Döner vs Dürum?

I thought such difficult decisions were a thing of the past, but fortunately they aren't. That's right, I am finally in the kebab homeland. The "Patria de los Kebabs," if you will. And I will!

After driving from Duck Beach to Hartford to Boston, then busing back to New York, I was plenty tired and plenty ready to jump on my direct flight to Istanbul on Friday. It was an excitin time—I was leaving an old life behind me and preparing for new adventures and stories to tell. Unfortunately, the lady next to whom I sat couldn't partake in any of my joy—or even move to let me use the restroom before consulting with her son. It turns out my encounter with her, a native Turk who spoke no English, has been mostly representative of my travel and time here. It's actually a bit strange for me. Everyone in Europe spoke Spanish, English or French (enough that I could at communicate the essentials like "where's my hotel?" "where is the bathroom?" and "I'll have two Döner, please!"). Germans, Swedes, the Ugandans and Tanzanians, and even the Chinese spoke my language, but here they really don't, and they don't care. It's probably better for me—I'm trying to learn a few words in Turkish, but honestly I'll only use it if I come back. It's bordering on rude of me, but I figure as long as I'm meek about it and pay the tourist price on my meals and souveniers, they can't complain too much. I decided to buy a shirt that looked like the flag of Turkey, and the vendor asked for 15 lira. I said I wasn't sure, started to walk away an he offered 13. I was planning to buy it at some point anyway, so I offered him 10, and knew I'd overpaid when he smiled big, pumped my hand and handed me the shirt. That's fine. I hope he buys his wife something nice with all the dough he got from that silly American who paid $6 for a T-shirt!

Other than that, I've been rained on, j-walked (several times, but only once in front of a truck), haggled in the largest indoor market in the world over oriental rugs (mama Wheeler's thinking about buying) and sipped herbal tea with newfound friends.

To Turkey and the good life!