December 2008

Hi there, 21st December 2008

It seems ages since I took the opportunity to sit down & write or even had the inspiration to continue with the ramblings. The last few weeks have been a very intense period in our Istanbul adventure. Several reasons include ill health & stress. G’s work schedule increased after I returned from Scotland making life pretty full on!

Needless to say G has been having a few doubts about his new job and remembering what he didn’t like about teaching…. mainly tests and marking them! He loathes marking. (The more teachers I get to know the more I learn this is not uncommon & I could get a job marking tests). Anyway every term it is G’s duty to set three test papers and well these last few weeks have been test time!. Today (2nd December) G had the responsibility of overseeing the German Language Diploma Exam (which is the ultimate goal for his pupils studying German). After the exam the papers were rushed by himself to the German Consulate, where they will be sent to Germany for marking. I decided to meet him at the Consulate so we could have a coffee together in town afterwards. It was the usual rigmarole getting into the place and then finding the right person to hand the exam papers over to. (The Turkish gatemen who stand behind very large gates, vet everyone extremely thoroughly & are reluctant to let anyone in, even German nationals).Needless to say I was left hanging around outside for about 45 minutes. Gerhard and I have decided it must be a very cushy place to work in, as it appears they are told to admit no-one!. It is only at social events (which they do very well…tasty canapés, grandiose interiors & balcony view of the Golden Horn to die for as well as endless champagne) that the gatemen relent, after thoroughly scrutinising your paperwork with several episodes on their walkie-talkies the gates are released and you are granted the honour of entering the Deutsche General Consulate. Vielen Dank!!!!

So what has kept us sane (& a little more cheerful) is socialising. We have made a group of new acquaintances & have enjoyed socialising with them whenever we have the energy or need cheering up (which is rather a lot at the moment!).

I thought I would tell you a little bit about the people we have got to know & our social life. Its funny before I moved to Istanbul (a lady that was married to a teacher in Istanbul) said to me “try not to socialize only with you husbands colleagues i.e. other teachers…… try to establish your own circle of friends” .

Easier said than done the lady doth protest….. Thus far I am only (& enjoying) socialising mainly with other teachers. They seem to me to be the nicest & most normal people I have met since arriving in this city four months ago.

We have met such a lovely selection of people mostly also here on the German teaching programme. We also got to know Yasmak who is a colleague of G's from school. She loves dancing particulary Salsa and has attempted to get G and I to join her at her saturday classes. But G hates Salsa music.

My Scottish friend Jennifer & I learned Salsa & Merengue about eight years ago in Aberdeen & I can already hear you proclaim “Annabel why don’t you go by yourself?”. Good question but the reason is that I can only dance the man ….I have always danced the man!. Being a very tall girl I never really got the chance to be the lady when I dance. At school being the tallest I was always the man and I led my partner to Strip the Willow, Boston Two step….dashing bloody White Sargeant !! I’m actually getting quite angry about the injustice of being the tallest in the class…... for years even at my own wedding I literally felt incapable of being led round the dance floor, & at dances I become all clammy about the possibility of being asked to dance by the opposite sex.

I read somewhere that women equate dancing in the arms of a man, one who dances really well as a wonderful pleasure almost better than great sex. Hhm? Music and dancing touches women in a very profound way. It Stirs the Soul I read… I can really believe this but I just haven’t experienced it very often. I have once or twice and yes it did stir my soul but generally dancing for me is just hellishly awkward. Being 6ft 3” I normally tower over my partner and then trample on their toes as I try to lead them round the dance floor. Thanks Craigholme…this is just one of the legacies you left me with, as well as an aversion to brown ~ the colour of our school uniform (being called jobby by other Glasgow private school kids didn’t bode well for an affinity to that particular colour). It wasn’t until I was told by an image colour consultant that brown is my colour and I should definitely be wearing it, that I wore it again. I was almost 40.

So yes,….. so far we have avoided the salsa classes but Yasmak continues to ask - maybe I should just go and TOWER and laugh about it. However I am sure I will have to drink a lot of red wine first!. Yasmak also invites us to join her at other social events which are a nice way for us to meet new Turkish people.

