Is anything ever open here??

Now, when I walked around yesterday evening, I attributed nearly everything being closed to this being a city where everything closes early. To wit, I walked around for ages last night, and saw many, many cafes and restaurants CLOSED.

Today, went in to the city about 3pm, and cafes were closing and shops and other restaurants were closed. Again.

I don't understand.

After much misdirection, made it to the Atomium. Pretty cool. But disappointing in that it is under renovation and it's impossible to climb to the atoms and look at the view. I was there and gone in about five minutes...

Though, am happy because I finally found a shop to buy hair conditioner in. Surprisingly hard to find in the city center (???).

Tomorrow I will be off to London, where I will be able to [drumroll please] finally lighten my backpack. I am SO looking forward to this.

Oh, and Mo, I did fit the cushions in. Thanks for the note!

I think I'm just going to chill in my hotel room tonight, and see if there is a British tv show on to watch. That isn't dubbed in to French or Dutch.

If it's Monday, it must be Belgium

I thought the national language was French but it also includes Dutch, and maybe another language.

I'm already trying to think in French. The passport control guy was asking me questions in English and I was replying in my French -- without really realizing it. He was very sweet and didn't point out what I was doing and let me realize it on my own...

Some street signs are in Dutch, others French, and still some others in English. I can't help but be a bit confused.

It's strange to be in a Western city, but it's kinda cool. Except for the price differentials...

The advice of strangers

In Romania, I met a couple Euro men who warned me about how the Turkish men would react to me. "You are their dream" said one, though I attribute some of that sentiment to shameless flattery. "They will love you there" said another, who I tend to trust a bit more than the first guy. The second guy also gave me advice on how to get Turkish men to leave me alone. "If you say you are married, they won't care. If you say you have a boyfriend, they won't care. However, if you say you have a *Turkish* boyfriend, they will leave you alone because they respect only other Turkish men."

It worked.

In a bout of trying to see just how much I can fit in to my already super-packed backpack, I decided to go out and buy a couple cushion covers. After a little bargaining in the third shop (I walked out of the other shops because they wouldn't bargain...and this *is* a bargaining town), I agreed to buy a couple. I was told how beautiful my [bright blue] eyes are and how beautiful I am. It goes without saying the conversation followed like this:

Shop Owner: Are you married?
Me: No.
SO: Ah, he [shop clerk] is looking for someone to be his wife.
Me: I have a boyfriend/
SO: Ah, but that is not permanent. Surely you could go out with SC.
Me: He is Turkish.
SO: Really? [said with a slight look of awe and admiration]
Me: Yes, he is very lucky.
SO: Yes, he is. Bad luck for SC, though.

It went on with more of the bad luck/good luck theme for a couple minutes. Especially as he tried to sell me a necklace with the pattern of the Turkish good luck symbol (I already have one of the charms). I then pointed out that I only wear one necklace, and that it is also a good luck charm. This is mostly true. I do have a New Zealand greenstone necklace that I really never take off anymore, though I do occasionally wear other necklaces. For those of you unfamiliar with NZ greenstone, it is good luck if it is presented to you as a gift, though it is not bad luck if you buy it for yourself. Mine was a gift from one of my best friends, after he went to NZ.

In any case, that is a bit tangential, but there you go. I'm in a country of tangential and subterfuge-filled conversation and it's obviously gotten under my skin.

Now, time to see if I can find any ice for my ankle, as I've walked quite a bit today (the Bosphorous was resplendently gorgeous and startingly blue), and it's a bit sore.

I'm putting off seeing just what kind of tricks I need to use to find space for what I bought...

Perhaps I just need to pull out my little Turkish good luck charm and see how much luck I can have today...

Back to Istanbul

Yep. Made it back to Istanbul today. And the sore throat has already started to return.

Thank you pollution!

It's cool to be back someplace familiar, and it was really cool to be so warmly welcomed back by the staff here.

I'd so love to go dancing tonight, but I'm pretty tired. I'm probably going to snore quite a bit as it is, and I do try to be considerate of the others in my room...

Oh, bliss! Whilst writing this, I'm also IM'ing with the Colombian darling from Budapest.

Speaking of bliss: after a rather strange and frustrating couple of days of bizarre interaction with NC, he also (to my surprise) came to see me off at the airport. He was particularly sweet, and the goodbye was very simple and touching. I had been rather angry and frustrated at him, but his gesture of coming to the airport, after having just recently finished working a 12 or so hour graveyard shift, was especially touching. But then, I talked to him a couple nights ago asking what was up with his weird behavior, so...

In any case, it was a lovely send off. Especially as it was so utterly and completely unexpected. It was a gift.

Just like it was a gift to be so warmly re-welcomed back in Istanbul.

I head to Brussels on Monday (no, not on Wednesday...), then London on Wednesday. It will be strange to be somewhere where I can actually understand and speak some of the language (French in Brussels) and where I won't have to preface queries to strangers with 'do you speak English?' (London). Though, I will be very sad to leave Eastern Europe.

Though, I'm thinking my next stop after London will either be Croatia or Florence. And then I will definitely go to Germany to visit some friends there.

I can also tell you that I will *not* be looking forward to living on the British Pound, no matter how briefly I'm in London...

Kusadasi's newest table dancer...

...is me.

I went clubbing last night, and had quite a fun time.

