the hills and steps were not to my wife's liking. Especially when the kid giving us a tour told us the one old lady selling stuff up at the top was his great grandma who was in her 80's and walks up there and back many times a day while selling trinkets to tourists.

I spent the afternoon going around to some of the ancient archeological sites in Ankara today!

Interesting engineering and history to see and learn about!

It would appear that although technology has improved over the last 3000 or so years the social issues politics and environmental issues are still the same.

Back then their politicians promised the world and never delivered. People prayed to their deities to save the trees/plant life/animals/water from human destruction and ruin, every society was on the brink of collapse/end of the world, and every believer's gods were just around the corner coming to come and pick them up to take them away from everything.

Same vices, same limitations, same lies, same life as we have it now.

It appears as though the gods have been angered by your visit to a milder climate!

Drew K

We got tear gassed today! Apparently some people were protesting down the street from our motel and caused enough of a stink to get the local law enforcement to drop a few tear gas canisters in the crowds.

Rather amusing to me to say the least. My wife thought it was terrible but I didn't find the light amount we were exposed to the least bit irritating. (Her complaining was far more so.) I guess growing up with the foul smells of farm life makes a guy a bit more tolerant of this sort of stuff.

As I understand it a group of people were gathered at the end of our street protesting (Whining and complaining about things they don't understand or care to learn about much like my wife does) and enough people got tired of it so in came the law enforcement.

BTW does anyone know where a guy can by tear gas in a small reusable/multi use container? Something like a Mace sprayer. It could come in handy at home when the old hen gets too opinionated pecky some days.

Are you sure you're not in Oakland?

Since you're over there, I'd be interested in knowing what regular people, think of:

America

Our president

US involvement in the middle east

Radical Islam

The war on terrorism

Israel

The possibility of a nuclear armed Iran

Just if you happen to get a chance to ask. The real deal comes from the street; not from any news outlets. If it's too political, you can either PM me, or post in the OT section.

So far the vast majority of people are just like our ordinary US citizens that the mass media has no interest in.

They think their and our governments and media are ran by clueless idiots who are more concerned about everyone elses problems but their own.

Apparently the riot today is mostly from teachers and others right out of college who supposedly can't find jobs in their field. It's not that they can't find work. They could being there are the equivalent of help wanted signs all over. It's just that they do not want to work anywhere but where their degrees apply and at a good starting pay. (Heaven forbid they have to put in their time picking up garbage or waiting tables for a few years at minimum wage.)

Sound familiar?

After having been around the larger cities and into the old parts of them I have been learning about how the social classes actually fit here Vs how the world media portrays things.

The vast majority of Turkey is no different than the US and is in many way actually superior to us. What I always thought of these countries were what the media shows after a major disaster which is these tightly packed crappy tile roofed dwellings stacked on top of each other and literally falling down the hill sides.

NOPE! Those places are the equivalent to our abandoned trailer parks and slums or worse being occupied by squatters and bums.

Very few people feel bad for anyone who lives there. They are living illegally in condemned or state owned locations in structures literally built out of scrounged and stollen rubble and trash and everyone knows it.

Two of the things that have always amazed me:

1) The relative sameness of people around the world, as far as life, values, and goals. By and large, most people are decent and hard working.

2) The ability of government to convince us that we are enemies.

Yep. The secret to world peace is to get rid of world government.

What I see around here is they have our American hero's on tee shirts. They play our American music in the background at every store. Our American toys like X-box and the like are everywhere and so far the majority of people speak enough English to be able to understand what I am asking for when buying something.

Same with our big brand name vehicles being all over. Unfortunately given the info the taxi drivers are saying they get way better fuel mileage numbers than our American equivalents and insist it's because they have better fuel and less emissions system requirements.

Their big diesel city transit system buses accelerate like our sports cars yet the puff of smoke they make when doing it does not have that heavy diesel smell our American ones do. In fact even in the heaviest traffic there is no exhaust smell other than the odd LPG powered taxi thats running too rich and the air itself is very clear and clean at street level!

Also their streets and stores are all very well lit with good quality Induction, CFL and LED lighting tech that still has yet to catch on in most of the US and everywhere I have went so far has felt safe despite the vast crowds of people.

Don't forget to haggle when you're buying something...it's actually pretty fun.

There used to be some great deals in the market, (bazaar?), in Istanbul. Especially on Persian rugs. I wish I had bought 100 of them.

I let my wife do the talking/arguing/haggling. She likes it that way.

Personally I don't find much to haggle about. Everything here is so cheap!

I had a good friend when I was there, he had a CBR 1000 Fireblade. We would go riding together when we could. He had a Masters or PhD in Biology and used to teach at a university...until he got a job working on the American military base bussing tables in the cantina. The bussing tables job paid more than his teaching job because he was getting paid by the U.S. He said it was the best job anyone in his family had had and he was supporting an extended family on his pay. He said even though it was really good pay, the Americans working the same or similar job got paid even more. He couldn't believe how much money they went through and once said he could feed his family for a year on what they got in just a few months!

I can understand that some of the population grumbling about low pay for advanced education...but then again, they chose their field of study. I looked at employment opportunities before I ever started college and there is plenty of work for an Engineer!

Drew K

Now that I have had some time to watch foreign TV I have to say seeing my favorite shows and cartoon characters redubbed into foreign languages it's really disappointing.

So many of the redubs don't have voices that are anywhere near what the real actors voices are and the cartoon voice over actors do not have the 'over the top' styles the original ones have. Most don't even come close the original character voice tones either.

