View from the Top

That little building next to the Camii is my apartment.

Umbrella Graveyard

I was warned before I moved to Istanbul that the winters can be harsh. In reality the temperature is much more forgiving than the humid Ohio Valley winters I spent the last 5 years in, or the massive snowfalls Arizona's White Mountains can get when there's not a drought (which admittedly isn't often). However, since 3 major weather systems meet at Istanbul, the city can get some pretty gnarly winds. That coupled with incessant rain can make for a fairly miserable winter- even if the thermometer hasn't dropped below 0 C. Case in point, the short walk to my metro stopped was littered with discarded broken umbrellas whose poor construction could not withstand the elements.

Definitely looking forward to Spring.

Grand Opening

One of my first blog posts here in Istanbul was about the Sapphire, the skyscraper that's being built in my front yard. Anyway, it looks like they're almost done, cuz this popped up on the jumbo tron. It's still looks bomboş (empty) on the inside- so I'm a little skeptical this grand opening is for reals.

Neighbors

Ev alma, komşu al.

I learned this Turkish phrase last night, and I really like it. It means something like "Don't buy a house, buy your neighbors." In other words, the quality of your relationship with your neighbors is more important than the quality of the house you live in.

This saying really resonates with my desire to be part of a community, to live in right relationship with those in my neighborhood.

But in reality, being a good neighbor is not very glamorous. In fact it's often quite mundane or even boring. Here in Istanbul it means sitting down and drinking a glass of çay, even if your mind is thinking about bills to be paid and English lessons to be written. In many ways, being a good neighbor in Turkey means letting go of American pragmatism and being prepared to do... well... ostensibly nothing. Presence is more important than productivity here.

Being a neighbor also means knowing the whole neighborhood is watching you and talking about you, but that's a blog post for another day.

"Hoşçakal" by Emre Aydın

A lot of people here in Turkey really like this song. I may be one of them... not sure yet.

Skate Istanbul

I started skateboarding in the 6th grade, broke my arm 50/50ing a curb in the 8th grade, but stuck with it until my junior/senior year when playing music became a more viable means of impressing girls.

My roommate Seth has a similar story, only he never sold out. I recently snagged this footage of him killing/chilling it on a miniramp at one of Istanbul's several skateparks.

Istanbul Miniramp Session from Michael Butterworth on Vimeo.

It's pretty amazing how skate culture has globalized.

Bike Istanbul: the helmet cam.

Biking in Istanbul is crazy. But you could say that about biking in a lot of urban areas. Somehow it doesn't accurately denote the full significance of cycling in Istanbul. Thankfully, my roommate Seth set out to document a fairly normal ride.

Biking in Crazy Istanbul Traffic from Michael Butterworth on Vimeo.

Rümeli Hisarı

Sometimes you have to climb all over old fortresses with your friends.

23

I am now 23 years old.

To commemorate the occasion I visited the Pera Museum, to see their impressive collection of Orientalist art (particularly The Tortoise Trainer by Ottoman intellectual Osman Hamdi Bey) and was surprised to discover a very impressive Japanese digital art installation. I say surprised not because I didn't know about it, but because I didn't expect to be impressed (most American digital installation art I've seen I found boring and inaccessible). It was awesome. Well worth the 3 Lira.

But since the (almost) decade of weekday-birthdays I'm in the middle of is not conducive to actually celebrating my date of birth on the 30th, I waited until today to do what I really wanted to do: ride bikes around beautiful islands in the Marmara Sea where there are quaint houses, old churches, gorgeous panoramas, and no cars. I know what you're thinking, can such a wonderful place exist only 1 hour outside of the sprawling megalopolis that is Istanbul? Are there unicorns there too?

Well, in answer to your questions, yes, it does exists, and maybe, but I didn't see any.

Heybeliada was my favorite, and is actually a contender for my favorite place on earth. I would love to have a cabin here and either write poetry or run a small cafe and coffee roastery.

Büyükada was also great, and definitely had nicer bike paths, quainter cottages, and more restaurants and shops, but somehow I didn't like it as much. I guess minimalism wins again (slash the reckless cyclist in me that likes to be able to bomb hills without having to dodge horse-drawn carriages and "gez"ing tourists- Heybeliada is much emptier.)

Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Kahveci

Today I went to the Mısır Çarşısı with my photographer/guitar teacher friend Numan, where I bought a cezve and some freshly ground Türk kahvesi. Numan asked me to pose on the steps of the famous Yeni Camii (New Mosque), which was pretty cool and scenic until I got attacked by a flock of Hitchcockian pigeons.

Back at the house Numan taught Seth and me how to make Turkish coffee. Pretty pumped to have trans-continental barista abilities now.

Bike Istanbul

After six months of mentally debating it, I finally caved and bought a bicycle to ride in Istanbul. I bought this bike from the Bike Bazaar in Fatih. It's a mountain bike and it has gears, which makes it the polar opposite of the fixed-gear track bike I rode in the States (in fact, I am a little apprehensive that some of the fixed-gear only bike gangs I've rolled with in America are going to track me down and exact gangland revenge on me for betraying "the cause". I'm banking on the ability to coast down steep hills to evade them... and yes, I completely realize how ironic that statement is.) Anyway, it's a Whistle which is an Italian company but it is manufactured in Turkey which means I was able to dodge the 40% import tax on foreign goods. Plus it feels good to ride a Turkish-made bicycle in Turkey.

