8.30.2015

Istanbul’s Got My Digits: S1 E2

Istanbul’s Got My Digits: S1 E2

Yesterday was a fascinating array into the world of Istanbullu ‘Mall Rats’. I had bought an electric water kettle early last week so the coffee could keep flowing uninterrupted. I hated it as soon as I put it into action.  First, the metal element was exposed at the bottom of the kettle and I hate that old style function as you can start to visibly see the corrosion that will soon develop and then have nightmares about what that is in fact doing to the water… Secondly, which has been confirmed by Jelly as well, is that the lid doesn’t stay open.  Just an annoying feature to be sure.

I had it in my mind that I needed to return it ASAP. Of course it was Sunday yesterday and Cevahir was absolutely flooded with 'Mall Rats'. :)  Just for the record I knew it would be, but I decided to brave it anyway.  It was another beautiful day and there was some walking involved along with various forms of public transportation that I am managing to navigate through quite smoothly.

The exchange went without a hitch considering my basic Turkish skills. I happily trotted off to look for some other things on my treasure hunt list: goose-down comforter, toaster, high-pressure cooker, pot, pan, and another electric kettle.  The coveted goose-down comforter has been rather elusive and indeed difficult to procure… I was foiled yet again in my efforts. As well the cool toaster I wanted. All else I found, with great effort I might add.  Looking for heavy bottomed pans that are a reasonable price is a difficult quest, but I was determined to not walk out empty-handed.  In the end, I managed to get all in one store!  I was temporarily mesmerized by the cast-iron pans and started fantasizing about owning one, but they looked a little too ‘new age-y’ I guess is the word I’m looking for.  What has happened to the cast-iron pans of yore I wonder? 

The end result? I was a good consumer on a busy Sunday at Cevahir Mall.  I have some observations to share that I found interesting; overtime I saw a cluster of people, they were waiting for the elevator, couples tend to hold hands on the escalators and don’t let go when you are trying to enter into the area and chaos ensues briefly while navigating, the staircases were not the preferred method of movement and so were empty, many people like to stand like a zombie staring at their phones and tend to do so at the entrance of escalators, stair cases (that they don’t use) and at store entrances. I suppose this is typical mall behavior in any country.  I just don’t tend to see this back home in Hawaii. 

So it’s Monday morning and I’m back in the courtyard striking keys and amusing myself watching the kitties in their morning lounge patterns. An adult is goading a juvenile to climb up a tree and cheering it on.  It seems to be at an impasse and undecided if it should climb up further or abort mission. Popolo immediately ran up to me and shared the chaise lounge that I have commandeered. Two kittens down by Erin’s are scampering around and playing ‘Bat-Cat superhero training camp’ while their mother looks on cautiously. I’m going to make ‘kitty hotels’ with all my big boxes from kitchen stuff purchases! The trees are shimmering as the sun rises through the clouds. These huge crows are all atop the Armenian church and cackling away. All seems well in my world.

Today marks my one week arrival. Tomorrow marks my first day at work, thus tonight marks my first time to turn on an alarm clock in 2 months… So many achievements in a mere 24 hours!  To celebrate the last day of weekday freedom I’m going to walk up to Garipçe. I think there might be a beach there… On the way back I figured I’d hit up the Monday fruit/vegetable market in Sariyer.

Aha!  There is a house bordering the property here and something start jiggling and all the cats stopped immediately and ran to the house.  An old woman is putting out food and drink. I’ve also noticed that the church caretaker (?) was feeding the cats on the other side of the property.  I do love that about Turkey; all these cats are homeless, but taken care of by people.  Some obviously are more fortunate than others, but this is definitely a ‘thing’ here that I love to see.

On a domestic note, my apartment is slowly starting to come together.  It’s still too hot to actually sleep in my bed upstairs so I’m nesting on the couch instead.  The university is taking all the new teachers to IKEA on Wednesday I think.  This is a sweet gesture of a welcome wagon.  I’ve actually never been to an IKEA so I’m intrigued.  In fact, during my jet-lag phase I went onto their website and figured out what I need and then took measurements of my space. 

