Peace and Humptiness

It's fair to say that I find myself with a lot of time on my hands. And it's not the first time in my life I've had this luxury - which by the way you shouldn't be fooled into thinking is all good news.


In many ways I think it's a unique opportunity as I - like many others - easily get tied up in the daily workings of life. It's something I've noticed and written about before. Walking to work in Edinburgh particularly comes to mind where the people I looked at seemed like machines. I couldn't help but think that they probably walked exactly the same path and even the exact same footfalls the day before.


Historically when I've had too much time to ruminate I've spent the time stressing about how my life isn't what I want it to be and how it's the people around me who have caused it to be so.  Thus isn't not been a terribly rewarding experience.


These days it has a better groove to it. Whilst it still has a philosophical slant, my thoughts tend to move into some of the bigger questions. Questions like: Why? or to give you a bit more to work with Why are we here?


It seems funny to me how we humans approach things. I can't help but think we must be among the dumbest creatures on the planet. 


In essence life really is quite easy. What's it all about? Well in my view we are little different from any other animal be it 2 or 4 legs. We go throughout our day providing for our basic daily needs: food and shelter. 


Along the way we have some other things going on too. Say for example Not the rudimentary ones like visiting the latrine but the inbuilt desire for a partner. Whether this is to satisfy our social or sexual needs isn't so relevant. The desire is still there. And I'd even throw into the hat the idea that those who don't have these needs are only convincing themselves of such because they've become somewhat disillusioned with the world and people in it (or like all thoughts this is maybe just a reflection of my mind).


When I was younger (as I'm so old now) I put together a phrase I particularly like:

Peace and humptiness forever

The peace part relates to the obvious - let's live peacefully with one another. Humptiness comes from a theme in a Fresh Prince (Will Smith) song. In the song doing the "Humpty dance" refers to having sex/making love with/to someone.


At the time I was firmly of the belief that we are on this planet for one reason and that is simply to reproduce. Built into our systems like every other animal is the desire to produce more of ourselves. In Darwinian terms without this trait we'd become extinct right?


Dang I've lost track of why I went down this path. Even going back and reading the blurb doesn't help. So I'll assume it was all about the simplicity of our existence and it's meaning. Hmm … or… perhaps about humans being stupid. Yeah let's continue on the latter.


So if our basic reason for existence is to eat and sleep then why-oh-why do we spend so much time making our life so complex?


Just take a quick look around you and count the number of people who are complaining about something (like I am now lol).


Wouldn't it be so much easier to focus on what's going right and let bygones be bygones? Apparently not. 


I suspect this has something to do with taking responsibility for our lives. If we can lay the blame at someone else's door then we can happily go forward thinking that our ills are someone else's fault. I mean we're perfect aren't we? It surely can't be my fault if I'm unhappy.


And please don't be fooled into thinking that my life is glorious. Because like my perception of others lives it has it's good and bad moments. In addition I feel my pendulum swings are quite large and think it would be nicer if they were a little smaller but have since realised that this isn't the way it works for me.


Hmm .. I've run out of momentum … so where to leave this?


Well I think it's best to leave you with this idea:

Life is simple...

Thanks to Cool Cookie & Life for this quote

Quick hit

So much to update you on. Been a hectic 24 hours.


But I'll be short and say I have a new home with a couple from Syria and Italy and I think our flat mate is from Australia.


Fell much more relaxed that this morning that's for sure!

Cats

Another Turkish red-tape story. This time with cats…

I'm sure I've spoken of this before and I'm sure I'll speak of it again.

A week or more ago I took a trip to a new area for me called Fatih. 

Of all the areas of Istanbul this one is often referred to as the most religious - in the sense that you are more likely to see women wearing a niqab or al-amira. Perhaps it's more religious because it is closer to the old historical area of Sultanamet. Whilst the al-amira is quite common in Istanbul the niqab isn't. I'd shudder to guess at percentages but a rough idea from simple observation might be: European style of clothing 70%, niqab 25%, al-amira 5%.  

I got up really early for my trip to the Police department in Fatih who manage passports, visas, permits and the like. 

