Up at 06:30 to the sound of alarm clocks in nearby buildings. Decided that I should get up and get my day going. Gathered myself together and headed over to Leyla to use their wireless connection. They were not open yet so I sat down outside on a door stoop. Asia was on AIM and I chatted with her for the better part of an hour. The cafe finally opened around 09:00. Ordered a çay (turkish tea) and was happy to find is was only 1 YTL, unlike the English tea that was 3 YTL. Headed back to the house at 10:00. Michael came down around 11:00 to say that he was leaving for Oktaköy. I got the others and we went up to have our discussion and air our grievances. Michael had twenty minutes to talk with us. Willow started off and fALk continued with me chiming in with my bit at the end. fALk and Willow were concerned about how they were being treated by Michael and that we were having trouble communicating. I also was concerned that we were having a communication breakdown. I did not feel that Michael was giving us enough information about the situation we were in. He felt that he had and his only concern was that we get the proposals completed for the course and club. I had wondered as to why we had not started working on them right away after we had all arrived. It came out in this conversation that fALk and Willow had asked for a couple of days to adjust. This was new information to me and put a bit of a different spin on the situation. I think the effective disemination of information with continue to plague this enterprise. I do however, hope to be proven wrong.
Michael took off to take care of some business. The rest of us had some tea. While we were finishing up, the lady that owned the house came by. She seemed a little terse, but pleasant enough. We asked her about good vegetarian restaurants in the area. She had an organic restaurant in the area but had closed it for the summer. She thought the one I pointed out in the Lonely Planet guide was good and she recommended another behind Babylon, the hottest club in Istanbul. We gathered our group together to go and try out Zencefıl. It took a little bit of doing to locate it, was none of the streets seemed to be marked by name. We only walked one extra block before we came to the French Consulate and I got my bearings. We had a delicious meal of healthy veggie food. Willow and I shared orders of lentil kofta, green beans and rice. fALk had a lasagna, while Renee had pesto pasta. fALk also ordered a fresh squeezed grape juice that was outstanding. We grabbed some fruit on the way back to the house and had a little desert, before heading over to Leyla.
Leyla cafe in Beyoğlu offered free wireless Internet access.
Got set up at our usual table where we had a wall outlet. fALk and I worked on our corse description while Willow did some work for school and Renee surfed. At 17:00 Michael appeared on iChat to say that he had gotten the new place secured. We all cheered. Headed back to the house to pack up. Got my stuff gathered very quickly and brought downstairs. Went to work on the pile of boxes that Michael had on the top floor. After a couple of trips from top to bottom I was drenched in sweat. Even my pants were soaked. We got most of the stuff down and then loaded up fALk's van with our gear. Michael made it home around 20:00 and we loaded up his car. Had a long drive around the low road by the Bosphorus. fALk was concerned about making it over the hills we had gone up the other times we had gone to Ortaköy. Instead, the van threatened to overhead in the stop and go traffic that crawled along. We finally got to a stretch with a good breeze and the engine temperature stopped climbing.
Renee and Willow in the back of fALk's volkswagen van.
Got both cars unloaded and parked before we moved our stuff up from the lobby to the fifth floor place that Michael had gotten. I was thrilled to have an elevator. It was small, but it worked. Got everything hauled up and all of our clothes taken over to a nearby laundry facility. The idea was to wash everything in hot water to kill any flea eggs that might have gotten laid on them. Left Willow and Renee to sort that out and get some yoga mats that Yeşim was kind enough to let us borrow. The rest of us headed back to Beyoğlu. We managed to cram the rest of Michael's things into his car and fALk's van and had another slow drive back to Ortaköy. The traffic was a little less bad this time.
Got the next batch of stuff unloaded and hauled upstairs. fALk, Michael and I headed downstairs to try out the local Kebaperi. Memet Usta (Memet the Master) was just down the street two doors and was Michael's hangout from when he lived in the neighborhood and worked a little further down the main drag in Ortaköy. Michael and fALk had some chicken while I had eggplant. We started with some delicious salads and ended with Turkish tea while Michael carried on with Memet and the wait staff. Finally headed home around 02:00. Had a cold shower and was out by 02:30.
Michael took off to take care of some business. The rest of us had some tea. While we were finishing up, the lady that owned the house came by. She seemed a little terse, but pleasant enough. We asked her about good vegetarian restaurants in the area. She had an organic restaurant in the area but had closed it for the summer. She thought the one I pointed out in the Lonely Planet guide was good and she recommended another behind Babylon, the hottest club in Istanbul. We gathered our group together to go and try out Zencefıl. It took a little bit of doing to locate it, was none of the streets seemed to be marked by name. We only walked one extra block before we came to the French Consulate and I got my bearings. We had a delicious meal of healthy veggie food. Willow and I shared orders of lentil kofta, green beans and rice. fALk had a lasagna, while Renee had pesto pasta. fALk also ordered a fresh squeezed grape juice that was outstanding. We grabbed some fruit on the way back to the house and had a little desert, before heading over to Leyla.
Leyla cafe in Beyoğlu offered free wireless Internet access.
Got set up at our usual table where we had a wall outlet. fALk and I worked on our corse description while Willow did some work for school and Renee surfed. At 17:00 Michael appeared on iChat to say that he had gotten the new place secured. We all cheered. Headed back to the house to pack up. Got my stuff gathered very quickly and brought downstairs. Went to work on the pile of boxes that Michael had on the top floor. After a couple of trips from top to bottom I was drenched in sweat. Even my pants were soaked. We got most of the stuff down and then loaded up fALk's van with our gear. Michael made it home around 20:00 and we loaded up his car. Had a long drive around the low road by the Bosphorus. fALk was concerned about making it over the hills we had gone up the other times we had gone to Ortaköy. Instead, the van threatened to overhead in the stop and go traffic that crawled along. We finally got to a stretch with a good breeze and the engine temperature stopped climbing.
Renee and Willow in the back of fALk's volkswagen van.
Got both cars unloaded and parked before we moved our stuff up from the lobby to the fifth floor place that Michael had gotten. I was thrilled to have an elevator. It was small, but it worked. Got everything hauled up and all of our clothes taken over to a nearby laundry facility. The idea was to wash everything in hot water to kill any flea eggs that might have gotten laid on them. Left Willow and Renee to sort that out and get some yoga mats that Yeşim was kind enough to let us borrow. The rest of us headed back to Beyoğlu. We managed to cram the rest of Michael's things into his car and fALk's van and had another slow drive back to Ortaköy. The traffic was a little less bad this time.
Got the next batch of stuff unloaded and hauled upstairs. fALk, Michael and I headed downstairs to try out the local Kebaperi. Memet Usta (Memet the Master) was just down the street two doors and was Michael's hangout from when he lived in the neighborhood and worked a little further down the main drag in Ortaköy. Michael and fALk had some chicken while I had eggplant. We started with some delicious salads and ended with Turkish tea while Michael carried on with Memet and the wait staff. Finally headed home around 02:00. Had a cold shower and was out by 02:30.
Leave a comment