With that in mind I will leave you all with this titillating cliffhanger: what WILL Holly come home from IKEA with?  Will it be solely what is on her ‘need’ list, or will she find other non-essentials to purchase as well?  The suspense is already building in her mind…

some links:

Garipçe

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/garipce-a-little-village-untouched-by-istanbuls-third-bridge.aspx?pageID=238&nID=61399&NewsCatID=379

Sariyer





https://www.google.com.tr/search?q=Sariyer+Turkey&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBsQsARqFQoTCMflna3g0scCFUmQLAodMfkMug&biw=1440&bih=708

peace

8.29.2015

Istanbul's got my digits: S1, Episode 1

Istanbul’s got my digits… Season 1 of my new reality series:

So I begin my Istanbul journey.  I arrived, again, on August 24th. This time is different though.  I am an Istanbul’s got my digits…

So I begin my Istanbul journey.  I arrived, again, on August 24th. This time is different though.  I am an Istanbullu now. I am in awe that such a long-term goal has been achieved. Perseverance.

I first arrived to its shores in 2001, right after 9-11.  I came to visit L-fezz, who I went to University of Hawaii in Hilo with many moons ago.  I’ve often traveled back- especially since living in the region the past 6 years.  I even managed to live in Turkey during that time; Gaziantep to be specific.  That was a great achievement certainly, moving to Turkey, but it wasn’t Istanbul…

I’ve often wondered throughout the past 6 years about my collected belongings that have been housed in L-fezz’s various apartment basements.  My luggage has stories of their own to tell I’m sure.  Hanging out with rats and cats and other critters sharing their space.  They’ve weathered stormy winters, humid summers and idyllic spring and autumns certainly. 

In the courtyard of my new digs in Büyükdere this I contemplate.  It’s a splendid late summer morning and the garden kitties surround me. These kitties are a fortunate lot as they have a huge courtyard to laze about. There is no fear of foreign invaders I suppose- only other feral kitties wanting this to be their new address.

Popolo, as I call the sweet black kitty that purrs and follows me around begging for affection, has finally settled to the front of the chaise lounge I have made my headquarters (HQ) here.  One other cat I’ve names- boots/bootzie.  I’ve yet to figure out if male or female…Time will tell.  I foresee many coffee-infused mornings at my HQ.

I’ve been told the apartment building is an old schoolhouse for the Armenian Catholic church next door. Observing the brick/stonework of both exteriors it appears to be true.  The building feels like an old schoolhouse. Upon entering the top floor I always get the sense that I’m walking into a classroom as I unlock the door.  I see the other 9 classrooms on my floor as well… What I can’t figure out is why their ceilings were so large because they are all (small) 2-floor ‘loft’ apartments with the bedroom and bathroom being on the 2nd floor. More of this story to unravel as days pass for sure. I’ll have to improve my Turkish drastically so I can ask the security guards- all of whom are sweet and cheerful and eager to help regardless of linguistic persuasion. Google translate has been helpful as well as providing comic relief.

Istanbul , after all these years, has remained in my mind.  I never ventured too far off course, and always knew I would end up here one day.

    Oh wow!  The church bells just rang and all the dogs are singing an agitated chorus.  It is 9:30    am. I guess this will be my natural Sunday wake-up call…

For me, Istanbul was the lover I met that taught me so much about life, but had to walk out on.  Is wasn’t the right timing- for either of us… I kept coming back to Istanbul though, wanting more.  The feeling was reciprocal.  Istanbul kept luring me back with its secrets, its beauty, its debauchery. The feeling that I was straddling different worlds intrigued me. Istanbul was my drug of choice; I experimented with many drugs (Tunisia came close) but always stayed true to my preferred dose. Nope I never had a bad trip in Istanbul…

Living outside of the city center, so far, has been all I thought it would. Of course I’ve racked up a grand total of… seven days so far… I adore the Bosphorus and being right at its shores. I can walk maybe 500 meters and I’m at the water.  I love this.  I need this.  The Belgrade forest is my backyard. So far Büyükdere seems to be the perfect Bosphorus village, for me as my entire point to my Istanbullu experience.

