exploring - american style

There is another american girl working at the hostel now. Her name is Lydia. She's Californian. We get along really well and have been hanging out a lot. She's as enthusiastic as I am about seeing the real Istanbul, so the  past few days we have been venturing off the beaten path of the tourists onto the worn back alleys of the Istanbullus. Each neighborhood is like its own entity, with its own flavor and spirit. Two days ago we wandered an area called Kasimpasa, near Tarlabasa. It is a beautiful neighborhood with beautifully crumbling ottoman and rum houses. They are in a way cookie cutter buildings, but each is painted a different color and has its own way of falling apart. We were mesmerized to say the least, which when you think about it, is kind of strange. The people here live in these buildings. It is their home, not history. Today we went to Kumkapi and Yenikapi, areas near the old city. They are quite similar to Kasimpasa, but all their own. We found wonderful desserts and I finally bought a rug. We also saw the little Ayasofya, which is now my favorite mosque that I have seen here in Turkey (the Mevlana mosque is a close second). Its inevitable when walking through the neighborhoods to find little boys playing soccer in the street and that is exactly what we found. There were two boys, no older than 5 or6 and we spent almost half an hour playing with them and chatting about the Istanbul teams. The older boy stated that he would one day play for Galatasaray! Again tomorrow we are off to find more of the beautiful places and people of Istanbul. I am running out of time - only 2 weeks left - and I want to make the most out of my time here. Return with no regrets. I know I won't, but better safe than sorry!