Okay, anyway, last Saturday I went to a Spice Bazaar with two of the other exchange students Gabi and Laura, who are both from Brazil. Here are several photos I took of the Bazaar:
Typical Shop
We ate so much free Lokum and dried fruits that I was about to explode. At Bazaars like this one, if you use a lot of charm with the shop owners, they are more than likely to let you have a piece or two of Lokum (or whatever sweet they are selling) for free. So I used all the Turkish I knew, and then some, to communicate with the sellers. They invited us into their shops, we chatted for a little bit then as I start I walk out, I'd ask "Ah, what's this?" and since I'd seem interested, they give all three of us a piece or two. Or if you are buying something from that store, know that the price they are asking is never the final offer. With enough charm, you might be able to knock the price down by a few liras, which is good for a poor exchange student :)
After all that sugar, we decided to go for actual lunch. We found a Pide, Turkish Pizza, resturant and ate there. The funniest part about Turkish restaurants is that they are normally 3 or 4 levels high (level 1 being where they make the food, and the rest are areas for eating) compared to only one huge dining room in the US. Once we got our food, we started for the wooden, steep, spiral staircase that leads to the seats. I was the first in line to go up, but I saw this little boy cleaning dishes out of the corner of my eye and so I stopped, looked at him, and asked, "Nasılsın?", which translates to "How are you?". He gave me the hugest smile and replied, "Ben de Iyiyim, Sen nasılsın?", which means "I am good, how are you?". I replied with "Ben de Iyiyim, sağol. Iyi günlar!" which is "I am good, thanks. Have a nice day!" I love using my Turkish whenever I get the chance to. This little boy was just so happy that someone aknowledged him enough to ask "How are you?". (Keep in mind everyone behind me was sort of angry because I was holding up the line for the stairs...)
Once we finished lunch, we headed to a cafe for a Sahlep, which is a milk-based hot drink that has cinnamon sprinkled ontop of it. The three of us really love the cinnamon part so we ALWAYS ask for extra of it :) Here is our order at the cafe. Çok çok çok Tarçınlı = Extra extra extra Cinnamon
After the cafe, Gabi left for home and Laura and I went to Kadiköy to meet Daffne. Once there, Laura and I walked around, drank a çay/coffee, and talked for about 3 hours. Laura is such a sweet girl and I'm so glad I had this time to hangout with her! Then Daffne met us for dinner at a resturant called "Makarna" which means "Pasta". So we got pasta, salads, and iced teas. Laura left for home around 9pm but Daffne and I stayed to talk until 11pm. We took a minibus back home afterwards.
Folk dancing starts now every Sunday...
Maggie
