Language

When I first came to Turkey, I can honestly admit I knew absolutely NO Turkish. Yes? No? Hello? Goodbye? Thank you? NOPE. I didn't even know how to say the phrase that they say every traveller should know how to say... Where is the bathroom? While it probably wasn't the smartest move, I trusted that I would learn Turkish quickly. And until then, I was confident that knowing the #1 language in the world, English, would get me through until I could learn. Luckily, Turkish hasn't been that hard to learn.

While under Ottoman Rule, the language spoken in Turkey was Arabic. In numerous places you will see Arabic signs. And those who read the Quran may understand Arabic. However, in 1923 when Atatürk became the first leader under The Republic of Turkey, he adopted the Latin Alphabet (luckily for me!).

There are 29 letters in the Turkish Alphabet. Each letter only has one sound, as opposed to English, which has long/short vowels and hard/soft sounds. So, after learning the alphabet and their sounds, I was reading Turkish within a couple of days. Understanding what I am reading, now that's another story.

The Turkish Alphabet

A B C Ç D E F G Ğ H I İ J K L M N O Ö P R S Ş T U Ü V Y Z

The main difference in pronunciation are:

C (j), Ç (ch), Ğ (silent), I (uh), J (zha), Ö (er), Ş (sh), Ü (ew)

Nicole Note: I haven't figured out the purpose of the Ğ, as it is silent.

Basic words

Hello: Merhaba

Goodbye: Hoşça Kal OR Gule Gule

Please: Lutfen

Thank you: Teşekkür Ederim

Yes: Evet

No: Hayır

And the all important...

Where's the bathroom?: Tuvalet nerede?

Numbers

1: Bir (beer)

2: İki (eekee)

3: Üç (ewch)

4: Dört (dert)

5: Beş (besh)

6: Altı (altuh)

7: Yedi (yedee)

8: Sekiz (sekeez)

9: Dokuz (dokooz)

10: On (not like the English "on", but with a long "o" like in "go")

Days of the week

Friday: Cuma

Saturday: Cumartesi

Sunday: Pazar

Monday: Pazartesi

Tuesday: Salı

Wednesday: Çarşamba

Thursday: Perşembe

Turkish (T) words similar to English (E) or Spanish (S) words I know

Table (E); Mesa (S); Masa (T)

T-Shirt (E); Tişort (T)

Helicopter (E); Helikopter (T)

Beach (E); Playa (S); Plaj (T)

*A lot of modern technology is the same in Turkish as it is in English.

Compound words make learning easier!

Every: Her

Time: Zaman

Thing: Şey

Day: Gün

Everytime (Always): Her Zaman

Everything: Herşey

Each (Every one): Her bir

Mom: Anne

Dad: Baba

Paternal Grandmother: BabaAnne

Maternal Grandmother: AnneAnne

Many words can be figured out by breaking them down. In fact, a verb in Turkish is similar to Spanish, where the word is created by the verb+person doing the action.

Gitiyorum: I am going (Git: go + iyorum: I am)

However, "Köpekbalık" tricked me on a recent trip to the aquarium.

Köpek: Dog

Balık: Fish

Köpekbalık: Shark

I thought the aquarium had a dogfish!!!

Topkapı Palace

For months I have been trying to get to the Topkapı Palace. At first, I had to figure out where it was...hidden behind the Aya Sophia. Once I figured out how to get onto the palace grounds I laughed at myself for not finding it sooner, as it is a large area with many buliding and large grass areas. The grass area infront of the palace remind me of a very miniature Central Park.

Once I found the palace, I would visit the entrance at least once a month to see which sections were open. My plan was to visit the palace when there would me a majority of the rooms open, as not to waste my time money on seeing so little. Well, it seemed there would never be a time where a majority of the rooms would be open, so given that I am here for a long time I figured I would visit now, and then again in a few months, hoping to see the rooms that were closed on my first visit.

At the beginning of July, I visited the Topkapı Palace. It was a hot day and the board at the entrance, which listed rooms that were closed, only showed a little less than half of the rooms open. So, I figured a quick trip would be okay.

This picture is actually of the large wall that surrounds the large palace and the park area just outside of the palace. It is actually taken from inside the park, as if you were leaving.

This picture is of the park area in front of the palace. You can see the entrance into the first courtyard of the Palace.

The entrance into the first courtyard.

A model of the Palace. If you look on the right side of the model, you can see the first courtyard entrance towers (from the picture above).

Once I was on the Palace grounds, I felt a tad bit overwhelmed, as I didn't know what to focus on. The area was large, so I just started entering rooms. Many of the rooms (if not all) were not ventilated, so it was very hot in them. I entered rooms such as the treasury, the Sultan's wardrobe, and a few others, but pictures were not allowed. So, sadly, my memory will have to hold strong with the quick glimpses I saw of very jeweled daggars and pendants and elegant outfits. Here are a few pics of what I could get...

Entrance into the Harem (I believe). I will get more details about the Harem when I visit again at a later time. I believe it was the housing used for the Sultan's women.

Entrance into the second part of the Palace.

The Baghdad Pavilion

The Circumcision Room

Rock walkway

I would highly recommend a funny movie from the 60's that I watched recently. It is called "Topkapi" and is about a group of guys and one woman who are trying to steal the famous jewel daggar. Very scenic and not too bad of a flic!

Bosphorus Boat Tour (A Photo Blog)

Istanbul 2010 European Cultural Capital

I am extremely lucky to be able to experience Istanbul the year it was named the European Cultural Capital! I know a lot of what I am able to see is because of the increase of tourists this year. Often, though, I miss a lot because I am unaware of things and am still trying to figure out how the city works (transportation, locations, etc.). But, I am still amazingly in awe of everything that this city has to teach.

Lately, I have been noticing various performances around the city. I may be walking to the mall or some store and will see a crowd of people circling an area. This is what I have found in the middle.

Videos of these performances to come...

Turkuazoo and Forum Istanbul

One of the places that I really wanted to go with the kids this summer was the Turkuazoo Aquarium. I love taking kids to see animals. I don't think I know a kid that doesn't like some kid of animal. So, I've been pushing for the Istanbul Zoo, but have been told many times I would be greatly disappointed compared to what I am used to. Considering I had a hard time seeing the animals in small cages at the National Zoo in DC, I think I may avoid the Istanbul Zoo...unless I become a millionaire and am able to take all of the animals that I consider to be in poor living environments and care for them myself.

Turkuazoo is in the largest Mall in Europe, Forum Istanbul. I am in love with this mall and have even ventured the 2 hours (by public transportation) there myself, just to see a movie and shop! It even has a grocery store in it that would put any Super Walmart to shame!

One entrance

One side street of the huge complex!

Anyway... and now, back to Turkuazoo!

An Octopus!!

Pretty fish!

Crab attack!

I liked this orange striped one.

Shark Attack!

Finding Nemo...There he is!!!

A blowfish??? Maybe???

An Eel!!!

Can you see the 2 fish?

There are starfish on the rock...but also, the flat fish (from above) are swimming all around.

Swimming with the Sting Ray