Arrival in Istanbul

The flight from London was loaded with families with children.  Some of the children were well behaved and disciplined, while others ran totally wild with no control by the parents.  More than I would say I've seen on other flights.  Not sure if the families were coming here for vacations or to see family, but, I don't care to be on another three hour flight like that for a long time!

Another plane came in about the same time as ours and we all had to queue to get our visas.  Saw a lot more women and men in traditional Muslim clothing than I had before, although here in Turkey, it is more common to see women wearing a scarf and a long overcoat than a burka.  I did see a few women in full black burkas, although they may have been coming from other Muslim countries to visit (according to one of the websites I’ve been referring to), as it is not common to see Turkish women, especially in the west, wearing the full burka.   One of the women at the airport in the burka had on black gloves as well, so all you could see of her were her eyes -- I'm kind of surprised she didn't have a veil on.  For me it was interesting, as I have only seen women dressed in burkas in the media and I was surprised at my internal reaction of curiosity mixed with a little fear!  I guess a little reaction to the unknown! 

There are a lot of cats and dogs running around – don’t remember seeing this many cats in Ecuador or Peru, but just as many loose dogs.  The cat sitting outside of the laundry was all scruffy and dirty – kind of like a worn down tennis shoe.  As I walked down to the little store, I saw a number of cats walking on rooftops and ledges.

Trying to speak the language does help – it gets a smile and a correction of the pronunciation!  I don’t mind!

My dinner was a bowl of lentil soup – pureed – and some grape leaf dolmas – sooooo good!  Pine nuts must not have gone up in price here like they did at home!

While I was eating, I heard a call to prayer.  It was a bit muffled by the traffic noise and the music from inside the restaurant.  Actually kind of surprised I didn’t hear more, as there are mosques every couple of blocks.

I had a really hard time finding a hotel in my price range here and ended up booking a room in a “guesthouse”.  Well, the room is about a foot and a half wider than my single bed and about three feet longer – more like a closet!  I’m paying way too much for it, but I really didn’t want to spend over $100 for a night, so that’s the payoff.    I am staying here three nights until I move over to the hotel where I will meet my tour group (it was booked, but it was also around $150 per night!  When I was looking for a hotel, I had three requirements: air conditioning, breakfast included and internet.  Didn’t think about requiring space to open my suitcase!

When I was on the street earlier, I saw water and soap bubbles running down the street and thought someone was washing their car.  But then I saw it coming out of a drain in a wall – it was wash water probably from a clothes washer, draining directly into the street instead of the sewer system.

On the drive from the airport to the hotel, we traveled along the coastline of the Marmara Sea.  I can’t believe the number of huge trans-ocean type ships just at anchor.  I know some pass through the Bosphorus Strait to the Black Sea, but it seems kind of odd that they are all just sitting out there.  Will have to remember to ask the tour guide when I join the tour. Oh!  And I saw some of the old city walls -- not of Constantinople, but of Byzantine!  Incredibly old history here.

Observations/differences - some old, some new

In Ireland and England, when you buy a beer in a bottle you get a glass of ice to pour it into!  I've never heard of having ice in beer.   Also with mixed drinks, you are given the glass with the booze in it and then a bottle with the mixer to add yourself.

People (I'm not going to make a blanket statement of who), hold their knife in their right hand and fork in the left to cut their food -- and then keep the utensils that way and use the knife to push food onto the fork -- and sometimes onto the back of the fork, and then eat it from there.  They don't do the switch of the fork to the right hand to eat like I and most people I know do.

I had three different opportunities to ride as a passenger in cars.  With all three people, I tried more than once to get into the drivers seat!  Don't think I want to try to learn to drive on the "other side" of the road!

Most of the sinks not only have separate knobs, they also have separate faucets.  So, how are you supposed to mix the hot and cold to get the water the right temperature to wash your face?

I'm back in the land where the first floor is the ground floor and the second floor is the first floor.

I always pack too much -- I need so much, "just in case" -- but I never have all the right things.

There are "bits" in the orange juice, not pulp.  They don't have whole wheat bread, they have "whole meal".

Wi-fi is pronounced wee-fee, lunch is tea and to "call on someone" is to stop by their house.

When you leave your hotel during the day, you leave the key at the front desk.  You don't forget, because often it is on a big weighted ball!  And often the keys are what I think of as old-fashioned keys -- don't know what they are actually called.