[Opps I had to hit <backspace> a few times here as I realised I'd written about this already! - see "Efes Dark Brown"]

On this occasion and also following my return with the correct proof of sufficient money I took a zig-zag journey through Fatih just to see more of the area.

This took me through a new camii (mosque) or rather one that was having some work done to it. 

As with a number of mosques there are many entry points as the compass goes. In between the entry points in this care were grassy areas fenced off with iron railings. 

The local stray cats think this is a great thing as it allows them a private area of their own away from the public if they want some space to have babies, lie in peace or whatever. Having said this they are very friendly and like to interact with people albeit usually near the fences to they can make a quick exit to safety if needs be.

On my second trip here I parked for quite a while. I'd returned to the same spot as the previous time as it's off the main track and there were some cats that seemed to like me so I was hoping for a rendezvous.

Sure enough they popped up and we had a chat. Rather than pick them up or put them on my lap I let them do their own thing. I've noticed that if you stop petting them as well they tend to make up their minds as to whether they want to sit down and snooze or more onto the next "victim" in search of food.

After half an hour or so I had 4 cats sitting on me. 2 were slouching over my head and shoulders with the assistance of my backpack to sit on and the other 2 were on my lap. I couldn't sit up straight as to do so would have caused the 2 on the top to fall down.

So there I was sitting like a hunchback for quite a considerable time whilst the locals meandered past me with a variety of looks on their faces.

It was clear that some thought I was mad and to be fair I'd have to support them if it came down to betting. I can be pretty darn eccentric at the best of times.

Others - usually women or children - would smile (with me not at me). 

And fewer still would stop and say something. This particular minority I found very interesting. They tended to be at least 60+ and when they spoke to me Allah often came up in the conversation. Of course I have no idea in what context but based on their body language and tone I'd say it was a compliment and got the impression that it was a good thing to "be at one" with the animals.

I was quite chuffed with their praise.

= To do list - not a blog

Turtles
Meaning of life= partner
Travel v family
Bus cards to front
Movie break

Slow but Damned Cute

Ülkü is a student from my old work. She introduced me to her friend Sabriye who in turn introduced me to a group of Turks who get together for various events.


The name of the group is Etkinlik Dünyası which when I translated it came back as World Event. Ha! I only just translated it as part of writing this blog. Quite a grand title.


Anyway this is only one of many groups run by Kemal - a man of much experience in his 63 years. My first interaction with Etkinlik Dünyası was with Kemal guiding us around some sites in Istanbul. 


Sabriye, prior to the event, had told me that the members were older than most. I had anticipated a bunch of geriatrics who enjoyed getting together for tea and crumpets with an educational theme. What I wasn't prepared for was a bunch of geriatrics with the energy and enthusiasm of people in their 30s.


We spent the whole day walking around Istanbul taking photos and stopping occassionally so Kemal could pass on his knowledge of a particular site. When we stopped for a tea break Sabriye pulled out a skipping rope from her bag! I thought this was an odd thing to be carrying around with you on a guided tour of a city but turns out it's a mini-theme with this group.


Abdulhalim, who is 70, was 2nd in line to hop about with the rope. It gives you a feel for the nature of the people.


Since the initial meeting we've: trekked 14km of Belgrade Forest, trekked Beykoz Forest, visited a number of museums and camii (mosques), been to Miniatürk which is a collection of miniatures of the famous sites of Turkey, gone ice skating and swimming.


Thus on my Facebook I am now a member of 4 or 5 groups. All the people are Turkish and so is the language of the discussions i.e. I don't understand a thing.


Basically it's great for me as it gives me something to do and people to spend the time with which in my current predicament of having not so many friends to kick around with is a great thing. Ha what a sentence - don't show that to any potential employers!


As mentioned above one of the trips was to Beykoz Forest. On this particular trek I encountered something I've never seen before on a walk in any country - turtles!


I noticed that some of the group were gathered around something and went to inspect. Low-and-behold there was a turtle about the length of my foot. If you really want me to I'll take a picture of my foot so you can measure :)


It was a real surprise and I didn't expect to see them again but I did. In fact I almost trod on one. It was doing it's own trek from one side of the path to the other and was partially covered in growth.


You can imagine my relief at having seen it before standing on it! Really - I can't think of anything worse than treading on a turtle in the forest - can you?

