Sunsets and Miscommunication

I’m currently sitting under a sunset sky that is full of color. I have a great vantage point from an open roof café at Yeditepe University.  This is my home for the week.  The university has graciously accepted us as guests and put us up in dorm rooms with access to students, lectures, and all of the wild dogs one could ever want.  Yes, I said wild dogs—they are much like the homeless in Denver: they eat your food out of trashcans, wear strange piercings, and have gorgeous dreadlocks.

When we first got here I was a little stressed out because it was a whirlwind of waking up early with little sleep the night before because a wedding went until about midnight blaring music out my window.  There was little introduction to what was going on, and my dorm room smelled like a build up of European B.O. that I just couldn’t handle.  Its okay, apparently all I needed was a nap for 3 hours to remedy everything. 

We’ve had a few lectures primarily about the education system here in Turkey and contemporary Turkish culture.  Both were really GREAT! The education one was surprisingly good too because our lecturer was in a car accident and a substitute lecturer graciously filled her spot.  We asked a lot of questions and in the end we came to some conclusions that while there are some differences in procedures in the education here in Turkey—we are facing similar issues such as special education, equal opportunities for the rich and poor, and diverse language instruction.  Its comforting knowing we’re all a bit messed up, but in the end we care that kids have opportunities to grow into who they will be. 

We were able to be done with lectures by 3 in the afternoon and booked it to the pool.  Surprisingly, as a whole, the group were still fairly scholarly.  Amid sunbathing, and dunking each other we managed to get some reading in.  When I say we I mean mostly Lindsey, but hey…she likes me riding on her coattails.

We’ve met some Americans who are studying at Yeditepe University for the summer from Tennessee and Michigan.  They’re nice!  They’ve given us some guidance as to how to navigate ourselves around the city.  Hence us ending up at a nice little bar up the hill.  I probably had 3 too many Efes (the local beer which is also the name of the historical city Ephesus), but you never know when I’ll be back in Istanbul. 

I just tried calling to ask about getting a tattoo while I was here.  The lady who picked up didn’t speak much English.  She said that it was the operator so I asked for Tattoo Istanbul.  She replied back to me, “Uhh…what is tadu?”  I told her to hold on for a moment while I pulled up Google translate—“Uhm, ‘trampet çalma’?!?”

“OHHH…Musical instra-mints!!” 

“No, no, no…its like…art on the body…”

“Oh oh oh!! You want fitness?!”

I laugh and said, “No! Like paint under the skin…”

She laughs and says, “Paint under skeeen? I do not know this…”

At this point, we’re both laughing out loud and she says that she will get someone who speaks more English.  The man answered and when I tried explaining it to him he said that it was Yeditepe University and I needed to try a different phone number—they didn’t do tattoos here.

This is why I love traveling—hilarious interactions because of miscommunication.  I used to be frustrated by them, but they are by far some of my favorite experiences in life. 

On that note, I’m going to take my camera and walk around Istanbul capturing more Turkish textures.  I hope you’re having a great day.