People watching in Turkey

People watching is something I really enjoyed doing while living in Turkey.

Sipping Efes Pilsen Beer in Istanbul and Ankara
Oftentimes on a summer weekend I would go into the busiest district of Istanbul or Ankara and sit at an outdoor café nursing an Efes Pilsen beer and watch the people walk by. It’s amazing what you can learn about a culture by doing this. I found the Turkish people to be very family oriented and committed to their children. They appear to be strict disciplinarians but very loving when it comes to family members. Older people are very well respected and treated like royalty. I saw very little graffiti on public buildings and shop owners did not appear to worry about staying open late. Although Turkey has taken on many of the “western ways” such as “Burger King” and “McDonalds” and loud music, it is still an ancient way of life that respects tradition and love of the flag.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
They very much adore Mustafa Kemal with a passion and embrace the parliamentary form of democracy. Mustafa Kemal, also known as Ataturk, founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923, was an army officer, revolutionary statesman and served as Turkey’s first President. Ataturk’s political, economic and cultural reforms, referred to as Kemalism, still influence the way the Turkish democratic state is run today.

I love the country and will return at every opportunity.

Weekends in Istanbul

After a week at Cakmakli (pronounced Chok - mok - la or more affectionately known as The Cak), we were all ready for a relaxing weekend in Istanbul. My weekend started early since I wanted to escape as quickly as possible. After mounting the old school bus, we rode the bumpy trails out of the country into the city of Istanbul. The bus dropped us off at various locations but I preferred to exit at Yesil Koy, a small village on the outskirts of Istanbul and either walk through the town or take the train into the city. The train ride was quite interesting and on any day you could find a variety of people or animals riding alongside. I don’t think I will ever forget the distinctive smell of a freshly lit Turkish cigarette. To me at least it smelled like a combination of chicken manure and oregano. I’m sure there is tobacco somewhere in the mixture but I couldn’t tell by the odor.

Anyway, after arriving in Istanbul (which could take 2 hours or so) it was time for a quick bite. I remember stopping by the “doner kebab” stand. For a few Turkish lira I would buy a1/2 loaf of fresh Italian style bread. Inside would be some olive oil with herbs and several layers of thinly sliced lamb. It was delicious and I can’t remember when I have ever enjoyed a sandwich so much. The rest of the day would be spent walking. I would visit the Grand Bazaar and look at Turkish carpets or leather coats or gold or spices. Visiting a merchants shop also required you to drink the tea and even eat lunch with them. I was often so full of tea and pizza that all I wanted to do was sleep. This really made the rest of the day drag on.

When I had enough of the Bazaar, I might walk to the Galata Bridge and look towards the Bosphorus and the Rumeli fortress and imagine the many battles that occurred over the years. When I had my fill of the Black Sea, I might visit Aya Sofia. This was the mosque that use to be a Christian church. Many times I would bring a history book with passages about the mosque and read them in the exact places where the book referred to. It was truly amazing. The Blue Mosque was also a fascinating place to visit as was the Dolmabahce Palace. My favorite place to spend an afternoon however was down in the cistern below the city. The cistern was built many hundreds of years ago to collect water for the city. The most amazing thing was that it was built from the materials captured by the Turks when they conquered other regions. The cistern was so large that to tour it properly required a small boat.

After a full day in Istanbul, I would get back on the bus and return the The Cak. A quick shower to wash off the exhaust smoke and the dirt from the city and I was ready to sleep and who knows maybe do the same thing again Sunday morning.