A Menagerie of Items

WARNING: Do not read if you can be offended by discussions about "wet dreams" or content of a sexual nature.


1. Half Awake


Best to start at the beginning. I went to bed sometime after 3am and woke at 6.30am. Needless to say (which logically is a silly thing to state) I'm pretty tired and my brain isn't functioning yet.


Recently I've been getting up when I wake up. Not because I'm trying to get into a good sleeping pattern or anything sensible like that but because I don't feel like lying in bed.


Given that I'm a man of leisure once again what usually ensues is that I have breakfast, toddle about for a bit online and then go back to bed when my eyes start closing on me.


2. Bed Wetting


This one stems from a young fella in our household going through this awkward problem. It made me wonder if this is a boy thing or happens to girls too. I assume it does as it's described as a bladder disfunction.


In my research I came across this from Urban Dictionary and simply had to share :)

Bed wetting: what happens when you ignore your penis for too long and it decides to plot out revenge.

Just before I continue onto the story I'd best add that I discovered this topic should have been called "Wet Dreams" rather than bed wetting.


Actually it's rather a convoluted story but hopefully you'll be able to follow it.


I don't know about you but when I was a kid I had wet dreams. When it first happened I was shocked. Then I got to like it. Then I got to hate it.


The reason for the latter is that it occurred randomly. Sometimes this would be at a most inconvenient time like when I was at a karate camp and shared a room with 5 guys.


The funny thing is that whilst it was something I didn't want as a child I'd be quite happy to have one now.


This line of thinking also came from the fact that I only seem to have nightmares these days. I can't recall when this started to happen but it's been going on for some time now. Again doing some research I've discovered that medication I'm using results in 7% of users having "abnormal dreams". 


And so wishing for something on the lighter side made me think of nocturnal emissions or wet dreams.


It also made me laugh about the "circle of life". I've read somewhere that our mind's abilities go in a circle over our lifetime or put another way we revert to our childhood as we get old.


Lastly this nightmare scenario is more about the recent past that a long term thing. In fact the other side effect of the medication is that my dreams can be very vivid. So much so in fact that a couple of times I've had really long vivid dreams that I thought would make very very unique and awesome movie plots. Shame I can't remember them in the morning and become a billionaire!


3. Memory


Hmm speaking of memory. I have a general lack of one and right now I've forgotten the other stories I wanted to tell so this particular blog will have to be a work in progress….

Circumcision - Muslimism

Eek! That's my first reaction anyway.


and.. ok so I invented a new word - muslimism. I figure being a pretend English teacher has to have it's perks.


So today is a special day in Boran's life. Today he was circumcised. It's a major event in the life of a Turkish child. I'm not sure what it signifies especially but it's a requirement to become a Muslim. So I guess therein I've answered my own question.


Funnily enough it came up in another discussion just recently and considering the topic that's got to be pretty unusual and quite a coincidence. I think so anyway.


The other topic developed over time on Saturday as the walking crew returned from a manic forest trek (we got lost and well and truly had to make a new track to get out).


As with our trip the previous weekend Sabriye, Ülkü and I stood on the bus in a group. We were joking around and poking fun at Ülkü by saying her good friend Mete was her boyfriend. 


This lead onto a really funny discussion. I asked Ülkü if she would marry a non-Muslim. She said she wouldn't and when I asked why she said she wasn't sure. After a while she came out and said she actually would.


So I suggested she and I marry later this week which brought some laughter. We went onto talk about other things and quite some time later she was talking about her mother. She mentioned that her mum was the "boss" in the house.


This prompted me to ask her if she was the boss also and she said she was. At this point I said the marriage was off as I couldn't deal with this. More laughter..


The whole topic then came to me talking about the fact that it seemed from recent discussions that if I was to marry a Turk I'd need to become a Muslim as most women felt they should marry someone of the same faith. I'd done some very basic reading on what this entailed and found that - and I have to embarrassingly admit to my surprise in my ignorance - it was fundamentally the same as other religions.


So then I posed to various people the question "Who would my life change if I were to become a Muslim". This brought a mix of answers the whittled down to very little when I mentioned that as with any religion being a member doesn't imply full participation.


