The Pera Museum

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am an art history major, and that is why I am here.  When I have begun to settle into a routine of waking up, going to class, watching an absurd amount of Mad Men, and possibly getting exercise if I'm not too emotionally exhausted from watching Donald Draper's life fall apart at the seams, it is important that I take a step back and remember that I'm in Istanbul.  Despite what the weather throws at us, which has been rain for the past week, I need to keep my head above the clouds and remember how lucky I am to be here.

Yesterday my flatmate Zoe and I battled the elements to go see the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibition at the Pera Museum in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, a short walk from Taksim Square.  I have been familiar with both artists for a long time, but I had never seen their work in person, and I had been meaning to go since last semester.  Kahlo featured more prominently, probably because Rivera is mostly known for his murals, and they aren't exactly portable.  The exhibition space was small, but the museum managed to fit quite a lot into the confined area.  I learned that Kahlo and Rivera were actually married, which was news to me, and it was interesting seeing how they influenced each other.  One particular Frida Kahlo painting struck me, mostly because I thought it was oddly spiritual and quite strange.  Notice how Rivera is featured in the painting.

The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Me,  and Señor Xolotl
Frida Kahlo, 1949

Kahlo was in a tragic accident when she was 18, and throughout the rest of her life underwent something like 20 surgeries.  She lived in constant physical pain, and died at a relatively young age.  She had several miscarriages that I imagine were related to her physical maladies, and these also influenced the emotional elements of her work.

Miscarriage
Frida Kahlo

The Pera Museum also has an great collection of orientalist paintings, which includes one in particular that I recognized from its prints, which are sold all over the city.  I am sorry to report that I don't really know about the history of tortoise training in Istanbul.  I don't really think it actually happened.  But it's a nice thought, isn't it?  

The Tortoise Trainer
Osman Hamdi Bey, 1906/1907

I don't think the lettuce that this guy is feeding them is really inspiring the tortoises to perform.  I know that if I were a tortoise, you'd have to give me something a little bit more exciting than lettuce if you wanted me to do tricks.  Just saying.

I have a long way to go.

Yesterday I got back to Istanbul, and stepping out of the airport in my snazzy ski jacket I immediately broke into a sweat when the 14 degree Celsius air hit me like a wall.  It is unseasonably warm, but not warm enough to wear only a denim jacket at night.  I found that out the hard way.  Apparently I really struggle with choosing appropriate outerwear.
So I was reading this article (read it!) on the TimeOut Istanbul website about how to truly integrate as an expat.  For obvious reasons the title "Expat transition tips" attracted my attention, because I am "transitioning" and I am (kinda, not really) an expat.  I got a little downhearted when I realized that according to this magazine, I am nowhere near being an integrated expat.

Since the article presents transition tips in list form (yay!), I will follow the same format in describing why I am failing at my goal.
1.  Befriend a local Manav, Tekel, and Eczane.
Wait, who are Manav, Tekel, and Eczane?  Ohhh I get it, Eczane means pharmacy.  So they want me to befriend local shopkeepers so I can make friends in the area, support local business, and practice Turkish.  While I do go to local shops and I've been to a pharmacy a couple of times, I am nowhere near being buddies with any of the shopkeepers.  From what I can tell, at least in my neighborhood, the staffs at these places are big enough so that I don't run into the same people regularly.  There is one exception I can think of, and that's the Hisar bakery where I buy my bread, and they're just straight-up unfriendly and far too busy to care about being my friend.
2.  Jump off the fence and pick a team.
I haven't even been to a soccer (football, what have you) match yet.  Oops.
3.  Learn Backgammon in a makeshift teagarden.
I know how to play, but I always forget how to set up the board, and I avoid playing against Turks because I hate to lose.  However, I do know that the Turkish word for backgammon is Tavla.
4. Leave food out for the street cats.
Why would I do this when the stray cats on campus are notorious for taking food out of your hands? They have eaten enough of everyone else's sandwiches to survive off of their own fat stores for a year.  I have the scratches to prove it, too.
5. Slow it down to a snail's pace.
I am a fast walker, even by American standards.  People tell me that it's because I'm tall, but I think it's because I'm from a cold climate and I have a hurry-your-ass-up instinct to get where I'm going as fast as I can so I can get out of the cold.  I really doubt that I will ever stop habitually passing people on the sidewalks of Turkey.
6.  Go public with a loud lovers tiff.
Not my style, thanks.  First of all, I prefer passive aggression to straight-up confrontation.  In fact, I avoid confrontation as much as I can.  In public?  Forget about it.  Oh yeah, and I don't have a lover.  So there's that element, too.
7. Make out passionately in a cafe.
See above.
8.  Join a protest.
The one time I encountered riot police, I was innocently walking with my friend Alison to a bus stop.  We both saw them marching towards us and we ran the other way.  Like I said, I'm non-confrontational.
9.  Drink Efes.
Ok, you got me.  I do drink Efes.
10.  Get up close and personal.
I guess I can work on it, but I don't really feel the need to ask people how much they weigh, what they make, and how old they are.  Maybe I will start.  Next time the crew coach Batuhan asks me how much I weigh, I'm going to turn the question around on him.  Apparently he used to be a lightweight!

