Everything is ok here in Istanbul. We're still adjusting to this crazy place. Oh, how I miss the Cestina. Merhaba and Tesekkuler don't sound nearly as nice as Dobry Den and Dickweed (er... Dequi).
Istanbul is... alright. So far, I haven't been many places that aren't totally, insanely, disgustingly 
crowded. Of course, I don't go out much. I don't really know how to, for one thing. The public transportation system here is a joke compared to Prague. I have no idea how to get anywhere, or even where I'd want to get for that matter. Unless you know exactly where you are going, every street looks more or less the same. Lots of cafes and random little shops stocking everything from pantyhose to screwdrivers.
crowded. Of course, I don't go out much. I don't really know how to, for one thing. The public transportation system here is a joke compared to Prague. I have no idea how to get anywhere, or even where I'd want to get for that matter. Unless you know exactly where you are going, every street looks more or less the same. Lots of cafes and random little shops stocking everything from pantyhose to screwdrivers. And the supermarkets are terrible. I mean, they're really nice inside and everything, it's just that if you can eat like a Turk, a meal would cost about a dollar. However, I don't know how to eat like a Turk, so we spend way too m
uch on groceries. It's like 8 bucks for a nice box of Museli, and the yogurt here - great for cooking, horrible for eating plain. You want Western food (canned vegetables, frozen pizzas, basically anything besides yogurt and fresh vegetables)? Expect to pay 4 times the price. You want Turkish food? You're getting change for a quarter. Oh, and one of the most remarkable things about that--cherry juice! It's everywhere! Liters of cherry juice for a dollar! Cherry tea! Cherry-freakin-everything! Imaging drinking Cherry pie filling... I can make that happen.
uch on groceries. It's like 8 bucks for a nice box of Museli, and the yogurt here - great for cooking, horrible for eating plain. You want Western food (canned vegetables, frozen pizzas, basically anything besides yogurt and fresh vegetables)? Expect to pay 4 times the price. You want Turkish food? You're getting change for a quarter. Oh, and one of the most remarkable things about that--cherry juice! It's everywhere! Liters of cherry juice for a dollar! Cherry tea! Cherry-freakin-everything! Imaging drinking Cherry pie filling... I can make that happen. Also, one of the really nice things about Prague was that you could take off in any direction and just kind of pub crawl for an evening, for like 5 bucks. Here, 5 buck
s MIGHT buy you 2 beers, depending where you go. All alcohol is heavily taxed, regulated, and often wrapped up in paper sacks to hide it from Allah's eyes. So, I don't go out many nights...
s MIGHT buy you 2 beers, depending where you go. All alcohol is heavily taxed, regulated, and often wrapped up in paper sacks to hide it from Allah's eyes. So, I don't go out many nights... Now, the good. Fortunately, Istanbul has rampant piracy! You can get any DVD, CD, or game here for between 2 and 5 dollars, and you only have to walk through a seedy little alley! Cheap entertainment! The tea here is really good, and the culture around it is refreshing. Sitting outside and drinking tea is less good than sitting outside and drinking Pilsner Urquell, but probably quite a bit better for me. In fact, my entire lifestyle is probably a lot more healthy. I tried the nargile (hookah pipe), and didn't really like it, so even that anticipated vice is nonexistant.
Also, the people here are incredible. Really, really nice. Genuine, warm, and uniformly capitalist. Yes, capitalist. It's weird, but they have managed to make buying and selling goods a surprisingly bonding-type experience. Of course, Em and I have very, very little money right 
now, and not nearly enough hours in the near future, so that sort of bonding is a bit uncommon for us. Oddly enough, eating out here is actually cheaper than in Prague. The supermarkets are more, true, but a meal sized kebap or durum is about 2 bucks, and a whole meal can be had for around 4-5 bucks, and that's in the center of downtown... As much as there really is a center, which is not at all.
now, and not nearly enough hours in the near future, so that sort of bonding is a bit uncommon for us. Oddly enough, eating out here is actually cheaper than in Prague. The supermarkets are more, true, but a meal sized kebap or durum is about 2 bucks, and a whole meal can be had for around 4-5 bucks, and that's in the center of downtown... As much as there really is a center, which is not at all. So, that's my impression of Istanbul so far. However, the city is GODDAMN HUGE, and I have seen so very little of it. And we haven't been to any of the touristy stuff yet. After our Balkan adventure, I didn't really feel like being a tourist for a couple weeks. Just now, we're finally begnning to explore. Unfortunately, we can barely afford the buses... So, my impression could drastically change.
Gotta run; the Turks are starting to line up for their colonization, er, language lessons...
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