Istanbul, Turkey

You could say that Istanbul is Turkey’s version of New York City…. We got there early in the morning in time to watch hundreds of men fishing off a huge bridge right in the middle of the city. It was something ill probably never forget because it was obvious they weren’t fishing for fun, they were fishing so they could feed their family… it made feel really happy about my comfortable little life back in the bubble.

The city is beautiful but filthy at the same time. They have big business buildings like any normal big city would have…but enormous religious Mosques stand every which-way you turn. It was un-real. They are so beautiful and MASSIVE. The bathrooms, on the other hand, are anything but beautiful and massive, they are a hole in the ground you have to squat over.. this form of public restroom costs a dollar to use by the way. Vomit worthy disgusting.

It was pretty hazy and even drizzled on and off throughout the day, so it was a perfect for doing the normal touristy type of exploration… we first had to navigate our way through the city to find the Blue Mosque…. this was an adventure in itself. I heard that the men there loved blonde women and were pretty forward about it…..Even offering to trade cattle for tourist women. This warning turned out to be pretty spot-on accurate and I'm glad I was for-warned. It was creepy a little but mostly funny….

Anyways….the blue mosque was nuts. We had to cover our legs, shoulders, and even heads just to look inside the Mosque. It’s huge and still functioning….the whole city stops 5 times a day to pray….the prayer even comes on across huge intercoms throughout the city sense the majority of Istanbul is Muslim. Store workers and people just in transit on the street stop what they’re doing to kneel and pray. It was so cool to see.

Then we went to Grand Bazaar..the biggest shopping place on earth….for real. The vendors there come at you like vultures and practically pull you into their shops…even food places have guys standing out front to get people to come inside. They start their offers at 100% more than whatever the item you want to buy is worth….it was comical. They would say a piece of jewelry would be 180 Turkish Leera and we would get them down to 20 Leera…. that’s like $10 U.S. Bronson was in bargaining heaven.

hmmmm speaking of Leera …the thing we are getting most out of visiting Istanbul is probably their form of money, the Turkish Leera. Hahahahah I am laughing even typing it. We began replacing any noun for the phrase ,“Turkish Leera.” Like Ill poke Corey in the shoulder and he’ll say, “Hey! Don’t touch my Turkish Leera!” Every item , and anything good, bad, funny, gross, or lost is now a Turkish Leera to the four of us. We laugh every time and I don’t think it will never get old. I know it probably sounds dumb to anyone who isnt here…but it has given us hours of fun and giggling.

All in all, Istanbul made me vastly aware of the outside World and how huge it actually is. To see women have to cover themselves from head to toe and a whole city be sooo devoted to their religion was an amazing site to see. It felt so far from home..its hard to explain the feeling. It made me appreciate my normal little life I have back in Utah that, now, seems so less chaotic than before.

I hate that all the crazy photos of our adventures we’ve been having wont upload…but I’ll post them the minute I can!