Raki and Carpets

It was 11pm when the taxi drıver dropped me off in the heart of one of Istanbul's major carpet districts. I had no idea where I would be stayıng that first night but I knew that ıt wouldn't be too dıffıcult findıng a place (accordıng to my near useless guidebook).

As I made my way through the labyrinth of Guesthouses, Hostels and Carpet shops, a man named Ali approached me. I was tired and I longed for a bed, and fıgurıng that he either wanted to sell me a room or a carpet, I brushed hım off nonchalantly. As stubborn as it seems I dislike being pressured ınto staying at any particular place, or being sold anythıng, for that matter. As it turned out, Ali was indeed a carpet salesman, but at this hour wasn't lookıng to push any on me, rather he simply wanted to chat. After a few minutes of chewıng the fat he invited me to his store's rooftop where his boss was having a barbecue. Much obliged from his invıte, and very interested, I joined them.

As it turned out, the barbecue was a roundtable of local carpet merchants, all of whom were eating copious amounts of cheeses, salads, olives, breads, and various kinds of meats all of which is eaten to compliment the constant flow of Raki. Raki is a traditional Turkish drink that tastes like licorice. You can follow the below link for more specific details but in short, Raki has the potentıal for kickıng your ass. Essentially, it's what Sake is to the Japanese, only stronger.

So we ate and drank and enjoyed the rooftops clear view of both the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. They asked dozens of questions about Amerıca and I returned wıthe my own of Turkey. These guys are the carpet pimps of İstanbul and there I was, drinkıng, eating and laughing wıth them. A few hours later, just before I might have passed out, the Boss called a Hostel-owning friend of his ın order to secure a room for me for the night.

I have never experienced such hospitality in a foreıgn country before; people really want to befriend you despite the fact that you're a tourist. Istanbul is an unreal city wıth amazıng architecture, beautiful museums and a palace that stands testament to a once powerful empire whose influence has stretched far and wide. However, at the heart of it, it seems to be the people that make the city what it is, the people that give the city it's own unique, special feeling.

I hope everyone is doing great.

Josh.


Coming soon----bone crushing, teeth grinding Turkish bath leaves Josh for dead.

Raki link- http://www.turkishculture.org/culinary_arts/raki.html

Onward to Istanbul...

The last 12 days in Israel have been a huge mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly...

Just off the top of my head, it's worth mentioning a few details about the Dead Sea...

As it was written in our science textbooks, because of the extremely high salt level in the Dead Sea, you're body is able to float atop the water like a feather while your skin is rejuvenate just like a newborn's. What they failed to mention, however, is that any exposed orifices will burn you like a match....Having said that, my ass was burning like an incredible fire. It felt as though the Olympic torch itself had been extinguished right into the center of my butt.

The content of the tour itself was great; I learned about the many sides of Israel's history, both politically and religiously; I was able to sit in lectures from people on both sides (quite literally) of the fence (In fact, we drove past a section of the much debated fence that separates Palestinian Territory from Israel.); Tel Aviv, like Jerusalem are cities of many faces. At one corner you're in the Middle East scaling two thousand year old stairs, at the next you're somewhere in western Europe where very chill, open air cafes abound. I've done a lot in the 10 days I've been here. I've sure it's going to take awhile to digest it all....

And btw, I have never been surrounded by so many Jews in my life. The garbage collectors, the mailpeople, the bus drivers, and the doctors...all Jews. Crazy. Jewry of the whole spectrum are repesented here; The orthodox rub elbows with the secular.

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Jersalem as I write this and I am amazed at how many public buses there are, and without explanation, I am honestly quite fearful of them. This is an everyday reality for Israelis, just like having your backpack fingered-through or being patted down before entering a store. Likewise, many Palestineans live there lives like squaters on just several dollars a day; their situation is dire. They fear abuse from both Israeli soldiers and many warlord-like Palestinean figureheads who have cut up the Gaza Strip into territorial factions. Just as crazy as that might be, there are gun-totting Messianistic Jews from Brooklyn living in the West Bank with there 8 kids...and they are waiting.

In 4 hours I'll be boarding a plane to Istanbul, Turkey. I bought an extra memory card so I wont feel reserved with the camera. I'll be sure to update in a few days. Hope everyone is ok. Write a comment if you'd like...

Josh.

Mid East Feast 2004

2 days before I leave for Israel and my room is still not fit for the sublet.