Istanbul...

May 7th, noon Istanbul time, sitting on a Pegasus plane to Madrid. (This airline has a super cute way of presenting the safety measures before take off: they replaced the usual adults with kids dressed as adults and the main kid had a lisp)

Yesterday morning May 6th or perhaps during the night of May 5th (I can't believe I don't know for sure the date yet!) My sister had her second little one, a baby boy this time: Cesar. So a big AVE to the newcomer! :-)

So, Istanbul...my last few days in Turkey definitely made me want to come back for more. This city is so incredibly vibrating with energy, culture history, and political tensions. It almost feels like a very "young" Washington DC, with a big touch of San Francisco (though it almost makes SF steep streets look like a joke compared to the insane steepness of the streets in Istanbul, riding a bicycle here would just be pure insanity...and perhaps great crazy fun I suppose) and Paris. Very interesting vibe, the city seems to never sleep.

Did you know that Istanbul is the world's third largest city? More than 14 million people! And it is the cultural capital of Europe!!!

Anyhow, after returning from Buyukada, I went straight up to the Levend area where Andres lives and where he had kindly offered me to crash for a few days. He lives with a few other students from different places (after 5 days there I am still not sure how many people actually live in the apartment), but it reminded me so much of my AU days when Giacomo and I were roommates. Not much time spent in the house, so the place is as messy as a war zone...but who cares. Life is great and the present moment is what's getting our attention, not the tidiness of our place. Hehe!

If you want to grasp the city's vibe and culture you have to do it on foot, and not be afraid to hike up or down nor to wander in empty suspicious streets. The city is huge and there is always some sort of thing happening in every hole.

My first day, I had planned to tag along with Andres to go to help this soup kitchen/community kitchen in a low income neighborhood. Thank God the kitchen only opened in the afternoon, because the night before, when I got back to the city, Andres and his crew made sure to show me some of the city's nightlife. Couple of concerts and bars led us to get back home no sooner than 4:30am! Lucky me I had only had one beer. But still, I was far from being overslept, so the morning was well spent sleeping and resting.

This community kitchen has nothing in common with the one Olivia and I used to volunteer at in DC. It was not located in a church aimed at feeding the homeless community of the neighborhood. This one is located in a small building's basement, where people from the community come and go, using the place like a community center, and where once a week, whoever wants to, from the community or outside, can come and give a hand at cooking a delicious dinner, and doing some food prep to freeze for the next week. Then, once the dinner is ready, a very long table is set, and whoever wants to, can come in and have a healthy meal for free, while mingling with the rest of the crowd and the community. The leftover food is then taken to the people or families who were unable to make it to the kitchen. It was such a spectacular example of community unity (i guess that's what community means, to come in unity) and support, where some people help, some don't, but nobody cares as long as everyone is happy and fed. I met people from Syria, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Cuba, Kurdistan, Egypt, Jordan, England, Cameroon... A lady who had visited and worked with quite a few other similar kitchens in Europe told me that this one was by far the best one she had seen. And I can certainly understand why.

As I was standing in the middle of the kitchen and watching everyone interact happily like a big family, I found myself more and more sure about wanting to dedicate a major part of my life to helping others. This feeling of peace and harmony was just so incredibly inspiring and moving at the same time. Why aren't there more places like this, where people share with others, share their time, their food, their joys, their sorrows, their life? Sadly enough, when observing West and East it seems that as a country develops, it becomes more and more individualist and forgets about this sense of community. Some families act like this, as a big community which allows each one of its members to obtain all sorts of supports throughout life, and it works. Why can't people also behave similarly outside of the family nucleus?

I know now how badly I really want to be part of a community and not just part but an active member. I just took part of this unfamiliar community for some hours one day and already felt so energized and good about it. Imagine how incredibly powerful and fulfilling it can be to be part of it for years on a daily basis.

Andres and I then spent the rest of the evening with some of his friends from the kitchen, a Turk and three Syrians, while trying to learn some Arabic. I was surprised to see how quickly my Arabic (written and spoken) came back. 

What a fantastic and fulfilling day!

