It is Friday night in Istanbul. It is the first night since I got here that I haven't gone out. I am exhausted. I arrived here on Tuesday after leaving SF on Monday. It feels like I've managed to squeeze enough waking hours into my life to make up for the day I lost by flying East. From the airplane I was struck by how huge Istanbul is. Hey, it stretches over two continents. It looked flat from the air but I have since found out is very hilly. Also, contrary to my previous beliefs, it rains. Hmmm.... it is 11:18 AM in California. It looks like there is a 9-hour difference. Eirik met me at the airport and immediately began to tell me everything about Istanbul and the job. Unfortunately, he didn't finish telling me everything. I guess you can never finish... He is leaving tomorrow morning so we said, "goodbye".

We took the airport bus to Taksim where we dragged my 60 lbs of luggage up several flights of stairs to Nancy's daughter, Zarife's apartment. Zarife wasn't home so we dumped my stuff and headed to Citlembik and Yagmur. The region where I will be spending most of my time is called Beyoglu. It starts at Taksim, a bustling square surrounded by taxi and pedestrian filled streets. There are several streets that branch off of it. Istiklal is a cobblestoned pedestrian street (with tram tracks which are occasionally used by cars.) The buildings are art noveau and house cafes, restaurants, music stores, clothing stores, clubs, bars and other lively things. Even late on weeknights Istiklal is filled with people. Small side streets wind away from it. Yagmur and Citlembik are in one of these side streets. Nancy bought the building and restored it. I've been told that in the past year or so, the street has changed from a seedy place with prostitutes to a respectable home of cafes and restaurants. Yagmur kicks ass as a cafe. It is comfortable and not at all "institutional" like some cybercafes I've seen. It is definitely a mixing place for Turks and Expats. Everyone seems to know each other. In the past few days I have been introduced to so many people. Unfortunately I am not doing well with names at all.

Later, I had an opportunity to talk to Nancy. She was in Iran Peace Corps Group IV. She is smart and seems to have a lot of projects going. She is very friendly and welcomed me to the Citlembik family. The job itself involves a lot with the possibility of making it involve even more. Nancy and I are the only expats working in the office now that Eirik is going. I've said a few words to Zenap and Onder but they don't speak much English. Gizem, who I will be working with knows a lot more. He seems like a nice guy and I think we will get along fine. There is someone else who I was supposed to meet but who didn't show up and who wont be working for the next month due to exams. In the cafe, I've talked to Ada a little and Tarkan, who is taking Anu's place as manager, though mostly about business and computer stuff. In order to fend off jet lag, I agreed to go and visit "good people" even though I was exhausted. I met Anu, Shawn and Graham. We drank and talked about stuff. The apartment was on the top floor with a view of the Golden Horn. The important buildings were lit up, with the Blue Mosque gleaming. Birds flew around the bright towers thinking it was day-time. At one point I could hear the faint call to prayer... it is beautiful, mysterious and plaintive. It was so soft it settled like mist on the glowing mosques. Anu filled me in on a lot of useful information. She is the founder of the cyber-cafe. She is leaving in a week. I feel like I've arrived at the end of an era. We stopped for a drink at a smoke filled bar. Toto we are not in California anymore. I actually woke up coughing really badly. I guess I'm going to have to get used to second hand smoke or start smoking myself.

I woke up early the next day and met Zarife. She is working on her Ph.D. in film and is very busy. She is also really friendly. Judging from the few times I've talked to her and her book collection, we have a lot in common. In the evening we went to the Roxy to see some bands play. There is a competition going on. Zarife said it was a rare opportunity to see Turkish bands that play their own music. One of the 3 was good. They were called something that means "underpass". They were tight and had a cellist. Zarife was thinking about writing an article about the bands for an underground 'zine. I met some of her friends but they don't speak much English (or are just shy about using it)! I need to start Turkish lessons. Tomorrow I am going to learn my vegetables and go food shopping. I guess I need to learn my numbers too....

Yesterday, was the day of Anu and Eirik's party. I was a little nervous because I guess I've been tagging along with Eirik and I knew he was going to be busy. I dreaded sitting alone with no one to talk to. It turned out to be a needless worry. I met Besra, who suggested we exchange numbers and meet. I talked to some more people from the cafe, and some more people from the expat side: Andrew and Jackie- Aussies who are leaving in a month; Roni, editor of Istanbullshit, and her husband, Faruk who does coding. At the party, I had one of my moments of absolute bliss (yes I was drunk). All of a sudden , I've found myself amongst a wonderful group of friends, in an amazing city, doing a job I want to do. I know my horoscope said my dreams would come true but I had no idea that they were referring to dreams I hadn't dared to dream. I know things will be hard and frustrating in the future but I want to make sure I remember these first few days which have been absolutely magical. I left the party and headed home. Then there was a problem. My front door key didn't work and the doorman (who I've already woken up once) didn't come when I rang. I raced back to the party, hoping to find a phone and call Zarife. The bar was too loud to hear anything. Plan 2: The first person who came up to me was this American I'd met earlier, Tony. I explained my situation and asked if he had a phone card. He did and we walked to Taksim to use the phone. Zarife still didn't answer (turns out she wasn't home). Then Tony offered to take me to his place where he had an extra room. Relieved, I took a cab with him to Arnavutkoy. We sat on his terrace and admired the view of the Bosphorus and Asia. He came here with his girlfriend to study Turkish and started working because he was running out of money. He is planning on leaving soon to join his girlfriend who left a little while ago to study law at Berkeley. I guess I am learning the truth in Eirik's statement, "You have acquaintances among expats but your close friends are Turkish."