Taksim Tourists

Went over to Taksim & Galata, a ferry ride away. Well, and a metro and a funicular, if you get lost! We were trying to find the "historic" funicular from Kariköy, but instead ended up on a spanking new space age funicular, which took us a bit too far.

No problem...we took a 15 minute stroll down the very picturesque Istiklal (Independence) street, which is pedestrian only (except for a tram, which you need to keep an eye out for). The area has many upscale shops and "boutique" hotels, and was jam-packed on a Sunday afternoon.

Headed to the Pera Museum, near Istiklal Street to see the Miró exhibit, closing today. It was great; not sure why, but art makes me feel happy. Especially Miró; his work always looks happy (not sure if he was happy when he was painting, but it feels like it to me). I sometimes wonder if his work could be turned into a new writing system; all the little symbols which are almost hieroglyphics. It was great and worth the long commute. Coming home, the haze was gone, it was clear and the light was great for pictures. Marc will show you some of those on the next post!

Street scenes from the early 20th century

Here's a link to the Brooklyn Museum's archives of photographs taken by Charles Goodyear (at the time the BM's first curator of fine arts). You'll find many pictures taken in the early 20th century of Istanbul here.

Taxi Talk, Small World

Although we can’t really take taxis all the time, as we did in Abu Dhabi (where they’re dirt cheap), we have had to use them occasionally here in Istanbul, especially when loaded down with shopping from Carrefour or other big stores. Of course, our Turkish is still close to non-existent, so there’s usually not a whole lotta conversation going on—at least not that’s mutually comprehensible!

But our little foray to IKEA today, along with some of our new colleagues, ended with a somewhat amusing exchange between our taxi driver and Alex, a really nice Dutch woman who teaches visual arts at our school. Amusing because after about 10 minutes they both realized that they were able to speak to each other pretty effectively—not in Turkish, or English, but in Dutch. This was due to his living in The Hague for three years. And it turns out that Alex is actually from The Hague, so we all had a good laugh about the coincidence and the world that seems to be getting smaller and smaller every year… at least that’s what we thought we were all laughing about!

One of the perks about living overseas, with a new language and culture to manage, is that sometimes we don’t really know what the hell is going on—at least not all the time, anyway, and so we’re released from any major obligation or worry. There’s kind of a weird little comfort in that, knowing that we’re often out of it, but still able to enjoy the ride.

Where we are, Part 2

Here's a satellite picture (from Google Earth) of where our apartment is in Kozyataği. Actually, there are 2 thumbtacks: one for our apartment and one for Istek, where we work, right on Bagdatcadessi (the Rodeo Drive of Istanbul!). School is about a 15 minute ride on the teacher's bus. Yes, we don't have to drive (a relief in this agressive scary traffic on narrow roads). As always, click on the picture to get a larger version.

Turkish... Tea?

Our innocence here in Istanbul is apparently still alive and well. Although we had visited Turkey several years ago (granted, only for a few weeks), we didn't remember how ubiquitous tea is. Turkish coffee is world-famous, of course, and justifiably so. But take a look around town—and probably throughout the entire country—and you'll get the idea that maybe Tea is King here.

Çay ("chai") shops abound, and as you can see from the photo here, grocery stores typically set aside far more shelf space to Lipton and other çay than to various kinds of kahve (coffee). Blimey, you'd think you were in England or India!

And horror of horros: the Evil Empire of Nescafe definitely has a foothold here in Turkey. Not that you can't still readily find that wonderfully strong Turkish kahve in stores and coffee shops. But take a quick look at that photo again (and as always, click on it to see the full-size version); up at the top right is the only bit of Turkish coffee available in this shop. Then again, maybe one just doesn't need a vast array of choices of Turkish blend, when one will do just fine.

As for us, as long as it's still warm outside, we're making do with cold-coffee frappes (home-made frappucinos) with the horrid instant stuff and plenty of ice. But that can be our dirty little secret—you won't tell anyone else, will you?

Free time Turkish stylee

Things are a bit different here...walking across the Galata Bridge (from one side of the Golden Horn to another) there are many cafes and restaurants with a view of Sultanahmet. And many of the cafes have backgammon sets on the table, just waiting for customers to come along. We'll try to get some action shots (once we speak some Turkish & can ask politely to take a photo!)...

Classroom snooping, pondering teaching

After being in Istanbul for a week, we finally got to visit our ISTEK school, Semiha Sakir, where we were given a tour and got to meet many of our new colleagues. I also briefly met with the primary school principal—and learned from her that I'll be teaching not only fourth and fifth grades, but also first!


Following the tour, we were free to wander around the school on our own, and so I stopped by all the classrooms for 1st, 4th and 5th grades, to get an idea of how they're normally decorated, and to take a few snaps. Above is one of four 1st grade classrooms that I peeked into, and below, just for comparison, is one of the two 5th grade classrooms. (Not all that different, I suppose, except for things hanging from the ceiling and different/additional visuals for the younger ones.)

With school still about a week away, most classrooms were in a bit of disarray, but I'm confident they'll be in pretty good shape by next week. I have to say that was a little weird seeing them so empty, with no students in sight. But at least I've got a glimpse into what my physical working conditions will be like, and for that my curiosity's been satisfied.