Freedom.  I want to touch a bit on freedom. As I’m coming from a two-year stint living/working in the Middle East, I feel free with each step I take WALKING around the city.  I have missed ambulating certainly.  In the Middle East I was prisoner to my car, for many reasons; weather, no public transportation that was reliable, layout of the island(s) and proximity to places, etc. Mostly the place isn’t set up to walk, for most. I will say that the heat was oppressive. Never have I lived in a place where I hated the outdoors… Perhaps ‘hate’ is too harsh a word, but in retrospect I guess I safely hide behind this theory.

Yesterday is a great example of living out my freedom. Let me explain; I was on a quest to find Macrocenter in Yeniköy. Macrocenter is, I think, a gourmet-like grocery store that sells a lot of (expensive) organic produce/products. Google Maps told me it was 1.5 hours away from my current location.  There is a plethora of public transportation options here; water taxi, bus, dolmus, metro, taxi, etc. The route was to simply follow the Bosphorus, and it was a beautiful day.  So I set off and hoofed it until I met up with my destination.

It’s funny that the saying, “It’s not about the destination but rather the journey” proved to be true here.  While I did enjoy seeing organic yogurt and other such staples in my life, for a hefty price tag I might add, it was the journey there that delighted my senses.  The entire route is flanked by docks, marinas, parks and just open spaces with benches at nearly every hundred meters- sometimes even closer. 

Istanbullus take full advantage of the open spaces. I saw many a family just plopped down on the grass under a tree having a picnic.  Hoards of men and young boys dot the cornice with fishing poles ready for an entire day of adventure and food and family fun. Various places are swimming holes. Even with the swift currents there are pockets of calm. One thing I did notice was that it was mainly men swimming. I did see one old woman in a 1-piece partaking in the entertainment.  In one area of the corniche was a small community of sun worshipers that just set up shop right there on the pavement with beach chairs and laying out. This amused me to no end. I even noticed women sunbathing, albeit most didn’t have baiting suits on. Some surprised me though.

And THAT moon… Did you’ll get to see the Supermoon wherever you were at last night?  Trippy. Felt like a great omen for a great journey to a great city to settle into another new beginning!

NOTE: I have photos but don’t know if they will get posted with this post… I might surprise myself though and deal with the fuss :) 
 now. I am in awe that such a long-term goal has been achieved. Perseverance.

I first arrived to its shores in 2001, right after 9-11.  I came to visit L-fezz, who I went to University of Hawaii in Hilo with many moons ago.  I’ve often traveled back- especially since living in the region the past 6 years.  I even managed to live in Turkey during that time; Gaziantep to be specific.  That was a great achievement certainly, moving to Turkey, but it wasn’t Istanbul…

I’ve often wondered throughout the past 6 years about my collected belongings that have been housed in L-fezz’s various apartment basements.  My luggage has stories of their own to tell I’m sure.  Hanging out with rats and cats and other critters sharing their space.  They’ve weathered stormy winters, humid summers and idyllic spring and autumns certainly. 

In the courtyard of my new digs in Büyükdere this I contemplate.  It’s a splendid late summer morning and the garden kitties surround me. These kitties are a fortunate lot as they have a huge courtyard to laze about. There is no fear of foreign invaders I suppose- only other feral kitties wanting this to be their new address.

Popolo, as I call the sweet black kitty that purrs and follows me around begging for affection, has finally settled to the front of the chaise lounge I have made my headquarters (HQ) here.  One other cat I’ve names- Boots/Bootzie.  I’ve yet to figure out if male or female…Time will tell.  I foresee many coffee-infused mornings at my HQ.

I’ve been told the apartment building is an old schoolhouse for the Armenian Catholic church next door. Observing the brick/stonework of both exteriors it appears to be true.  The building feels like an old schoolhouse. Upon entering the top floor I always get the sense that I’m walking into a classroom as I unlock the door.  I see the other 9 classrooms on my floor as well… What I can’t figure out is why their ceilings were so large because they are all (small) 2-floor ‘loft’ apartments with the bedroom and bathroom being on the 2nd floor. More of this story to unravel as days pass for sure. I’ll have to improve my Turkish drastically so I can ask the security guards- all of whom are sweet and cheerful and eager to help regardless of linguistic persuasion. Google translate has been helpful as well as providing comic relief.

Istanbul , after all these years, has remained in my mind.  I never ventured too far off course, and always knew I would end up here one day.

