Events of the past Friday and Saturday

Insurance, confusing. Much different than in States. Fundamentally everyone is covered under a Turkish-like social security number.

When a script is received, they go through similar steps we do in retail: Name, date of birth, and is the drug in stock? What follows is input into the computer system which is basically one screen with multiple fields to complete. As insurance is concerned, you enter there ID number as I stated and then there are categories to choose from a drop down:

working
student
elderly/retired
foreigner with no "home" country (as it was described)
family/relative of deceased military person
American or foreigner on extended visit (visa)
government employee
doctor
small business owner

May have missed one or 2 but basically the idea is the system identifies you as belonging to one of these categories. And your "copay", as it were, will reflect accordingly.

I'm learning more on this every day.

There was a discussion on the morning after pill.

I am told this is not a controversy here. A little surprising I thought, considering the conservative Muslim influence.

Apparently, my pharmacist says it is in the more Christian societies, with their ideas on contraception, where this becomes a problem.

He was very clear to explain that during this situation the pharmacist is in no right to make judgment on the patient. He believes this is wrong and has no place in our role as pharmacists.

It is very common to see friends, neighbors, passer-bys come in and stay for lengths at a time. If there are no patients Erdem will entertain them with tea and cigarettes.

One day a friend came in, younger guy, and just hang out with us most of the day. Apparently he owned his own business in something, I'm not sure. The other day, yesterday, I met Erdem's father.

Something I have to mention from my first day at Rebul, why are cosmetics and these fragrance things so popular?

Again it has to do with their history. When I asked Erdem he says it is more that the patients what to have the feeling, or perception, of being fresh, cleansed. This goes hand in hand with good health. Looking and smelling good are indicators of good health. For the same reason, many varieties of herbal supplements are very prominent.

Similar to back home, pharmacist kind of hangs back to deal with the most pertinent questions and issues. Patients are received by either the student or the girl. The girl he has is a friend of a friend and she is new to Istanbul or something so he gave her the job. She speaks about no English. I don't know much about her. Let's just say she's very much like a tech.

As I said, the pharmacist starts to come in to answer the important stuff, verify, counsel, etc.

With the flight getting mixed up and all the activity and arrangements going on the first few days, I actually worked Saturday thinking it was Friday (I have weekends off). Saturday the hours are the same with the exception that the pharmacist comes in at 1pm.

I hung around a bit but actually had a meeting with yet another student, this time kami, to show me what they have been calling 'the house'.

The house is really an apartment. And I want to see, just curious for 150 TL, if it is much better than what I got now at the dorm.

It isn't.

It's OK. there are 2 guys living there, both students. They are nice and all, but reserved at the same time. It's not exactly the cleanest of places and the place could use some fixing up. My would-be room is decent size. Overall I'm just not feeling it. By now, I've made a lot of friends back at the dorm, guys that are fun and interested to see me and share stories. I pay my respects and we leave.

The house was about 10 min walk from Taksim. So on the way there and back I have the usual chat with Kami that I've had with all the students. I learn from Kami for the first time, how much the average pharmacist earns in Turkey which he said to be 7,000 TL a month, or 84,000 a year. This is considered a respectful living for Istanbul or anywhere in Turkey. It is accurate to say pharmacy is a valued profession in Turkey.

Contrast that with something Ahmed, the student from Egypt, told me earlier that pharmacists in Egypt earn only ~10,000 US dollars a year! I do remember him saying, for example Cairo, where he is from, is saturated with pharmacists. I almost don't believe it, I need to ask him again.

So after the apartment thing... Kami is on the phone with Kamil, we will part at the metro and I will get off at the Grand Bazaar to meet Kamil and Ahmed. "Grand Bazaar" mind you. Of course I ask where in the Grand Bazaar and he says "Oh when you get off at the station, by the entrance." Yeah right.

I got off and the place is swarming with people, just like I knew it would me. There's a mob. I do my best meandering around the station and 'entrance' to find my friends but it's useless, for all I know they could have left after looking for me and with no phone to get a hold of each other I go off on my own to explore the market.

I don't know what else to say except it is simply enormous and buzzing with people everywhere. The salesmen waste no time approaching you try to get attention. Let's just say the travel guides are right when they say you have to be ready to bargain with these people.

Case in point: one of the guys selling carpets (Turks are very famous for embroidery) welcomes me into his store. I have nothing better to do and am interested how this all goes down so why not... Actually we go upstairs, where another guy is waiting. It's a small room with an attic filled with rugs carpets of all shapes, colors and sizes everywhere. He begins his shpiel, lays out probably two dozen to see what a like. It gets intense for a little while. After a complimentary cup of tea and some discussion he finally informs 400 TL for 1 carpet, something like a 3'x5'. This is a business man and will all my respect for his time, I say thank you and walk out.

Breath of fresh air.

Ceramics are everywhere. Souvenirs, t-shirts, everything. After seeing the same Istanbul t-shirt design at a hundred different booths I'm ready to leave. But I'll come back here later for some small stuff to bring back home.

I go back to the pharmacy and it's about 5pm. Even though I'm not working it's kind of like my home base around Taksim. The pharmacy closes at 7:30 at usual. About 10 minutes after I arrive Erdem comes in wiping off sweat, breathing heavy, as if finished of some type of exertion. He tells me, casually as if it were nothing, he was in some from of protest in the street against censorship in the government. And now back to work.

I mentioned earlier pharmacist salaries. Erdem says he enjoys a good lifestyle for his age and occupation. He lives in the Taksim district, which is like saying you live in Mahattan in New York City. He enjoys the culture, entertainment, bars and cafes and has a close circle of friends of similar status in other professions.