istanbul ii

so right now i have some time to write a little blog entry because i'm waiting for the crutches i purchased to arrive at the hotel next door. who knows if crutches are what i'll actually be getting, because everyone has seemed confused that i'd want crutches and not a wheelchair, a cane, a shoulder, or this one guy's son. language barriers. i think that yesterday's quest for crutches almost won me a fourteen year old husband.

anyways, despite my injury (which sucks a whole friggin lot), istanbul is potentially my favorite city i've been to in europe (we still haven't been to the asian side). it feels different from any other city i've been to. the people are really really friendly. lots of times they are just trying to sell you things, but if you refuse to buy their things and drink their tea or just ask them for directions, they're really nice anyway. this one guy walked us a block and a half to help us find a bathroom because the one in his restaurant was out of order, then he just left us. he didn't try to make out with us, get our phone numbers, or sell us anything. he was just nice. we've been having that experience over and over here. also, the guys are really hot. like the goodlooking ones are REALLY goodlooking to me. i like the look. one guy at the hostel fell in love with kristen (i'm with b'ham kristen now, darling is off with her parents in germany).

here is a list of things we've done:
-hung out in hostel (a lot)
-wandered the streets in sultanhamet
-blue mosque
-underground cistern (beautiful!)
-dancing to a turkish band/hanging out with hostel owner and austin-friend becky
-breaking ankle on the street
-aye sofia (used to be a church, then a mosque, now a tourist location)
-seen the dervishes whirl
-been to the turkish bath (also known as a hamam; also known as incredible)


we still need to go to asia, get my crutches, and also go to topkapi palace today (this is a priority). i REALLY want to see topkapi. NOW! but i can't walk.

tonight, we get on a train to stara zagora, bulgaria, where kristen has a friend. then we're going to the black sea coast on bulgaria. hopefully my ankle will hold up.


oh, i just found out that we're probably not going to get to go in to topkapi because we're still waiting for my stupid crutches for mty stupid ankle. i am really sad. it was the number one thing i wanted to ddo.

anyways, i will just have to come back.


okay i still have a little time, so i will elaborate on some of my favorite things that we've done.

turkish bath:
okay, this is where you get naked with a bunch of same-gendered people in a steamy room and lay on a hot rock slab in the middle of it. you lay there confused for a while, looking at all the different women and trying to figure out if you would prefer to be shaped this way or that way, when all of a sudden, five or six large old naked turkish women come in and command you to lay down in front of them. they get this exfoliating glove adn rub it all over the back of your body, then they slap you on the butt and you turn over. then they rub it all over the front of your body. then they pull your arm and you sit up and they rub it all over your arms. then you lay down again and they get this bag with all these soap bubbles in it and squeeze it all over you and clean you and massage you at the same time. then they take you in to this other room where they shampoo your hair and pour little bowls of water all over you. then you lay on the rock slab again for as long as you want. when you get too hot, you can go into the little rooms on the side and pour bowls of water on your head. it feels really nice and also makes you clean and makes you feel like you are on a greek vase or something, being in that room with all those naked ladies and pouring bowl fulls of water over your head and shoulders.

dervishes:
you think it'd be boring to watch people whirl in place for half an hour, but really it isn't at all. you start to notice all this different whirling techniques. like this one guy always put his foot down in exactly the same place, and looked like there was an invisible pole through his left ear, down the center of his body, and out one of his heels into the floor. then this other guy also turned like 200 degrees and so his foot was always coming down a little bit farther ahead of the last time. first, i watched their feet, then i started noticing their heads. they were so still, even though their bodies were moving adn it made their tilted heads look like they were in motion. then i started to notice the fabric of their dress- how it billowed out in this whooping patterns. i got in to sort of a trance watching them. i've never seen people in constant movement appear to also be so still. and i don't know how they didn't fall down with dizziness. no wonder it is a religious experience for them. i bet they feel like they are on drugs when it is over.

okay, i'm gonna stop now because i have to see about going out in this town.