    Oh wow!  The church bells just rang and all the dogs are singing an agitated         chorus.  It is 9:30 am.  I guess this will be my natural Sunday wake-up call…

For me, Istanbul was the lover I met that taught me so much about life, but had to walk out on.  Is wasn’t the right timing- for either of us… I kept coming back to Istanbul though, wanting more.  The feeling was reciprocal.  Istanbul kept luring me back with its secrets, its beauty, its debauchery. The feeling that I was straddling different worlds intrigued me. Istanbul was my drug of choice; I experimented with many drugs (Tunisia came close) but always stayed true to my preferred dose. Nope I never had a bad trip in Istanbul…

Living outside of the city center, so far, has been all I thought it would. Of course I’ve racked up a grand total of… seven days so far… I adore the Bosphorus and being right at its shores. I can walk maybe 500 meters and I’m at the water.  I love this.  I need this.  The Belgrade forest is my backyard. So far Büyükdere seems to be the perfect Bosphorus village, for me as my entire point to my Istanbullu experience.

Freedom.  I want to touch a bit on freedom. As I’m coming from a two-year stint living/working in the Middle East (Bahrain), I feel free with each step I take WALKING around the city.  I have missed ambulating certainly.  In the Middle East I was prisoner to my car, for many reasons; weather, no public transportation that was reliable, layout of the island(s) and proximity to places, etc. Mostly the place isn’t set up to walk, for most. I will say that the heat was oppressive. Never have I lived in a place where I hated the outdoors… Perhaps ‘hate’ is too harsh a word, but in retrospect I guess I safely hide behind this theory.

Yesterday is a great example of living out my freedom. Let me explain; I was on a quest to find Macrocenter in Yeniköy. Macro center is, I think, a gourmet-like grocery store that sells a lot of (expensive) organic produce/products. Google Maps told me it was 1.5 hours away from my current location.  There is a plethora of public transportation options here; water taxi, bus, dolmus, metro, taxi, etc. The route was to simply follow the Bosphorus, and it was a beautiful day.  So I set off and hoofed it until I met up with my destination.

It’s funny that the saying, “It’s not about the destination but rather the journey” proved to be true here.  While I did enjoy seeing organic yogurt and other such staples in my life, for a hefty price tag I might add, it was the journey there that delighted my senses.  The entire route is flanked by docks, marinas, parks and just open spaces with benches at nearly every hundred meters- sometimes even closer. 

Istanbullus take full advantage of the open spaces. I saw many a family just plopped down on the grass under a tree having a picnic.  Hoards of men and young boys dot the cornice with fishing poles ready for an entire day of adventure and food and family fun. Various places are swimming holes. Even with the swift currents there are pockets of calm. One thing I did notice was that it was mainly men swimming. I did see one old woman in a 1-piece partaking in the entertainment.  In one area of the cornice was a small community of sun worshipers that just set up shop right there on the pavement with beach chairs and laying out. This amused me to no end. I even noticed women sunbathing, albeit most didn’t have baiting suits on. Some surprised me though.

And THAT moon… Did you’ll get to see the Supermoon wherever you were at last night?  Trippy. Felt like a great omen for a great journey to a great city to settle into another new beginning!

NOTE: I have photos but don’t know if they will get posted with this post… I might surprise myself though and deal with the fuss :)



Well, church is over as the bells just rang again... Time to head inside and eat some breakfast :)

8.16.2015

waked and baked on the island of the House of the Rising Sun (Haleakala)

4:00 a.m. and all's well... I'm back on Maui after a few weeks on the Mainland.  I move to Istanbul in one week.  I'm in that zen space of embracing the future and anticipation of embracing the next stop on my magic bus. I'm in this weird 'move to a new country every 2 years' mode and you know what, I'm pretty cool with it.  I now have additions to my family of me; Master Sami Bey and Shaika Spot.  The felines will make the moving process a bit trickier as I've never traveled, let alone moved to a different country, with pets before.

