Remembering Turkey

I left Turkey on May 31, having spent nine months studying at Bogazici University in Istanbul.  I wanted to just share this list of what things I will always miss in Turkey, and what things I won‘t.  I’m leaving people off of this list.  If you’re reading this, you probably know me well enough that you would have been included.

Things I will miss from Turkey:

Et doner.  A great et doner (what we often call a gyro) is the final messenger of good street food in Turkey.  It costs about $2.50, unless you get ripped off.  The reward is inconsistent.  Sometimes the street vendor’s lamb meat has been out in the cold too long.  Often I would forget to say no lettuce and tomatoes (I make the same mistake at Burger King, probably 1/3 of my lifetime sandwich orders have been failures).  Somehow that all makes the excellent et doner that much more enticing.  It’s not just buying tasty street food; it’s hunting for that perfect one.

The Bosphorus.  Istanbul has one trump card over any other city on earth.  Flowing right through its center is the beautiful Bosphorus Strait.  It’s been sought for centuries by empires for its strategic value, but I can’t believe Mehmet the Conqueror didn’t have his eye on the remarkably blue strait for aesthetic reasons as well.  I was so lucky to attend Bogazici University, which means University in the Bosphorus.  Every day my walk to school included one of the best views in the city.

Bogazici University.  Bogazici is essentially the Harvard of Turkey, but I’m thinking of its beautiful campus.  There are a lot of beautiful universities in the world (ASU isn’t one of them).  But Bogazici possesses a special quality.  Yes, it looks a little like Princeton dropped into Turkey, as one of my friends said.  But actually it looks like Princeton if it were abandoned for ten years.  Grass shoots up between cracks in the sidewalk.  Vines conceal buildings.  Trees overhang the roads that are bound by unwieldy hedges.  The original concept of Bogazici--an American university plopped into the Ottoman Empire--might have been imposed on the city, but today the university feels embedded within it.

Turkish hospitality.  I’ve been given a free place to stay, free meals, and legal assistance from the kindness of strangers in Turkey.  Since I’m not really a people-person, most of the time I ignored people’s niceties, and occasionally I tired of them.  But honestly my year in Turkey was much more enjoyable because I was in a country with remarkably friendly and welcoming people.   

Natural Beauty.  The Bosphorus gives Istanbul its appeal, but most of Turkey is pretty stunning.  In the Northeastern region of Karadeniz tall hills line the Black Sea Coast, every one of them covered with the black tea that accompanies almost every meal in Turkey.  Drive or hike into the hills and you’ll find cliffs, waterfalls, like driving through the Rocky Mountains, but with more mist and jungle.  The southwestern coast of Turkey is Mediterranean beaches, the way I imagine Italy and the Greek islands.  The central Anatolian plain is gentle golden hills, less noteworthy but somehow very Turkish.

Things I will not miss from Turkey (this list is much easier to make, but also much less important):

Bargaining.  This is a process I despise just about anywhere in the world.  One only bargains in Turkey when buying knock-off products or touristy souvenirs.  Even so, bargaining in Turkey is more pleasant than in Mexico or China, based on my experience.

Public Transportation.  The occasional hot, rainy day on the 559C was enough for me to move from $200/month apartment to a $350/month apartment from which I didn’t have to take a bus.  When you’re standing in a crowded bus, it’s like God has vacuum-sealed you in a cage with two hundred other commuters.

Istanbul Traffic.  My particular personality is attracted to efficiency.  I dread transit times.  I think to myself: in 20 minutes I won’t be trapped in traffic anymore.  To escape the boredom and sickness, I imagine the life I am going to live after I arrive wherever I’m going.  Once my bus to school had such bad traffic that I got out and ran the rest of the way in heavy snow.  I hate running.  My feet froze for hours probably.  Whatever, worth it.

Turkish Conspiracy Theories.  I feel like people in the United States usually accept the narrative of events we’re given by the media and the government (see: Noam Chomsky).  In Turkey, by contrast, they seem to revel in counter-narratives and secret stories.  A remarkable amount of Turkey’s history is wrapped up in secret plots, military coups, ideological movements supported by mysterious foreign interferences.  When I explain to a Turk that this isn’t how things work everywhere, their response is that I’m obviously naïve.  I suspect somewhere in the middle is true, but it’s extremely annoying.

These are the complaints that make everyday life in Istanbul sometimes miserable.  Of course, after one leaves, these drift from memory.  Overall, Istanbul is an incredible and beautiful city.  I’m just very glad I lived there.