Too many words from Istanbul

I'm in Istanbul! I'm supposed to be in Cyprus but it turns out that just because a country controls half of another one against the wishes of the international community, does not make it part of that country. (i.e. I had no idea that (Northern) Cyprus was a semi autonomous state unto itself, and I'd have to go through visa control. Stupid visas. I'm a little over them! I'm still waiting on my residency, and because it's kurban bayram next week it's going to take another few weeks to process.

Anyway! I'm living with a wonderful family in a very affluent part of the city, next to a big park where I go running every couple of days and am teaching two super cute girls English. Mondays off again so I've been doing a little siteseeing (especially last Monday thanks to the lovely Bulent - a friend from the hotel - and his wife who showed me around Istanbul and spoilt me rotten) and catching up with friends I made in Bodrum over the summer.

Istanbul is a bit like someone took London and Madrid and shook the cities over the hills of Wellington and the Kapiti Coast. Actually, maybe not London because it isn't anywhere near as multicultural, but a really, really big city. The Bosphorous running through the middle is stunning, and Taksim (central city, Europa side) is a maze of alleyways and cobbled street. I haven't had much time to see any of the zillions of neighbourhoods, but hopefully I'll slowly see more. I've ended up containing myself to Istinye, Emirgan and Resitpasa Mahallar (around where I live) and Taksim, Sishane, Beyogulu in town. Sarah is here from tomorrow so we should get some siteseeing going over the next few days too!

Ohhh the weather outside if frightful. I think I was going to burst into song then, but it's the first time I've seen rain in five months! It's still fairly warm and it's nearly November (Winter is coming.) I felt a little Game of Thrones-ish then.Istanbul is seasonal, and it's nice - I like that for summer it was spectacular and sunny and hot everyday, with a chance of strong winds, and now it's jeans and tshirt weather and always quite comfortable. Not sure how winter will go but I know that I'm not missing all my winter clothes in London yet. Hopefully I'll get to pick them up mid-November so it won't be a problem.

I was thinking how Turkey is my kind of everyday life, yet it can be pretty different from NZ or London. There are things I miss, and things I don't even think about. The following is just a mind dump into a post so apologies. i could probably do some research but it's been so long since I did a proper post I figure you can just pretend this is an extra long email from me!

I could probably write and entire post on the food of Turkey. Even something as simple as breakfast is completely different. With the family gone for a week I'm going to the supermarket to buy cereal - I've been craving muesli, eggs, mushrooms, my normal breakfast foods! Breakfast here is set out on the table on little dishes by the housekeeper - sliced and peeled tomatoes and cucumber, bread, a selection of cheeses, maybe some jambon (veal ham), maybe a hard boiled egg, jam, olives, butter.

Normal lunch and dinner fair included rice and meat stuffed capsicums, many stews, maybe white beans in a tomato sauce, rice, pasta with white cheese (kind of like feta) and butter, okra (can't stand it), green beans, salads, this turnip/potato/carrot dish with fennel, stuffed vine leaves, this kind of finger sized spinach stuffed pastries, a lot of fish, and lots of yogurt.

Oh the sweets! The Turkish has a ridiculously sweet tooth. Becca this post is for you! Desserts of course there is baklava that we all know and love - a sticky syrup and nut pastry (my favourite is hazelnut)- and then there are these kind of small churro like things called tulamba which are also covered in syrup. Kunefe is a bigger sweet pastry thing with cheese in the middle which seems to be fried and covered in sugar syrup. (I can't handle this one.) There is a milk pudding, or rice pudding dessert, and of course halva made of semolina spices and sugar. Lokum is the ever famous Turkish Delight, starch and sugar with spices, flavourings and/or nuts which I actually got through all summer before having any in Turkey. Fruit platters of cherries, peaches, strawberries, nectarines, apricots, plums, honeydew melon, watermelon, figs, and grapes are standard at the end of dinner dependent on season. And Turkish icecream is a extra sticky and particularly nice!


The Turkish drink a huge amount of black tea which is made in a double boiler where you end up with a very strong hot tea concentrate and then a second pot of hot water which you dilute it with. The Turkish all like a LOT of sugar so I add none and get funny looks, and have seen some of the men in the cafeteria add up to seven or eight teaspoons in one tiny little cay cup. Of course there is the Turkish (or Greek) coffee we know overseas with the silt in the bottom, and then alcohol wise there are some fairly average wines. The Turkish love to drink raki in the evenings which is an aniseed liquor drunk with water and ice, and eaten with melon and cheese. There are also lots of vendors selling fresh orange or pomegranate juice.


They are all mad. This is what Sarah and I say to each other when everything gets a little too culturally different. But seriously, the Turkish people I have become acquainted with are extremely kind, generous, and hospitable. Relationship wise they seem to be very caring, affectionate, jealous, and incredibly possessive. Marriage and children are an expectation fairly young and I've met some girls who would have been ridiculously young mothers. Family is really important. I kind of knew this while working in Bodrum since half my Turkish friends send their wages back to their parents and seeing foreign girls navigating the whole family approval thing, but living with a Turkish family has highlighted it even more.


A lot of you have asked me about Turkey being an Islamic country, but I honestly don't notice it at all. As much as I would see in Spain amongst Catholics, or even the UK with Anglicans. There are mosques everywhere (though they probably couldn't compete with the churches of London) and the call to prayer is LOUD. I've seen far more headscarves in Istanbul than Bodrum (where they were almost non-existent to be honest) and most of the Turkish seem to drink (heavily.) No one eats pork, but a lot of people confess to having tried it butI don't know many people who go to mosque, and harking back to my university days when I actually did know what I was talking about I'd still argue that it is traditional conservatism in Turkey is stronger the further East you go and less about Islam than about ingrained cultural norms. I could be being naive about this, these are just my observances so far but its fairly complicated to explain.

Next week is kurban bayram as I said, which is a holiday based around the story of Abraham sacrificing his son to God, and God in his mercy changing his son into a lamb. Following this tradition Turkish households sacrifice an animal for a feast and excess meat is donated to charity. The last bayram celebrated the end of Ramadan and I didn't really notice anything in the way of religious celebration but it might be the circles I run in. Some of my friends stopped drinking during Ramadan, but I don't know anyone fasted during the day.

Oh man, this has turned into a novel. Sorry about the lack of photos! I'll try get some up over the next few days.