I went to the airport early last Sunday morning to wait for their flight to get in. I like the airport here – the layout of it is simple, it’s easy to get to, and the security check is nice; everyone goes through security before entering the airport, no matter whether you are meeting or greeting or leaving, and if you are leaving, you go through security once more at your gate. And you don’t have to take off your shoes. This means that the longest lines are at the check-in counter and passport control, and even then they aren’t too bad. It’s all surprisingly efficient, and that’s why I actually like going to the airport here, strangely, because usually airports are hectic, soulless abysses.
I went up to Departures to kill some time and watched all of the people scurrying around checking in and shouting to their families to hurry up, come here, wrap your bag, have you got your passport…..?Actually, I was just looking for a bathroom because the closest one in Arrivals was being cleaned.
Mum and Margaret must have been the last ones off the plane, because they finally appeared after half of idiot America got off the same plane, stopping right outside the exit to look around dumbly at the people and the signs where English is on the bottom (the idiots, I mean) and thereby holding up all the weary passengers behind them from exiting the terminal. They finally saw me and they ran and gave me a big, long hug (that I missed and really needed here) and then we caught a taxi back to Fındıkzade.
My how strange it was to walk through the callous, noisy streets of my neighborhood with my mother and my sister!! Seeing them brought me home instantly in this faraway place; I was home, but the surroundings were exotic and bizarre. Everyone stared at this bright-haired, blue-eyed family who so closely resembled each other, but we didn’t care – I’m used to it, and I suspected they liked the attention and novelty of being exotically different, as most foreigners do while here. They seemed perplexed with this paradoxical place, but then again, they could have just been unbelievably tired.
Of course, when we arrived the eskici were just beginning to make their rounds, calling out in their patented, colorfully toned voices (I can recognize them by this tone now). They found this quite entertaining, along with the trash pickers and the abundance of stray cats (Istanbul is a cat lover’s paradise, just so you know).
To fight jet lag, I told them they had to stay up all day – no napping! – and dragged them to Sultanahmet to see the mosque there of the same name. Of course this tired them, and deciding to walk back home from S. Ahmet completely exhausted them.
Jet-lagged, but happy!
The next day Anna and I took them through the Grand Bazaar and then down through the labyrinthine streets behind it towards Eminönü and the Spice Bazaar. Since the weather was overcast, I decided to take them to the Dolmabahçe Palace. However once we got there we found it to be closed. We decided to go on Tuesday.
Brought our champion bargainer along
That same evening we went out to dinner to see the whirling dervishes with Kürşad. Of course, the whirling dervishes are famous throughout the world for being a sect of Islam that believes in communion with Allah by whirling round and round in a circle. There are still a few groups in Istanbul and when most tourists come they are sure not to miss a performance of the dervishes. However, Kürşad said that (and I hate to burst your bubble if you are planning on seeing the dervishes in the near future) as a sect, the dervishes no longer really exist in Turkey, and nowadays they only whirl for the tourists. Regardless, seeing the dervishes was a good experience and was probably my mother’s and sister’s favorite part of their trip here. I thought the music was nice, but I kept wondering how they could keep spinning like that without getting dizzy.
The next day we made it to the Dolmabahçe Palace with it’s boring grandiosity and ostentation. However, they did have a vareity of fowl kept on the palace grounds, along with a very freindly cat, and we got to see Atatürk’s deathbed, which was pretty cool, so I guess that made the price of the ticket worth it. Plus, I think my sister was quite taken with the guard outside the palace gates.
That night we went to Kürşad’s sister’s house for dinner, because she had made a lovely vareity of traditional Turkish food for us, and afterwards we had tea and played with his nieces, who fell in love with Margaret and fought savagely over her silver jewelery.
On Wednesday the weather finally cleared up, and even though I had to work part-time, we got as much in as we could for the remainder of the week – the Ayasofia, the Yerebatan Sarnıcı, the Galata Tower, a Bosphorus tour, a day trip to the Asian side, some shopping and bargaining – I won’t go into long elaborate detail, but let the pictures do the talking. Let’s just say that I had a wonderful time with them here, going around and cooking dinner together, and I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as I did. I can’t say what a joy it was to have family come visit me and interrupt the monotone of my 7-day work schedule. When we parted at the airport yesterday, it got a bit lonelier here, and that warm, fuzzy home feeling was gone. So if you guys are reading this, please know that I miss you more than I know while I’m here.
Like I said about the cats...
..they really are everywhere!
Having a smoke on their last night
Make a wish!
Doesn't look so happy to be on Happy St.
View from the top...
...and the bottom
On the Bosphorus
Fish sandwich!
Mom loved the food, too.
Enjoying the hospitality
See you soon!!