Went to three clubs, and the last one was the most fun, and where I was dancing on tables. The club was showing Kill Bill 2 on the video screen, and I have to say that it certainly makes for interesting background viewing. Especially when you're spinning around and suddenly see Uma Thurman taking a Samurai sword to someone's torso...

Though, I've learned my lesson about taking things men say at face value in a Muslim country. The Manager/Owner thankfully seems to have picked up on the 'I'm not interested' messages I was subtly sending. There is a waiter at the hotel that I'd talked to a little a couple times, and he is the one I went dancing with last night. I'd foolishly assumed an invitation to go dancing was just that: an invitation to dance. Given my personal wariness of going clubbing by myself in a country where I don't speak the language or know what the protocol of showing up to a club alone as a woman is, I accepted the offer.

It wasn't too long before The Moves were unleashed.

To his credit though, he was pretty gracious and more respectful than I might have imagined, when he tried to kiss me and I said I wasn't interested. I respect that he didn't become aggressive or anything like that. Though, I have now been repeatedly told I've broken "a Turkish heart" and I repeatedly rolled out with "porrrrr favorrr". So it goes. I reminded him he would probably meet a new girl today, somewhere, and that his chance of love would be renewed today. Kind of sappy, I know, but it seemed to help. It took him about five minutes to even say that he wanted to kiss me -- and all through those five minutes, I knew what was coming.

And finally, the mysterious sun reappeared today. Quite lovely and not too warm. Which means that instead of doing anything particularly interesting, or going on an excursion for the first time this week, I lounged by the pool for a couple hours. I am perhaps more tan than I've ever been in my life.

Today, I met an older (70ish) British woman in the hotel cafe, and I plan on going out with her and her friends tonight. She sings karaoke and dances every night of the week here. She is a sharp lady. She's also had The Moves put on her by the guy I went dancing with last night...

Which makes me feel less bad about not even giving him a peck on the cheek. He's obviously quite cheeky himself.

Turkish Delight

OK. You knew that title was coming...

I got to see the night clerk last night. Or, I should say, rather early this morning. I did naughty things in naughtier places, and was quite delighted.

Though, it is time for it to end with him. We share a certain amount of interest, but not that much, in reality. He's still quite lovely and I think it's better to end the last couple days on a good note instead of trying to put life into something that doesn't really have it. Let's call it what it is: a mini travel fling. I will still be pleased to hear him call me 'baby' though...

If you haven't already heard (you heathen), Liverpool won in penalty kicks last night. There was only one other guy at the hotel actively rooting for Liverpool, and the hotel owner was cheering for Liverpool (I'm pretty sure because I said they were my team to cheer for). Mind you, I watched the game with about 6-7 Turkish guys. One of them shared some sunflower seeds with me. I covertly sneaked glances at Night Clerk, whilst leaning away from Manager [who had taken the seat next to me].

Tonight, I'm scheduled to go clubbing and I'm rather looking forward to it. Perhaps I will meet a lovely new boy to flirt with.

Oh my. Spring Fever has finally arrived for me!

Now, I just want the sun to come back out again. It rained part of yesterday, is overcase now, and all I want to do is go to the beach or sit by the pool.

Perhaps I'll just head to the Turkish bath today, instead. A full body massage sounds delicious!

Oh no, aka Baklava for Dinner

So, last night the hotel owner offered to take me on a driving tour of the city. Today, given the onset of light rain, I decided to say yes. Even given qualms that he fancies me. It quickly became apparent that he was thinking of it as some sort of date. As soon as I said yes, he said something to the effect that the "heavens were helping him".

Uh oh.

It was a nice tour. We stopped for tea at a lovely spot near/in Efes (Epheseus) and he took me to a baklava cafe on the way back. I had to try *all* the baklavas, which was about six. I don't think I will be able to eat anything for hours. And now I have a sugar high...

Then on the drive back, he offered to take me to a lookout spot that has a lovely view of the city. I would love to go. However, seeing as how he described it as a romantic view of the city at night, I declined.

He's lovely to chat to, but I am not at all interested. Especially since my daydreams are revolving around the night clerk...

What kind of mess have I gotten myself in to???

Now, time to sneak of to watch the European Football Championship match.

Hopefully alone!

Don't fence me in

I will admit the following is a bit of a plagiarism of an email I just sent to one of my best friends. Though, it's something I've been thinking about for a while, so there you go. You are about to visit the inner me a bit.

One of my two best friends has just informed me she is intending to move to a different city. This is why I have to return in July -- because she is the one that is storing the 20 boxes or so of belongings I kept from my apartment, and I will have to move them elsewhere. Or perhaps I will get rid of even more stuff. I can't remember what I have in some of the boxes and to me that signifies that I can probably live without whatever those items are.

My other best friend sent me an email saying that he occasionally fantasizes about leaving Seattle for somewhere else. Part of it is based on his wanderlust, part of it is based on wanting to create a fresh life elsewhere (like what my other best friend is doing).

As to me, the longer I travel, the more I feel a strong desire to not 'settle down' someplace for longer than a few months. A friend of mine used to say that I'd lived in Seattle too long (this was spurred by me being able to accurately count in my mind the number of streets between us and the restaurant we were going to -- it was about 12), and that I needed to move to another city. I used to think that he was just trying to impose his own lifestyle of moving cities every few years. Now, I think he was right.

