Kurban Bayram

So I spent my Bayram in Istanbul. It was surprisingly nice. Originally I really did not want to spend it there originally because I had already been 3 times, and I have to go once more for my flight home. However, I kept changing my plans and things got too last minute, and before I knew it I wasn't able to even get tickets from Ankara to the Mediterranean anymore, so basically all I could realistically do was visit my friend and his family in Istanbul. This turned out to be delightful though. I left with my roommates and spent two nights in Istanbul near Sultanahmet. We did Taksim at night and everything. I have never seen the otogar so crowded though! It was insane! Even the Metro to the Otogar was jam-packed!

Before I left to Istanbul I did Asian cooking night at my friends' house. It was so lovely! One of our friends from Hong Kong who's dad is a chef in Hong Kong made really good food. I made okonomiyaki. It wasn't quite as good as I normally do, but I didn't even have seaweed, and the cabbage here is really weird/low quality! It was fun though! Our Danish friend also made a banana dessert he learned in Thailand. It was delicious. It was really nice to do some Asian stuff again, but once again it made me miss Davis/Asia.

oh yeah...we treated ourselves to a waffle too!

...we finally tried the really authentic restaurant in Bahcheli! They have AMAZING complimentary sides! ...and helva with dondurma for like 2TL!

I also went to the movies with one of my friends and roommates hoping to watch Harry Potter, but it turned out to not be out yet (like I thought). We ended up watching Saw 3D--really Saw 4--instead. Oh it was disgusting! There was a reason why I never saw the others! It freaked me out for a few days. At least we had BC00l Dondurma from Burger King and Kunufe though! :) Yum!

So in Istanbul we bought some Ottoman hats, the kind the Dondurma man wears, and we wore them around the bazaar and around Istanbul, and surprisingly all the street vendors stopped harassing us for once. --I think they were afraid of us! We had a nice time shopping at the grand bazaar though. Bargaining is always fun, and it's nice to see the surprised looks on the vendors faces when we bargain in Turkish. We got a bunch of Turkish eyes at a cheap non-touristie shop too. We accidentally wandered into the non-tourist part of Istanbul, but it was really interesting.

You know you are in a legit area when you see the bread man!

Turkey has a lot of disturbing mannequins..

interesting...

The hostel we stayed in was REALLY horrible. It had the worst Turkish Breakfast ever and it only let us have one cup of tea. The guy at the front desk asked to see our passports, but we only had residency permits, and he kept asking us all these weird questions. It was kind of weird. The view from the hostel was nice though.

We went to a place called Burger Turk, which was essentially Turkish Burger King. That was interesting. I tried Fries with Wine at the pier. Not the classiest thing I have ever done, but it tasted good at the time. Later that night my roommate and I tried to order McTavuk at McDonalds (McChicken), but the guy didn't understand and thought we were crazy. We were convinced they had it after one of our Pakistani friends told us they did, so we thought it was worth a shot.

We did the grand Bazaar for a bit too...

got scarves?

BAYRAM!

Tuesday was the first day of Bayram. I rode the ferry to Kadakoy and took a bus to the part of the Anatolian side where my friend lives. On this day of Bayram you travel around to see the relatives, and this is also the day that you can sacrifice the sheep. Bayram means feast/holiday in Turkish, and this Bayram is to celebrate Abraham's sacrifice, so in respect for that you are supposed to buy a sheep and slaughter it in the name of god. You take part of the meat and use it for yourself, but hand most of it out to the poor. The main function of this Bayram is seeing family and helping the poor. I went with my friend's mom and grandmother to go pick out the sheep, but the prices were very high this year. I guess there was a shortage of sheep and what was about 400TL for a sheep last year was 600TL this year. It was interesting to watch the process and the bargaining. Some people still cut the sheep themselves, but we went to a place where they do it for us. The slaughtering of the sheep is considered a man's job.

We went to many different relatives houses. Traditionally on the first day you just go visit your parents, but my friend's grandparents were already at their house, and the other grandparents were far away visiting other relatives on holiday. Apparently the tradition of Bayram is changing. It is supposed to be a religious thing about family, but more and more Turkish people are working a lot, and they prefer to use this 9 day holiday as their own personal vacation time and travel instead of visiting family. Because of this we visited some great aunts and uncles instead. It was really interesting to see the different Turkish houses. At each house we had many traditional sweets and candies. It was so good but filling. At one house I even had traditional Mardin food because my friend's dad is from Mardin. We had real çiğ köfte for once with real raw meat (unlike the normal vendors)! Everything was so good, and everyone was so warm in their greetings. It sort of made me miss my own family, especially because Thanksgiving is so near.

The second day people came and visited us. We served desserts. My friends mom made a traditional pumpkin dessert. We also visited with the neighbors.

The third day we can travel, but the weather was bad so we did not. Instead we handed food out to the poor. We went to a real gecikondo (ghetto) and gave meat to some poor people. My friend's mom visits there every year. I really liked this tradition of giving back. My friends dad doesn't really like the whole concept of the slaughter though. Instead he believes it is better to help other ways like donate to help pay for someone's education etc.

I also helped make this traditional food from Mardin. I forget the name...

The entire bayram was essentially eating and visiting with people. By the end of the holiday I felt fat. The last day I met up with my roommate though and we walked all over Istanbul. I burned those calories right off! :) Istanbul has hills like no other (well I guess Korea is comparable). It was so tiring--especially the one to Taksim! It was great exercise though.

We really accomplished a lot together that day. I had my favorite fish sandwich with freshly cooked/caught fish from the bridge. We bought two giant Turkish flags from a street vendor for a good price. It was awesome! We had really been wanting them, but we were stuck carrying them around for the rest of the day, but it was completely worth it! :) We actually got discounts at some places for having them. A lot of Turkish people were really confused/surprised/impressed. It made for interesting conversation at least.

We did all 3 bazaars--the grand bazaar, the textile bazaar, and the spice bazaar.

lokum!

We also managed to finally go to Sultanahmet. That is really hard because it is occupied so often for call of prayer. You really have to be patient. It is so magnificent though, it's really worth waiting for.

I also got a leather jacket! Mission accomplished. I even got a lower price because the guy selling it thought my roommate was beautiful and asked her if she would go on a date with him if he lowered the price. We never met up with him like he wanted, but at least I got a good price! The power of being a woman sometimes.....I guess it all balances out. Thank god something works our way with the amount we get harassed here!