Connecting the Dots: Turkey

The cultural differences are still tremendously foreign to me. Each morning, before the sunrise, every mosque (and there are quite a few) broadcast individually sung prayers, all at basically the same time. This procedure occurs five times throughout the day and based on the number of mosques in the area, there can be overlapping sounds singing the same prayer (although using different harmonies). I had never been exposed to this behavior (except in movies) until I arrived in Istanbul.

The bus system, while expansive, is confusing when you don’t speak Turkish. Their systems seem chaotic and unorganized; however, every single time everything manages to work out. The trick is to say your ending destination at every stop. After the second time you do this, the bus driver motions to stop worrying and he then ensures you exit at the correct location.

It has been quite hilarious to travel around this country as simply “William” for the past two weeks. Everyone else has two names; however, my last name is never included. I do not know why, but it makes me laugh every time.

Their paper is longer than ours—both printing and toilet.

There is an anticipatory aurora around this country. Every town seems like a runner anxiously awaiting the starting gun for the upcoming summer marathon. Apparently next week everything is going to explode with tourists, and it is evident when traveling that something massive is on the horizon. You can just feel it in the air.