It's fair to say that my last year in Seattle was a sea change for me. [note: if you don't know what this is, search google for 'sea change shakespeare'] I have mixed feelings about going back to a city to 'settle' with such memories. Those memories, of course, are not currently fresh in my mind, largely because I've been travelling around, meeting new people and not in regular contact with most of my friends. The longer I travel, the fewer of my friends keep in contact with me, which I think can be telling of the friendship. Or, as someone pointed out to me when I was in Argentina, it could also be a sign of them not being in contact because I am so far away, in a sort of polite 'out of sight, out of mind'. In any case, I feel like I've learned who are truer friends, as opposed to ones that write very erratically or immediately after I send one of my monthly emails (and the people that do this are increasingly fewer and fewer each month).

But I digress.

I have found there are very few people I truly miss. I don't want to get in to the specifics of whom I do and whom I don't, in the effort to not hurt any feelings. Also, in not missing some people as much as others, it does not mean to me that I don't care about those people.

I've found that after travelling around for so long, that I'm pretty much loathe to return to Seattle to 'settle' again. I know the current plan is to go back for several months, and then come back to Europe and work on finding a teaching job. However, I know how I am and I know that I can't predict what may happen when I return. Perhaps I will come across a brilliant job and decide to stay longer because of that. Perhaps I will find a brilliant man and fall in love again. I love travelling, but my ties to Seattle are so strong (it is where I was raised and where I lived for nearly my entire life) that it can be difficult to actually get up and go when I've been there for a while. This, in combination of a large group of friends that either haven't travelled as much or like I am now, or just don't share teh wanderlust I have. I know many people with what I consider 'static' lives. While most of them are happy that way, I realize that I wasn't entirely happy that way, and I know that right now, that is not something I desire At All.

I'm always so much happier when I'm out travelling, experiencing new things and meeting new people. I've so very much enjoyed hearing other people's travel stories, and meeting people that travel is vitally important, too. For so long, travelling for a long time was this fantastic dream of mine, and one that very, very, very few people I know could really relate to. At one point, I had to have a rather long conversation with someone that I had spent a great deal of time with, to explain to him why this was important to me. He couldn't understand that being a Career Girl was not the life I want. He was, as he once said, on the way to Yuppie-dom, and he just really didn't seem to grasp that while that that was fine for him, it wasn't the lifestyle choice that would make me happy. This conversation was also especially disconcerting because we had been rather close for several months, and I had imagined he knew me well enough to be able to understand why I would say it was important. That he couldn't imagine the importance to me of travelling for an extended period of time was a shock to me. Aside from him, it also came to my attention that other people never believed I would make this trip. Which just goes to show how little those people knew me (and I thought at least one of them in particular knew me very, very well). I have other friends who never doubted my trip, and they are the ones that I tend to be closer to. They understand what travelling means to me, because they tend to feel the same way about it. As my mother said when I told her about this trip: "I know you will do this. Once you set your mind to anything, you do it." Which is how I ended up in Australia for two months in 1989-1990, how I ended up putting myself through college [after initially dropping out and working for a few years], how I came to Europe the first time, and how I came to do many other things in my life.

But again, I digress.

Perhaps I will move with the one friend to another city, and try that out for a bit. Creating a new life from scratch is so appealing to me right now. My life this past seven or so months has been ruled by freedom and new experiences, that I'm loathe to return to what I know. Perhaps I will try to convince the other friend to move to a new city with me. I hate the idea of not living in the same city as at least one of my two best friends. I have a great, great deal of history with both of them and I would not want to let the history run thin because of geography. And the phone bills would be monstrous.

Perhaps you may consider this aversion to living in Seattle a matter of running away, in consideration of my allusions to my last year in Seattle. I once wrote a post about that year, but it has languished in draft status for months, and I don't know if I will ever post it here.

I'm still a commitment-phobe in some ways. I need to feel a compelling reason to live somewhere, and right now, I'm not sure that Seattle is compelling enough for me. I'm very happy being an urban nomad.

And to be clear, this post is not about me being unhappy. It's just about something important that I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about over the past several weeks.

Now, I believe it is time to return to the hotel swimming pool. Quite lovely and has a fantastic panoramic view of the city.

Oh, and I *will* be watching the Euro Championship football match tonight. And then hopefully spending a bit more Quality Time with the lovely boy from the other night... Before I leave, I want to go dancing with him.

He is the other thing constantly in my mind these last 30 hours or so. And so sweet the thoughts are!

We interrupt our regular programming...

...to announce our interpid traveller has finally found a little holiday romance. And I'm here for four more nights, so I'm hoping to see, ummm, a little more of this guy. Not necessarily someone I would date in regular life. But weighing in at attractive and interesting and knows how to dance and one who gives mighty nice head massages...there you go. I woke up smiling.

Now, my most pressing decision is: beach or hotel pool?

Oh, and a change of what will happen in July

I was originally starting to seriously plan to go to Prague before I left, to look in to teaching English there. I met some women on a train that currently teach there, and they made it sound imminently possible to make a reasonably good living doing so, and that there is A Lot of demand for English teachers there.

However, something has come up in Seattle, and I need to deal with it in person. It's not serious in a bad way, just serious in a I-Need-To-Deal-With-This way. I suppose it's possible I could get another friend to take care of it. Though, that would be an act of great kindness and the teaching demand will still be in Prague if I wait 5-6 months before returning to try and teach. And yes, that answers your probably question: I plan to return to Seattle for maybe 5-6 months, earn as much money as possible (know of any lucrative jobs??) so I can pay down my credit card a bit and just save some cash for another flight to Europe, then head back to Europe and Prague to see about finding a teaching job. If it falls through in the end, at least I'll travel for a month or so before re-joining the Real World of a Regular Job.

