I am cold people
So I've done most of the touristy stuff I wanted to do in Istanbul.
Today I wound things down walking the Istikal Caddesi and chilling in Taksim (Though I never found the Ottoman military History museum I was halfheartedly looking for) and then I headed back to Sultanahmet. I had a couple hours to burn and since the archaelogical museum was closed when I got there I decided to just sit and read on a bench in fron of Tokapi palace. While reading a young lady on the bench next to me struck up a conversation. She went out on a limb and started in English. At first I was trying to blow her off and keep reading. I was giving short answers and going back to the book.
Eventually I decided to be polite and make small talk. After talking about family and jobs and such I tried to talk politics, as I am much more interested in other peoples thoughts about public issues than how many siblings they have (that's just me folks). I asked about EU ascention and she said she didn't really know (but she did say she liked to watch the news). Her english was decent, though we did arrive at a few linguistic impasses. I was reading Soul on Ice, try explaining the civil rights and black power movements to someone with very little knowledge of American history and a tenous grasp on English.
As the conversation dragged on I start getting a little trepidatious. We had been talking for at least a half hour, and no sparks were flying. So I started thinking she wanted something from me - why continue the boring stilted conversation otherwise? Indeed she offered to tell me some story and show me something at the nearby hippodrome. I then decided she was a "guide" looking to show me around (for tips) and I declined, saying I had already been there (and I had). So now I was just looking for an out. She picked up on it, responding that I had a "spider in my mind", and that I didn't "trust her" (which I didn't deny) when I asked what she was doing for the day. I told her it was only fair as she had asked me the same thing - and I had answered. Eventually she settled on "I like green places" and that she had just come to the park to sit (a long way from her home on the Asian side if you ask me).
Somehow we ended up walking together, which I had been hoping to avoid becaus eI thought it would lead to a "guide" situation. We talked a little more and she was making some point about something I didn't get and I threw in one of my few turkish phases "Anlahmiyorum" (I don't understand) to which she replied snappily in Turkish. She explained in English that she had said a cliche meaning "It's your problem not mine". I told her she was right, that she speaks good English while I speak very little Turkish. We walked a few more blocks and she asked where I was goign and I told her I was going to the hotel to sit on the roof and finish my book. After another block we parted ways.
I said "nice to meet you". She said "nice to meet you". Then after a moment passed she turned and said "no it was not nice to meet you. You are very cold, cold people. You only want to talk about politics".
To which I replied "Uzgoonum" (I'm sorry).
I felt bad because It was never clear (and still isn't) that she was trying to hustle me. She could have just been a chatty girl. But still I don't feel that bad because I was plenty polite and is it my responsibility to entertain her?
So I've done most of the touristy stuff I wanted to do in Istanbul.
Today I wound things down walking the Istikal Caddesi and chilling in Taksim (Though I never found the Ottoman military History museum I was halfheartedly looking for) and then I headed back to Sultanahmet. I had a couple hours to burn and since the archaelogical museum was closed when I got there I decided to just sit and read on a bench in fron of Tokapi palace. While reading a young lady on the bench next to me struck up a conversation. She went out on a limb and started in English. At first I was trying to blow her off and keep reading. I was giving short answers and going back to the book.
Eventually I decided to be polite and make small talk. After talking about family and jobs and such I tried to talk politics, as I am much more interested in other peoples thoughts about public issues than how many siblings they have (that's just me folks). I asked about EU ascention and she said she didn't really know (but she did say she liked to watch the news). Her english was decent, though we did arrive at a few linguistic impasses. I was reading Soul on Ice, try explaining the civil rights and black power movements to someone with very little knowledge of American history and a tenous grasp on English.
As the conversation dragged on I start getting a little trepidatious. We had been talking for at least a half hour, and no sparks were flying. So I started thinking she wanted something from me - why continue the boring stilted conversation otherwise? Indeed she offered to tell me some story and show me something at the nearby hippodrome. I then decided she was a "guide" looking to show me around (for tips) and I declined, saying I had already been there (and I had). So now I was just looking for an out. She picked up on it, responding that I had a "spider in my mind", and that I didn't "trust her" (which I didn't deny) when I asked what she was doing for the day. I told her it was only fair as she had asked me the same thing - and I had answered. Eventually she settled on "I like green places" and that she had just come to the park to sit (a long way from her home on the Asian side if you ask me).
Somehow we ended up walking together, which I had been hoping to avoid becaus eI thought it would lead to a "guide" situation. We talked a little more and she was making some point about something I didn't get and I threw in one of my few turkish phases "Anlahmiyorum" (I don't understand) to which she replied snappily in Turkish. She explained in English that she had said a cliche meaning "It's your problem not mine". I told her she was right, that she speaks good English while I speak very little Turkish. We walked a few more blocks and she asked where I was goign and I told her I was going to the hotel to sit on the roof and finish my book. After another block we parted ways.
I said "nice to meet you". She said "nice to meet you". Then after a moment passed she turned and said "no it was not nice to meet you. You are very cold, cold people. You only want to talk about politics".
To which I replied "Uzgoonum" (I'm sorry).
I felt bad because It was never clear (and still isn't) that she was trying to hustle me. She could have just been a chatty girl. But still I don't feel that bad because I was plenty polite and is it my responsibility to entertain her?
posted by Wes at 8:39 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home