finally, social interaction

I realized yesterday how little I have been speaking because I haven't had anyone to talk to especially since I arrived in Turkey. Aside from a few words with the guys in the same hostel room as me, I have hardly spoke at all. I have been walking around the city mostly by myself. It's weird though because at first sightseeing reminds me of being in Rome, but my friends aren't with me. Without other people, tourists, I feel almost a responsibility not to act like a tourist. It's rather annoying because I don't want to walk into some mosque or some area and be yelled at or haggled whereas I feel with other tourists like in Rome, it was a sort of get off free card because we were just curious tourists. In another way it's nice to walk around alone because you don't have to divide your time among a bunch of people and cater to everyone's touristic needs. 

There is an Iranian girl who works in the hostel and she has been helping me a little with finding a place to live and whatnot. We looked on craigslist together and she was telling me how to tell which ads were scams or in bad areas. Later she took me to an "Erasmus" party. Erasmus means exchange, so it was all foreign students. She thought maybe I could find someone who needed a roommate. Most of the students were spaniards, at least the ones I met were. The party was at a small park, basically a large green area, but it was high up and overlooked the Bosphorus, so it was really pretty. I was introduced to cekirdegi (pronounced chekeerde-ee, i believe). They are sunflower seeds, but longer, all white, and I think they taste better. They eat them differently also. They don't throw them in their mouth and then spit out the shells. They crack them open with their teeth and then pull the seed out. It took me forever to get the hang of it, but once you start eating them, you can't stop. After that I started to notice them everywhere. The streets are covered with shells. 

After a little while, Shiima (the Iranian girl) wanted to go to Istiklal. She showed me her apartment. It is really nice. We chatted for awhile while she ate some cold lentil soup... she talked about what she thought of Turks and Iran.
Then we headed to Istiklal. The street was packed with people and there are bars and clubs everywhere. She showed me a few bars and I met a ton of people. There was one American. He was older and teaching english, so he gave me some good advice for how to get a job. We met him at a jazz bar where he was a guitar player. We stayed and listened for awhile before moving on. The music was good - Blue Suede shoes,  Sweet Dreams, and We don't need no education were all sung very well by the Turkish singer. After a few more stops we headed home. I'm still nowhere in the search for a house... but it was a fun night.