Snow, Birthdays and Trains

I am sure there is any good excuse for taking four months off from my extra-curricular blogging activities but perhaps the fact that the Turkish government closed all access to blogspot.com sites would be a valid one.According to the news the shut down was due to a violation of copyright of one blog showing football matches but it felt more like the hand of censorship.Anyways there are ways round such restrictions but I guess I couldn’t be bothered, now its up and running so no more excuses for not updating. I believe I left off somewhere in January but I can’t really remember February besides the fact it was cold we even got some snow. In March my friend Byron, who I met in Thailand on myeacher’s training course and also taught in Seoul with me, came for a visit. Unlike me Byron committed to two years in South Korea and his first stop when his contract ended was Istanbul. Iwas excited to show him how different these two cultures are and help cure him of the reflexive bowing and the bad after taste of Korean food. He had a great time visiting all the usual tourist cities, meeting my friends and I think most of all, enjoying all the yummy desserts.It was great to really be able to compare the difference from my

life Seoul was wonderful but I truly believe Turkey is way more my style.

April was of course my birthday and in true Maddy style I had not one but two killer parties. On Thursday April 7th, I arranged to have a work/student party at my friend Kemal’s new bar.

My students were really awesome they got me some of the sweetest presents. I got a purse, two scarves, a dress, a blouse, jewelry, a starbucks mug (they know how addicted I am to soy lattes) and even a glass that has mine and Michael’s picture engraved on it. Sooo sweeet !! The party was pretty awesome all the teachers came and my students, we all got pretty lose. The party didn’t stop till nearly 4 am and I was defiantly paying for the next day.On my actual birthday I was pretty much bed ridden till 5pm, classic! I managed to pull it together and put my party dress back on for party #2. That night we threw a little shindig at my pad, luckily the rain stopped just in time so we could enjoy my spacious terrace. It was a good turn out of my Turkish friends about 20 or so but the party didn’t last too long. My grumpy neighbor called the cops around 9:30 when there were about 5 people here. When the cops came they agreed there so no problem and just gave us a little warning about the music. Unfortunately they should up a second time just before 12 and pretty much kicked everyone out. So we had to move the party to bar a little earlier then expected but it all was good. We danced the night away and it was another birthday to remember!!

Two weeks later it was visa-run time again. Due to a little procrastination and lack of funds Michael and I decided to take a train adventure through Bulgaria and Romania. We departed Friday night form Istanbul and arrived in Bucharest, Romania 20 hours later. The ride there was actually pretty enjoyable we had our own private sleeper carriage and pretty much spent the whole time chillin’ out watching movies and reading, while watching the countryside pass by.

When we arrived in Bucharest we easily found a cozy hostel not too far from all the main attractions. We ate a huge Bavarian style restaurant that had a dozen beers on tap at a reasonable price. Which was a nice change from the over priced single choice beer of Effes in Turkey. We did a little exploring that night and surprisingly Bucharest was a pretty hopin’ city. Lots of bars and clubs with tons of young people, and even girls! (In Istanbul you’re lucky to find 10 girls in bar full of 60 men).

The next day we set out to find Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania. Instead of going with a private tour guide, I entrusted Michael to “Jason Bourne” our way there. There isn’t so much a bombing tourist industry in Romania and therefore a lack of English. We took another 3-hour train ride to a smaller city in the north expecting to easily catch a bus to the famous Dracula Castle but after a few wrong buses and some unhelpful bus station workers, we found ourselves stranded and running out of daylight. In the end we decided to make the best of it (aka continue drinking beers) and grab some food. We finally aborted our mission and decided to get the next train home, we discovered we had missed the train back to Bucharest and the next one wasn’t for another 7 hours at 2:30 in the morning.

Trying again to make the most of it we grabbed another couple of bottles and started loitering in the station. In the ended we caught a small mini-van back to the city even though we were unable to get a refund for the train tickets, but the van ride was quite enjoyable. There was a very talkative and touchy feely drunk guy next to Michael, who had the same ideas as us for road trip drinking. The whole time the guy was spouting off in Romanian, cheersing us and making the driver pretty angry every time he dropped his liter of beer on the floor. We eventually got back to our hostel after being dropped off in the middle of Bucharest and disoriented.

much broke the whole trip. We were counting that on

The next day and our last day was a mad rush. We had been unable to exchange any Turkish lira all weekend; leaving us pretty

Monday morning we could find a bank that would exchange our money, but no such luck. I spent an hour doing a crash course in all the tourist sights, snapping as many pictures as possible while Michael sorted out our train tickets home. Before we knew it we were running through the train station trying to catch the only train to Istanbul.