Other people I have met include neighbours. I think I mentioned that there are mainly expats living in the building & a few days after we arrived, we met Ibo and Susanne from the top floor on the roof terrace. They seem a nice pair; Ibo (who is Turkish) has given us some assistance with practical things since we arrived & he picks up mail for us when we are away. Susanne his girlfriend is her forties, American, large and outspoken. She is a writer and works in Paris. She commutes between Istanbul and France. She has taken all her holidays this year so she will not be back to Turkey until February 2009.

Then there is Therese who’s currently living in Brooklyn, she is a film maker & the new owner of the flat above us. Therese is in town right now and I met her for tea and cake at Kiki Cay (a small artsy café opposite us). She is a close friend of Susanne’s. I find both women interesting but they also have tough sides, which I don’t warm to, reminds me of traits I dislike in the Dutch which is their really direct manner, so direct that I feel tears sting my eyes at times. God I’m so feeble!

I did however spend a very enjoyable afternoon with the pair of them at the Grand Bazaar. Susanne overheard me saying I hadn’t really enjoyed the Grand Bazaar experience and had found it quite stressful. This is quite a common reaction by tourists after their first visit there. Susanne kindly invited me to accompany her & a group of her American friends. I was glad to orientate myself better in the vast shopping mall, but I did cringe at the way the women flirted so outrageously with the salesmen. It was something else! I felt like a real wall flower I just couldn’t bring myself to behave in the same manner although I could see it produced results i.e. good bargains & treats! Generally the salesmen are guys in their twenties & they flirt with anyone, even your granny! If you look like you might buy something you get the most syrupy nonsense. My co-shoppers lapped up the attention & reciprocated enthusiastically. I suppose it’s all a game & probably when you visit (……yes YOU), you will be shocked by my flirtatious haggling!

Incidentally at different shops in the Grand Bazaar we were offered and served a selection of Turkish coffee, coca cola, pomegranate juice & fresh fruits. I can’t imagine this sort of service anywhere in the UK.

An aspect that I enjoyed very much was that a shop owner (in his 80’s) kissed the back of our hands & gave us a brooch pin with the Turkish evil eye (the Turkish evil eye is supposed to protect your family and wealth) as a way of welcoming us into his shop. Many shop owners see it as an honour that you step into their premises. Inside his tiny but cosy kiosk there were literally thousands of different scarves neatly folded on shelves…it was delightful like an old fashioned sweetie shop but selling Pashmina’s and silk shawls… just lovely ~I purchased about six scarves of which I intended to use as a stash of presents. Once home however I’ve decided to keep four of them.

Susanne invited me to Kahvedan a wine bar close to our flat some months ago. Every Tuesday a group of expat Americans meet there. It was initially set up by a group of American writers living in Istanbul but it now seems open to any English speaking expat. At my first and only trip there I met Kho, an American/Korean from Chicago. I was delighted to meet her, discovered she was an artist & we exchanged numbers. We visited the Istanbul Modern and she also accompanied me to check out a studio space, that I might have been interested in renting. Anyway after I got back from Scotland she texted me to
say that she had got a job in Washington and would be away till Spring. She had
been in Istanbul for several months, having joined her boyfriend, who is a composing graduate in Istanbul. I think reading between the lines she was finding it really tough to get used to the new dynamics of their relationship, she being the one not working, and the one being responsible for the shopping, cleaning & household chores! (I know how she feels!!). Plus she had been dealing with a few racist comments. I so hate that about this city ~ anything different and you are immediately targeted by ignorant and small minded people. Anyway I miss her….. we simply clicked!

Sadly I haven’t really clicked with anyone in any of my new groups. I have met an awful lot of women in the last few months but with the logistics of this city & the fact that sometimes the events are so big I wonder how likely it will be that I manage to make any close friends in the next two years.

But WOW!... do I receive a lot of emails these days? I receive about twenty emails a month listing events from coffee mornings, writers workshops, cooking demonstrations, visits to exhibitions…….meetings with the Dalai Lama, trips to the moon… (dream on!)

