An Evening with Friends in the Bosphorus Breeze

Around 7pm, my aunt and I went down to our hotel lobby to meet a woman named Mukafat. She is my Turkish neighbor in Pittsburgh, Emel's, sister who lives in Istanbul. It was quite exciting to go meet a local...and she was taking us to dinner in a different part of Istanbul with her daughters! We grabbed a cab (during the worst traffic hour!) to Nişantaşı, the area where she lives and works. It looked like a typical downtown, with shopping, businesses, restaurants, and apartments. There are so many Turkish shops I want to take a look in (obviously), but we'll see if I have time. Mukafat took us to a little cafe to meet her two daughters, Asli and Elif. Asli will turn 20 on May 25th, and Elif is 16. I was so excited to meet them because Asli is coming to stay with her Aunt Emel in two weeks. So we can hang out in Pittsburgh together! 


When we met, we immediately began talking and had a great time together. They told me all about their French high school and Asli's first year at the University of Istanbul where she studies psychology. I wondered why there were so many French schools in Istanbul. It's because Napoleon created very strong ties with the Ottomans and many of the Turkish sultans (pre-Republic!) went to France to get an education and copy styles of the country. When they came back, they established French schools and offered teaching positions to French professors. 


We went to the edge of the Bosphorus to a place where the locals always hang out after dinner and smoke a hookah and drink Turkish tea and coffee. It's called Ortakoy and it's a suburban area at the foot of the Bosphorus. Khala and I were planning on trying shisha, until we were told it actually was tobacco. I thought it was just a herbal thing! Obviously I didn't do my research. However, we continued our conversation over Turkish tea next to the water. It was a lovely way to end the evening. There is really no better way to learn about a place than talking to locals. I'm so glad we got to meet them! And now I can't wait to see Asli on June 4th in Pittsburgh!