by the Bosphorus

Today I went together with my flatmate to the school at which I will start to study on Monday. It was a large apartment building, given its location and statue it most probably has a brilliant view over the Bosphorus and Marmara Sea. The door was open so we went in to the reception where I greeted the two women working there. I told them my name and explained that I have come from Sweden to study the language, all in Turkish of course. They looked puzzled and said, but you already know Turkish! I smiled and said yes, but obviously not enough. They had apparently assigned me in a level 1 class, which we both agreed would be far too easy. Instead of this they told me that I was to take a test on Monday, enabling them to understand my level of knowledge and subsequently putting me in a class where I can develop. Good news indeed.

After this my flatmate went on to the gym, leaving me with an empty stomach and the urge for adventure! I made the 5 minute walk passed our place and went on down Istiklal Caddesi (the main commercial boulevard on the European side of Istanbul). During my walk I thought to myself, what will I eat? Having a limited, if any, knowledge at all of the city restaurants and simultaneously not being able to hear my thoughts due to my shouting stomach, I played with the idea of eating at Burger King. No, that is simply to lame, I declared and came up with another idea. I went in to the Turkcell (phone operator) store and talked to my new acquaintance Yusuf. Yusuf was the first guy to help me with my SIM card and since I felt he was nice and service minded I immediately decided that I would always go to him when needing a refill of credits. Maybe he gets a percentage of the business my refills generate? Anyhow, it is pretty close to home and he seemed helpful. He pointed across the street and promised good meal. When I asked him what the prices were he scratched his beard stubble and looked at me as if he hesitated. After that he said ”Tamam”, meaning Ok in Turkish, and gave me the directions to a restaurant located on a small backstreet, and said that he just came from there a couple of minutes ago. We chitchatted for a minute before I went off to find the place. Arriving at the restaurant, named Balkan Lokanta (Balkan restaurant), I immediately realized I had found gold. It was the typical Turkish indiginous diner with all kinds of soups, rice, lamb, chicken, dolma, beans, cacık (tsatsiki) and of course no even half of a tourist as far as I could see. I ordered kurufasülye (beans and tomato sauce), two large pieces of fresh bread, coban salatasi (tomatoes, peppers and onions), ice tea and a bottle of water. The bill was 6 Turkish liras which multiplied by 5 turns into 30 crones and approximately 3 euros. In other words, extremely cheap! However, I was so hungry that I ate it all up in an elitist pace, rendering myself unmovable for 30 minutes. Sitting there I felt like a child, relearning a lesson for the 999th time. I did not enjoy the meal, but the acquired knowledge of a cheap and tasteful restaurant near by softened my stomach pain and eventually allowed me to go home and rest. Until next time!