Reality check

March 11^th 2014

So today a young boy of 15 died after spending 270 days in a coma, after a tear gas can struck him last year during the Gezi protests. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/03/clashes-turkey-over-death-boy-coma-2014311164012592935.html  Here is the full story. 

In the six weeks that I’ve been here, I’ve seen and experienced many things I never would back home. Of course some of them are hilarious, such as fitting 8 people into 1 taxi, stealing a taxis, seeing four-wheelers with 6 people on them going down the roads. Other things like protests, poverty, harassment and general disorganization have not been the most pleasant experiences, sometimes even a bit scary. I need to remind you that this is not a free country, so don’t even try to say that expression while you’re here.

Most of the time I feel like I am living in an ignorant bliss, in the most liberal university, in the most liberal city of the middle east. I’m ignorant only because of the language barrier, but some things you cannot avoid. Today during lunch everyone began clapping, same as they would in meal hall if someone had dropped a plate. But this clapping was not followed by laughter or chants or hooting. It was continuous and only got louder and louder, until I noticed some students waving pictures around of a young boy. I had no idea who he was or what was going on, but I clapped anyway. Later in the day what seemed like the population of Antigonish gathered around my campus, yelling and protesting and waving the same picture. Whatever had happened was huge. Was he a student here? What had happened to him? Through the grapevine I discovered that it was Berkin Elvan, a young boy who had nothing to do with the Gezi protest but died anyway. He is now used to demonstrate how brutal the police can be during riots, they do not discriminate between protestors and the civilians. Even last semester, two exchange students from my university were imprisoned during one of the protests only because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. They had nothing to do with the protests and were unable to communicate with the police who only spoke Turkish.

The last few weeks have been quite heated in Turkey, maybe its always been like that and I’m only aware now. Every Saturday you can guarantee that there will be a riot in Taksim, I got to watch one from the window of a McDonalds. People were digging up the cobbstones and throwing them at police, tear gas was being fired, massive bonfires in the streets, people dropping their motorcycles, police in swat uniforms charging through crowds. Real Hollywood material, Terrifying and I had a great view complete with McDicks. That’s all easy for me to say, I’m just an honest onlooker intrigued by this exotic place. But in reality things are only going to get worse it seems. Government censorship has already been implemented, which means websites that are deemed improper by the government can be shut down within four hours. The president has also been accused of trying to embezzle about a million dollars with his son.

Unfortunately, from what I have been hearing, things are not going to get better. There are municipal elections coming up within the next few weeks and with the death of this young boy, it will spark more and more protests. I can only hope that the violence will be kept to a minimum. 

For me I am merely a temporary student, and really a tourist. Yes I am living here, but I am not living within the normal context. Most people especially away from the university have an honest curiosity about me. ‘I’m from Canada!’ ‘What the hell are you doing in Turkey?’ Is often the response I get. No most laws do not apply to me, I am a foreigner and can’t speak the language, what do I know. People don’t even bother to tell me if I’m doing something the wrong way. Actually they think its hilarious or cute when I do things wrong. Which is great if you love awkward moments, miscommunications and embarrassment, so I’m thriving.

But sometimes the curiosity for the foreign woman is not so innocent. I myself have not had any problems, maybe from my lack of fashion sense or non-feminineness, I don’t know. Maybe my quick middle finger reflex has stopped anything from getting out of hand for me. But I am not afraid to be rude or tell creepers to fuck off. Unfortunately not all of exchange girls have been so lucky. One had a taxi driver harass her. Another man on the bus yelled at one of the girls for talking too much. Sometimes it is easy to forget how to act when you are with other exchange students. But woman in Turkey do not have it great. March 8^th was international woman’s day. In Canada we celebrate how far woman have come and future goals that we are determined to get. In Turkey, it seemed more of reminder of how bad things can really be for a woman. In this picture are some statistics and here is what was translated to me.

·      Only 7 Million woman in turkey are employed

·      Only 3 millions of those working woman are registered

·      Only 910 woman are in employer positions

·      4 million woman cannot read or write

·      165 woman, 14 children and 3 infants were killed last year due to domestic violence

·      167 woman were married last year before they turned 18

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/02/turkey-life-battered-woman-2014257594926477.html This is a real eye opening article that I read after I arrived and has terrified me into not acting like an idiot.

Woman's day Parade

            It really makes me value how lucky I am to be a Canadian woman, yes we still have inequality issues, but it really is not comparable to what it is like over here. It common to be to be extremely outnumbered by men on the bus, in the bars, in the streets, everywhere. There was one time I took the subway alone in the morning (Dad don’t kill me!) and I was the only woman on the subway. The other day myself and three other girls were the only women on the bus at 10:30 at night on a weekday night, and some of the stares that we got, made me a little uneasy. It was probably because we were talking English, and people tend to hate it when you don’t speak Turkish.

          And now for something completely different....Pictures!

Good 'ol ferry rides

 A really clear day where we could see the Sea of Marmara and part of the Bosphorus

So if you didn't realize, I really like street food. Above is Kumpir - a baked potatoe with anything you want on it. Below in my favourite and will probably kill me if I keep eating them everyday is a mussel stuffed with rice and lemon and I added paprika cause I was drinking. 

View From Galata Tower

This is the awesome thing about Turkey. Although they are urbanizing at an unstoppable rate and natural things are in decline. They cherish most living things, from seagulls to pigeons to dogs. This dog is homeless and he is the fattest dog I've ever met. Although he picked a great location to live, the bustling bus station of Kadikoy. He has been given to many scraps I think. Also people will buy bread solely to feed to the seagulls as they travel by ferry. The seagulls have lost their ability and instinct to hunt fish and scavenge sea waste. Cool.  

Ahaha this one makes me laugh. Canned "DRAFT." 1% more alcohol than regular Efes.  Only in Turkey.

Not the greatest picture, but the words say "Will you marry me?" So cute!!!OMG Bridge Proposal