Headscarves & stripper heels. Something's not right

The settling in pains are still continuing and in fact getting worse. I'm trying so hard to see the positive side of things, but I just don't see any upside. It just seems like one battle after another.

Maarten said something in his last comment which is so acurate......Usually when U move to a new place, you experience all the initial joy and excitement of discovery...THEN MUCH LATER, the culture shock and unpleasantness hits.

But this time for me in Istanbul, I felt NO initial joy or excitement. I still haven't found ONE SINGLE THING that I REALLY LIKE about this city. Sure, I'm experiencing new things, but not in a pleasant way!!!!!! Everyday I just wake up and think......"F***, LET'S JUST GET ON WITH IT."

I don't feel comfortable here. There's something about this place, the culture, the food that just doesn't sit right with me. Can't put my finger on it, it just doesn't feel right and I don't feel completely at ease. I don't feel threatened or endangered, but I'm not happy either.

Maybe it's because of what I call the "Turkish Paradox", that's how I think of it anyway. Lots of other writers have written about it, but here's my own impression. Turkey wants to be seen as a modern, cosmopolitan, secular nation, embracing diversity, civil liberties etc. That image seems quite right if you stroll down the Istikal Caddesi, the main high street in the modern Istanbul. Bright lights, cafes, book & music chain stores, the universal high street brands, coffee and burger chains, neo Goths, emo kids, students in low-slung denims and Converse, chain smoking, having a beer and chattering away.

At the same time, you realise that there's like 20 men to 1 woman on the street. (Where are all the women?) And that it's common to see girls wearing headscarves and fully covered from head to toe, arms, legs everything.

BUT

you suddenly realise that although they're covered, their clothes are super clingy (e.g. a tiny miniskirt over black leggings, a long-sleeved turtle neck under a tight camisole top and a headscarf) and they're wearing 4-inch platform wedges or stripper heels. WHAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THAT? I just don't get it. I thought that the whole point of the Muslim religion asking women to cover up is so that they don't "incite lustful thoughts in men." So I just don't understand 4-inch heels and tight clothes with headscarves!

The Lonely Planet Turkey guide sums it up this way:

"Modern Turks will assure you that theirs is a very cosmopolitan country, an impression that can just about be sustained if you stick to the main tourist areas. However when it comes to permanent inhabitants, the picture looks very different. The shortage of restaurants selling anything other than local and "daringly" European food SPEAKS VOLUMES FOR THIS LACK OF DIVERSITY."

Now, normally I'd say that travel guides tend to exaggerate and what they say should be taken with a pinch of salt. But that comment is BANG ON ACCURATE.

1. I hate the local food. I've been giving it a chance and trying different things but it still SUX.
(How's this for variety? 1 big modern food court in a big modern mall, 20 different food stalls....ALL SELLING THE EXACT SAME THINGS - kebaps, kofte, lemachun, pide... repeated again and again.) Cosmopolitan and diverse? I think NOT.


2. No matter where I go, I am assaulted at least once a day by the acrid pong of CIGARETTE SMOKE & B.O (ESPECIALLY evident in any enclosed space...which is just about everywhere.) So much so that I have taken to eating at weird times just to AVOID sitting near other people. E.g I figured that if I eat lunch at 3 or 4pm the food places will be EMPTIER, increasing my chances of sitting at a table far far away from other people.


3. The local ice cream is RUBBERY.
JF and I had a rude shock when we bought some Turkish ice cream on Sunday. It was so THICK & RUBBERY. You could drop it and it would bounce. NOT KIDDING. DITTO for the cheesecake. For the first time in my life, I took one lick of ice cream, one forkfull of cheesecake and left the rest untouched. Yes it was THAT AWFUL.

4. Finding and moving into a flat is a nightmare. Another rude shock - ALL THE FLATS FOR RENT here come TOTALLY EMPTY. And I mean EMPTY!!!!!
NOT EVEN ONE light (just wires hanging from the ceiling), NO CURTAIN RAILS or Curtains, No applicances, not even a stove, oven or washing machine or fridge, NO CLOSETS AT ALL, not even one chair or bedframe. NOTHING.
All the flats are like this, brand new flats or smelly old flats with paint peeling and warped doors, ALL HAVE NOTHING IN IT. NADA.
We just calculated that it will cost about 5000 EUROS just to get whichever flat we rent into LIVE-IN condition. Just BASIC stuff and no deco. What's more, applicances and furniture are twice the price here than in Singapore!!!!!
DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMIT.
I asked the relocation agent why the rental flats are all like this and she said it's because Turkish people are taboo about using other people's things. They don't even want used lights or curtain rails!
When they move into a rented place, they usually even RENOVATE IT. IMAGINE THAT!!!
Spending thousands of dollars renovating a place that is not even yours and you have to give it back someday.


5. IT IS A F****** DAMN DIFFICULT task JUST to get a SIM card WORKING in your mobile phone!!! ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
First of all, before I came, I did my research and read that the government requires all foreign mobiles to be registered AT THE AIRPORT upon arrival at Customs IN THE PASSPORT of the mobile phone owner if he/she wants to use it long term in Turkey. Original Proof of Purchase (i.e. purchase receipt of mobile phone) required. IF you don't do this, your phone gets cut off in 3 weeks. PAIN in the ASS but fine OK.
I emailed the relocation agent about it, she said no need. Old rule.

THEN when we got here I buy a Turkish Turkcell SIM card, put it into my phone and IT DOESN'T WORK. FlyingF******Fish! Ok nevermind. The relocation agent tries to help me and we run around looking for a Turkcell shop that can register foreign phone. When we FINALLY FIND one, we are told that the rules have changed AGAIN. The government NO LONGER ALLOWS foreign mobiles to be registered for use with foreign passports. AND U can only register a foreign mobile with a Turkish passport IF YOU PROVE that you travel overseas often.

In the bloody friggin end of it all, I had to buy a new TURKISH phone. Phones are so damn bloody expensive here, even more expensive than France and the UK. I got an older NOKIA model which doesn't even have Bluetooth and it was 270 YTL which is SGD$340!!!!!!! For an OLD MODEL!


SIGH. I hope that things will change for the better very soon and I will find some positive aspects of living here. Right now it just seems like an endless battle to get things done. Mummy shared something with me today when I was pouring out all my worries and frustrations over the phone. She said,"BELIEVE." JF's birthday is on Saturday and the Turkish elections are on Sunday. Hope all goes well. Where are my magic red ruby slippers? There's no place like home.