Bağdat Avenue (Bağdat Caddesi) is one of the most important streets in not only the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, but the entire Asian side. It runs from east to west from Maltepe to Kadıköy for about 14 kilometers (8.7 miles).
Tarlabaşı is a neighborhood in Istanbul west of Istiklal Street. It’s the most diverse area in the city as well as a notorious slum.
This is a short poem I wrote in Turkish about homesickness the night before I left Istanbul. I had lived there for over three years and was overcome with sadness about leaving such an amazing city behind:
Homesickness…
İstanbul şehrim, evim, kalbim. İstanbul hastalığım aynı zamanda çarem. Mutluluğum, üzgünlüğüm. Hapishanem, özgürlüğüm. İstanbul – bazen beni sevdin, sık sıkı senden nefret ettim. Fakat sensiz asla nefes alamayacağım. Nereye giderim ki, hep benimle seni tutacağım. Hayatım İstanbul. Ruhum İstanbul.
This poem is important to me for two reasons:
Firstly, it showed my grasp of the Turkish language after living in the city for so long. I may not have been fluent but I was finally able to express myself and carry an everyday conversation by the time I left. In the beginning, it was quite difficult to put sentences together but I was able to complete basic tasks, such as shopping, asking for directions, and ordering at a restaurant.
Secondly, it accurately expressed my feelings about Istanbul and life in Istanbul at the time I was leaving. The city became a very important part of my life, and although it could be a difficult place to live, it could also be the most incredible place in the world at the same time.
When I had a chance to get cheap tickets to see Kasımpaşa vs Galatasaray at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadyumu), I couldn’t refuse.
How does one celebrate Thanksgiving in Istanbul? This being my 4th Thanksgiving here, it was only the 1st time I actually got to celebrate. In previous years, nobody really had the time to prepare a feast or even get together and celebrate. The funny thing is, the friends who suggested having this year’s Thanksgiving in the first place are…British!
It has only been a couple weeks since moving out of Halkalı. I’ve been traveling a lot and haven’t spent all of that time there, but, as I have predicted, I’m not 100% convinced about my new home in Şirinevler.
I did it! I rode the Marmaray. In under 5 minutes, I crossed the Bosporus in a tunnel and avoided certain death. Seriously, at the other end I was expecting to get an “I Survived the Marmaray!” t-shirt. At the very least they could’ve given me a cookie.
While one of my best friends, Tim, was teaching in Istanbul, he asked me to take his class of high school students on some field trips to get to know their own city.