The journey home was anything but enjoyable we had skipped breakfast and spent our last dollars buying some snacks for the ride home. So for 12 hour journey through Romania we had a bag of chips, some juice and a chocolate bar. Still not sure why on an international train ride they wouldn’t have a proper food cart but when we finally got to Bulgaria around midnight we found a western restaurant that we were able to gorge out at for less then $8 each. The next 11 hours were even less enjoyable, our train was 2 hours late arriving and there was no sleeper carriage or heating. We were miserable trying to get comfortable in our single seats and use our extra clothes as blankets.

After the crossing the border into Turkey at 5 am, going through customs and sorting out our visa’s we were allowed back on the train which finally arrive in Istanbul at 11am! So all and all it was quite an adventure. From the little time I spent in Bucharest it was an interesting place with a lot of history. The trip was filled with a few almost missed or wrong trains, some money issues, another two stamps in my passport and getting another opportunity explore an unknown culture.

Back to life in Istanbul, I think my honeymoon phase might be over. It’s been six months of experiencing a rich culture and making lots of new friends but I am feeling like the time has come. I missed my sister’s 30th and my nieces 4th birthday this month and any day now I will be missing the birth of my 3rd niece. It’s these moments when you wish you could be in two places at once. Class loads are fading out as summer slowly approaches. I have had most my students for over 5 month, although it has been extremely rewarding watching their English skills exponentially improve, there is something stronger calling me home. I am not sure what the future holds for me at home, I am sure it will be a dose of reality and without a doubt some good times with old friends. So for now I am counting the days till summer!

Going Dutch

Since I am technically an illegal alien in Turkey I am forced to leave the country every 90 days, but I like to think of it as free holiday. I looked up flights to Berlin, Spain and London but the cheapest ones were to Amsterdam, so why not.
This was my second trip to Amsterdam, but the first was somewhat of a blur. It was 2006 and I went to Amsterdam with my study abroad program after spending a few nights in Paris. So the whole idea of international travel was well beyond my head, plus I wasn’t even the legal drinking age in America so I had yet to develop the matured taste for beer.
I had originally planned to take the trip alone but at the last moment Michael worked some magic and arranged to escort me all the way to Amsterdam. We arrived in Holland late on Saturday evening; we had a small layover in Munich, just enough time for a proper German beer, pretzel and my favorite Ritter Sport chocolate. On Sunday the weather was surprising crisp and not too cold. I was fearing the worst, I thought I might be trekking through a foot of snow and trying to keep myself from hyperventilating but the weather was only slightly colder then Istanbul. We spent the day wondering the streets, taking pictures and just enjoying the peace and quiet. Amsterdam was a nice getaway from the chaos and noise of Istanbul. You don’t realize how much noise 18 million people make, especially when they all seem to be taxi drivers who love blaring their horns.

Amsterdam is so cute, all the precious Dutch people strolling around on their bikes; you can just feel how they are living the privileged life in the top percentile of the world. The streets are spotless, there are barely any cars and the people are extremely friendly. The food was not to bad either, of course we had plenty of French fries with mayo and ketchup, I had some delicious crepes and no trip to Holland in complete without a few Heinekens. I even had a chance to meet up with one of Sophie’s friends that lives in Berlin. It continues to amaze me as I travel to all the corners of the world that I am never far from friends. It truly is a small world and I am fortune to experience just some of its many wonders


The next few days where pretty mellow, the weather was grey and Amsterdam is not as crazy as most people like to assume. Dutch people are pretty reserved; the only rowdy people are the handful of drunk English blokes wondering the streets. Even the red light district is clean and safe; I mean for heaven sakes there are swans swimming in the canal just outside the windows with half naked prostitutes dancing in them. This imagine kind of sums up Amsterdam.
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The Holidays

A second year away from home during the holidays and sad to say but its gets a little easier each time. The holiday season really was a blur, I guess especially in a Muslim country. We had a cheesy Christmas party at work, in which I received my awesome Tarkin binder. Christmas was pretty unusual this year but nonetheless a great day spent with close friends. I made a special Turkish breakfast and we spent the day singing bad Christmas songs and drinking Baileys. That night we had a nice Raki dinner with friends. Besides the missing visit from Santa or a stocking full of goodies, Christmas was still a holiday.

