Sonntag, 20. März 2011

Taksi, Taksim!

March 9th, 2011

The following day I leave a note for Mehmet, informing him that I will meet him at the Couchsurfing meeting this following night and go out exploring Taksim square - let me indicate that I've been eating about eight wet burgers everyday and that Doener has become rather disgusting.  Also - I like to find small shops and cafes.  Don't you ever recommend me a cafe unless you're a local!  

























It usually does not snow in Istanbul - I picked a good time to visit.




Cafe after cafe, dish after dish, and street after street, I land myself at the Couchsurfing meeting and there's practically no one there because it's two hours early.  I meet a few Turkish people, an Indian guy who speaks Turkish (people ask him where he got his Indian accent from), a Lithuanian girl, and learn that Turkish men and Lithuanian women are becoming more prevalent in being couples - Lithuanian men supposedly spend their days drinking, and when in bars in Lithuania, there's about a six women to one man ratio.  I also meet a few hosts - some that rejected my requests - and learn more about the so-called politics of Istanbul Couchsurfing.  Prior to coming to Istanbul I had found interesting profiles and requested to surf with them.  But unknown to me, many Turkish hosts, primarily male, host only females for sexual gain reasons.  I don't quite understand the mentality.   The night ends in dancing and meeting so many new faces from a colorful array of backgrounds - and a lot of Germans.


March 10th

I spend a huge portion of my day putting finishing touches to my term paper - an interpretation of a poem that Bertolt Brecht wrote while supposedly sitting in a train.  A short insight into the poem; he initially had written the poem as Sentimental Song, then added the number 1004 to it later - the 1004 is supposed to be the succession of the number 1004 - Don Juan had 1003 lovers in Spain, Brecht wanted more than that.  After looking for various tricks to make my paper seem bigger to no avail, it was time to fork it over, so I sent two copies, one via E-mail and the other through fax.  We shall see what happens in the coming months.

I'm scheduled to leave Mehmet's today, so I look up hostels; none of the sent requests were successful; although I could have used the last minute couch.  I find one called "The Sofa Hostel in Taksim"; nightlife.

I pack up my belongings and head over to the desired region with the subway.  I reach Taksim and go by foot  until I realize that I am nowhere where I need to be.  Navigating myself by looking at the street signs and formation of roads and comparing them to my map, I am actually all not too far from where I need to be.  All is actually going well until these two adolescents - no more than 14 - stop me and start speaking gibberis- Turkish.  I show them where I'm trying to go on my map and we go on the longest and most frustrating fucking journey in the world.

We make circles in areas I had already been, they ask so many people how to get to where I need to go, and they can't read a fucking map.  It seems that I know Istanbul better than these two do because we keep going back and forth - at least I was going in a solid direction to reorient my location. But NO - these two insisted that they knew where they were going and wouldn't stop making this stupid hissing sound to get my attention. We got to another hostel, where the owner shooed them away.  I took a map and saw that where I needed to be was actually about three minutes away.  I left the hostel and the boys- assholes were standing outside.  They insisted on going another direction when I knew where exactly I was going and continued to make that damn hissing sound.  I went into a cafe to secure my location via internet and left the boys behind.  They followed me to the cafe and started causing a rucus, so one of the workers of the cafe started translating.

"They said you used a taxi service"

The two boys tried to play sooooo innocent and threatened to get the cops until the owner - who looked like the doctor from Back to the Future started yelling at them.  They left and it turns out that he gave them five Lira.  After two hours of what should have been ten or twenty minutes of a journey, I was finally "home"; the hostel was next door but any indication of a sign lacked.  

That night I talked to a Finnish and Iranian man, who displayed sympathy for the Kurdish population, following into the topics of Italian men and their mothers.  

After everyone hit the hay, I decided it was prime time for me to go out - afterall I was next door to some rich night life and this is a metropolis!

Wandering the streets alone where I had formerly been with a large group of Turkish people was different.  I was heading towards this bar where Balkan music would be playing.  This time, the "promoters" came on even stronger, and people insisted on walking by your side.  After reading stories about people getting suckered into bars where there will be women and then getting hit with a tab of about 50 euros per beer - some a lot higher.. - you become aware.  When people are desperate for you to come to their club or bar, it's almost like coming on too strong - a big turn off. 

"Hello my friend, come to my club" - he proceeds to show me.  Club "2010".  I play stupid with him and act like a dick.
"The year is 2011, who named the club 2010?  Was it you? What happens when it is 2012?"
"Yes"

So I find the place I'm looking for and enjoy some Balkan music.  Then I leave to see my other options of the night.


Having heard of a party being hosted by a few Couchsurfers, I headed in the respective direction.  Three minutes later I was there.  Bleh, one of those parties.  You know, where it's just a bunch of dudes trying to grind on women, but cannot because the girls are just there to dress provocatively and inflate their egos by denying men.  You know, where no one is actually going to dance, but actually to gain something at the end of the night.  Totally not my scene.  So I shoot shit with a few Germans, dance with a few girls, and get the hell out and decide that the Balkan music was better. 

I get there and the music is gone!  But the band is in the lobby so I chat with them.  We get wetburgers and I'm told that you are not allowed to deny an offering of food.  Also not to trust anyone.  Time to depart and I head home to the hostel...  

"Hello my friend, are you looking for women?"
"Yes, Turkish"
"Come with me my friend, I show you beautiful women"

So we walk a bit - actually in the direction of where I'm trying to go - so why not have some company!

He seemed rather disappointed but I'm sure he found someone else.  I go to the hostel and create a last minute couchrequest before heading to bed.  

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