TRY to USD = :-(

I never had much reason to pay attention to international currency exchange rates. As a traveler, I learned to pay attention to current rates before a trip to add a calculation in my brain when purchasing things in a new destination. As a working ex-pat though, it is on my mind more and more, especially since the ticker runs along the channel that broadcasts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon every evening.

Eight months ago, the TRY to USD was approximately 1.8:1. One of the tips I had read in an ESL Teacher Jobs forum was to ask that your contract/salary be in the form of your original country's currency--that as an American or Brit, your currency value would be much less volatile than that of a smaller, possibly more economically unstable country. While I took the "it never hurts to ask" approach, I realized afterwards how awkwardly I brought up the subject in my interview. The response was along the lines of: "Why would I pay you in American money? I don't have American money. You won't be living in America." Fair point. I was kindly told what the equivalent of my salary would be in USD (according to, at the time, current exchanges) to put my mind at ease. For 6 months I have been paid salary in Turkish Lira, and the exchange rate has now climbed to 2.28:1, thanks in part to political scandal, as well as perhaps a suffering diplomatic relationship between Turkey and the US. Thanks to this change, I now earn 22% less each month in American paper. The bright side is that my income/spending are on the same system, so relatively there hasn't been a change. When I return to the States, though, my savings will likely carry less value than they would have eight monts ago.

The real winner in this shift: hotels, tour companies, and other visitor services that list their prices in euros, despite the fact that in general euros aren't accepted in this country. A year ago, a 100 euro/night hotel room would have pocketed the innkeeper 235 lira. Tonight: 310 lira.

Hopefully the Turkish Lira return to its earlier value in the near future. Please.

"But what I think of as resonant experiences, particularly resonant travel experiences, do add something to my life. Deepen it, I guess. For me, that often means attempting to slip into the head of a person of a different culture and catch a glimpse of how he sees the world. That experience enriches my appreciation of life. Honestly, I’m O.K. about skipping the Pyramids."
Daniel Klein, in an interview about traveling in his 70s
"Always Journeying to Someplace New Gets Old Fast", NYTimes, 1/14/2014.

Finding Mr. Klein's remarks particularly resonant today.

Hey you dropped your---

"Hey, you dropped your--!"
"JOE! NO! LEAVE IT!"
Katie pulls me by the arm up the sidewalk along the tramway away from the shoeshine brush that fell from a shoeshiner's kit.

She told me she had read that this was a trick, especially in the tourist-heavy areas of Sultanahmet. A shoeshine drops his brush as he passes some tourists, pretending not to notice. A Good Samaritan sees it, informs the shoeshine, and the con is on. The shoeshine strikes up conversation with the tourists, thanks them, offers a free shine as a thank-you, and then requires payment for his unsolicited service.

I was taken by surprise the first time it happened and immediately felt naive and foolish. I was also glad Katie had read into this and traveled to more places where street cons are common. The same thing happened a few more times within the hour. It was comical and predictable, specifically the final occurrence when a fellow Istanbullu was the one following the shoeshine up the street and blew up his game. 

"Ağabey!"

You can read more about Istanbul tourist scams: here.

Traffic

Cars vs. Pedestrians
Cars win every time. We were told before we left for Turkey that the drivers here are crazy. Full stop. Crazy. And it’s totally true. I lived for awhile in Rome and thought those roads were lawless, but it turns out that the Turks take the cake on this one. And I think the biggest difference is that if you walk out into the street in Rome, the cars will stop for you, they just won’t be happy about it. Here, the cars will 1) hit you 2) narrowly miss hitting you while they go around you 3) you may get lucky and have found a good Samaritan who will stop for you. This is in play everywhere: crosswalks, the highway, driveways; and applies to everyone: pregnant women, small children, the elderly. Nobody gets a pass.

