my hour in asia

We took a ferry from Europe to Asia (all still in Istanbul) and it only cost 1.4 liras (around 80 cents) and about ten minutes of my time to get across. Traveling across the Bosphorus was beautiful, but freezing. The weather took a change for the worst today, and we were so cold that we only stayed in Asia long enough to eat lunch, and take a walk along the shore. We were moderately unprepared and did not know where to go once over there, but it's still really awesome to be able to say "I was in asia for an hour."

On a side note, I would like to comment on the madness that is the Turkish grocery store. There are several types of stores in Istanbul: the market and the Bazaar being the most used by us.

The Bazaar is a cleaner version of a Mexican Market and is full of people shouting at you to spend money in English. Some of the more entertaining sales tactics included "We give lots of discounts to Chinese people" and "I've got spices that can kill your mother-in-law". The best way to get through the Bazaar in one piece is to pretend that you do not understand any English, and to keep minimal eye contact. This is really only found over by Hagia Sophia (on the other side of the Golden Horn from where we are staying) and takes a good bit of time to travel to.

The market, on the other hand, is found every other shop throughout our main street. Imagine an average US grocery store. Picture the aisle, and the amount of space you have, and immediately subtract about four feet from that space. Then triple the amount of people in the row, and you have a standard Turkish grocery store. Navigating it is difficult enough, but check-out is where it becomes disasterous. With 10 people behind you, the cashier throws your groceries to the bottom of the shelf, and expects you to pay (in a currency you are still moderately unfamiliar with) while simultaneously bagging your own groceries. To most this may seem trivial, but I can assure you it is still a stressful experience.

On a better note, all of the produce here is extremely fresh, and extremely inexpensive.

I still can't post pictures here....our internet is mediocre at best, and it takes hours to load even a single photo. Keep checking facebook for photos and I will find a more effective way to post them as soon as possible.