Caramel...caramel.........CARAMEL

One morning, while everyone else was still sleeping, Stephanie snuck out to indulge in an American delight. She walked the empty streets up to Istiklal, a shopping and dining district near our hotel, and walked to get her fresh cup of coffee. Where would she go, but of course, Starbucks. While she stood in line, there was a man in front of her ordering that was obviously from the U.S., and did not look like the normal tourist. As he repeated the word caramel a few times, slower and then louder each time, the cashier spoke back in Turkish, both not understanding each other. The situation finally ended when the little cashier smiled and said, “O, Car-a-mel…” This situation is one that each of us have had to deal with while here in Turkey, from the hotel clerks, to the servers and kebab slicers, all the way to the taxi drivers, who take this lost in translation to their advantage by overcharging you. One great thing I have come to learn is that even trying the most basic conversational Turkish terms are very much appreciated by those that can figure out what we are trying to say, and this usually is flowed up with a big grin and laugh, then the words Çok güzel , which means very good. This is one way that the Turkish people and their community show the acceptance of, not annoyance, the millions of tourists that enter their city every year. Another event that made me really enjoy the Turkish people, happened when the five of us were walking from the spice bazaar to our hotel. It was a solid 25 minute walk, with the last ten minutes being completely uphill. Somewhere in our journey, we got a little lost and really didn’t know our right from left. Next thing we know, every corner we turn, an old Turkish man would point up the hill. Not knowing what he was saying, and without us even asking, apparently each one knew where we were heading and wanted to help us find our way. We now know that they were just pointing to the hotel district that we were staying in, not so much our specific hotel. This really gave me a sense of character about these people. The interest and friendliness is very high, the service industry will go to any length to make your dinner that much more enjoyable. Even the men in the bazaar that shout out their selling points at us that they had been practicing and they knew exactly what needed to be said to make us laugh and smile, and ultimately go in and look around.
This type of acceptance is shown all over the city. Not just to tourists, but even between Turks. A great place to observe Turks and how friendly they are is in the above mentioned place, Istiklal. This Boulevard in the Taksim district has everything and anything turkey could ever offer, and is a great place to start to understand and observe Turkish culture. Stephen Kinzer spoke about Istiklal in his book, Crescent and Star, he said, “Losing myself in Istiklal’s parade of faces and outfits for a few minutes, overhearing snippets of conversation and absorbing the energy that crackles along its mile and a half, is always enough to renew my confidence in Turkey’s future.“ I feel like this accurately represents every night of the week on Istiklal. With the friendliness of this city/nation making an impression on me that definitely makes me want to come back, I can only hope that others realize this country is a jewel and everyone needs to experience a day on the Bosporus.