Iran so far away.

 Ironic graffiti in Alsancak

Three days ago, I had decided to go to Alsancak just to explore and take pictures and maybe buy some stuff too. As I walked around taking pictures and I noticed that the locals were all giving me the stink eye. Which in turn caused me to become extremely nervous about the camera hanging from my neck. So in response I figured I could sit at a table at a restaurant that had good lighting and just take pictures of the people passing by.

I had never gotten a table at restaurant in Turkey before, so I called Barbara and asked her. She told me to "just sit at a table and wait for a waiter to come over, and if they don't, which happens often in this country, just wave one down." So I found a restaurant and began to head over to a table when I was stopped. "Your camera is awesome!" says a voice to my right.
 I turn slowly and respond with "umm... thanks."
 "Where are you from?" asks the man and I say "America."
"America?, I fucking love America!"

Then he invited me to join him and his friend for drinks, which I did. They were drinking Tuborg and had a lot already in them. (Tuborg is a pretty good malt beer that tastes better in my opinion than Efes which has a 80% monopoly on the beer market here in Turkey.)
So I attempted to play catch up and managed to keep a really good conversation with these two men. The one guy's name is Armando and the other guy's name is Kershak (Or something like that I've had a really hard time remembering names here) They are both Iranians, they both speak pretty good english, and they both ADORE americans. We talked about how Armando had lived in New York City for a couple of years and how I was moving there soon. We talked about how Armando loved photography and that he was studying Architecture and Kershak was studying mechanical engineering at Ismir college of technology. Kershak unfortunately had had too many beers and was going back and forth to the bathroom, and I was getting closer and closer to not being able to function. I decided to leave because I still had to be sober enough to get back to the ferry and figure out where it goes. Before I leave Armando invites me to this party they are going to the next day in a hotel room. He tells me to not worry about money because I was going to be his guest and to bring my camera. So i said "yeah sure why not." We exchanged phone numbers and decided to meet the same place the next day. So I left and got home with the help of some friends I had met at Barb's cocktail party. Who were randomly at the same ferry station as I at the same time. The events of my next day are a story within itself.

Stealth Picture taken while walking around

Iz Mir Life? week one in Turkey

Wednesday the 19th was my first real day staying in Izmir, Turkey with my cousin Barbara and her husband Jeff. Considering that I arrived tuesday, unpacked then passed out. Thursday I woke up at ten thirty am (america’s three thirty am) and got ready to go out. After the computer guy came to fix their Itunes, because its being a bitch, Barbara took me out to the pazar. Which was packed because the 19th is the Turkish national holiday of Youth and Sports. We then came back after buying a gratuitous amount of gorgeous produce {left}. The tomatoes there were the perfect deep red color. And there's a fruit here (the green balls in the fruit dish) that we don't really get in the states called Erik. (pronounced airrr-eek) its this sour plum thats tart and tastes like starfruit if you've ever had that. After some lounging around and the jet lag catching up to me, Barbara made me my first turkish coffee {below}. Which was absolutely fantastic! 

I walked around the neighborhood and took some pictures on thursday and managed to get lost for an hour but i figured out how to get back. It’s a really beautiful city. Afterwords we went out to eat at a restaurant called Tas Palk. I decided to suspend my No Red meat and Pork Diet because i am in another country and want to experience all it has to offer. Although in this country they rarely eat pork. In fact the government heavily taxes and fines farmers who raise pigs. Anyway, i had this meatball dish which was more like 4 little hamburger patties with wild rice, mashed eggplant, and cilantro. While we were eating there was a futbol game between the local team and some other one. In which the local team sucked and the locals were pissed!

Then on friday we went to the other side of the city called Alsancak (pronounced Al-sun-jack). Where Barb went to Starbucks to work and i explored that part of the city which has some of the only buildings that predate the 1920's. I brought my camera but didn't get many pictures because it started to pour while i was walking around so i just shopped. Because of the rain we decided to change plans and head over to their friend Lloyd's house who is this AWESOME british gentleman  who has a penchant for strong martinis and elaborate stories. I myself had about 5 of his ridiculously strong martinis and was beyond gone! After dancing to some Bob Marley we went out to eat at this restaurant completely dedicated to Michael Jackson. No lie. There were pictures of him on the menu. I don't think i would have been able to handle that sober... 

Tonight there's a cocktail party at Barbara and Jeff's house. More about that later. I thought i'd leave you with some pics of their apartment

My room.

                                               My view --->

My favorite room

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(Leah)