The water for the shower is heated by an electric heater that's IN the shower!

Stop lights not only change to yellow when going from green to red, but also when changing from red to green.

To say someone likes to drink a lot, you can say, "he likes his pint".   When someone in Cork gets drunk, they are "pissed" and when they are angry, they are "in bits".  And they can be open long hours, which is probably why they need so many kegs each week!

Pay toilets!  Oh, how I hate them! There's no waiting until the last second to find the bathroom when you have to dig in your wallet first for the right coins.  Or, what's worse is when you have to first go to the ATM to get the right currency, then find somewhere to buy something small to break the bills into coins!

Devon England

I’m on the train back to London after a wonderful weekend in Devon with Patrick and his family.  Patrick is a young man I met in Ecuador and was also in Peru with me.  He finished University this spring and is getting ready to go to Brazil in two weeks to work for GVI on the project there.  Patrick’s mum, Anna, was hosting Patrick, his school flatmate, Frankie; his sister, Kathleen; and her boyfriend, Michael.  Patrick’s friend Jess was also there, but left the evening I arrived.  Patrick’s birthday was Friday and it was a three-day weekend, so all had come down (except Jess) from Cardiff to spend time in the country. 

Anna lives in a cottage on the estate where she works as a cook.  This is out in the middle of nowhere and Patrick met me at Exeter – St. David and we walked around the town a bit and then caught a bus to Okehampton where his mom picked us up and drove us the rest of the way – another 30 minutes – to her place.  When we got there, the dinner Anna had prepared was ready and we enjoyed a fun meal with a lot of joking and laughter and great food. 

On Monday, we were able to visit the Brentor Tor ( a rocky rise/point/outcropping) and church and take a walk through Tavistor before everyone had to pile into the car and head back to Cardiff.  

 Anna and I then went for a walk on the moors, ending with a visit for dinner in a local pub.  Anna was so hospitable and welcoming and we had a great time together, sharing stories,  healthy food ideas and recommending books we had read.  I feel very fortunate to have been invited by Patrick and to have the opportunity to spend time with him, meet his family and friends, and see this beautiful part of the country.

I'm on my way

As many of you know from following me on Facebook, I have left Juneau on my next adventure.  But, from the posts on Facebook, I also know that many of you don't know what I am doing this  year. 

First, I'm taking about 10 days to visit the southern part of Ireland and England, basically as a vacation.  I'm now sitting in t he London airport awaiting my flight to Cork where I will be met by Deborah, one of the volunteers I met in Peru. I may also see a couple from the US that live in Ireland, that I met in Hungary!  (Travel, internet and Facebook sure make the world smaller!) 

And then I will be off to the main part of my trip.  I will be taking a two week Rick Steves tour in Turkey, starting in Istanbul and ending in Kasadasi, a bit south of Izmir.  You can take a look at this tour itinerary at:  http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours11/product.cfm/rurl/code/TUR11/231 

After the tour, I will be living with families, assisting them with their English in exchange for room and board.  I found this opportunity through GeoVisions.org and am so looking forward to it.  This program requires me to spend 15-20 hours a week with the families, speaking or teaching English, Monday through Friday, with weekends off. 

I will have two families, two weeks at each, in Izmir.  The first family is actually an extended family:  My host "father" is a 85 year old retired teacher who speaks German and English and would like the opportunity to practice speaking English and learn more about our culture while sharing his culture.  He has three grown children and grown grandchildren and great grandchildren and I will be interacting with all of them.  The second family is a couple in their 40's with an 8 year old son.  They are Serbian and have as store-front bakery.  The don't speak English, except the boy has had some English in school.  They are looking forward to sharing cooking with me, which I think will be a fun time.

Then, I will head back to Istanbul for 4 weeks with one family.  I'll tell you more about them later!

Right now I am sitting in the London Heathrow airport, kicking myself over this bag situation, and trying to keep myself from nodding off and having my head hit the table.  Between the crying baby, kids running up and down the aisle and the grouchy lady next to me (who yelled at her husband in German as she was getting of the plane and stomped off without him), I didn't get much sleep on the flight...but I guess that is to be expected.

I'm sitting in a little cafe with floor to ceiling windows positioned right over the entrance to the security check point.  It's quite a show watching everyone saying goodbye.  This airport is truly multi-cultural.