Zane arrived in Turkey last Thursday and as always it so great to have a friend from home visit. You can relax a little bit more and reminisce about the good old days. Hard to believe we have been friends for almost 10 years and had the opportunity to visit each other around the world. It has also been very interesting listening to Zane talk about his experience in Kabul, Afghanistan and even a little eye opening for a bleeding liberal such as myself. We spent the majority of his visit hopping from bar to tourist attraction, foreign food restaurants and then back to cocktails. I finally had a chance to eat some Mexican food and some yummy sushi.

The other great thing about having a visitor is having an excuse to do all the tourist things you should done already. We went inside the Sophie Mosque, which is being renovated to reveal all the Catholic paintings that were covered up. We also went to the Grand Bazaar, which was truly grand, over 4, 000 shops!

New years were pretty awesome this year. Erhan and his friends decided to avoid the whole club scene by throwing their own party. We rang the New Year in style and I even had a special kiss this year ☺





No better time then the first of the year to reflect on the last 12 months, and oh what a journey it has been! 2010 started off right, on the island of Boracay in the Philippines on one of the best vacations of my life. I truly feel in love with the country and I am already making plans to return for NYE 2012. I ended my year abroad in Seoul, saying goodbye to some great friends and an overall life changing experience. Next up was a 4 weeks tour of Thailand and Cambodia with the two greatest friends a girl could ask for. Once again Thailand didn’t disappoint and it was nice to return to my home on Ko Chang! After that I got a chance to visit Sydney, Australia a dream come true and a wonderful transition back into Western culture.
My return to America in April was just in time for my birthday and Coachella. My summer in Cali was unreal and better than I could ever had imagined. It was an honor to be there to walk down the aisle and share with Sarah her magical wedding. Meeting my raver family, starting weekly family dinners and Sunday fundays in San Diego are defiantly the highlights of the year.
Sharing a bed, a house and new experiences with Brittany really showed me what the word friendship means. She was my rock, my energy, my inspiration and my best partner in crime. The end of the summer brought some tough times and a growing phase that sparked my need for adventure and lead me to Turkey. Since the moment I landed at the Istanbul airport I have been overwhelmed by the hospitality and the quality of friends I have met here. I am excited to start the New Year in Turkey and to continue building and enjoying my life in middle earth.

Tarkan

You know I've been dying to share some Turkish pop without, so here it is Tarkan (the Justin Timberlake of Turkey)

Raki .. yes please !

Life in Turkey is finally settling down. I moved into my new flat last week, we have had no hot water, no heat, no stove, no refrigerator or any furniture for the first week, but we did manage to have a little house warming party!! The party was not up to my usual standards, but of course a goodtime. It was great to see my new house filled with all the new friends I have made in the last 6 weeks.

My besties !!

The flat is super cute, like a dollhouse or a house for midgets. The place is unfurnished, which is why it’s so cheap but also why we are living with the bare essential. I did get over to Ikea this week and purchased myself a big girl bed. Sad to say, but this is the first time I have had my own bed and own room in almost a year. I think that means I am a grown up.

The flat is defiantly still a work in progress. No kitchen really or tables or any sofas but the location is perfect. A great neighborhood close to all our friends and just a 15-minute walk to my work (uphill). Work is at full speed. I am up to almost 40 hours of teaching, which means a lot more time lesson planning and way less time sleeping. But I an actually still enjoy going to work 6 days a week and my students are really cool.

I wish I had more to report about Istanbul besides the fact that winter has finally arrived. We had a little snowstorm last weekend and the temperature most days has been around 10 degrees Celsius and I have no winter coat!

Last week, I did get to experience a traditional Turkish “Raki” night. Raki is the liquor of Turkey; it is really indescribable but similar to the Greek liquor Orzo or Sambuca. There is only one proper way to drink Raki, and that is over a long period of time in a big group and served with many different kinds of Meza or fish. Meza’s are the small dishes of cold appetizers such as cheese, potatoes, salad and a bunch of other things I don’t know the names of you eat before your meal. You mix the Raki with a small amount of water that turns the liquor a milky color. The affects of Raki are a little different then your typical alcohol. It’s not so much of a drunk feeling but I mellow, funny and chatty induced behavior. Overall an enjoyable night and another chance to add to my list of local drinks.

