- Episode 2-Salipazari (Tuesday's bazaar) and other tidbits
-"Will they have Turkish rice?" he asked-"Um, yes. But Turkish rice is the same as other rice." I stated trying to help him realize that rice is rice.
-"But Turkish rice is different from English rice because it's covered in oil."
-" hmmmm" not knowing what to say. I do inform him of the Turkish cooking patterns in cafeterias and now he's repeating them to me.
We had this conversation as we passed numerous high school students in the stairwell. I hope they didn't pick up on the 'covered in oil' part.
We had to make a quick trip to the American consulate this afternoon. I say quick because we were granted Jonathan's boss' driver. Yes, the Head of the English Department at the Acibadem Istek school has a driver. What does the driver do while he's not driving? I can only guess that today he was getting a little shut-eye because he came out of his break room looking a little wrinkled, tie-less, work jacket-less, and non talkative. I'm not judging him. Coming from America I used to think, a driver? Well, anyone can do that. But can they? In a city like Istanbul? We've been driven by a couple of drivers several times during our life here and I can tell you that some know their job better than others. Today we got lucky, although he was a bit groggy at first. By the time we finished our paperwork at the consulate he was himself again, making small talk, very small talk on the drive home. The photo above shows our southward drive, north of the second bridge along the Bosphorus. Gorgeous weather.
There is a large man standing to the right of the tree looking skywards. He just sent a bundle of goods up to his apartment (4th floor, with the window open) by rope. I don't know if you can see the bundle just between the 3rd and 4th floor. Isn't that cute? If we lived in an upper floor apartment I would have Jonathan send me up snacks on a regular basis. Chocolate, Turkish delight, Camlica, cartons of milk, bread. Fun!
Tuesday is busy, busy, busy for our area of the city. In Kadikoy. You'll find in your tourist books that Salipazari (take all dots off the i's) is an attraction not to miss. The weekly bazaar where sellers come from far and wide to sell their goods. Mostly fresh foods, clothes, and knic-knacs. Above is a bunch of steel wool for sale. Haven't you always wanted a big clump of steel wool?
Here's Jonathan picking at his Gozleme. Flour tortillas filled with whatever you want. Usually cheese and vegetables. The old ladies at the pazar make them for you on a large hot plate. We got a just cheese one, and a spicy spinach and cheese one.Yummy yummy.
-What is your name?-Jonathan
-What is your name?
-Jonathan
-What is your name?
-Jonathan
-What is your name?
-Benim adim Jonathan.
Everyone is closing down for the day. By 5 or 6 in the afternoon you can get some really good deals. The food sellers will lower their prices just to get rid of everything. By the time we were finished with our shopping the kids were still with us, Jonathan was still smiling, and there was time to get home while the sun was still out.
2 comments:
I enjoyed that post! Specially them asking Jonathans name over & over.
Wow, I hadn't thought about going to the pazar at the end of the day to get the close-out deals. I always go when it first opens to beat the crowds. Sometimes I luck out and get the "first sale of the day" deal. Don't you love it when they brush the lira bills on their cheeks?!! And by going early I don't have to compete with the older Turkish ladies and their powerful elbows...I'd never win at that competition.
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