We’ve never seen anyway actually get hit, but we’ve seen close calls and perhaps the aftermath of a hit. We were walking home one day and turned a corner to find a car stopped and a man sitting on the side of the road looking shocked and rubbing his head. (The man was sitting next to a large dolly fitted with a nylon tarp bag. The people who use these make a living by collecting recyclables/cardboard and turning them in.) The car belonged to a couple: the man was returning to the car to turn it back on to leave, and the woman was grabbing a bottle of water to give to the man they presumably hit with their car. Again, we did not witness any incident happen, but we come upon a scene and made reasonable inferences.

Driving Itself
We've seen some crazy things while we've been riding in buses and taxis. 

One day Joe's school bus missed its exit and then backed up on the highway to get to it. 

Turn signal? What's that?

Bus drivers shouting at other drivers who pissed them off, then trying to cut them off at the red light. You tell him, Ahmed!

Sometimes we take a double decker bus across to the European side and we prefer to sit in the top front. This can be a harrowing experience when you're in a traffic circle and a tiny car won't let the double decker bus go first and we almost hit them because they refuse to be intimidated by a double decker bus.

One time, when we got on a bus at the terminal station and waited for the driver to arrive, we're pretty sure that he made a bet with some fellow drivers to race their routes. Our route was mainly city streets, minimal highway time. It was crazy. The driver was accelerating and breaking like crazy. At one stop, an elderly lady (with a cane, mind you) signaled for the bus to stop, then looked down at her wallet and fumbled for her bus card. The driver started to stop, but in the second it took the woman to look down, the driver decided that no, she didn't want this bus after all and took the chance to gun it past the stop and left her in the dust.

Child car seat? What's that?

Of course, cutting people off is commonplace in crazy traffic situations. But sometimes there will be someone who wants to turn right, and they will proceed to do so by slowly sticking their nose out in front of rapidly oncoming cars until the cars have stopped for them, and then complete their turn.

There are many bus stops along the highways here, and they are often combined with the highway's entry and exit ramps. These are usually very congested because 1) the buses  and minibuses need to stop to pick up and drop off passengers 2) cars are entering/exiting 3) taxis are lurking for potential fares and slowing down traffic 4) people step into the street to see which buses are arriving 6) it's Istanbul, there isn't any order, and it's already crowded as is.

Traffic Circles
One of the weirdest things about driving here is that the rules for traffic circles are backwards here. When a car approaches a traffic circle, instead of yielding to traffic within the circle, the car entering has the right of way and just drives head on into the circle. The cars that are already in the circle then end up yielding to the cars entering the circle. It seems unsafe and irrational, but then again, wouldn't you rather be in front of someone than behind them? Don't you know that it's me first, then you?

G(h)ent

Christmas is the best time to visit Belgium. There are Christmas markets in lots of the cities, decorations are up all over the streets, the buildings are beautifully lit, there are great Christmas beers you can only get during December...

That said, Gent did not have its Christmas market open when we got there. Get it together, Ghent. Don't be different just to be different, Ghent.

We didn't miss out on too much due Ghent's lack of festal spirit, though. The ferris wheel wasn't open for riders yet, but due to the high wind gusts that was probably a good thing. Instead we decided to climb the Belfry and have a look at Gent from on high. Did I mention the high velocity wind screaming through the tower? The ascent really wasn't that bad (I'm looking at you, Nieuwe Kerk in Delft!) and the wind and its vibrations were actually quite stunning but I could not handle being outside at the top. Joe was fine, but I only made it 1/4 way around before I had to turn back from the turning of my guts and fear of the sucking wind.

Brussels has a bigger city feel, and Bruges is its own  Super Mario World. The city center of Ghent doesn't have an immediately obvious, dominant character. And that's okay. It's still a wonderful place to visit, even if the reasons can't be summed up in some poetic tagline.

Tourists walk and residents bike. Tramways and canals surround everything and serve as reference points when you're finding your way down curved streets. Our Air BnB  was within walking distance of everything we could have possibly wanted.