In Turkey which is 98% Muslim they practice in varying degrees ranging from merely a title to the full whack with 5 prayer sessions a day etc.


Then this morning I posed the same question to Emrah and along with the obvious and perhaps because we had already talked about Boran he told me I'd have to be circumcised. 


Interestingly this immediately put me off the idea of being Muslim whereas nothing else beforehand had.


So let's end on a positive note anyways - here is the garb they dress in here to celebrate..

Two days later: Poor Boran. I feel for him. He's walking around the house in a singlet pulling it away from his body so it's not in contact with you-know-what.

A Very Sad Day

sniff…. sniff… 
Emrah has deserted me to return to his home town. It's all very sad really.


It's not the end but certainly a break. Who knows when we will next connect?


Actually it's a good excuse to see some more of Turkey and perhaps even more of the "real" Turkey as it's a plane flight and some from Istanbul.


Which leaves me alone at home with the progressively madder Mevlüde. I was reminded by Emrah that this means it's time to move on. He said that this month there won't be any power, water etc. I said that was ok I can do without those things - have a cold shower etc. Then it occured to me that no power means no internet and I had to eat my words.


I can't live without WiFi!


So by now I'm thinking Emrah is sitting down with his sister and brother-in-law enjoying the homely atmosphere and lack of someone yelling at him. He has his feet up and is enjoying a beer together with his sisters lovely home cooked food.


Hmm … I'm quite jealous.

Efes Dark Brown

Been an odd week really. It started off with a bang with the walks and meeting a horde of new Istanbulus. Then it immediately got back to the hum drum on Monday. Mind you it was pretty cool having a record 78 visits in a short space of time. These were to look at and 'like' or comment on the pictures I'd taken of the weekends activities.


Since then it's been a lot of not sleeping at night and taking "Nanna naps" during the day. I've tried to get motivated to clear a couple of things and succeeded even though it took me 3-4 days to do what could have been done in 3-4 hours.


Still progress is progress and I'm glad to have a lot of paperwork behind me and to have made some decisions along the way.


The key event has to be this mornings interview with the police to see about a residency permit. It took a while to find the right place to be but once there the process was relatively simple. Albeit (seems to be my word for 2011) that I didn't realise I needed to have plenty of cash in my Turkish bank account to provide I could pay for myself for the term of the residency.


So 50% of it is now complete. The rest based on what the officer said will be a matter of course (crosses fingers). Just wait for the funds to transfer from New Zealand and return to the police station to complete the paperwork and pay the fees.


This weekend looks to be interesting in terms of how much of it I'll survive. There's more walking ahead and my blistered foot is still objecting from last weekend. It's silly to exacerbate it but it's dead boring to not attend as well. Guess which one wins?!


After the initial rush on contacts with the locals following last weekend the ones that really want to have a yarn have identified themselves. I'm still having chats with people I've never met which is quite fun as there's always the opportunity of meeting at some stage.


Oh.. was almost about to sign off without mentioning the title…Efes is the local beer and in a lot of places the only one you can get. They have normal and dark varities. Today at the late night store (which I'm now frequenting more than I should) I spotted one called Efes Dark Brown.


I figured it was worth a try. Turns out it's beer and coffee together and packs quite a kick. I only had one which was enough ..!

Crazy Shopping Woman

Edit: I just changed the title of this blog and thought "Mention women and shopping in the same sentence and you know you are in for trouble".


After the long day searching for the police I was off to meet Elif who I had met on the forest walk.


She said that she had some work to do but that we should meet up first and then we could go for dinner. So I'm thinking no worries. A short bit of work and then some food. I hadn't eaten since breakfast in the morning.


So with some good directions I took a bus about an hour north of Istanbul to an affluent area just north of Bebek. It's quite tricky at times knowing where to go and more so where to get off public transport. 


I was asking Elif where I should hop off the bus when she asked me to give the phone to a local. So the poor unsuspecting guy sitting next to me got a tap on the shoulder and a phone shoved in his face. Luckily he was very accomodating. 


A short while later he returned the phone and Elif told me to look out for her waiting at a bus stop.


Later on down the track the guy motioned for me to follow him off the bus. I hadn't seen Elif but figured he knew what he was doing and I knew we were in the right general area from watching signs and shop names along the way. Plus it looked like a good place to eat and had a wealthy feel about it.


