AND three months later...

My life is SLOWWWLLLYY coming together after dealing with every hurdle that could possibly be thrown at me.

I arrived in Istanbul on January 5^th, and three weeks later I quit my job as an au pair.  I don’t want to get into details, because I don’t want to be that asshole who blasts her employer online, so I’ll just say that I was extremely unhappy, and being a nanny wasn’t the right position for me.  BUT, that’s okay, because what came next was a whirlwind of events.  Within five days, I quit my job, moved out and into a hostel, moved again into an apartment, AND got a new job!! I am now volunteering (yes, let’s just say that) as an English teacher working with pre-school and primary-aged children.  It’s been fun, challenging, and a bit frustrating (the little ones sometimes act like wild animals), but overall I enjoy the work, which is MUCH more than I could say for my au pair stint. Even more good news: I have FINALLY, FINALLLYYYY found an apartment after moving 5 TIMES!!!  It’s been an extremely bumpy ride, and I don’t know how I’ve managed to stay so damned positive during it all (I have definitely had my moments of weakness and there were many times I wanted to give up), but the pieces of my life are finally coming together. I even have my Turkish residence card now! WHEW.

I know that years later I will look back on this time and laugh or think about how much of a total badass I was for sticking it out despite being faced with so many damn challenges.  Yet right now I can’t help but feel frustrated.  Turkey is a difficult country to move to. As a foreigner, it can be extremely difficult to establish oneself here without any local connections. Luckily, I have made some friends here so I’m not too lonely. My co-workers are great and my friend Ali is my right-hand man. I am finally starting to feel settled, but it took three months to get there.

The City

            Istanbul is a wonderful city that is on two continents: Europe and Asia. It still amazes me that I cross a Sea, not a river, but a SEA (yes, that’s the OCEAN) to get from one side to the other. No, I don’t need my passport, but it is a nice 10-20 minute ferry ride.  

After living in Thailand for a year, Istanbul is, of course, quite different.  It’s a far cry from tuk-tuk drivers, noodle soup stands, and 15baht café yen.  I wouldn’t dare to drive a motorcy here for fear of getting killed by drivers and pedestrians (I thought driving in NYC was bad, but I forgot that Europeans love to drive as if they’re in a scene from The Fast and the Furious).  Yet Istanbul has a wonderful European feel to it.  The cobblestone streets and narrow side streets (like soi’s) makes one feel safe, cozy, and warm, while the steep hills provide for some urban hiking.  With a city of 13-14 million people (just within the metropolitan area)divided on two continents, it is easy to get and feel lost here. It is in all sense of the word, a megacity. Everywhere you go there are crowds of people, and the city seems to be constantly expanding and developing. But, I’m a New Yorker at heart, and so I love walking down the street while pushing my way through a crowd.  I feel at home in this type of madness where others surround me yet I don’t know a single soul. It feels safe to me.

view from Galata tower over looking the Golden Horn

fishing on the Golden Horn

Spice market

The People

            It’s definitely interesting, and at times quite comical, to be living in a place where the men are attracted to you, even though you are a foreigner. In Thailand, this was not the case.  Nothing about me was attractive. I was too big, too dark, and a native English speaker, which many found intimidating. Yet in Turkey, I’m a hot commodity! It is VERY refreshing to feel wanted and sexy again! This of course has its disadvantages too. I do not look Turkish so I do stand out, and Turkish men DO like to stare.  When I first arrived, walking down the street felt like walking down the runway. This made me feel quite uncomfortable, but it’s something that I don’t really notice anymore.  Regardless, as a foreign woman, I do have to keep my guard up.

The Food

The food here SUCKS. I don’t know if it’s because I came to Turkey right after Thailand so I’m still hooked on Thai food, but Turkish food is SO bland. In Thailand, I was spoiled. The food was incredible, filled with intense flavor, not only because the food is spicy, but each dish or meal must include three to four different tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami). I literally ate my way through Thailand. If Thai food is light and flavorful, Turkish food is rich and bland. Beyond bland. In Thailand, the cheap, street food is at the heart of Thai cuisine. Yet in Turkey, the “street food” consists of cheap, fast food restaurants serving döner, durum, and buffet homestyle cuisine that is barely tasty let alone delicious.  To get good quality meze and Mediterranean food you have to pay the price at a quality restaurant. As a person who LOVES to eat, Turkey has turned me into a very picky eater. It seems like they use the same five spices in everything they cook and the meat has a strange taste here. So, Turkey fails miserably in this department and I am quite disappointed. HOWEVER, I will say that the seafood is very good here. I had amazing grilled octopus the other day, something I never thought I would say.  There are also a couple of restaurants that stick out of the blandness. One is Ciya Sofrasi on the Asian side in Kadikoy. This is hands down my favorite restaurant in all of Istanbul, I think on average I frequent there about once a week. They’ve been written up in America’s Food and Wine magazine as well as Time Out New York and The New York Times just to name a few.  They cook up really unique dishes from the south of Turkey that you can’t find anywhere else in Istanbul.  This is the type of food I imagined when I thought of Turkey.  Absolutely delicious.

the meze salad bar at Ciya Sofrasi

Typical of me to end this post talking about food. Here’s hoping I post soon and more often! 