Jozef Friture @ St. Jacob's -- excellent frites from a shed next to an old church, great for walking around and admiring the architecture

Harira En on Oudberg -- Hearty West African cuisine in the heart of the international food street, among Turkish, Middle Eastern, and Asian options. A couscous entree is enough to split.

Waterhuis -- Right along the canal, the bar's room is comfortable, and at our visit they had 2 exclusive taps: Klokke Roeland and Gandavum among all of the Belgian brews you could want.

Climbing the Belfry of Ghent -- Elevator or by foot, worth the view

The Crypts at St. Baafskathedral (St. Bavo's) -- An enormous space beneath the church houses tombs, art, and illuminated manuscripts

Dulle Griet -- bar right at the Friday market with a pub atmosphere, plenty of taps, and a nice view of the square

Gravensteen Castle -- Awesome museum inside an old castle that was still used into the 19th century, with plenty of weapons, torture items, and other objects you likely don't have in your apartment.

Galgenhuisje -- a pub on the Groentenmarkt Square that has a tiny main room with tables, good taps, and a quiet atmosphere on a Thursday at 2:00.

Ketchup -- more or less Ghent's Burger King, but since there aren't many decent budget dining options, it's worth the trip for a fast lunch

Here's a link to the Bruges-Ghent photo album if you missed when the pictures went up originally:
GHENT PHOTOS

BRUGES

We spent a majority of our time here despite Bruges' sleepy-town reputation. It's a great spot to take a quiet vacation but still have plenty to do and see. All in all we visited two museums, climbed the Belfry, toured a brewery, took interesting walks, visited the Christmas market, had three top-notch dinners, and of course tried as many different beers as possible. And we weren't pushing ourselves at all.

The atmosphere of Bruges is completely romantic: charming Flemish architecture, willows weeping over canals, winding medieval streets. This is not the place to go clubbing. That said, there are some wonderful beer bars there. 

All of the below had large beer lists:

T' Brugs Beertje -- great beer list, great atmosphere. We sat at the bar next to some locals and had a colorful experience watching them down beer after beer (and they weren't drinking pilsners).

Cafe Rose Red -- we splurged on a lovely afternoon here featuring 3 rare-ish bottles and excellent charcuterie, plus there was a British gentleman who sounded just like Steve Coogan so naturally we eavesdropped.

Comptoir Des Arts -- we planned on having a nightcap here before heading back to our room but they were playing such great jazz that we had to stay for a couple more.

Cambrinus -- we neglected to get reservations but were finally able to get a seat at the bar and stuffed ourselves with rabbit, steak, potatoes, and beer.

Things to do:

Sound Factory -- a contemporary loft-style museum-like space dedicated to sound engineers and artists with fun interactive exhibits.

Belfry -- the Belfry offers the most magnificent view in Bruges and a fun climb with stop-offs for history exhibits.

de Halve Maan Brewery -- the only guided brewery tour we took in Belgium but without a doubt the best brewery tour we've ever taken. The views from the roof are wonderful, the guide charming, and the post-tour tasting welcome after climbing down a couple very steep stairs.

Xmas Markets -- set up in the Burg and the Markt, lots of winterwear, some crafts, and food. Gluhwein is highly recommended! We also took home some great pork rillettes. We didn't try the potatoes Savoyarde, but I'm sorry we didn't. They smelled like an amazing concoction of garlic, bacon, and other savory things for a comforting winter meal/snack.

Walking around -- many of the sidewalks and streets are 100% stone, the houses stone, and the sidewalks stone. You are surrounded by uniform material interrupted only by a passing cyclist, a building window, and the sky. It's a surreal and unique feeling, especially where everything is so narrow, you feel as though you can reach out and touch houses across the street from each other.

Finally, we just want to add that everyone we met or interacted with were kınd and helpful, offering us information before we even had to ask. It was wonderful.

Here's a link to the Bruges photo album if you missed when the pictures went up originally:
BRUGES PHOTOS