Up and running

Thursday July 15 I have arrived safe in Istanbul. The dust is finally starting to settle. Unfortunately, the internet situation is not as promised, so I have taken to Starbucks.

Today is a Monday July 19.

To begin, the flight coming in was awful. There are 2 kids sitting next to me. They argue a lot. Obviously brother and sister maybe she's 6 and he's 4. She is very intelligent, bosses him around which amuses me and tries to explain to him the workings of the screen and head set. I get kicked around with various arms, heads, appendages. It's a mess.

I took 2 Benadryl and a wine to get some sleep but as these flights always go, it's useless. At best I am in a haze, somehow time is slow but quickening at the pace. Before I know it we are in Istanbul.

Once we arrive the pace quickens... I'm after 3 things right away - visa, bag, find my contact. Visa no problem. Not one question asked! Bag no problem, even despite the flight mix-up.

Walking out the exit is a massive line with name cards displayed, none of which says mine, as promised. I go to information to have them page. Minutes later my contact arrives.

It's not the person I have had in emails before coming, she's in exams. He's a 3rd year student named Kamil, nice guy, pretty laid-back. Students in Turkey go for 5 years as opposed to the 4 in U.S. Immediately we make for the subway. Coming out of the subway it is HOT! The sun is beating down hard. It feels like we're in the middle of a multi-lane highway, and actually we are, it's more or less the median. Cars are speeding by with dizzying speed.

We're here to pick up a bus to go further. I learn quickly public transportation in Istanbul is not for the faint-spirited. Get ready to hop on and hop off.

Our first matter of business is accommodation. We're going to the dorm, which was promised free living. Later on I will see the "house" (150 TL) just to get an idea what that's like. The dorm is set out a little side road from a major road. It's about 20 min outside Taksim square. The pharmacy(s) in this district will be where I go to practice everyday. The dorm is actually right across from a hospital with a plenty of pharmacies, or 'eczane' as in Turkish, along the way.

Of course, we get there and things do not go the smoothest. They want 14.50 TL now, and some papers from the University later. Also something like a 355 TL deposit now, to get 180 TL upon leaving? etc. etc. My friend Kalim does all the talking to get business situated. Anyway, we settle matters and I am in. Not happy about the situation, and did not hesitate to let the student officer know my concern. Until now we are getting this worked out...

The dorm is interesting. The guy in charge who oversees everything has an office that looks like he might be some distinguished political figure. Going inside, it's looks like a psych ward almost, but I mean that in a good way. It's contracted by the government to house University students. The building must be fairly new. There are 4 floors, I'm on the second. Each floor has a large 'commons' area that leads off to hallways and then the rooms. Walls are white, feels sterile. There's no less than 11 other guys in my room (bunk beds). I have sheets and a good size locker. I'll keep my stuff there lock and key for the first 2 days but it didn't take long to make friends with the guys. They turn out to be really fun and excited to learn from me. They are very impressed with the little Turkish I know. More on them later...

Next comes lunch in the major shopping center (mall) Cehair. In Turkish said 'jeh-va-heer". All the C's are pronounced J's. The place is enormous. Easily the biggest mall I've ever been to, very modern. There are plenty of McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and Krispy Kreme. To my surprise the Turkish people, and not just Turkish but Arabic as well, FLOCK to these places. Kalim tells me the fast food is hugely popular with the young people, including himself.

We sit down for my first food in Turkey, Kebap. it's a common theme around here. The food was excellent and followed by a relaxing tea. In Turkey, it is served in a little bulbous glass, with sugar cubes as your discretion.

Next we are off to find out about a SIM card. This is because the other students I will be in contact with will not be working at my pharmacy location. The situation is a little complicated with Verizon and hidden fees etc, basically I got the card, only to have to return it now. In its place I will get an actual Turkish phone from my pharmacist for about 10 TL. That will be good for the rest of my stay.

Keep in mind at this point I still got a hundred questions in my mind like where is the pharmacy? who am I working with? when? etc. etc. It's still early-on-ish and I'm not going to bombard him with all these questions. Also note he is just above broken English - fairly good but not that advanced.

Instead I trust his direction and follow his lead on what will be a sort of impromptu introdutcion to the Taksim Square area, where I will learn, my pharmacy will be.

To be clear, Taksim is HUGE. It's basically the Square, which is not really a square but more like a rotary or roundabout with this big long main street that feeds off. It's full of energy everywhere you look. There are probably hundreds of street vendors selling grilled corn and nuts - popular all around Istanbul, young boys not above 8 or 9 years old selling bottled waters, shops everywhere, food, designer clothing, you name they have it.

This road basically goes to Galata Tower, which is very close to the water that separates European side from Asian side. My contact welcomes me to his favorite cafe by the tower. We have tea and nargile (nahr-gee-leh) or Turkish water-pipe. It's about 3pm maybe? a relaxing time. We enter a discussion on Turkey and the Eurpoean Union and I am interested to learn of my friend's sentiments. When I mention if Turkey will make it into the EU he kind of sighs in reservation. He says a lot of young Turkish feel... in a way paying for sins of there fathers. For instance - he wants to practice pharmacy in France for year. It's extremely involved for them to get visa, not to mention just as hard getting into the United States. I will touch a little more on that later. Over the loudspeaker, seemingly from the sky, is the prayer reading. It is more between reading and song. Very beautiful. This happens 5 times a day for about 10 minutes and comes from atop the minarets of the local mosque. We hear it hear but it is heard all over Istanbul.

What follows next is my introduction to the pharmacy people. I will leave room for that in my next post... for now I have to go. Posts should become more regular now that I have a steady source of access.