I did join quite a few clubs….I am a member of Lale (International Women of Istanbul). I receive a glossy publication every other month…. it has heaps of events to choose from. Within Lale I joined Art Lovers of Istanbul, International Professional Women of Istanbul Network & a photography group. I also joined Corona (which is a smaller group for English speakers). I was at one event (the visit to Eyüp mosque) but wasn’t too enthusiastic about the ladies I met, but Helen (in Freiburg) encouraged me to give it another go, so I might not give up quite yet. One of the difficulties though is that many of the women I have met are diplomat’s wives etc…are extremely rich & live very privileged lives. I don’t fit in & I don’t want to be part of this life spending my days lunching at top class hotels, playing bridge…. I don’t know but these things don’t make my heart sing!

Having almost given up hope of meeting anyone on my wave length…..I did have better luck when I signed up for a photography trek to Kuzguncuk. It was my first event with the photography group. I had been to the village of Kuzguncuk with Gerhard one time before; I thought it would be fun to join the group for their guided tour. The small fishing village of Kuzguncuk is situated on the Asian side of Istanbul and has a multiethnic minority history, home to Greeks, Jews and Armenians. We visited an Armenian Orthodox Church and then a mosque, saw some restored Ottoman houses painted in bright colours, a Jewish & Greek cemetery.

Kuzguncuk is now home to many artists and writers and there is an enclave of galleries and studios. There were almost 25 of us in the group (all women) armed with different sizes of cameras and equipment. I really enjoyed myself, as it was a beautiful day and people were friendly. A nice surprise happened that day too, a lady approached me & told me she knew a Kate Pattullo and was I by any chance a relative? She had seen my name on the photo trek registration list and even before I announced myself to the group, she said she spotted me and thought I must be related. She the lady (& I’ve unfortunately forgotten her name) had worked together with Kate in the 80’s in the editing business in London. Although I’ve never met Kate Pattullo too many things matched up for her not to be related but I couldn’t really say much (because I don’t know about the Pattullo family). The lady said Kate’s family were from Angus with farming background. My grandfather was a potato farmer in Montrose; I never met him (as he died before I was born). It was nice to remember my roots as too often (especially lately) I feel I forget who I am & where I came from? Oh jeez!,….what am I talking about now?. It’s Christmas, that’s what it is … I always get rather introspective and a little sorry for myself, which is ridiculous when I have so much to be grateful for. But I do find amongst the mince pies and Christmas Stöllen (yes at great expense you can buy these things in Istanbul) I grapple with feelings of loss and grief for the lost years denied to both David & I with our parents & my sadness of not having a child of our own.

Anyway back to the photo trek we strolled around, chatting, looking at buildings and snapping away. It was interesting to see what people captured on the trek. Some of us posted a selection of our photos on a website called http://www.flickr.com/ If you haven’t heard of this site before you should take a look. Its great fun and easy to use.

I fear I may be getting addicted to not only writing but taking photos. On Friday I joined four ladies from the photography group to trek around the Persembe Pazar in Karikoy. It was a very last minute thing and it turned out to be great fun. The Persembe Pazar is a labyrinth of streets in a rather dodgy area near the Galata bridge. The shops sell building & DIY materials. It is a bit surreal and we caused a lot of amusement to bystanders and shop owners by taking pictures of rubber hosing, pipes, screws, bolts etc. I took a lot of photos of the people going about their daily lives (I find this the most interesting topic but difficult to capture).

On the 17th November I took part in a Stained Glass workshop with Art Lovers of Istanbul (ALI). The workshop took place in a fantastic setting, a stained glass studio in Ortakoy. It was facilitated by the owner, master artist and a Turkish lady from ALI who translated for him. It was incredible to see the production team in action and just how industrious & creative this little art studio was. They were working on some very interesting and challenging commissions. I was heartened to see that the art team consisted of four females plus the owner, Bay !

We were given the opportunity to create anything at the workshop which I found unnerving. It certainly wasn’t a very structured workshop & I was bemused at how vague everything was for a bunch of lay people. Internally I imagined how I would do it differently if I was the tutor ~oops!…an occupational hazard. However for once in my life I decided to be sensible and created something I had done partly before when working with glass at Whitespace…..a fused glass piece but this time using a shallow dish mould. A couple of ladies were keen to try & design a tiffany style stained glass panel; it was really ludicrous as their designs were way too complicated. The artists from the studio cut out their pieces of glass while the ladies stood and chatted to each other. I found this really annoying and quite honestly I don’t see the point of coming to a workshop and not doing anything yourself. Grrrr……