He tried to indicate something about taksis (taxis) and pointed into the distance past a roundabout. Realising that I wasn't quite following him he motioned for me to follow and took me to a taxi rank where he motioned me to stop and take a seat.


We called Elif and I guess he told her where I was. A short while later she found me.


As we headed off to where she needed to work the same man spotted us, came across the road and shook our hands. Passed a few words and said farewell. I'd say he was about 48 years old.


Earlier Elif had tried to explain what the work entailed. I got the gist that she needed to supervise some staff doing something and then we would head off for food.


Turns out I was a tad wrong.


As we walked to Carrefour which is one of the major supermarket chains she further explained her role. It was then that I realised she was about to do some covert market research. This was her new part-time job that helps her save to attend university.


She said she was very nervous as this was the first time and she wasn't sure how to sneakily take notes in her book to answer the massive number of questions that the market research required. 


Her idea was to pose as a guide for me who was helping me shop. It was quite funny as due to her nerves she made an elaborate cover story and seemed very concerned about being found out.


I spent my time trying to convince her that no-one cared what she was doing and besides we drew a fair amount of attention to ourselves. We found a collection of swimming pool tubes, grabbed one each and proceeded to pretend we were in Star Wars. A few bashes later and she got me a real good hard knock to my nose which prompted many apologies and brought and end to the fun.


And so we proceeded around the supermarket writing down information on the products and then we had to buy some items, get some help, and return some items. It was all a bit mad really. And totally not what I had expected.


I mean - who invites someone to dinner and then drags them around a supermarket pretending to shop!? And when you hardly know each other? Very weird.


Another thing we did was cause havoc at check out. One of the items we bought was two pears. Although I hadn't noticed Elif had removed the pricing sticker that a staff member had given us after weighing the fruit.


So when we arrived to pay there was a small commotion as the assistant told us we needed to weight the fruit to get a price. Turns out that it's their job to call someone and get them to run and get a price for us. Turns out that this particular fella wasn't interested in this at all. He only did it when Elif asked him to.


Once another staff member had got the price we caused another commotion by not wanting to queue again as he suggested. In fact he just placed our pears at the end of a line of people and was about to walk off which I thought was a bit poor.


Once again she had to intervene and we got "special treatment" and he opened an isle to process our purchase.


At the end I was quite tired of it all but it was a fun exercise and certainly something I would be very surprised to find myself doing again.


Just as well we made our own entertainment along the way...

Too Much Walking!

Argh! I have a nasty blister on my heel. But really one shouldn't complain about having a good time going out walking.

Yesterday I had to find the Tourist Police and report the stolen clothes.

The good news is that their offices are located right in the middle of where the major tourist attractions are so in theory they are easy to find. I'm sure you took note of the word "theory". With map in hand albeit of a smaller localised area I headed off to where the Grand Bazaar and Aya Sofya are.

Actually I'd been there twice before and thought that looking at the overview of this area of Sultanamet it's pretty easy to spot the unusual 6 minaret mosque. The  police are right next to it.

But when you start winding your way around and through the bazaar you (well I) have no idea which direction I'm facing. So for 3 hours I walked to this area from home and then round and round in circles.

My foot was really starting to hurt so I'd decided to pack it in and go home when long-and-behold there it was! I was very relieved that I didn't have to return and do it all over again.

The police thought it was bizarre that I was reporting stolen clothes but when you add up the value I'd decided it was worth making an insurance claim.

A total pain in the neck of course.

Cursed Myself

I don't believe it - I cursed myself!


Have you ever had the thought that your day was too perfect and something was going to go wrong at some point?


I had arrived home and noticed that my washing wasn't on the line. I thought "Wouldn't it be funny/typical that after such an awesome day the clothes hadn't been taken inside by a flatmate but in fact been stolen". And that's exactly what had happened.


Enough of that and onto the day.


It was spent with the same group as yesterday with quite a few extras of varying ages. The youngest was 18 and the oldest - well lets guess in the 60s somewhere. We took a 1 hour bus ride from Istanbul and headed north to Belgrade Forest. 


It so resembled New Zealand it was quite amazing. I even saw some fern type plants which I was surprised at. 