Think I better go for a walk before I fall asleep. 

Packing light

I wrote this a little over a week ago, but never posted it.   Read what I ended up doing at the bottom of the page...

The countdown is on....eight days left for preparation.  I'm feeling ok about it, however I still have a lot to do.  Packing is a major puzzle.  First, since I will be going on a tour that highly recommends/suggests/requires packing light - using a small suitcase that I can easily carry up stairs myself - I have very limited space. Then, I will be flying first to London and then to Ireland, back to London and then on to Istanbul.  So three international flights with carry-on restrictions.

The third consideration is appropriate clothing for the varied weather: Ireland with weather temps/rain about the same as Juneau; followed by September in Turkey which will be hot, followed by October and November when the weather starts to cool and rain.  Then appropriate clothing for the circumstances: casual tourist clothes and good walking shoes to begin with and then a bit nicer clothes for when I am living with the families and need to be a bit more respectable as their guests. 

I have a Eagle Creek convertible wheeler/backpack suitcase that has a day pack that can zipper onto it.  It is carry on size and that is my first decision: do I carry on or check the bag?  Of course now checking the bag costs extra, but it allows me to take my toiletries with me and not have to purchase some in Ireland and then again more in Istanbul.  (Liquid and cream toiletries must be in under 4 oz containers and must fit into one quart size ziplock bag.)  So, I bought a facial sunblock, unfortunately in a 4 oz container before I looked up the exact allowable size.  Get out a quart size ziplock and see if you can fit in: toothpaste, shampoo, hand cream, hair gel, roll-on deodorant, antibiotic first aid cream, nasal spray (needed for my continual sinus issues), a little bit of Woolite for hand washing in the sinks, and the ziplock is bursting!   With  more time, I guess I could find on line the really, really small travel size of all of these just to get me through to arrival in Turkey where I could resupply.  So, do I just say, forget it, and check the bag?  The point is, a lot of thought and time is going into planning just this one aspect of packing.

Other things I am working on include taking the correct electrical converters for both countries, deciding which travel books to take (I have some on my iphone which helps), which little gadgets to take (flashlight, binoculars (?), back-up/emergency items such as an extra pair of glasses/prescription, oh, and a sufficient supply of prescription meds for four months.

Then there is the paperwork!  I need personal cards with my email and blog address, emergency phone numbers for my credit cards, etc., as well as embassy phone numbers, extra passport size photos, a listing of my hotel reservations with addresses and phone numbers, etc.  For all of these, I have to consider whether to take them as paper, electronically stored on my computer/iphone, and/or saved on the internet.  Such decisions!

Finally - well, actually, probably not finally!, there are the teaching materials and gifts for my host families in Turkey.  I have received basic information about them and would like to prepare some materials to take with me -- or post where I can access them -- and bring small Alaska gifts for the families and children. 

In doing all of this planning and packing, I think of, Ann, who I met on my first volunteer trip to Hungary.  After we were roommates for the two weeks while we volunteered through Global Volunteers, we traveled for about seven days before I started my ESL training course in Budapest.  Ann had been traveling prior to the volunteer weeks and was continuing to travel after we parted.  And, she had one backpack. She had started in Sicily, did a language homestay in Italy and was going on to northern Europe after Hungary.  So she had varied clothing needs as well as varied material/gift needs.  If she could do it, I can do it!

I have found a number of packing light websites which I have reviewed, but at this point, it is time to just start trying to get it all in the suitcase!

So, here I sit in the London-Heathrow airport, with too much luggage!  The evening before I left, I could see I had not been successful in containing everything to a carry on bag.  So, on the way to the airport, we stopped at my storage unit one last time and switched out the main suitcase which allowed room for my sandals and a few more odds & ends that I had not been able to get into the carry on or the backpack.  So now I have a larger suitcase along with the fancy-Dan Eagle Creek convertible bag and both of them will have to be checked (at additional fees) on Aer Lingus to and from Ireland.  I'm going to see what I can arrange with the local GeoVisions partner when I arrive in Istanbul as far as leaving one bag there, or somehow mailing stuff to Izmir where I will end my tour and start with my first host family.

I'd be interested in hearing if others are able to "pack light" for a long trip with varied climates and purposes.