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My First Days in Istanbul |
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Arriving in Istanbul on a hot Friday afternoon in September. exhausted and unprepared, I stepped off the plane into the old Ataturk airport. I arrived luggageless due to the late arrival of my first flight. I had to run to make it to the connecting flight myself. Thus all I saw was a fleeting glimpse of Frankfurt. KLM was nice about it. They gave me a little toiletries kit. |
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It was late afternoon. I had also been in there talking with KLM for an hour or so while they figured out where my luggage was. Nafi, the driver sent by my school, waited nonetheless holding my name on a placard. I knew no Turkish, he no English, but I was able to mime what happened to my bags. He understood and we got into his little car and headed up the E-5 to my new apartment. I would come to know the E-5 very well over the next two years, as I would have to board a huge bus or dolmus to get to school everyday. |
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A Public "Dolmus" |
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The first thing I wanted to do when I got to my new apartment was sleep! I was so exhausted. My roommates were two Canucks who had lived near Ottawa - just like me. Catharine, about twenty years my senior, remarked "You travel light!". I explained to her what had happened. I am now and was then plus-sized. I went to my little bedroom, but found I could not sleep. I stayed awake until I heard the muezzin sing the call to prayer at dawn. |
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I met my boss the next day. Molly and Karen took me and Cedric ( who had arrived on a flight just after mine) to the local Mmmigros superstore to do some shopping. I bought only a few things that I could recognize. I guess I didn't know what to eat. I tried the milk and found it to be too different. It took me awhile before I found new favourites. I also discovered that giving up dairy actually did me good. I lost some weight and my allergies disappeared. |
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MY JOURNAL: CLICK HERE |
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I spent my first weekend preparing for my Monday class. I did not immediately go out and see the sights. I did not have a whole lot of confidence in doing this myself and I didn't want to impose on any of the teachers who had been there. It was a month before my students found out that I had not been anywhere when they took it into their hands to show me Sultanahmet and Topkapi. Now I kick myself for not having gone sooner. I would eventually travel across Turkey by myself. |
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