That's probably a hint that you should be doing something else than watching TV.

My wife and I take turns deciding what to do on the days we do not have travel or passport related stuff to do.

My days we go see ancient ruins and learn things about what has happened here in the last 3 - 4 thousand years.

Her days we mostly sit in the motel and watch mind numbing TV until she gets hungry enough to be willing to walk a few block to eat. That's how I know this.

Now we are back at her family's home in Antalya and shouldn't have to travel much for government paperwork and the like any more for the next 3 weeks.

She has a rather nice old 1975 Volkswagen Beetle that needs some fixing up (tires, brakes battery and fluid changes mostly) but at the moment I am having a hard time finding a auto parts place like the vast number we have in the US.

So far what I am seeing could be fixed for around $400 - $500 in the US and in return they would have a good functioning car again. However for whatever reason she is set against it and feels that spending 4 - 5 times that a year on public transportation and taxis is a better deal.

The taxi service here costs about 2.50 TL a Km here and so far our week in Ankara worked out to around $50 a day average on transportation alone.

Now that we are at her home we are down to around $10 - $20 a day average for everyone which to me is still way too high given we have a repairable road worthy vehicle just sitting here.

That and I don't take sitting around watching TV eating and petting the cats all day that well. I need something outside to fix dammit!

Find out who the patron of the family is. It isn't always the eldest, it is usually the main breadwinner. I do recall a fierce independance in the Turkish friends I had but if they feel like they won't 'owe' you anything for helping you might have better luck.

Or you could find out who the household mr-fixit is and start the conversation that way?

Good luck!

Drew K

Given the amount of money my wife sends here every month I suspect it's her.

Her parents are retired civil government employees so there really isn't any fixer of anything around here. Anything that needs fixing either doesn't get done or someone get hired to do it.

Mostly I just need something to do. I am just not suited to a sedentary city type persons lifestyle. My hands are getting itchy from not having my tools and things to work on!

Well, when the itch becomes too great grab a can of Effes or Tuborg and think that you could be shovelling out of the latest winter storm!

Drew K

Tomorrow her dad and I are going to a huge building supply center to look around.

Granted he is 70ish has heart problems but at least he can outwalk my wife on speed and distance at least 2:1 without whining!

Seriously we were at the local mall when the power went out and the escalators quit. I thought we were going to be stuck on the 4th floor until the fire and rescue people came to carry her down.

LoL, I was at the cinema one time when that happened. Everyone cleared out and went outside for a smoke then when the power came back on we went back inside and finished.

Another time I was getting a hair cut and without missing a beat the old fellow put the electric clippers down and picked up a manual set that worked by squeezing them! He was my favorite barber because he would burn excess hair off my neck and ears with a cotton wool ball soaked in alcohol.

Drew K

We were at the local food market yesterday (big outdoor Turkish farmers market thing) and there was a older fellow with a two cycle powered wheelchair that appeared to have started life as parts of an old wheelchair, a small motorcycle, and maybe one or two electric wheel chairs.

It was maybe 3 feet wide and 5 feet long so getting around the market with it was no problem at all.

He even had electric start and a little cart bed designed into it too! He would buzz up to what ever stand he wanted to buy something from and point out what he wanted and the seller would load him up.

He had a sort of motorcycle handlebar steering, brakes, and throttle system that swung off to one side when he wasn't driving so he could lean forward and look at things or pull right up to a table and sit there without having to change seats.

I am sure it was custom built but the design looked well thought out and apparently worked very well.

Damn if that wasn't the coolest most interesting thing I saw there!

I wanted to hire him to drive my wife back to her house being it was a good 5 blocks away and walking back with her loaded down with a hand cart full of veggies along with my arms full of bags is like walking with an old woman with ADD and is pulling a big rock behind her.

Well it's official. My wife is slower than a Bulgarian bag lady street beger.

We were touring the ancient Antalya Marina and she got passed on the sidewalk by a slow hunched over street lady using a cane and begging for change.

Good god for someone with legs longer than mine she can move slow some days.

It's not that she is disabled or crippled or anything else. Well her feet hurt which causes her legs to hurt which causes her back to hurt all because she has to wear "fashionable" shoes instead of good walking shoes is the main problem.

I call it a self inflicted condition which rules out the being actually disabled or crippled thus get no sympathy from me whatsoever.

According to her now "so many years ago when she was young" (She's 37 now) she used to walk, ride bike and the like everywhere so now that she is older and a "professional" (professional excuse maker and whiner maybe) she shouldn't have to do such stuff any more if she doesn't want to.

I was looking at renting a motorcycle or scooter for a few days to do a bit of mountain road riding (there about $100 a week here) on my own but so far that got shot down because she doesn't know how to ride one. I never asked her to or expected to include her in my run abouts but still since she can't ride one I apparently can't either even though I have owned and ridden motorcycles since my teens.

Riding there was an experience. I bounced off of a dolmus when it pulled out in front of me (there was less than a car-length between me and the vehicle in front of me). I was going slow enough that I got my foot down in time to keep the bike from hitting the pavement but it did move my mirror and push the turn signal out of it's socket. The driver was terrified when he saw that I was a biker on a sportbike because the only Turkish people who ride bikes like mine were wealthy and had enough money and power to get themselves out of trouble for doing some serious damage to the driver and his family.

I did my best to comfort the poor old guy and assure him that I was not injured and would not be causing trouble!

Drew K