12 september 2004

9-12, 1:09 pm est
over nova scotia

istanbul, the rest of the time

the rest of my days in turkey turned out to be pretty busy. the meetings went pretty much as expected - lots of talking, not a lot of listening, and very little production of anything. i have now an immense respect for simultaneous interpreters. there weren't a lot of participants who spoke english as their first language (only the new york staff and a couple random others), and most people had some trouble speaking in english. so, there were two women who sat in booths at the back of the room and translated what was said from english to russian or russian to english, and the translation was broadcast into headphones via some wireless system. so, you wore or took off your headphones as you needed. in my moments of boredom, i tried to simultaneously translate in my head from english to farsi, and it's HARD (also because i'm not totally fluent, and don't know how to translate words like "community-based initiatives"). but being around so many people who spoke 3, 4, or 5 languages made me want to learn some new ones. also, i can't help but feel like a bit of an ass when i go to a restaurant and expect people in another country to speak english - at least, i should learn how to say basic things like "water" and "bathroom" and whatnot.

the meeting organizers had arranged for "social outings" in the evenings, mainly just dinner in the city somewhere. i went the first night, but by the second i had had my fill of the soros foundations network. so rox and i went to a kebab house near the hotel instead. that was nice - i should remember not to take for granted that i get along personally well with my boss. on the last day (saturday), they had organized a tour of some of istanbul's finest tourist sites, the blue mosque, the aya sofia (a cool building that used to be a cathedral but was converted into a mosque), and the palace. because of my immense dislike for bus tours, i didn't go. instead, rox, heather, and i went to the textile museum and looked at the neat carpets. they were huge! some were bigger than my entire apartment! after that, we went to a cafe nearby and had a two-hour cup of tea. then we walked through the grand bazaar, where i did the entirety of my istanbul shopping (some funky jewelry and some postcards). we walked around a while more and then settled into a restaurant in an area of town called otokoy for dinner. this place was GOOD. and CHEAP! the rumor was that the area is where the "young, rich professionals" of istanbul hang out. i don't know if we qualify as rich, but we fit right in.

verdict: istanbul is cool. i am definitely looking forward to spending 12 hours here in transit in november, on my way to iran. maybe i can actually do the tourist stuff then.

so now i'm on the flight home, about two and a half hours outside JFK. thankfully, i have a car voucher so i can take a fancy ride and don't have to sit on the train or a cab all the way home, which means i can sleep! i slept a bit on the plane and woke up about an hour ago for the end of "raising helen" (of expected quality) and now "harry potter and the prizoner of azkaban" (which i've seen before - he just blew up his aunt! woohoo!). i have to go to work tomorrow, unfortunately, but no one else will be there, fortunately. and next weekend, sectionals!