rebecca soble

It’s spring here, how about where you are?

People here in Istanbul like to ask me how their city compares to New York City, and in some ways they’re very similar: both the primary cultural center of their country, where the intellectuals, artists, and people with alternative lifestyles choose to live, both the most politically liberal and ethnographically diverse city in their country. In terms of geography, Istanbul is a huge sprawling city, which people might say is also true for NYC if you include the outer boroughs and the bedroom communities, but is definitely not true for the island-bound, vertically-growing borough of Manhattan. But the primary geographical feature of Istanbul is the Bosphorus, the strait that delineates the border between Europe and Asia, and splits the city in two. The Bosphorus is the reason for Istanbul’s existence, is a huge part of the beauty of this city, and is, transportationally speaking, a permanent challenge for Istanbullus needing to traverse from one side to the other. I personally choose to ride a ferry instead of a bus whenever possible. Here’s some pictures I took yesterday when Emrah and I went to Eminönü to buy an aquarium!

This pic is taken from a ferry that looks very much like the one in the picture. Seagulls follow the boats and passengers will throw scraps of bread in the air to them, watching the birds dive and swoop to catch the pieces. Yesterday was a windy day so there were some noticeable waves and I got a little damp sitting outside, but what’s the fun in sitting inside on a ferry?

Another pic from the ferry, showing the Asian side of the Bosphorus bridge in the distance with one of the typical ocean-transport ships that follow the Black Sea to Mediterranean route through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

This picture shows part of the European side of Istanbul in the background and in the foreground is some massive equipment that is currently digging a tunnel across the Bosphorus. One year ago it was a lot closer to Europe, now it’s well on its way to Asia. I like this picture because it shows Istanbul as the industrious city that it truly is. Many photos of Istanbul show just the historical parts (which are of course magnificent and definitely deserving of photos) and the business/industrial side gets overlooked. This is the real Istanbul.

Before we got on the ferry, we had to cross through Kadıköy where many of the ferries to Europe leave from (they also go from Bostancı, which is closer to my house, but the Sunday schedule from there is much more limited). Yesterday, the traffic was horrible (on Sunday!) so we got off the minibus and walked. After a little distance, we realized why the traffic was so bad: a major street had been blocked off for a demonstration. There were police everywhere and people were taking advantage of the opportunity to walk in the streets rather than on the narrow sidewalks. Down by the flag you can see the rally was put on by the TKP (Türkiye Komünist Partisi) but the main theme was people protesting against the current ruling party (AKP) and their pro-Islamic leanings. According to this news article, the slogan of the gathering was “No to headscarves, no to the AKP!”

Before we went aquarium shopping, we paused for a typical outdoor snack: I’m having cheese toast and fresh-squeezed OJ (kaşarlı tost ve sıkma portakal suyu), Emrah is having cheese and spicy meat toast with tea (karaşık sucuklu tost ve çay), and, unfortunately, his ubiquitous cigarette. Emrah told me yesterday that he wantedhis own web site, so I made him one. I have no idea why he wants it, but he seemed happy with the result. Go visit!

Finally, the newest residents of my apartment:

March 27, 2008 update: All the fish have died. I’m really sad about this and the living room feels empty when I walk in, but I don’t think I’ll get any more fish, I can’t figure out what killed them all (one by one) and it’s too hard to try to communicate about it with fish sellers.

About a week ago, Emrah borrowed a Playstation from a friend, with a few games, and we’ve been playing together when we both have free time at the same time. There’s a football (soccer/futbol) game which I tried and failed pathetically at. Ronaldinho I am not. There’s a road racing game which I did minimally better at - at least there’s only one araba to control as opposed to 11 futbolcu. The game I was the most hesitant about was Resident Evil 4, since the box warns about blood/gore/intense violence and its name isn’t exactly warm-fuzzy. But it has actually turned out to be the most fun. In addition to the constant zombie/monster/satanic cult member/insect killing, the game also has lots of puzzles to figure out, a mapped area to find your way through, and lots of details like managing equipment, finding treasure, and of course saving a helpless blonde girl. The graphics are very good and there’s a lot of variety in the surroundings, though the predominant colors are brown and gray and it always seems to be night.

Technically I’m only watching, because I intensely don’t want to have the controller in my hand, maniacally (and fruitlessly) pressing buttons and wiggling the joystick while being virtually pummeled to death by zombies. Instead Emrah is in full control of the controls and I’ve become the official “Resident Evil 4 English-Turkish Translator”. And thus have I acquired a whole new unexpected turkish vocabulary. I have permanently memorized the words for ammunition and gun, and I can now use the verb “to die” in several forms - past (dikkat et, o ölmedi! / be careful, he didn’t die!), present continuous (bence o ölüyor, vurma, mermini harcamama / I think he is dying, don’t shoot, save your ammunition), conditional (ölürsen nereden tekrar başlayacağız? / if you die, where do we start from again?). It also helps me practice translating things quickly, because time is often crucial. But with my limited vocabulary, I take liberal license. For example:

“To allow access, the lion requires a sacrifice be given” ends up being “Aslan bir şey istiyor” / “The lion wants something”

“He who takes the chalice will be cursed” = “Bardağı alarsan, pişman olacaksin” = “If you take the glass you will regret it”

“When two moons become one, passage will be granted” = “kapıyı açmak için iki ay lazım” = “to open the door, you need two moons”

From a perpetually sarcastic evil-guy-in-charge: “How nice to see you again, though I’m surprised you’ve survived this long. It’s been lovely to have you as our guest but now you must prepare to die” = “O seni sevmiyor” = “He doesn’t like you” (I can’t translate sarcasm.)

Emrah doesn’t seem to care how accurate my translations are, as long as I can figure out which ammo goes with which gun. So in addition to translator, I am also now official munitions expert. I’m not sure how transferable that skill will be…