That is, I would be in that world until I had enough money to start travelling again...

Clear blue skies [mostly]

Oh. Yeah.

I headed south today, incidentally flying on an airline that Holland will no longer let fly land in a Dutch airport -- due to safety reasons (again, Mom, hope you're not reading this...). I am in what can be classed as a Beach Resort (witness the cruise ship in the harbor and strikingly close proximity to Greece), and it seems ok. Though, I haven't walked around much -- just showered, had something to eat and am now enjoying the coolness of an internet cafe. It's really hot right now, and I want to wait a bit more before exposing my sensitive Irish skin to this sun. Even with sunblock and an existing tan, it's still pretty intense out there. I *do* want to enjoy the sun, and not have to sit in my hotel room the whole time because I got massively burnt on the first afternoon here...

On to the trip here. The flight was fine and the plane looked fine. Don't know the exact details of why Holland is anti-Onur, but there you go.

I also think I have about the worst luck with arriving in some places. On the way to Varna (and I'll repeat this story in case I missed blogging it when it happened), I made a mistake with the train connections, and ended up choosing to take a 45 euro taxi ride from Ruse to Varna. An expensive little trip, as the train ticket would have cost about $4... But, given the alternative of staying in Ruse and losing the next day because of the train times (6am or 4pm), I opted for the taxi trip. Expensive, but the rest of Bulgaria was so cheap, it kind of evened out in my favor anyway.

Arriving in Plovdiv at almost 10pm, I took a taxi from the train station to the hostel. Mostly, because I knew it was a couple kilometers and I did not have a map -- so walking was not an option. I couldn't see the meter clearly in the cab (thank you stick shift), and it turned out he didn't turn the meter on. This is always a recipe for a scam. I was charged 8 Leva, which is only about $3 or so, so theoretically it wasn't too bad. Until someone and I took a taxi to the train station, and that fare was 1.80 Leva...

And then there was today. To backtrack to yesterday, I was at a travel agency getting information and plane tickets to my current destination. While I was originally going to take the bus here, I ended up flying because it wasn't that much more expensive, and it saved a great deal of time and added comfort. However, contemporary highway robbery is alive and can be found at the Izmir airport.

The travel agency rep made it sound like there were regular and frequent bus shuttles from the airport to Kasadasi. This is not true. The only way out of the airport was seemingly in a taxi or by stowing away on an obvious tour bus going to an unknown destination. I couldn't even see a bus stop for a regular city bus. In the end, I paid 80 lira (about $58) for a 60km taxi ride. Even to just go to the bus station would have been 50 lira...

I will certainly be researching cheaper ways to get back to the airport for my return trip.

After the taxi ride today, it just goes to show the adage of bad things happening in threes. It was the third thing to go awry in well under 24 hours. It started last night with an asshole of an Australian getting all pissy about the overflow sleeping arrangements for the hostel (a story about accomodation that I won't go in to full detail here), that ended up with him waking me up at 2.45am, him trying to berate me for something not my fault and something I did that was not done with malicious intent, and had conversation bits like this:

Me: [not saying anything while he rants and strokes his own broken self-esteem by spewing vitriol at me]
Him: Don't you have anything to say?
Me: No. There's nothing I can imagine saying that will make any difference to your view. It's pretty clear you've already made up your mind about how you feel.
Him: You have a point.

It ended with him doing what I suggested in the first minute of his self-serving rant (yes, I am still residually pissed and outraged) and him saying:

"Well what I can expect, you're American."

Oh, the torrent of retorts that I bit my tongue from saying then and the acts of backpacker terrorism I considered this morning while he was still sleeping...

The second act of awry was the oaf in the seat next to me, on the plane, spilling half his cup of coffee on my leg. I'm thankful that: 1. the coffee was served lukewarm; 2. I was wearing dark jeans that already need to go to the laundry.

Though, all is well now. I'm ensconced in a nice hotel (double bed!!), doted on by hotel staff (again, behold the power of a smile, red hair and a strappy top), and am in a lovely, hot locale on the Aegean coast.

And to think one of the Mancunians that read my blog said that it was all so nice, and that there wasn't anything harsh written. [I told him to check out the March/April archives...] It's mostly that I don't take too personally anything awry that happens these days. But when it comes in threes...I can't help but be a little more absorbent to the bad stuff. But like I said, I'm in the Town of Sun and Beaches and Very Close Proximity to Greece, so how can I still be upset? The Answer: I'm not.

Finally, it's off to explore this place a bit more properly [than what I saw from the taxi] and get some more sun.

Istanbul is Constantinople

Which is the only They Might Be Giants lyric that I know.

The last couple days have been rather un-eventful, in the full meaning of the word. Yesterday, the weather was quite spectacular with rain periodically during the day and a great lightning storm in the evening. I'd mildly tweaked something in my left knee the day before, so I did precious little yesterday, in an effort to let it heal. I have a dance injury in my right knee, and I really don't fancy having problems with *both* my knees...

