I had imagined people being grumpy and easy to anger during ramadan. Maybe these things also happen, but I have yet to notice. During the shift to iftar today I was riding a minibus from Kartal to Kadiköy along Minibus caddesi. At every bakery along the road people were lining up for the plain ramadan-pides (that Erkan wrote about) and inside the minibus first one and then another person started to talk to me. Both joyfully wondering what a guy in such a red beard was doing in Turkey.

The street was extremely crowded with both cars and pedestrians., but it was one of those moments when Istanbul feels more like an enormous village than metropolis.

This is indeed an electrical power station that is located in the Mecidiyeköy square. I guess this is one of the best ideas in aesthetic terms in the city: to paint those ugly power stations as houses! As far as I know, many stations all over Istanbul are painted like that. I saw one in Bahçelievler and two in Şişli…

This guy wears a t-shirt that has a quote from the American Black leader, Malcolm X.

Well, an invitation to a demonstration after the Friday prayers. Damn it. The inviting organizations cannot be read.

Because of an uneasy relation between my PC and mobile phone through which I take these photos, it takes time to prepare the stuff. Sorry for late posting. Most of the photos are related to the Lebanon crisis but I will update you with more recent stuff. I promise!

Normally people write down something like ‘Clean Me’ on these dusty car windows. Here the mood is different.

A new, Islamic based charity organization, asks for donations through these posters….

the schedule of “the first international istanbul biennial of photography” launched by ifsak can be examined on ifsak’s website. hint: do not expect much from “fanus” on istiklal avenue, guess the photo explains it all. (no, coca cola is not a sponsor)

I like to have ramadhan special pide (pitta?) as well as that dessert called güllaç (sesli sozluk translation: rice wafers stuffed with nuts. cooked in milk.) But i guess I wouldn’t wait in those long lines in front of bakeries to get pides before the breaking fast time. I couldn’t manage to take a picture last evening to demonstrate how long those queues might be but now you know. I guess for outsiders, it would take time to understand what goes on….

For all those in Istanbul this weekend you can’t have missed the outpour of rain that we experienced. When I sit on my balcony and I can’t see the Asian side anymore, that’s when I know it’s bad. The sudden rain caught a lot of people off guard. Traffic went crazy and areas like Istinye we’re all over the news because they were suddenly inundated. Buckets were used by grocery shop owners in a last effort to salvage the goods that were floating in the rain water which was rapidly filling up the Istinye stores.
Now it seems to have calmed down a bit even though we still have sudden outbursts and unhappy skies.

tayland’da sabah saatlerinde yapilan askeri darbenin ayrintilarini bangkok metroblog sayfasindan takip edebilirsiniz.

Exceptional Eaves

Feeling the need for a continental shift…we headed to the “other side” this afternoon to pick up some fabric in the Spice Bazaar (how those two work together is something I need to ponder). After collecting our cloth we strolled “east” out of the Bazaar and down towards the PTT museum. On our left we chanced upon this building that stopped us in mid stride with its exceptionally artistic eaves. One who is prone to pathetic prose may expect to express emotional exhaltations encountering these elegantly embellished and elaborately enhanced eaves. If you are in the neighborhood, they are worth the gander.
(Please forgive the elementary expose…it seems there is a predilection for “E” today).

The arrival of Fall seems to be the climatologically contrived conundrum for contemplation of late. My sunny afternoon faded into a “fall like” afternoon with dark clouds and wind and it appears to be cooling down in Istanbul. Which, on the heels the A/C installation in our bedroom this week…figures.

Any change of weather is always a big deal with our crew. Since we hail from the land of “No Seasons”…living in a “4 season city” is big stuff. I am a T-shirt and jeans devotee….but today I found myself wearing a sweater and socks while working on my terrace. For this Southern Californian, “socks” are strange territory and a clear sign that something….is in the air. Stay tuned for changes in the local clime.