Istanbul Day One! 7-20

Man. Today was a trip. Woke up at 7am after going to sleep at four because my roommate was up all night writing a paper. I went to the top deck and saw the skyline as all the other boats in the harbor were leaving. It was a beautiful sight. The sun had just risen, and everything was a little pearly. The skyline was absolutely beautiful. There are mosques and tall buildings, there are spires and things like that all over the skyline. I looked on for a bit, ate some breakfast and tried to go back to sleep. Not successful. At 8:30, we went to a diplomatic briefing to learn a little more about Turkey so we would be prepared. The foreign service officer came on the ship and he was pretty likeable. We’ve had one of these for every port, but this is the first one we’ve gone to, lol. Afterwards, we went to a follow up briefing that lasted another hour (as I was falling asleep), but was also interesting.
Next we DID take a nap, for an hour and a half (we missed lunch, but totally worth it). At 12:15, we headed off the ship and met up with our groups for our FDP. Our Trade teacher who really likes us, and his wife were leading it. The trip was called Advertising in Turkey, and it was basically a trip to the Grand Bazaar (the biggest indoor shopping bazaar in Turkey) where you learn how to barter. We pretty much already got it down though, so we didn’t stay long with the group (plus my roommate was there, so another factor). We ended up getting some awesome stuff! I got a shirt (perhaps a gift, so I won’t elaborate), that we bartered for at like ten different places till we finally found the cheapest one. I got an awesome tea set that is hand painted and absolutely awesome (I also bartered like a Bad BUTT for it! It was the barter of the day. He went from 65 Turkish Lira to 25, heck yes!). James got some tea so we can try it out (they do apple tea here, which is more like a hot apple cider). I bought a head scarf (I know, it’s weird, but they won’t let you into some mosques without them and if you don’t have them then you have to take one from the communal box and that just sounds WAY too unhygienic). The Grand Bazaar was great. A little like the silk street market, but they don’t start as high with their prices, so they don’t go as low. It’s also better stuff though for the most part too, so it’s a compromise.
Anyway, after some shopping, we headed back to the ship and met up with our friends Garrett and Lauren. We ended up going back to the same general place (and saw the Burnt Column or the Column of Constantine, exciting). We went straight back into the bazaar and ended up getting one more thing. Lauren and I got matching Burberry rain jackets. Hahaha. We spent some money on them, but they are completely water resistant, and they look awesome ☺
Got some food afterward (I can already tell that it’s going to be awkward here. Can’t eat lettuce or any ice as they will give you travelers dyherria. You can’t drink the water here). It wasn’t TOO bad, but it was…ok? Lol.
Afterwards, we headed down this alley of clothes and shoes (not a bad alley, part of the Bazaar) and did some more looking around. I am done shopping at this point here, but it’s still exciting to look and Garrett and Lauren wanted to see. Anyway. There was a man there, who was selling cheap cologne and he wouldn’t leave Garrett alone. James and I moved over to tell him to get lost and James nudged him with his shoulder just as I was passing by him. They guy turned around, saw me and freaked a little. He said real loud, don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! I don’t touch America!”. The thing was, I am a woman, and an American. Bad news bears. We walked away rather fast to get away father down the alley. It kinda shook me up. Not going to lie. I hadn’t faced that much obvious hate for Americans yet. First time. We passed the guy later and he started saying stuff again, so we told him we were Canadian and he turned right around. Oh yes! Oh Yes! I love Canadians!
Strange. Not going to lie. We actually spent much of the day saying we were from different places. I was from London by the Thames. I was from Australia. I was from Canada. Mostly from London though. They don’t understand accents, so they don’t care. But America is seen in a negative light. Not the people necessarily. But definitely the politics of our nation. It felt uncomfortable saying I wasn’t American. I’m a pretty patriotic person. I love my country. But I felt safer saying I was from Canada. Maybe not safer, but definitely less stressed. They give you better prices. They give you less hard of a time. It’s easier. I’ve never experienced that before. That’s for sure.
I can tell Turkey is going to be interesting. I like it so far despite its obvious difference. It reminds me of China in a way. Though one thing is for sure that’s different: they don’t believe in Deodorant here! Haha. At all. The tram ride is a wretched 20 minutes. Let me tell you what!
After THAT experience, we headed down to a little theater that James found iff the metro stop and watched Eclipse finally! SOO good! Though they left out the best line in the whole book. Not sure why they did that. It’s WHY it’s called Eclipse. Duh. So glad though. The theater was nice though there wasn’t any AC. Still, SO glad!
Made it home alright after that and watched some of the Lord of the Rings. They finally showed the third one.
I like Turkey. I bought some really cool clothes in Greece to wear here and I love them so far. They’re all really loose pants and nice shirts that are cool. Definitely wonderful. Loving it.