Today was weird because I had to wait to move my bags to another, unfinished hostel (same owner). Then, I had to decide where I'm going tomorrow, which involved about an hour research online, then over an hour in the travel office. I'm flying south, to the Aegean coast of Turkey, and will probably hop over to one of the Greek islands for a day or two. In other words, I'm off to Lands of Beaches. Awhh Yeahhh.

And to backtrack a couple nights, imagine my surprise when the seven people moving in to 'my' room where seven Mancunians. Guys. It was a bit startling at first, and the hostel owner (despite my protestations that it was ok and I really didn't mind sharing a room with guys (by that time I'd talked to a few of them and discovered they were pretty cool and I'd sensed the odds of unwanted funny business in the middle of the night was pretty minimal)) stated: 'It is not right.' In the end, I kept my bed for that night and last night. Those boys are pretty cool. They are here for the Football Championship this week and their enthusiasm for the game is pretty contagious. I also joined a conversation they were having last night, where they were explaining various aspects of Islam to another British girl. It was really quite interesting, as I'd only known a tiny bit about Islam. I only know a tiny bit more, though I do have a great deal more respect for their faith. When one of them told me one morning that they hadn't been able to sleep, and they heard the 5am call to prayer and then they went to mosque to pray, I hadn't originally been sure if they had been joking or not. This is before I knew they were all Muslim. In any case, I suppose this is just a long paragraph to state that I met some really cool guys. I feel like I found several pals and I also appreciate that I learned some things that I didn't know and that were rather enlightening to me. Oh, and one of them looks A Lot like a good friend of mine (Aephemera on the links), so it's been kind of odd and reassuring to be around someone that reminds me of one of my very good friends from home.

They noise in the streets is already reaching Low Crazy levels. I can only imagine what it will be like here in the next few days... Those Mancunians will be going crazy...

And I will be chilling (or more likely, baking) On. The. Beach.

Bellydancing in Istanbul

Yes, I went to a bellydancing show last night. The dancer was reasonably good, but she didn't dance in the way that I expected, based on bellydancing I've seen in movies and such.

And yes, I was beckoned to the floor and I danced. I kept my shirt on, unlike the men that were beckoned. It was pretty cool, and not too embarassing as 1. I was able to mimic her dancing to a reasonable degree and not look entirely foolish, and 2. the club was populated almost entirely by hostelers. Eventually, many of us were just dancing since it was a club, and only nominally 'bellydancing'.

I want to buy some bellydancing music. A woman I used to work with once mentioned a friend of hers was trying to get her to take a bellydancing class, and since she mentioned it, it's always been in the back of my mind as something that I think would be really cool to do.

Anyway. Today, went to the Grand Bazaar. Oh, such a Shopping Mecca! Over 4000 shops and booths. I bought a couple small things and will definitely be going back and thus testing the capacity of my beloved backpack. If only I could be in Istanbul *after* lightening my backpack in London (this will happen in a couple weeks)!!! Though, I have seen DHL offices here...

Aside from the pollution being pretty vicious here -- under 24 hours and I already have a sore throat from the poor air quality -- I think I need to get out of here before I end up buying the biggest suitcase in the bazaar and paying exorbitant excess-weight charges on my flights that will take me back to London...

A lot of random bıts from my head

I haven't spoken to anyone (asıde from a couple words here and there - ın a broken mıxture of Englısh - French - Spanısh) sınce early Monday afternoon. Hopefully thıs won't sound too selfısh or strange - but I've really enjoyed thıs. Granted - I stıll check emaıl and wrıte ın my blog - so I suppose I'm not entırely cut off from socıety...

Note that I have no ıdea what combınatıon of keys on thıs partıcular keyboard wıll gıve me a comma - so I'm usıng dashes ınstead. Forgıve any stıltedness thıs may cause.

When I was leavıng Bulgarıa - there were tons and tons of brıllıant red poppıes lınıng the road.

I thınk I've counted maybe fıve other tourısts ın Edırne. Three were at the mosque yesterday - two are guesses based on clothıng and facıal appearance (I mean - even gıven the preponderance of Western clothıng here - how many people would have an authentıc-lookıng NY Yankees cap and a t-shırt that says 'skı or dıe'?). It's a nıce change -- though I'm feelıng lıke I really stand out wıth my red haır. Whıle obvıously artıfıcıal red haır ıs de rıgeur ın other places of Eastern Europe - ıt ısn't ın Edırne. I may just be the only redhead ın town...

Oh - and accordıng to the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree websıte - I am now ın the Mıddle East -- not Eastern Europe. Mom - I hope you're not readıng thıs...

Whıle the hotel I'm stayıng ın ısn't terrıble - I wouldn't recommend ıt to anyone demandıng a spotless room or many of the women I know. It took some ıngenuıty and creatıvıty to fıgure out how to 'flush' (and I use that term loosely - very loosely) the toılet. My method seems to work well enough. Last nıght a man I hadn't seen knocked on my door - and ınvıted me down to receptıon for a cup of coffee. Whıle smokıng a cıgarette through several of hıs mıssıng teeth. There ıs a lıttle bolt on my door - and I use ıt every sıngle mınute whıle I'm ın the room - though orıgınally that was because the lıttle lock on the door - well - ıf I threw my weıght agaınst the door from the outsıde - the door would lıke crash ın. I feel my stuff ıs safe - and of course I'm leavıng thıngs ın such a carefully - slıghtly mussed way - that I would ımmedıately know ıf anyone had even touched them. I do thıs ın hostels - too - so thıs ısn't some new and neurotıc behavıor of mıne.