Seth (who also bought a bicycle) and I broke them in by riding from the Bazaar in Faith all the way to Bebek (with a detour in Beşiktaş up what is possibly the biggest hill I've ever climbed) then back down to Örtaköy from Bebek. Not counting the detour, it was over 15k. For those of you not familiar with Istanbul geography, it looked something like this (except contra picture we took the Galata Bridge).

Definitely feels great to be back on a bike. Prayers for safety in crazy traffic are appreciated.

N'aber

My favorite source for English-language news about Turkey is Hurriyet Daily News. Although their editorials often come across as naive and pedantic and their sports coverage is comparable to CBS, they typically have a handle on happenings across Turkey worth promoting.

For example:

I was fortunate enough to see U2 last Monday. Shockingly, Bono had a lot of political things to say, mostly involving complicated names I'd never heard of (and speaking for the Turkish names involved- horribly mispronounced as well- even Prime Minster Erdoğan). Anyway, I was glad that Hürriyet evidently had a reporter on the case who was able to decipher all the obscure references. Bono even wrote the paper a letter after the show.

When I noticed at Istanbul's Forum shopping mall that an H&M was coming soon (much to my pseudo-hipster excitement)- I wasn't surprised when I discovered Hurriyet had already run a feature about the trendy-but-affordable Swedish fashion retailer.

Also, the best Türk Kahvesi I've yet to have drunk is from Mandabatmaz, which is tucked away on a tiny alley off Istiklal Caddesi. How did I discover this gem? The Hürriyet sponsored food blog Istanbul Eats.

So thank you Hürriyet, that I can stay informed about contemporary events in my country of residence with only an elementary understanding of Turkish. That being said, don't be afraid to work on your sports coverage.

Ayder, Trabzon, and Beyond

This past weekend some dear friends and I journeyed to northeastern Turkey, where we explored hidden waterfalls, jumped off of bridges, and helped a French man move rocks up a mountain (it was part of his "spiritual journey"). It sounds cliche, but it was absolutely wonderful.

I love the mountains.

Outings: #2

For as long as I can remember the beach has been my nemesis. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy enough popular seaside activities to write a pretty decent e-harmony ad, but for my entire life no amount of SPF has proved sufficient to keep me from turning crimson by the end of the day.

Well yesterday when we visited Şile on our second summer outing I was resolved to bury the hatchet and try to make amends with with my old foe. Unfortunately the proverbial burning coals were heaped upon my head (and back, chest, legs, and tops of feet) as I am now the most sunburnt I have been in my life (and yes Mom, I put on sunblock... a lot of it).

Well even though almost every exposed skin cell is now crying out to me in pain, I can confidently say it was worth it. The beach was incredible. I love the Black Sea and being tossed about by its waves. I even love basking in the Anatolian sun. And I especially love how the beach imports new significance to activities I already loved, whether it be conversing with friends, playing frisbee and tavla, or reading a good book.

Pictures coming soon.

Bursaspor Şampiyon!

Bursaspor is the surprise champion of the Turkish Super Lig this year, becoming only the second team not from Istanbul to claim the title. Quite impressive for a team that only a few years ago was in danger of being relegated.

It's ironic, but I couldn't possibly be more excited about the championship going to a team outside of Istanbul for the first time in over twenty years. As much as I would have loved to see Beşiktaş repeat last year's championship, Bursaspor's victory prevented Fenerbahçe from winning their eighteenth Süper Lig title. Fenerbahçe = the Yankees of Turkish football and the Yankees = pure evil, so it was the lesser of two evils for Beşiktaş to lose 1-2 to Bursaspor.

Naturally, Fenerbaçe fans weren't particularly excited about this (especially considering venders were already selling yellow and blue şampiyon flags before the game) and actually set fire to their own stadium after their 1-1 draw with Trabzonspor. Thankfully the Police were on hand to restore order...

... or at least beat the crap out of hooligans.

It will certainly be interesting to see how Bursaspor fares in the Champion's League.

Kadıköy Dance Party

Kadıköy Dance Party from Michael Butterworth on Vimeo.

One of the many reasons I love Istanbul: you never know when you are going to stumble on a massive dance party by the Bosporus.

Dilmer

I've started taking an intensive language class here and I already love it. My teacher is basically a genius because she teaches without using any English (almost) and I've already learned more Turkish in two days than I have learned from my collective ten weeks of "barefoot" language learning. I did get confused at one point in the lesson and referred to a classmate as a hospital... but thankfully she wasn't that offended.

Another fun part about taking language classes is the diverse community of students at Dilmer. Already I have met people from Scotland, England, Russia, The Netherlands, Sweden, Iran, Ukraine, Germany, and one other American (a history professor from the University of Michigan). Needless to say, a group of people taking intensive Turkish lessons are a pretty eclectic bunch.

At this rate I should be fluent by the end of the month.

Kapadokya

Recently I've felt incredibly blessed to be alive. This past weekend I was able to visit Kapadokya (the biblical Cappadocia) with ten amazing friends. The weekend was packed with exploring ruins, eating great Turkish food, and cruising the ancient Silk Road. Definitely one for the books.

Tulips

Büyükşehir

Istanbul is my new home. Istanbul is called büyükşehır, the Great City, which is an apt nickname because it's so overwhelmingly large it’s impossible to think of it as one city. Each of Istanbul's 39 districts basically function as their city, with multiple neighborhoods in each district functioning as towns.

This is my neighborhood, which is in the district of Kağıthane. My apartment is literally next to the mosque.

Right now they are building what will be Istanbul's tallest skyscraper in my front yard. It's so tall it took two photos to capture it.

Here's another angle... supposedly there's going to be a mall in their somewhere, which may affect the frugality of my budget, but will be very convenient.

Yes. I do think I will love living here.