So needless to say, I have a lot to work on before I am a properly integrated expat.  I wonder how many of these I can accomplish in the next four months...

My valentine.

This post is specially dedicated to my valentine, Alison Rogers.  Alison and I spent the weekend together having adventures in the Amherst College area and basically being our mischievous selves.  It was great to see her after our "trial separation" of three weeks, while she was getting back in the swing of things at Amherst and I was sitting at home being a bum.  She took me to a Gretchen Parlato jazz concert in Vermont, which was reminiscent of the times we went to Nardis Jazz club in Istanbul together.  Alison is a musician and a jazz aficionado.  I just tag along and try to look cultured and important.  We also spent an afternoon galavanting through Northampton, MA.  I asked Alison whether there was a special hipster convention happening there that weekend.  She said it's always like that.  I didn't get any photos, but picture this: an ocean of flannel and mustaches.

Today we wandered around Amherst looking for a nail salon, and in the meantime stumbled across this hidden gem.  The first one I've seen since I've been back in the States.  Just for the fun of it, let's compare it to a slightly more prolific mosque in Turkey.  

A standard "Yes, of course we accept your religion!  Just don't get all uppity about it" mosque in Amherst, MA

The "needs no more explanation" Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Before I headed back home, I had to document the decoration scheme in Alison's room.  Most importantly, she has a fantastic street sign hanging on her wall that I obtained and gave to her in Istanbul.  Necessary background information: Alison plays the trumpet. She also has a Turkish flag with a portrait of Atatürk hanging on her wall to watch her while she sleeps.  Just what every girl needs.

What a cutie.  And Alison isn't bad either.

<3 valentine 4eva!!1!
This is exactly what it looks like.

List time, again!

If I recall correctly, I made a list of things I needed to do before I went to Istanbul in September.  It featured such items as a cash box/ mini-safe and an electricity converter.  Turns out I never bought a mini-safe (thank GOODNESS, what a waste that would have been), and the electricity converter I bought was completely bogus and works nowhere in Europe, let alone Turkey.  Thanks, Radio Shack lady.
There are several things that I need to do before I go back to Turkey next week, and since the inner workings of my mind are interesting sometimes, I thought I would share.
1) Mani-pedi.  I think I have only had one manicure and one pedicure in my life, but for some reason I am really craving a good pampering before I go back to Turkey.  Maybe because I know that in Istanbul, I will steer clear of all beauty salons and kuaförler (hairdressers), lest my elementary Turkish skills result in me getting a mullet or a rat tail.  You'd be surprised how common they are, much to my aesthetic dismay.
2) A hair cut.  See above.
3) Annie's Macaroni and Cheese.  As many boxes as I can fit in my suitcase.  I never missed it more in my life than I did last semester.
4) Peanut butter.  A good, nauseatingly processed American brand like Skippy, or Jif.  Yum.
5) Heinz ketchup?  Maybe.  Turkish ketchup isn't as delicious.  However, there is always the possibility of a ketchup explosion in my suitcase.  That happened to my shampoo bottle on the first trip to Turkey, but for some reason I think a ketchup explosion would be less tolerable.
6) Maple syrup!  Although a maple syrup explosion would be far worse than a ketchup explosion, I will sacrifice my wardrobe and my electronics if need be.  Gotta have maple syrup.
6) A spray-on tan.  Just kidding.  Kind of.
7) Time for an iPhone upgrade!  Wahoo!  And this time, fingers crossed, I will be able to use it in Turkey.