I am ınevıtably the only female ın an ınternet cafe here. My unusual presence ın my current cafe prompted the clerk to brıng me a cup of tea. Presumably for free. He even brought over some specıal hardware he thought I mıght use (I'm not).

There does not seem to be many women (of any age) that walk around here. ESPECIALLY at nıght. I haven't had anyone follow me - but I've had several men say thıngs to me (though not ın a threatenıng way).

I've been thought to be German (based on my physıcal appearance) at least four tımes now. After one person that I corrected gave me an odd look - I've been tryıng out sayıng I'm Brıtısh. The people I've met (who mostly speak only slıghtly more Englısh than I can Turkısh) don't seem to be able to tell the dıfference ın accent.

Tomorrow I wıll head to Istanbul. I'm quıte lookıng forward to that - and not because I wıll lıkely stay ın a hostel and be around other Englısh speakers agaın. I'm really dıggıng Turkey.

And to close wıth - I watched some local coverage of the Cannes Fılm Festıval. What's wıth Natalıe Portman and her shaved head?? She looks gorgeous as ever - but why??

My first mosque

I am in Turkey. (so pardon any strange typings, as there ıs a dıfferent key placement, and addıtıonal letters for the Turkısh alphabet.)

Specıfıcally, I am ın Edırne. A very lovely place (thanks E for the recommendatıon!), and very warm. I ımagıne ıt ıs close to 80 outsıde and I am lovıng the warmth.

Now, I have stood outside a mosque, ın Morocco. Today, though, was the fırst tıme I've ever entered one. It was beautıful, peaceful and stunnıng. Lots of glass lamps hangıng down, a fountaın ın the mıddle of the mosque that people drank from, breathtakıng mosaıcs and what I can only call 'decoratıve art'. The scarf that I use as a belt for my jeans was also quite handy -- to be respectful, it was necessary to cover my head. Voila! Another use for my scarf. The only thing I feel poorly about, was takıng photos ın the mosque. I wasn't sure ıf ıt was approprıate, and after seeıng a couple other people doing so, I dıd as well -- albeıt wıthout a flash. It wasn't untıl leavıng the mosque that I saw the sıgn that saıd no photos. I felt especıally ashamed, as I certaınly took about 30 photos...

I've spent the rest of my tıme walkıng around, gettıng honked at by men drıvıng cars, and wonderıng ıf my sleeveless top ıs really approprıate to wear ın a largely Muslım country. I have seen exactly one other woman (Turkısh) wearıng a sleeveless top. Though, I couldn't ımagıne wearıng even short sleeves ın thıs weather...

Speakıng of Turkısh men: I was warned about them -- by two other men I met ın Bucharest. Specıfıcally, I was told Turkısh men would be besıde themselves over me. Whıle I took thıs wıth a graın of salt, I have found thıs to be basıcally quıte true. Though thankfully, I've had precıous few men say anythıng to me. Yet. I'm sure thıs wıll change once I arrıve ın Istanbul.

My fırst taste of the admıratıon, I wıll admıt, came at the Turkısh border. I was travellıng vıa coach bus, and we had to take all our belongıngs off the bus and put them on a bench for ınspectıon. It went wıthout sayıng that you opened your bags fırst. I saw bags beıng probed, hıt (?!) and otherwıse ınspected. When the well-dressed ınspector came my way, ıt all changed. Whıle ıt ıs not truthful to say hıs eyes bulged, ıt ıs truthful to say hıs demeanor changed. He stopped mıd-sentence, offered hıs hand. 'Where are you from?' he asked ın Englısh. 'The US,' I saıd as I smıled. 'You are very beautıful' he saıd as he held my hand a few seconds longer than really necessary. But then, he just gave me another, very large, apprecıatıve smıle and then went off to the next bag -- after completely ıgnorıng my bags. Completely.

And to thınk that I'd been worrıed the customs ınspector would make me fully unpack my oh-so-carefully (lıke puzzle pıeces) backpack...

Behold, the power of a smıle and cleavage-revealıng shırt!

Back to life

Feeling more lively today. I hate feeling lost like I did yesterday.

Now, I'm just trying to figure out a plan for the next 2.5 months. "2.5 months in Europe" you think. You think you have tons of time. Throw in that you want to spend a month in Portugal, and one month (after the two weeks I will probably spend in Turkey) is what you have left. There are people to visit in that month, and other places I'd still like to visit. It goes without mentioning that I WILL be shopping before leaving Europe. Depending on something going on in Seattle, that something will probably have me returning to Seattle then to take care of some stuff. This will put the kibosh on my Prague teaching [perhaps] plans...at least for the immediate future. If I go back to the US in July, then my tentative plan is to work my bottom off, save wads of cash, then return to Europe. Slumming from one hostel to the next, meeting cool people and seeing the sights is now 'normal' to me, and I'm loathe to give it up.

So, my goal today is to try and figure out a non-breakneck itinerary (though, I fear Portugal will become a two or three week trip...) and to work on some of the mysteriously lacking-until-now fiction writing.

It was a bright and sunny day...

Listless and lost

I am listless. I want to stop moving around for a while, but I don't necessarily want to do the Portugal Month quite yet. I fear that if I go to Portugal now, I will just stay there for a couple months. What to do?