Even though the group had some older members we did a pretty heavy hike across sometimes rough terrain. Just as well the oldies were very youthful. Again during a break a few of them played about with skipping ropes. Quite amazing really!


Throughout the day we stopped for breaks and lunch etc. There was sometimes dancing lessons at these stops. It was a sort of weird line dancing type salsa. Not sure what the idea was there but it was good fun.


Just as well for me that I'd bought a lot of food to take out. I finished it all and my water so by the time we got to a beach on the Black Sea I was ready for the small token-gesture tea we had there.


Whilst initially no-one spoke Turkish except for Sabriye during the walk people would come up to me and have a chat. By the end of the day I'd discovered that almost everyone spoke some form of English. 


The trip back on the bus and train was a laugh as with 30 people chatting away and clowning around there was always something to watch and laugh at.


It was so nice to again be out of the city I feel I've spent the last 90 days in solidly. And especially so to be out trekking.


I made a few new "friends" and hopefully I'll reconnect with them all through FB or at some future event.


It's now Monday morning and I arose at 5.30am just because I woke up and didn't feel like going back to sleep. I'm jaded now and can feel a siesta coming on.


I've just been planning the many things I need to do and I guess the priority just to get it out of the way is a police report on the theft although one wonders if the rigmarole of getting that done is worth the pittance I might get back from the insurers.

Busy Doing Things

What a full day. It's only 9pm too. And what's more if someone calls and invites me out I'd actually be up for it which is pretty unusual. Normally at this time I'd rather flake.


This morning I joined Sabriye and her bunch of geriatrics. Which is to say people who are older than me and in fact rather sprightly. They all had a jump in their step.


The theme was a guided tour of the old town Sultanamet where you can find the "Blue Mosque" and Aya Sofya - the two major mosques in terms of tourist attractions. We didn't head to either but rather ventured around the outskirts of the area and got a few tit-bits from our guide.


The group is actually just a bunch of like minded people who get together and do things. They are all Turkish and so the conversation was in Turkish with Sabriye translating on occasion.


For me it was just a chance to get out in company which isn't to be turned down when you have no mates.


After that I happened to find myself back at my old work. And what's more it was the one I initially moved from. The atmosphere was fine. It was as though nothing had happened which was very odd but pleasant none-the-less.


In fact my guess at the instigator of my move was most helpful and gave me directions to get to my next event which I simply would have failed to attend without her help.


The next event was titled Poi Art. Which was quite cool considering it's Maori. I presume that there isn't a Turkish equivalent. That would be too much of a coincidence.


At Poi Art Serkan, Ayse and I had fun trying out all sorts of new things. We had a go at: tight rope walking, unicycle riding, juggling, erm orb playing and of course poi throwing.


All great fun. Finished off with börek and the proverbial tea.

Princes Islands

Three intrepid venturers gathered at Kabataş bright and early this morning. By the time all arrived there was already a horde of locals waiting to catch the ferry to the Princes Islands.

Much like the earlier blog about travelling to Asia for a couple of bucks this one was a great bargain too. For something like NZ $3 we took a 1.5 hour ferry trip across the Bosphorus and headed south into the Sea of Marmara. It was a pleasant balmy trip with something like 5 stops at the other islands before reaching Büyükada or the "Large Island".


After a much needed Turkish breakfast - cheese, salami, tomato, cucumber, bread, omelette - we rented some bicycles for $10 each for the day. The good news is that they weren't your usual rubbish bikes. They had good gears, tyres and suspension.


After a few tips for İsa and Veronica on how to setup the bikes and use the gears we were off.


At 5 sq kms Büyükada isn't huge. We could have walked but taking the bikes made it so much more enjoyable and gave us time to stop frequently. The only traffic to contest with was horse drawn carts that tourists travelled in. There was perhaps 2 cars in the whole day but in comparison to the carts it was nothing.


The riding was a nice mixture of gentle hills and straights. When we reached the entrance to the Monastery of St George (scroll down) we had to hop off the bikes and push them up the hill.


It was some slog with İsa apparently fairing the worst. I say "apparently" because I took off and left the other two behind. This was for a couple of reasons: 1. All the stress with work, home and visa had been building up inside of me and this was the first chance I'd had to release it all, and 2. The sooner it was over the better as far as I was concerned!