10 days until I head back.  Getting excited for my sweet new apartment and warmer weather!  Things I will miss: This guy.

Going to extremes

There is way too much snow in Massachusetts right now.  It's nice to have a winter for a month while I'm home, and the snow is very pretty.  Unfortunately, there has been entirely too much snow (and sleet, and slush) in the past few days and it has interfered with my extreme training regiment.  And by that I mean I have not been able to go running every day, and I think I can feel my muscles atrophying.  Also, I'm not a member of a gym right now, because it just didn't make financial sense to join for a month.  So I've been holed up in my house looking for a summer job.  This is not how I wanted to spend my time in the States.

Today I finally reached my wits' end, and I signed up for a yoga class.  Yoga is something that I've always associated with young urban professionals-- yuppies.  I'm not trying to hate on yoga (or yuppies), because it's great for your body and it is, in fact, challenging.  It's just that I usually associate exercise with moving quickly in some specific direction, not staring at the ground while levitating in an awkward, compromising position and hoping I'm not mooning the people behind me.  Anyway, I showed up at the yoga class imagining that I would leave at the end of an hour feeling disappointed and not at all tired.  I was mistaken.

One of my character flaws is that I hate doing things that I'm bad at.  Therefore, I have trouble motivating myself to learn new things, because I hate humiliating myself in the beginning.  Recent things I have learned that exemplify this attitude include tennis, backgammon, and neuroscience.  I would add Turkish to the list but I haven't given up on that just yet.  Yoga, it turns out, is also one of these things, and I was quickly reminded why I don't do yoga more often when the class started.  Am I the only one who thinks downward facing dog is challenging, and not really that rejuvenating?  And while I have sufficient strength to move a boat and pull a relatively good split on an ergometer, it turns out that I really can't balance my whole body weight on my wrists and forearms in peacock pose.  Furthermore, the instructor, kind and helpful as she was, repeatedly came up to me to offer me help.  It was sweet, but I had already drawn enough attention to myself by laughing out loud at my inflexibility, and I really didn't want any more pity smiles and patronizing encouragement.  While balancing on one leg and twisting my back towards the sky, I couldn't help but relate my experience to the yoga scene from the best movie in the world, Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  Especially when my instructor said that beginners should feel comfortable laying on their mats in child's pose.  I'm pretty sure I was the only beginner.  Wounds salted.

Countries that are not Turkey

I do not keep a blog in order to reflect my political views or report on international events that I don't know much about, but I wanted to comment on what is currently happening in Egypt.  I was hoping to travel to Cairo at some point during my stay in Istanbul, because my friends and family that have been there say it is incredible.  Of course, there is much more to Egypt than its tourist attractions.  The recent episodes of political unrest in Tunisia, Lebanon, and Egypt have caught my attention more than they would have if I had been living in the United States this fall.  I would like to attribute this to my heightened sense of global awareness, but I guess the proximity thing helps too.  It has been interesting to read about the uprising in Egypt through the coverage of the New York Times, the only newspaper that we have delivered to my house in Massachusetts.  Despite the liberal reputation that the Times has earned, it is still very much an American newspaper.  It has covered the conflicts in Egypt with a much closer eye than, for example, The Hurriyet, an daily Turkish newspaper that is printed in English.  This must be because Egypt is the USA's strongest ally in the Middle East, and therefore US politicians are having an "Oh shit!" response to the instability of their only friend in the area.  Oh wait, there's Israel too.  But that's a whole different story. 

Anyway, here is an interesting video that my sister showed me earlier tonight of footage from the upheaval in Egypt.  My sister Charlotte has had a great deal of experience with China for someone her age, having lived in Nanjing and Shanghai for a couple of years following her college graduation.  After she showed me the video, she asked me if it reminded me of anything.  We agreed that what is happening in Egypt, particularly in that particular video, is strikingly similar to the student uprisings in Tiananmen Square and the mysterious tank man.  Charlotte then informed me that China has blocked internet browsers from searching "Egypt" as a preventative measure.  The Chinese government officials don't want the young people to get any ideas.  

I can't pretend to be an expert on these subjects, so this is all I will say on the matter.  I am interested to see how the situation in Egypt unfolds, and the effects it will have on its neighboring countries as well as its relationship with the USA.  I hope that Egypt's uprising can be resolved in a peaceful way that doesn't leave a gaping hole in its history, like what happened in Tiananmen Square.