Now, I just need to get a handle on what exactly I'll be teaching in the first days of school. Apparently that's all been mapped out, following very clear government requirements. Still, we're expected to go above & beyond those requirements (especially so, since Semiha Sakir will be an IB candidate school), so it'll be interesting—and perhaps somewhat challenging—to juggle the Turkish and IB requirements for all these grades. Maybe I should take juggling lessons, alongside Turkish lessons?!

A lot of unknowns as of yet, but it's sure to be an adventure...

New city, new job, new photo!

Well, we really went to work today. Had a tour, a few short meetings, lunch & lots of questions; not necessarily lots of answers, though. Mostly just a day to realize we have LOTS to think about. (That's a good thing!)

We're finding the Turkish staff extremely helpful and friendly, which should make life easier. I met Tuçe, my assistant, too. (Pronounced TOO-chay) She's got a BS in Library Sciences from the University of Istanbul, so I'm sure she'll be a great help.

Rodeo Drive, Oxford Street, Bagdatcadessi?!

Well, we walked down to Bagdatcadessi today, to see Istanbul's Rodeo Drive. Sure enough, many stores that are out of the range of teachers & librarians! But we did find a Starbuck's...though their prices are what you'd expect for a Starbuck's on Oxford Street. Oh well, it's nice to be able to get a medium decaf mocha every once in a while. Right now we're mostly sticking to cold coffee at home...with the temperature in the 90sF and no a/c, cold is better, no matter what's being discussed.

Just in case you were wondering, the NY Times thinks Istanbul is cool, too!

An example of the Turkish language, which should keep us on our toes!

How far to Europe?

Marc & I did an experiment today to see how long it really takes to get to the European side of Istanbul (where all the touristy stuff is, such as Topkapi Palace & Aya Sofia, the museums, the souk, the spice market, etc.). Okay, first it's a 5-minute walk to Şemsettin Gűnaltay Cadessi to get a blue dolma (mini-bus). Then a 20 minute ride to the end of the line, near the ferries. The ferries come once every 20 minutes and take about 20 minutes. If you time it right you can be at the spice market in 45-50 minutes. However, we rode the tram up the hill (first stop Topkapi) to Aya Sofia. Then timed it to see how long to get home (tram + ferry + bus). Oops! 90 minutes. Of course we had to wait for the tram and the ferry. So it's not quick, but what a trip. The ferry ride is a blast--amazing views of the city and this busy working port.

By the way, it's 1.40 TRL (about $1.25) for each bit of transportation, but you can go as far as you like.

Fruit & Veg Souq (Pazar / Open Market)

On Friday afternoon we went to our neighborhood fruit and vegetable market, hoping to get at least a few fresh things to eat, and maybe take a photo or two of the place. We did pretty well on both fronts.

Not only did we load ourselves down with lots of great produce, but we ended up with a number of photos—mostly because of the very friendly and outgoing vendors, of all ages, who practically insisted on having their picture taken. Everyone seemed pretty pleased when I turned the camera around and showed them their snapshot. Now we're apparently committed to bringing a printout of their photo when we go back to the market, since no one seems to have an email address or computer access—I guess we need to buy a printer soon!


The young fellow here was perhaps the most insistent about us taking lots of posed photos, more so than the older gentleman (his grandfather?) who sat quietly by himself selling these colorful, decorative grasses. But after a brief exchange between the two of them, he obviously consented, and was also happy when he saw the photo a moment later.

I think we'll make it a habit to go every week—thankfully, even though it's only open on Fridays, it is open all day, and so we'll be able to go after we get home from work.

Under the grape leaves

The school owns many apartment buildings for staff...on our lot there are 2 buildings. Each has 7 floors, plus a basement where we can do laundry. In our building there are 2 apartments/floor, in the other 4 apartments/floor. Between the buildings at the back of the lot, there is an arbor with 2 large tables & plenty of seating. It's a great place to have coffee/tea in the mornings and chat (yes, we have a tea-lady!!), or meet up with our co-workers for a potluck lunch, or just to find out what's happening next...

First days in Istanbul

We arrived four days ago, though it somehow feels longer than that; a lot has happened since then, I guess. After an initial hiccup upon arrival (a miscommunication, resulting in no one from our school, ISTEK, to meet us at the airport), things have gone pretty smoothly. Once we were taken to our apartment--in the Kozyatağı area of town, on the Asian side--we met several of our new colleagues, all of them very friendly, of course, with interesting backgrounds and stories to tell.

There's a nice vine-covered picnic table down between the two ISTEK staff buildings, which is where we've met some of these new friends/colleauges. There's even an ISTEK housing staff person who brings us coffee or tea there, so we're getting downright spoiled!

It's still very warm (90s, mostly), and humid, and so today we're going to break down and buy ourselves a fan (otherwise the apartment is pretty well furnished) and miscellaneous items. We've got a Carrefour hypermarket kinda close (25 minute walk), and apparently an IKEA somewhere in the vicinity, too. Also a big traditional market nearby, which we hope to check out for fruits & vegetables.

The reason why we haven't done all this shopping yet is that we've just come back from a 2+ day-long orientation, at a resort that ISTEK owns, an hour outside of town. Now that that's over, we can focus a bit more on settling into the apartment, and checking out our school. Will post some pictures here soon, I hope.

Ok, enough blogging for now... back to unpacking and shopping!