When İsa and Veronica did appear Isa collapsed on the chair. We were both worried about him so plugged him with sugary drinks. He just wanted to sleep!


The trip back down was over in a flash.


At the bottom we figured that the other place we wanted to see was an orphanage the was said to be the 2nd largest wooden structure in Europe. So we headed off for a nice ride only to find ourselves back at our start point.


It was funny to find the entrance to the orphanage was just across the road from the entrance to the monastery. We didn't mind at all as it was such a nice day and the rides were very enjoyable.


I didn't know that the orphanage was derelict and hence was hoping it might be an opportunity to volunteer for a bit whilst I work out my next move. 


When we got there it was clear it was all closed up and the gates to the entrance were locked as well. Not to worry. This was probably a good thing as going inside would most likely have resulted in death due to the run down  condition of the buildings.


So we journeyed back to where the ferry was and had a lovely late lunch.


The ferry trip back was noisey-as with so many children fired up from the excitement of the day. And as with the journey out they had fun throwing food to the seagulls who followed the ferry where ever it went.


All in all a very successful day :)

Plan A, Plan B...

What does one do when one has 6 days of "free" time in Istanbul?


Plan A was to go south and join some volunteers. Unfortunately the only contact info I have is via the i/net and as they aren't responding that one is down the toilet at present.


Plan B ... well there isn't a Plan B as such. Today I spent most of the day kicking around the house doing mostly silly things on the i/net. Then Emrah and I went to a local cafe and had some tea. It really is something special drinking it from these glasses. Just like having a beer from a pint glass just makes it taste better.

We played some games of backgammon and then spotted Mevlüde who joined us later.


Back home I watched The Lincoln Lawyer which was average. Then setup a Facebook event to visit the Princes Islands for Friday.


Plan B+ is to perhaps take a day trip somewhere as I've still (how many times do I say this?!) haven't seen anything of Turkey.


All this killing of time is to get me to the Residence Permit appointment with the Police which will (once obtained) mean that I can hang about here longer.


Plan C was to go to Cyprus primarily as (cross fingers) it would be "free". I'm hoping I'll get a tax refund for my laptop that will largely pay for the trip. It might however be too late to claim it. I'm not sure how these things work. So I canned the trip.


Plan D had me thinking that I wouldn't be able to get another tourist stay for 90 days and I'd have to head elsewhere so I was thinking Praha. Or perhaps 

Žilina because I know some lovely people there.

Plan E? Well that was to try to find another job which might be tough right now as the summer season cometh and people are leaving the capital. For the same reason flats are easier to come buy.

And lastly (for now) Plan F. I still want to live with a family somewhere other than Istanbul and teach them English. I think this would be the best way to sample the real Turkish life here.

What a difference a Day Makes

It's so silly it's funny. Not one day after I've maxxed out on the Excitement-o-meter and I find out there's another level hitherto unknown.


At the end of my classes today I found out that my contract isn't renewed for June. A little short notice you might say but that's life when you are not under contract.


And the day started so well too. First thing in the morning I finally met with success after having tried twice before to open a bank account. So I was well happy when I arrived at work for my four classes.


The first two brought me down to size. One of them had me trying to elicit "What is his name?", "What is her job?" for an hour. It's really been an eye-opener being a teacher. It's also really good for learning patience.


Then the second two were fantastic. Ended on a real high.


In between I was joking with a married couple (students) who I'd come across in a previous class and had them competing with each other to give me the past tense of some verbs. We had a ball. I also picked on the wife because she kept using the pronoun "I" when the husband used "We". They were such a sweet couple.


I'm gutted for a number of reasons:
1. I love my students
2. I love my colleagues
3. I won't get a chance to say bye to the students
4. I won't get a chance to connect with the students outside of school now either


That being said there is a silver lining. I'm now free to .... well .... do anything!


There was a post just recently on a travellers site saying they needed volunteers down in the south of Turkey. I've initiated enquiries.


I can go on holiday!


I can also go the all the meetings I had been missing because of the odd work hours being a teacher.


And finally it's a good time to sit back and reassess where things are at.