Again I've been neglecting this. Too many distractions. My research is going well. I have had a few really great interviews the past few days and I've seen quite a few new things as well. I went to Asia again, but a different part. More residential, less party. It was very quaint and familiar - homey. A beautiful place to watch the sun set behind the European continent. I went over with Julien - we had actually meant to go to the busier Kadikoy, but it was a last minute decision to hop on the ferry...and we chose the wrong one. But all was well because we found really cheap baklava and we saw dolphins. Yeah, dolphins in the Bosphorus. Whoever said the Bosphorus isn't awesome? It was dark at this point and we were headed back on the ferry, but we spotted the sleek, dark bodies pop through the waves a few times before they disappeared in the direction of the black sea. We also saw fireworks in front of the Bosphorus bridge. Color overload.
The rest of the weekend was relaxed. I went to Tarlabasi again on Sunday. There is a large market set up on Sundays. We walked through it and found a koftecisi (like a buffet) and had some delicious, really cheap food. Lamb kebabs, rice pilaf, and soup for 10 lira...are you serious. I'm never leaving. If only for the food. Today I tried the fried mussels. I thought it was calamari, but it's actually mussels. Mussels are everywhere, but are sold from stands, fresh in the shell on every corner in Istanbul. The fried ones are harder to find. I actually stumbled upon this place by the Grand Bazaar while looking for some lentil soup. I decided to give it a shot. A good decision.
I didn't work until 1 today, so I decided to get up early and go to the Archaeology Museum. Despite being awake until 2 the night before, interviewing Hakan, I made it up by 8:30. The museum was not crowded, which was nice, but I was so tired. It was hard to focus. The museum was great though. Such beautiful things in a beautiful Ottoman building on the beautiful Topkapi palace grounds. After, I walked around the Sultanahmet/Sirkeci area. There are lots of shops here with all the typical Istanbulesque things to buy. I went into one of the stores just because I was curious as to how much carpet shoes cost - 80 lira...hmmm. The man who told me the price spoke english fairly well and we ended up chatting for about an hour. He showed me all of his shop and told me the historical significance of everything (I told him what I was studying). We had some apple tea and he talked about his home town - Konya, which I am planning to visit this coming week. He was really nice and I told him I would be back. Maybe if I visit enough I can get a really great deal on the carpet shoes!
I think I will leave on Thursday or Friday for Goreme/Capadoccia with Jelena, croatian girl and these two aussie girls. I'm excited to finally see some other parts of Turkey!
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