Tales from the Old City.

Wow, it's been nearly a month since my last blog post, i am seriously getting lazy at this, i can't say i hadn't been warned though, guess when it is no longer something unusual and its much more a normality then your surroundings blend in, nothing seems as excited because it is all part of the norm and you don't feel the need to comment. I truly feel at home. For now atleast.

One thing caught my eye today as i was walking back from Friday prayers and it was the construction. I have to admit the semi built buildings which have left sand and stones everywhere, are not so much a nuisance but an example of authenticity. There is a very Turkish feel about their construction, as you see them building, it doesn't look as safe as it should and living in an apartment myself, it probably doesn't feel as safe as it should. However, its the sand and stones which caught my attention, i can't explain it, but it brought a wry smile to my face. In England, once a building is built, then there is no evidence left behind of the work, everything is finished off nicely. Here, not really the same, but to me its interesting, unique and shows how Turkey are in the middle. They have the aims and ideas to want to grow like Western/European countries yet in practice their it is the Eastern part of this nations mentality which seems to be the practical side.

By no means is that a dig towards the Eastern countries, I love the Eastern countries, it is a realisation that at times Turkey seems to want to dismiss its Eastern roots, these guys had Ottoman Empire which is a huge part of history and was pretty awesome! But at times its like the rich son who wants to forget his pauper father, or vice versa i guess.

A couple of days, I was speaking to a Turkish man and he had asked me where I had previously travelled to, so i gave him a list including Spain, France x2, Ireland etc, and then came the big question, where would you like to go? So i said my next trip is hopefully to Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, this is where he was quick to point out that these countries are nothing like Turkey! I carried on, as though he hadn't said anything and said how i'd love to go to the far east, maybe Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia etc and he looked astonished! "Why would you go these places??" He asked bemused, he again reiterated that Syria, Lebanon and Jordan are nothing like Turkey and they don't speak English there. I Laughed. I told him how if you're from the West, then you want to see the East, and if you're from the East you want to see the West. I don't want to go to places like the USA or Australia because thats my world, they are the same Capitalist, American imperialist product driven states as my own, and as much as i love it, theres more to the world than that, thats why i wanna go east and see the things that are different from my mundane comfortable world.

I looked at the guy and i told "You're right Turkey is not like those places, but it is just as different to me as those places." I wanted to say, you're from the east so you wanna go the West, theres nothing wrong with that as long as you appreciate what you have, if you cant, fuck the west, contentment is sought after in the heart, not in a place and value of its economy, but i thought it would only confuse him. Last night, i had a vision, I want to go to Africa.