Reggae and Potatoes

I slept in on this day too. I may have watched "Crossing the Brige: The Sound of Istanbul... but I don't really remember right now. I know I did that one of these mornings so let's just throw that in there.

Dancing was on the menu for this Friday night, so we went out. Paolos was working, Sheri had a date I think, and Jen was in Canada, so it was Timur and I taking on Istanbul nightlife. We went out to a place that was supposed to have dubstep type music, but the DJ was not the best so we hung out upstairs. I learned how to count to ten in Turkish!!! Don't ask me to do it now though.

We went looking for a better place after this, and found one more suitable. It was way busier, and more rock type music. We had a good time at this place, but it closed I think. On the way back I was introduced to the best fast food invention ever: wetburgers. It's a burger thing covered in this sauce... it looks gross but it is SO GOOD!! It was an orgasm in my mouth man.

I woke up surprisingly okay. This was my last weekend before going home, so I wanted to see some new things. Timur and I went out walking and I got to see some new areas of town:






We had tea on the water, walked more, I was shown a mall full of bootlegged games and DVD's... then we went to this part of town where you buy these enormous baked potatoes and choose what stuff to put on them. We sat near the ferry terminal and watched people. Cats were trying to eat the potatoes! It was cute. Timur didn't think so though :p I couldn't finish mine so I gave the leftovers to the cat that seemed most attentive. While we were sitting there, two girls approached us. They asked for a photo so I got up to take one of their cameras...

... but they wanted a picture of us. That was strange. So we sat there. Then one girl took a photo of just me. Also strange. We tried to watch where they went next in case they were doing this to lots of people, but lost them in the sea of humans.

The bus back to the house was uphill and packed to the brim. One of Sheri's friends came over, and the Rubik's cube guy arrived after. We hung out at the house deciding on a place to go. Sheri was going to a birthday party so would possibly join later, but the rest of us were thinking of reggae or drum and bass. Unfortunately Rubik's cube guy couldn't find his wallet so we left a lot later than intended. We stopped by reggae on the way to Drum and Bass... but the D&B was not the speed I was looking for. The music was fine, but I wasn't feeling like dancing thaaat fast.

So we started walking to Reggae. Somehow Timur and I lost everyone though. Tried calling everyone including Sheri but to no avail. The reggae place was full and bumping though, so we hung out there anyway. We never saw the rest of the crew ,and I don't remember what the explanation was either. I had a good time though!

Moving Again

I slept in quite a bit the next day. I had meant to get something to eat before going to bed, but since I didn't I woke up a little rough. I slept most of it off though. I came downstairs in time to catch hostel breakfast which helped a ton (I was also happy to be able to eat) and went back up for a nap.

While I was napping some staff came in and cleaned the bed beneath me. He didn't notice me at first, but when I turned I saw him see me. That being said, he must have forgotten because when I finally was ready to come downstairs and check my email... I was locked in the room.

The room was on the second floor (third floor by Canadian standards) and I could barely hear the music from the ground level. I banged on the door, yelled, and looked out the window to see if I could shout at anyone smoking. Nothing. Maybe five minutes went by so I took out some crafts. I got impatient right away though and went back to door banging. After another five minutes I heard someone thumping up the stairs and they went to get a key.

The staff felt kinda bad about it, but I was glad it was only for ten minutes instead of a long time. I went on the computer and waited for a text. When I was locked in I got a text saying the couple changed plans and were leaving that night, so I could already come back! This was good news, but already past check-out time. So I asked about who was home so that I could get a text in front of the staff and say that I just found out then.

It worked, so I packed my stuff and started walking up to the apartment. I ran into someone from my room on the main street, and he was looking to kill some time. Turns out he was Bulgarian, on vacation, and possibly taking the train back in the evening. He was looking for something to do for the next hour and something, so he ended up walking up to the apartment with me. We chatted the whole way up, so when we got there I just dropped off my stuff and we went hunting for food. Unfortunately by the time we found somewhere he had to go catch his train, so I ate by myself. It was very very tasty though so I was fine. I love the soups they have in Istanbul.

I arrived back, and people started getting home from work. Timur and I decided to go to someone's house to hang out down the street. They were playing old school Bollywood movies and there was a Texan there that could solve Rubik's cubes like nobody's business. I was tripping out on all the Rubik's cubes everywhere (there were a bunch of them!) mostly all solved. I would mess one up and hand it to him and he would solve it just like that. Crazy. I went to bed after this.