A few days later there was a pot luck lunch for new members of ALI. The lunch was hosted by an ALI committee member and avid art collector living in Bebek. Yes I said Bebek? Anyway Jo lives there in a heavenly apartment overlooking the fashionable village with views stretching across the Bospherous. Was it really me that was being so bitchy a few paragraphs ago about people with money. “Hell, maybe its not so bad being loaded in Istanbul” . Needless to say Jo’s apartment was stunning (I hate her), it was decorated with arty-facts brought back from exotic holidays & many original wonderful art works of contemporary Turlish artists. Jo is Canadian, has no kids and from what I gathered is a lady of leisure. She collects art work, with I suppose (but I’m not sure) the help of her rich Italian husband. And from what else I gathered during the pot luck lunch is that she spends a lot of time planning holidays paying special attention to airlines that fly her dog too (the dog is 17 years old and is a stray!) As far as I am concerned that dog had a lucky break. It was quite a comical lunch, there I was trying to hob nob (& be cool) with the jet set crowd and Jo’s latest stray, an adorable (but cheeky) little kitten kept launching itself on to my boots. My boots have laces all the way up the front. Kitty liked my boots and spent most of my visit attached to them. It was difficult to do anything about it whilst holding a plate in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

Anyway getting back to Bebek….Oh!,,,,,Bebek, will I ever sample your famous marzipan delights? “Of course not you idiot you are not here to enjoy yourself! I am only kidding, but this is what I sometimes feel the Gods are sneering at me as well as encouraging kittens to attach themselves to my boots at serious networking opportunities. How am I ever to be taken seriously in this city?

That day at Jo Bradley’s it was raining like hell and I basically dashed from the bus stop to her flat and afterwards jumped into a taxi to return to town. I still haven’t managed to actually see this fashionable place & its renowned yummy almond stuff sweetened with rosewater….. (Oh sod it!!).According to Jo the marzipan is overrated and expensive! but she did retort that she is not a fan of it anyway.

Changing the subject of marzipan to the weather, we’ve had quite extraordinary warm weather… about 15- 18 degrees. Several days ago I met Gerhard after school and we sat and ate fish at a little café on the shores of the Golden Horn. Its amazing when you realise it is almost Christmas and you are still able to sit outside. We sat outside as recently as the 19th December.

I saw some of you recently in Freiburg, which was very enjoyable. It was great to get a hit of Christmas cheer, yes I know I am a saddo but I always love the German Christmas markets, I forced myself to drink a few mulled wines and & listen to some festive jingles. It was luverrrly!......

It was a delight to stay with the Sandmeier-Valsi family in Zähringen & Kerle family Auf der Haid. Gerhard & I enjoyed hanging out with our hosts (although I wish I had had longer with my dear friend Claudia) & spending time with the kids. Ian and Paul are smashing children; they are three and so amusing with their lively antics. Gerhard found them to be open and trusting and he enjoyed reading & chatting to them in German. Bavani and Robert have just had a wee boy (two months old) and he is called Philip and is very cute. Bavani calls him her little Buddha, as he doesn’t cry & seems a very laid back wee man. Lena is now 4 and very chatty but doesn’t like speaking English.

We stayed with Gerhard’s parents in Aalen for four days and enjoyed great Bädishe cooking, Schnapps and snowy walks. I had a trip to the Triumph outlet store in Aalen with Gisela my mother-in-law (Am I mad or what? I know?.... but it is a famous outlet) and purchased a lot of underwear. A few years ago my mother-in-law had sent me a Triumph bra & knicker set as a St Nicholas present and it was way too small (like about two to three cups too small). I didn’t want Gerhard to mention it to his mum but of course she wanted to know if I liked it. The next time I saw her she mentioned the story of the present & my actual bra size in front of Gerhard’s brother and some aunts. I was mortified. Anyway whilst wandering around the outlet I was looking for my size and she suddenly piped up loudly that she had recently read in a magazine that Scottish women have large boobs. She can be quite frightening at times although I guess she might actually be right!. You can let me know your thoughts?