I'm meant to be going to a very, very small Bulgarian village tomorrow. Though, I might just go to a small town (there is a difference...) in Turkey.

I don't know what to do.

I continue having bizarre dreams, with yet more celebrities in them. I dreamt Bono and I were hooking up...and I've never found Bono particularly anything in the looks department. I had a strange dream with Susan Sarandon, which involved her graphically giving birth to some kind of Rosemary's Baby Alien. I've rather a lot of dreams where I'm being chased (and I know what this type of dream means, and I'm baffled because I do not feel that way at all).

I don't know what's going on.

Anyone have suggestions for what I should do? I'm really at a loss, but haven't found a place that seems lovely for a couple very quiet weeks alone and hopefully get some serious writing done. Plovdiv is nice, but doesn't feel right for this. This is a horrible scenario, I want to be somewhere relaxing so I can stop moving for a while, but I don't know where to go.

And to be clear, I am not depressed or sad or anything like that. Just listless and weary of moving around so frequently. Of course, I'm looking forward to an impending trip to London, so I can significantly lighten my backpack. Though, I don't think the state of my backpack (which really isn't bad at all...) is responsible for this.

Help.

Picturesque Plovdiv

Plovdiv is gorgeous. Specifically, the Old Town.

My hostel is in the Old Town. The streets are what can be called cobblestone...though, they are really just large, brick-y rocks. Definitely dangerous for my ankle. ESPECIALLY when walking at night, because street lights are not frequent. I've looked like a hunchback while walking back at night.

Today, I walked to the top of the hill (not a mean feat, but not an easy one, either). Quite lovely, quite picturesque. Or as my guidebook describes the Old Town, "a painter's dream and a cartographer's nightmare." Very true. There are Roman ruins scattered about, wild cats running wild, a lot of locals and a lot of peace. While walking down the hill, I passed a Roman amphitheatre. How I would love to see something performed there (it was obviously still in use, as there were speakers and lighting equipment around), but I will be leaving here tomorrow or the next day. Probably.

Funnily enough, I never used the map today. I was happy to wander about, and then take a marathon-length nap in the afternoon. I don't know why I'm taking so many long naps these days. I don't know if it's because:

1. People have been waking up and leaving the dorm early in the morning;
2. I had the room to myself today (and hopefully will tonight);
3. I'm just really tired
or
4. Some mysterious reason I have yet to discover

Oh boy. The thunder pounded the sky here a few minutes ago, and now the downpour has started. Seattle girl that I am, I do not have an umbrella, and I still only have the jean jacket.

It will soon be time to run to the closest restaurant and hope the storm passes, so I can get back to the hostel without being drenched.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the dear little salamander that I saw in the hostel this afternoon. I was leaving my room, and noticed movement on the floor. The first floor (second floor for you Americans out there) is rather dark most of the time (energy conservation), so it took a few moments to get a good luck at what was moving. I was very happy it wasn't a speedy spider...

I just hope I don't walk across the little guy in the middle of the night...

Strange dreams

So, I took a nap this afternoon, and I dreamt I met the guys from Car Talk. How I came to dream of this is a mystery, though I remember being all gush-y and sycophantic. I seem to remember they were staying in the same place as them, and I was beside myself because I was able to hang out with them.

Now, I adore Car Talk, but I don't know if this would really be my reaction if I got to meet the guys.

Still, it was a memorable dream.

And to answering inquiring minds, I did make it out of Varna yesterday. I'm now in Plovdiv, which is maybe the 4-5th largest city in Bulgaria. What I've seen is really lovely and interesting. Though, my guidebook doesn't have a map for this city, and the hostel doesn't have tourist maps (???!!!), so I didn't do much walking today. Simply, I had no idea which way to walk to see anything of interest. Experience with London shows that if you don't know where you're going, you have a good chance of seeing things you would prefer to miss. Granted, Plovdiv is a lot smaller -- but if I get lost, I need to be someplace I can at least find a taxi...

Someone in my dorm room has given me their map, since they are leaving tomorrow morning, so I will be out and about rather early (that is, before noon) tomorrow.

I'm leaving Varna tomorrow...really!

So, I've succumbed to Olympic Level Laziness. I've done little the last couple days, a few minor walks, finished one book and started another, sat and gabbed with people.

I've found out the train times, know the name of a good hostel, and have 90% packed my bag.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of the green pastures of Bulgaria, and going to a larger city. I've heard great things about Plovdiv.

After Plovdiv, I will head to a tiny little town and hopefully work on some writing. After that, I will head to Turkey. I'm not necessarily going to Istanbul straightaway, but within two weeks I will arrive in Istanbul, which I'm greatly looking forward to.

I swear the next post will be written from a different city...

Still, still, still in Varna

I am completely finished with the critiquing project. I finished my comments yesterday, and they were read and discussed last night. He's quite pleased with my critique, and I'm quite pleased about earning some money for the first time in seven-odd months.

So, I am now free to leave Varna. Though, I don't like travelling in rain or on Fridays and Saturdays. And considering I'm a little cramp-y and moody, tomorrow is looking like another Varna day. Really, where I want to go involves about 7-8 hours of travel, and I just don't feel like managing that tomorrow. And I have a flexible schedule, soo...