Arrival

It's my second full day in Istanbul and so far so good! Except for the fact that I can't seem to shake off my jet lag. I arrived Thursday afternoon and was picked up at the airport by Ergul and her husband (whose name I can pronounce but do not know how to spell).

My plane ride was nothing too exciting. I flew Lufthansa (throwback to my high school Europe trips) and luckily they are all about leaving ON TIME. After surviving the arduous journey to and from Thailand, all other plane rides are a piece of cake; this one was only 6 hours to Frankfurt, that's barely enough time to sleep! I love international flights for the sole reason that they provide free booze; this one even had gin and whiskey! I pondered over ordering a gin and tonic as the guy across the aisle from me did, but realized that with the high altitude I probably shouldn't get shitfaced, so I settled on a wonderful glass of white wine. The plane food was nothing spectacular (although the little salad had TWO grilled shrimps in it!!!). On my way to the bathroom I noticed two woman eating a vegetarian meal that smelled delicious and I cursed myself for not ordering a special meal.

I arrived in Frankfurt at 11:30pm/6:30am and was fortunate enough to go through security AGAIN. Ugh. I was starving and decided to treat myself to a German meal. I settled on a frankfurter, fries, and a bottled water which came out to 17 dollars. Yes, 17 American dollars. Good thing my mom gave me that extra 20 bucks before I left.

In Istanbul, the first thing we did when we got to the house was EAT! Ah, my favorite thing to do. Ergul said to me “ you must eat something before you go and relax!” so I sat down for my first Turkish meal, and boy, was I excited. There was bread, tzatziki sauce, which Turkish people eat in a little bowl next to their plate, and two stews. One was made of minced meat, carrots and peas (delicious), while the other one was made of brussel sprouts and carrots (also delicious). Oh, and olives.

This weekend has been relaxing and my only responsibility has been to get over jet lag, which is easier said then done. I think it would be easier if I had a busy schedule, because there's been nothing to keep me from sleeping a whole lot. Both days I woke up at 4am!

The family seems very nice. The boy I'll be looking after is 7 ½ years old and his name is Bora. He's very sweet and was very comfortable talking to me from the first moment we met. My sole job is to play with him and teach him English. He speaks English pretty fluently and is not shy to ask when he doesn't understand something I say, so I basically just have to continue with his English conversation skills. His English is a thousand times better than my Thai students and I do not have to speak slowly to him. He LOVES to play! I need to work on my 7 year old boy-speak and action noises though. Today we played with action heros and car racing/crashing and I certainly did not bring my A-game. His mom Ergul, is very nice and speaks English fluently as well. The dad has limited English abilities but seems like a nice guy too. There is also a housekeeper/cook who speaks no English, which will give me the motivation I need to learn Turkish (at least basic phrases). Right now we rely on body language.

The family is well-off. Part of this is pretty obvious since they can afford an American nanny. They live in a beautiful 3-floor townhouse in a really nice gated community. Bora's school is inside this community, which also houses a movie theater, golf course, and some sort of recreation center/gym complex. I have my own room with private bath and TV! So far the hardest thing to adjust to is having a housekeeper/cook. It's a strange feeling to be served food in this way and it kind of makes me feel uncomfortable. Like when I come up for breakfast at 10am and she has kept my place setting out along with the butter, jam, and olives, and then comes in to toast my bread. I know it's her job, but I can't help but feel guilty for making her to do something that I am clearly competent enough to do myself.

Other things of note:

-it's rained continually since I got here.

-there is always delicious cheese in the house. This morning there were TWO types of cheeses at breakfast. This is the best thing ever.

-So far all the food I have had has been great. I've had broccoli soup, a chickpea stew/dish thing, and of course, bread, cheese and olives!

-there is always fresh baked goods on the kitchen counter (next to a massive bowl of fruit), along with a sweets cabinet. It's going to take all the strength I have to choose the bowl of fruit instead of the cheesecake/pie delicious treat that is always on the counter. Last night I had two pieces of the pie and it was delicious. I'm pretty sure it's homemade.

-I just helped Bora with his English homework and it was actually a lot of fun. Such a different experience from teaching in Thailand because Bora understands everything that I say!

That's it for now. So far I'm off to a good start!