• I have had a fresh Guinness in Ireland (with some Jameson).
• I have drank Sake in Japan.
• Way too much Soju in Korea.
• Buckets of SangSom in Thailand.
• A schooner in Australia.
• Wine in Italy and France.
• A proper Cider in a London pub
• Tequila in Mexico, I just don’t remember it
• A beer with Germans at Oktoberfest and some Jagermiester too!
• And now Raki in Turkey

My new flat

Here is a little preview of my new flat and my new bestie Sophie ! You cant really tell but we have a great balcony with a pretty sweet view of the sea. We are planning to decorate our little dollhouse in boheiman chic/ happy hippy hut.

Kismet "Fate"

Really? I have been here a month! The time has seriously flown by, but I feel very adjusted to my life here (besides the fact that I am still homeless). Work is going quite well. I have decided to just work at one school and I have about 25 hours a week so far. I work weekend mornings and weekdays from about 2pm till 10pm, with Tuesday as my day off. Not your typical 9 to 5 but I think it keeps work from getting so monotonous and I am almost nocturnal now. Which is great in a city like Istanbul where everything is open late and you can get anything from beer to Chinese food delivered to house 24-7.

After 2 weeks at Ali’s house, he has passed me

along to his friend Erhan. I meet Erhan a few weeks ago at his birthday party and right away I knew this was a good guy to know in Istanbul. Erhan has graciously opened his home up to me, I am sure when he agreed to let me stay there he had no idea I would be there for the next 3 weeks. Erhan’s house is just a 20-minute walk to my work and his home is always lively and full of friends.

I feel very fortunate to already have a large group of Turkish

friends. They include artists, models, photographers, designers, students, teachers and musicians, all very creative, intelligent and easy going. I spend my days drinking Turkish tea and coffee in the cafes and visiting friends at work and stopping by people’s homes for a chat. My biggest fear before coming here was being alone, and I think I have probably only spent 3 hours by myself since I arrived. I am always reassured that “I have met the best people in Turkey.” I am also sure that one of these days all that Turkish I hear will sink in and I will be fluent I no time.

Last week was Bayram, the Muslim holiday to celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son to God, good thing God intervened and told him to sacrifice a ram instead. So, each year Muslims recreate this act by sacrificing a lamb, cow sheep or goat. The meat is divided and given to relatives, friends and neighbors and the needy. Being a vegetarian, I was quite nervous about this sacrificing holiday, especially when I heard the city smells of blood for the whole week and there will be carnage everywhere. I have been lucky to avoid all scenes of massacre so far and any smells of blood.

Due to Bayram, all schools are off for the week. Which would have been great if A. I had money and B. I was ready for a vacation. But Erhan was kind enough to invite me to his hometown, Izmit (just an hour outside Istanbul). I feel so lucky to be “going home for the holidays.” Izmit is a small suburb right on the sea, quiet and suburban. The holiday felt very familiar, lots of food, family, deserts and little kids in their Sunday best.

The rest of my holiday was mellow and uneventful. I did find some time to get a new tattoo. I have been thinking about getting another tattoo for a while, and when your new best friend is a tattoo artist, what better time then the present. I picked an Arabic style font in red ink with the “STARS” and “ALIGN” across my right and left wrist. It’s the title to one of my favorite Kaskade tracks (I am officially obsessed) and it reminds me to trust in fate.

On Sunday I went my first professional basketball game, which was pretty exciting because I got to see Mr. Alan Iverson play. It was only his second game with Besitkas and the fans were going mental. Apparently in Turkey games are so intense only one of the teams fans are allowed to come to the game. The entire time the Besitkas fans were chanting and singing. And the few times I had my friends translate what they were saying, instantly regretted it. Lets just say it was a lot of talk about players mothers and various body parts. At the end of the game the visiting team had to berushed off the court by the riot squad in full gear. That’s pretty much all that is happening. I still love it here, I enjoy the chaos of the city but the kick back style of the Turks and I can’t get over Turkish breakfast!