I’m looking through my ramblings idea list (I scribble notes on post-its) and well I’ve missed out a lot! How do I manage to write seven pages and not mention the sinking of the Karikoy boat port? During some high winds at the beginning of December the boat pier/ticket office…….very large building sank. It was like the sinking of the Titanic and quite unbelievable. It started to list, sway back and forth and then slowly glug…glug…glug disappear. It was comical Gerhard had a meeting on the Asian side of Istanbul and he was late, he was running to the Karikoy port & when he arrived it wasn’t there. We had both disembarked there the night before having had a spontaneous shopping trip to Kadikoy the afternoon before. Gerhard thought he was dreaming and stood staring bewildered at nothing but water. Just 12 hours earlier a 100 square metre modern port had stood proudly on the quay.

Well I wasn’t surprised!!!…well, I was actually! As you should know by now I am forever lamenting that there are simply too many incompetent people here and the sinking of Karikoy port has definitely reinforced this theory ten fold.

A few times lately we have had power cuts, the lights flicker a few times and then go out!. A month or so ago there was a small explosion at the end of the street and I saw a burst of light come from the ground and then darkness. The power cut last the whole night. I was astonished at what followed. After about an hour or so a posse of men (I presume the call out service) arrived with long handled spades. It looked like something from the Middle Ages, really sinister too as they used candlelight to find their way. They started to dig & occasionally I looked out to see what was happening. I unnerved Gerhard with my descriptions and he banned me from telling him what was unfolding. I hate that because at times like that I just want to declare & share my astonishment at what I am seeing. After an hour or so the workers had got down to about waist level one, suddenly one of the men jumped and leapt out the hole. His co workers tried to persuade him to carry on digging, and even after some jostling and shouting (which is pretty customary here) the man wouldn’t go anywhere near the hole. I concluded that he had must have been struck by electricity. To tell you the truth at this point I didn’t want to watch what was going to happen next either & I decided to join Gerhard in bed. I felt pretty worried not only do we have the prospect of earthquakes but there was a live electricity cable ten metres away from our front door.

But here I am on our sixth wedding anniversary writing about these remarkable and frustrating episodes and laughing about it …(almost).

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Unfortunately I haven’t send Christmas cards this year but I am thinking about you all on this warm winter solstice.












I’ve lost the post-it since uploading the graphic….Hhm? What else did I want to tell you? I finally had a massage & it was wonderful. I went to Tatjana Rottenberg, a natural healing practitioner who lives near here & I experienced two hours of stress relieving bliss. It was quite expensive but well worth it. As we parted I mentioned I probably wouldn’t be able to afford the treatment too often. She suggested we barter, for a massage I could do some sewing repairs; only thing is I loathe doing clothing repairs. So, I think Id rather just save up and pamper myself every couple of months. Nice idea though!!

Kurban Bayrami the Muslim Festival was celebrated whilst we were in Germany, it comes seventy days after the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan. We witnessed Kurban Bayrami last year when we visited Istanbul for the first time. I remember as we were taking the metro from the airport to the centre of Istanbul we saw men carrying sheep on their backs, plus sheep corralled & tethered to railings in the suburbs. It was quite macabre.

According to our friend Yasmak it either disgusts you or you embrace the values & traditions… she loathes it. The sheep (& sometimes a cow) are supposed to be slaughtered by an official butcher but this still is not adhered to & put it this way I was very happy to be far away and avoid the methods some inexperienced people use to kill these poor beasts. Apparently the streets in some districts are stained red with blood for some time. Yes I feel very sorry indeed for the sacrificed!

I have to admit I’ve always been a fan of the ram (my star sign) & the west coast of Scotland just wouldn’t be the same if it didn’t have those daft sheep roaming the roads & sitting resolutely in the middle of the road as you approach them in your car. Yes, they are stupid beasts & have no road sense but nevertheless I like them.

So back to Kurban Bayrami after the slaughtering, the meat is distributed to neighbours, as well as the poor. This part of the ritual carries the greatest symbolic meaning of the religious festival. Yasmak told us that every year her family (who live near Izmir) pester her to purchase a sheep and have it slaughtered & distributed amongst her village. It is viewed by the family as a duty of a child that is employed with a good job. She told us she hasn’t done it yet and has no intention of doing it as she dislikes the custom. She is viewed with disdain by her family who they think she is mean for not doing it …I guess you could call her a black sheep.

Anyway Iyi Kurban Bayrami to you…. (have a happy festival)

bye for now and till January.