I'm Upcountry right now and the sky is awash with this agitated hue of blackness that bruises so beautifully upon my psyche right now.  I think about rain.  I want to run amok in the rain.  (oh look at this site I found while spell-checking 'amuck', which is actually 'amok').

http://grammarist.com/spelling/amok-amuck/


I was recently flying from Portland to San Francisco and I was uncharacteristically looking out the window; I tend to never sit at the shitty window seats because I need the extra leg space that the shitty aisle seat offers. Such great satisfaction watching the world go by from 30,000 feet up. We flew right over the southern Oregon and northern California fires.  Strangely beautiful in an unsettling way wold be how I would describe the experience.  The force of nature is so strong and we humans always feel we want to conquer this; this something.  

I should have been flexing my eyeballs watching the world go by from Medford to Iron Mountain, Michigan as well, but that plan didn't materialize so Plan B was put into action and my brother and I drove.  We managed to do it in about 48 hours I believe.  Not that I was much help... The sugar-free Rockstar worked for me the first day... I diluted it with a lot of water and took over the wheel somewhere in Idaho in a narrow canyon on US 20; past Boise, near Mountain Home if I remember correctly.  Curt was sawing logs so there I was alone in my thoughts with the night sky cruising past Craters of the Moon and Atomic City (wow, what a unique history of "Atomic City" folks(see link below)).

Just a quickie back-line into this story:  We were supposed to fly his 2-seater experimental airplane he built.  Unfortunately there were too many forest fires burning in the southern Oregon region that we never had a 3-mile radius of visibility necessary to take-off.

But Plan B was pretty cool as well.  I fondled quite a few sage bushes out near eastern Oregon off of 395 before it meets up with US 20.  Curt was doing reconnaissance on some tiny, old airstrip so I got busy with my spiritual requirements and procured some sage for me.  I was thinking about Istanbul, of course and smoking the sic shit outta my new pad there with the stuff upon arrival. Sage kept wafting throughout the rest of the journey back east, as well as at our family home up in the U.P. Everybody was happy. 

I had many thoughts while driving through Klamath Falls.  I never went there much, but there is something about the area that just resonated with me.  I like the wildness of the earth there.

At West Yellowstone we turned north and headed up to Big Sky.  Awesome territory.  We pulled out off the road somewhere and slept for about 2 hours late in the night.  My leg of this part of the journey was from 7pm to 1 am.  Curt took over then for a few hours before pulling over. 

It was around 5:30 am when we took off again.  Big Sky was just waking up. We pulled into a gas station to fill up.  I filled up my eyes with all the interesting tchotchke inside (so that's how you spell that word). (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Tchotchke)

We drove out and just enjoyed the crisp, fresh air. Soon enough we came upon patches of snow.  Apparently it had snowed a bit the previous day.  We were hoping to see some local wildlife but alas...

Speaking of wildlife, the entire trip was spent with butt gripping seat because your eyes have to do double duty (scanning horizon for deer all the while driving, or co-piloting). My eyes were getting all spun out... which brings me back to an earlier thought that I didn't finish writing out...

So, back to the sugar-free Rockstar.  The first application went smooth enough.  Nit a hitch.  I drove my lame 6-hour stint without a hitch.  A coyote did run out in front of the car, and owls were eerily swooping down and nearly dive-bombing the front of the car near and around Atomic City in the eerie midnight hour.  I'd like to think they were trying to impart some information to me about the secret events of Atomic City residents back then...

The second application of my now-trusted sugar-free Rockstar energy drink didn't go down so well in history, or my lower intestines to be more exact... Curt put in another 10-hour segment. We were traveling on 94 through Billings; Custer (Yes! of the famous 'Custer's Last Stand '); Miles City; Bismark, North Dakota; and finally to Fargo.  Here in Fargo it was PISSING RAIN.  It was dropping from the sky so violently that it was thrilling- unless it was your turn to drive...

I mixed up my concoction and set off.  It was like an acid trip.  Let me explain; torrential downpour, thunder, lightning, road construction fluorescent-colored barrels all the way down for miles and miles and miles in the right-hand land of the 2-lane sometimes divided highway.  There was so much florescence reflected onto the road it was like a carnival. What should have been good-trippy was bad-trippy and I had to get off that trip.  The Rockstar made me drowsy for some reason so it was just double shit.  I could hardly find the exit to get off the highway and have Curt take over.