If anyone is coming to Varna (like my readership is *that* large...), I can also recommend a new hostel. It's grand opening is tomorrow. It's called Gregory's Backpacker's Hostel. It's a little out of town, but they have free train/bus station pickup; a beautiful location (can't beat the view); a great patio; the best sofa I've seen in a hostel; really cool, young Brit owners. I know all this because I tagged along to a bbq at their place today. And the wife looks like Sarah Michelle Gellar, so I was pleased to fantasise I was partying with Buffy...

Anyway, so this is the end of my Friday night -- IM'ing with a friend and sitting in the local internet cafe...

I need to pack my bag...

Critiquing in Bulgaria

I've been busy the last couple days, finishing up my critique of the novel. In fact, I've just now finished writing up my comments. I will sleep on them, so to speak, and see if I have anything new to add in the morning. Tomorrow, I will hand over the comments and commented-upon manuscript to the author, and we will discuss my critique within a day or so. Then, I will stay in Varna a couple days, to give him time to read through all my comments and think about them, and ask any questions as he sees necessary. Once I leave, that's pretty much it. My job will be done and I will be paid.

Have I mentioned I'm looking forward to being paid?? ;-)

In other news, a couple days ago I visited what can best be described as a Thermal Pond, on the beach here. There is a thermal spring there, and the only way to describe where people sit and enjoy the thermal water is: pond. I was definitely the sensation there. Most of the men were over 50, and there were only two other women there -- one in her mid-40s, another well over 50. I had my swimsuit on under my regular clothes, and when I pulled my t-shirt over my head, I saw a whole set of heads whip towards my direction. I was very happy I was there with two guys from the hostel. Their presence surely warded off anyone approaching me or hassling me.

Overall, Varna has been an alternately profitable and lazy place for me to be. I've discovered a lovely park here, but I'm perfectly content to chill out in the hostel and talk to people or take naps or just lie in bed for three hours before getting up and taking a shower and leaving my room (I say my room, because I've had the dorm to myself for the last three nights, and will again tonight -- yipppppeeeeeee!!!!!).

So, while I'm eager to finish this critiquing job and get my butt out of Varna, I will also miss the lazy lifestyle I've come to enjoy here.

Though, I will say that with approximately three months remaining in the European leg of my trip, I'm starting to think that isn't much time at all. Not much time at all.

Does anyone want to finance my Living Abroad Life???

Karaoke in Bulgaria

Oh my. Last night was Karaoke night. People who know me probably know I don't sing in front of other people (unless there are at least 10 other people screaming lyrics...). My voice makes caterwauling sound nice.

As such, I never planned to sing last night. This is not to say that I did, but I started to consider it. Karaoke in Varna is not like Karaoke in the US. You do not go up to a stage to sing. You sing from your table, and every table had 1-2 microphones. Oh, and you do not sing alone. If you choose a song someone else knows, you may find yourself as part of a duet, trio or a much larger group.

Back to my singing ability, though. There were people singing there that made my worse-than-caterwauling voice seem ok. Everyone was having a fantastic time and I never noticed anyone cringing in the bar -- except sometimes the people I was with. We were a mixed group of Kiwis, a couple Americans, Australian, French, Quebecois and another Bulgarian. The owner of my current hostel and E, another American (one of the very, very few I've met and found very cool (and who is now under the new A Little Linky, Linky to other travellers section)) sang a heart-jumping rendition of Africa. And yes, I have a couple fantastic photos... Only one other person at the table sang with a mic. All of us started hollering lyrics to an assortment of songs, including a Romanian song that's quite popular and has some easy lyrics in the chorus, the theme to Friends, Bon Jovi. You get the idea.

Nearly everyone in the hostel left today, which is a bit sad (though, there were a few people I was quite happy to see go). Though, I now have a dorm room for my very own tonight, unless someone shows up this evening. So, as in everything, there are pluses and minuses.

I'll be here for a few days yet, as I still have to finish my work on the previously-mentioned manuscript. It's weird to be 'working', though I must admit that doing a 'job' like this doesn't really feel like work to me. It will probably be a couple weeks before I actually get to Istanbul -- mostly because E gave convincing arguments for the peaceful-ness and beauty of a couple places he's visited, and I will be visiting one or both of the places. And I'm not one to spend only 2-3 nights someplace...unless it's awful and I need to escape. I have no idea what this will be doing to my planned itinerary to Western Europe. Though, I'm thinking that may very well be cut very short. I've enjoyed Eastern Europe a great deal more than I expected, and it's very interesting to visit EE countries that are now part of the EU, and then ones that are not (though, Bulgaria will be EU in 2007). After I stop in London, I'm thinking I might fly to Stockholm and see the Swedish Sirens of Buenos Aires, then take a boat to Finland, then another boat to St Petersburg, and then work down from Estonia through norther EE. There are a few people I will visit in Western Europe, but I'm even considering just doing a little whirlwind tour through Western Europe for one month, which would give me an extra month to visit EE. I will also state that the month in Portugal is non-negotiable for me. However, given my flexibility and commitment-phobia, if I find another place that would be lovely for a month in the sun on the beach, I may go there. But I'm REALLY wanting Portugal, so it will probably be Portugal.

If I could stay in Bulgaria for longer than 30 days within six months, that place might've been somewhere around here (though not Varna, because it's a little dull -- except for the people I've met).

Anyway, I want some chocolate now. Which means I'm signing off...

Oh, and I did...

...make it to the beach. I now have a picture of me standing in the Black Sea.

It was cold.