The next day, I met up with Ali (my first roommate from college) and Tim (AU friend and Allison's husband). I was so happy to see them both. Talk about a community and family away from home. The AU days definitely built up a very close family/community, and each and every time I see someone from those days, it fills me with so much joy. Just like when I met up with Sumita in Kolkata or Nasser in Dubai.

So Ali, who is Turkish (though from Ankara) toured us around the city the whole day...trying to give us as much cultural info as possible. We ate a lot and walked way more than we needed to to burn the calories we had eaten. Hahaha! For late lunch or early pre dinner, we went under the Galata bridge, by the fish market to eat a grilled fish sandwich while watching the sunset and seagals hunting for any food debris they could charm the people to throw at them. Quite a spectacle given that at the same time the clouds were finally opening up and creating these incredibly rays of light over the city.

One of Ali's friend, Mary, an American ultra energetic and passionate art dealer working between NYC and Istanbul joined us after dinner for a few beers. Unbelievable conversations around unbelievable art installations and events Mary is involved with made the evening so fascinating, that I missed the last public transport back to Levend and ended crashing with Tim and Ali.

My last day in the city, I met up with Bomee's (my Korean roommate from when I worked in Brazil for a summer) sister in law, Ayse, who works at Greenpeace in Istanbul. Ha! Talk about yet another incredible day. I spent about 4 hours at the Greenpeace office just mingling with the staff and asking all sorts of questions about their business model and their initiatives. Unbelievable what these people go through, and fully driven by their passion. As one would expect, their remuneration and benefits are not all that competitive. But then i spent another 5 hours with Ayse, just chatting about her work, Greenpeace and the world. Ayse also happens to be one of Turkey's expert on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). So curious me, I bombarded her with yet more questions on this topic as well. It was so amazing to talk about such political and international topics again. It reminded me of the AED days, talking incessantly about topics that matter and about people who are actually making a difference and fighting for a cause.

I had planned to do quite a bit more of sightseeing of the city on my last day, but was so thrilled by all that was happening with Greenpeace and Ayse that I lost all notion of time and didn't get back home until 10:45pm!

And since Andres didn't get back home from the party he was at until 1 or 2am, I didn't really get a chance to say a proper goodbye and thank you. So here it goes: GRACIAS por todo Andres. Y Gracias a tus flat mates por su hospitalidad. Espero vernos pronto en cualquier cueva, calle, auto, o bus del mundo. Hehehe!

Turkey has not ceased once to surprise me since day one. And this morning again, the kindness and generosity of the Turks stroke. It was 5:30am, (my plane was only 10:30am) I got on this bus to the airport (three times cheaper than a later bus), and realize that I don't have enough money on my bus card (I had thought the price would be much lower or that I could simply pay in cash) so i can't actually get on the bus. This guy in a suit behind me doesn't wait a second and straight away swipes his card a second time and pays for me (Ayse, you were so right on that one), and refuses my money. I was just amazed once again at how people can be so kind with total strangers. Such a strong sense of selfless kindness that western countries should learn from. The fare was not much, less than two dollars...but that amount also equates the value of a meal in Istanbul.

So I ended up chatting with him all along the ride and then some more at the airport until he had to board his flight. Goksel, 27yr old, recently graduated lawyer who was on his way to an exam to get certified as an arbitrator. It was so surprising how his perception of life and of his profession was bias due to his lack of experience.  It was the first time I met a lawyer with no ego and with slight low esteem of his job. I spent a good hour trying to communicate to him the importance of networking and gauge what kind of lawyer he was. Definitely a good hearted one. I hope he becomes successful and manages to make a difference in the Turkish legal system.

On that note, given how fantastic my trip has been so far, I just can't wait to see what the rest will bring. Spain, seeing Andrea and her daughter and finally meeting her husband, walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela with Angelina for a month, then Africa...I guess it's what life should always be about: having the impression of dreaming with your eyes open. Funny, but in the Greenpeace office, one employee asked me what I did in life. My answer was simply "I am living". It just came out naturally, but I like it.

I hope everyone is also living...living their dreams, if not, they are the only ones to blame. ;-)

Namaste, we just landed in Madrid.