I did recover a bit later and drove a 4-hour stint (yea, I know I'm still a lame driving partner). We opted to bypass Duluth (smart move) and head into Minneapolis and catch some rest at a rest stop.  It was still raining hard as we kept up the same trajectory with the storm moving eastward. We took 35 to 8 to 2 into Iron Mountain and ended our journey in our mother's driveway- unannounced.

She had no idea we were coming. She thought we were the roofers coming to check out her roof!

Well folks, I hate to leave you all hanging now but I've waked and baked and it is 5:30 am now and I must catch some more beauty rest.

Peace


Links:

Atomic City:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11360
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_City,_Idaho

Custer's Last Stand:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn

Miles City:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_City,_Montana




8.04.2015

Oregon communique

I'm here in Ashland, Oregon now. I arrived last week. Memories flood continuously. For those of you that don't know, I finished high school in Ashland. It's been about 5 years since I've been here. One of my brothers lives here still with his wife- who I went to high school with. They have come cool, tortoise kitties and one dog, who is much adored. They live along the rolling hills that litter the scenery from North Phoenix to South Medford.

My headquarters is located in their backyard, at the sweet cafe table with an open view to their bountiful garden. I've never seen such large tomato plants/vines. Loads of squash spill lazily over their perimeter. The Zucchini leaves shade their rather large treasures undneath. A good thing this season because the weather is uncharacteristically and unreasonably hot.

So yea, this is a nice perch to nest at and ponder the beauty of southern Oregon. Let me say that I really, really enjoy pondering the beauty of southern Oregon.

Along with the heatwave here is smoke. There are forest fires to the north and the Rogue Valley holds clean air hostage to smoke. I mean to say that it is hot here- like as hot as the Middle East was when I left last month for the first few days here. As well the smoke turns the sky to the color of cement- which is kind of what the sky looked like in Bahrain when I left... Yea, I was not a fan of the intense heat in Bahrain.

* NOTE: Bahrain had its charms. Wintertime was wonderful. For 5 months of the year one didn't have to turn the A/C on. I found 1 beach I frequented. This was my sweet spot. I know there is a lot I'll miss, but that's always the case when one moves from place to place. Already I dearly miss classes with Abelush at BaYoga. I miss incredible, cheap South Indian food. My remorse, though, loses itself in the rejoice of my next adventure-Istanbul!

But freedom I do feel- indeed. I'll just leave it at that  (hint:  Oregon. Da Kine is legal in Oregon). As I sit here and contemplate life in my Hawaiian pareo wrapped around me, covering the bare minimum, I embrace my freedom in the mid-afternoon sun. I would, of course, notice this 'oddity' because that scene doesn't happen in Bahrain for people- unless you are at a luxury hotel or private club, are wealthy and live in a luxurious compound, or aren't rich but live in a nice compound with enough privacy.

There is a reddish-brown dragonfly hovering over the sedge plants in their pond. Sounds of the waterfall intoxicate me and knocks me out of my 'senses.'  Project forward to the proper state of mind to experience THIS, and you know where I'm at...

So I met up with some old high school peeps too. It's funny you know, you can live all around e world and feel comfortable in every different environment, but there is something about going back home. There is something into staring into your ex-classmate's greenish-brown eyes and seeing that shining light that you have. We've been in such incredibly different trajectories in life, but one look at them and I melted. It was such a beautiful knowledge in knowing our history together from such a different TIME (not a different PLACE).  Maybe I simply feel that way because I realize southern Oregon is a place to hold onto.  It IS so important in my life- again. It's interesting because you disperse after high school and come back together just like that. I've forgotten faces, places and feelings, but that fire of knowledge re-ignites with your high school mates. What do you all think?

Now another. Reason I'm here is to catch a ride across the country in my brother's airplane. He'd been building it for at least 10 years, but completed the project last summer. We are to surprise our mother. Well, we have been surprised by all the socked-in smoke from the forest fires up north a bit. The Rogue Valley is engulfed in smoke. Not so much as a few days ago, but to the point that flying small aircraft is not legal (for take-off mainly). We're going to try to make a run for it  soon. If it's a no-go, we drive... It's a long ways to the UP...

Either way, it's a top- notch adventure in my book. That's what I wanted. That's what I needed. That's what I manifested. Yep. I am woman, hear me roar. Yea, it's like that.

I think that's enough for now. I'll up date later.