Istanbul, the land of apple tea, rugs and catcalling

Turkish Coffee 'aka mud'

This past weekend I was able to get away for a few days and have some days in the sun with my girlfriends. After a hard few weeks it was just what the Doctor ordered. :)

Istanbul is famous for many things. The food is amazing. The coffee is good but muddy. The mosques and museums are beautiful and insanely old. The textiles are cheaper. Etc, etc...but what Istanbul means to me are these three things. 

1. Apple Tea

2. Rugs

3. Catcalling

I would go to Istanbul just to see these lamps.

Apple Tea, Istanbul's gift to the world. It is so good! It is like hot apple cider without the weird cider taste. :) 

The Rugs and textiles are amazing right now. It makes my infatuation with aztec print very expensive. I bought five pillows and two rugs. Whoops. :/

Catcalling. This is the worst thing about Istanbul. Walking around Istanbul, it does not matter how you are dressed, all women get yelled at, touched, stared at etc etc. It can be really uncomfortable for women who already feel uncomfortable with forward men. But my friends and I realized that most of the men were actually just being friendly! If we ignored them then they started yelling more, if we answered them with 'No thank you's or 'We have already eaten but thank you!' they would always back off and say 'Ok well, next time! Enjoy your time in Istanbul!

Have I mentioned the humus and apple tea yet?

Spice Market Shopping! Expensive but Amazing. 

The Eye of Sofia (the history of this is amazing, a must see)

Molly smelling a lemon and mint tea. 

My friends and I began playing a game, we began making a list of things the men say to us. Most of the things in the list are hilarious and not inappropriate in the least, but they were still yelled out loud, across stores or roads.  Some of these things are inappropriate and were added to help show what life is like as a woman living or visiting in Turkey. Hope this doesn't keep you from visiting this beautiful place...it really is one of my favorite places in the world, you just need to go with a good attitude, a good 'Back Off' face and always travel in packs. :) 

TOP 13 THINGS MEN YELLED AT US 

(REMEMBER THAT MANY WERE DUPLICATES)

1. 'Hello Girls! HERE I AM!'
2. 'Let me guess...Chinese?'
3. 'Hola señoras bonitas.'
4. 'Beautiful Ladies please check out my big menu!' (NASTINESS)
5. Mmmm...(yummy noises) 
6. 'I have the best rugs in Istanbul! Best prices! And touching is free!'
7. A man literally walked up to one of us, handed her a ten lira (ten dollars), and said "Please feel free to shop in my store!"
8. 'It's my birthday ladies! Help a fellow out!'

Smiling through the catcalling

9. 'It's pay day today, not for me but for the sellers, so please help me out!'
10. 'Hello beautiful ladies! You are from Germany, no? ' (As he touches my friends hair. Thankfully she did not see it because I know she would have punched him right in the face if she did.)
11. 'Let me guess...SISTERS!'
12. 'Please take me home! '
13. (My least favorite) Looking us up and down and literally making a catcall, a kissing noise. 

Confession

Going through a 12 Step program is one of the most beautiful yet difficult things a human can go through. Currently Daughters of Bulgaria's outreach team is going through Servants Anonymous' 12 step program called Formation of Servants. Like I said, it is extremely difficult but beautiful. I am learning so much about myself and my insane capability of trying to fix myself over and over again expecting different results instead of running to the Lord.
The serenity bible is a companion for the 12 step recovery. It gives you verses from the bible to go through for each step. Currently I am on Step 5, this step is about Confession and I really enjoyed what the Serenity Bible says about why should confess our sins to one another, the benefits of honesty.

Four positive things happen in Step 5 sharing:

1. Our shame is reduced through confession. We know that confession is an ancient tradition in Christianity and that it is an indispensable ingredient in the healing and renewal process. 
2. Step 5 sharing allows us to express our grief-to expel the resentments, the anger, the fears that eat away at us and keep us from living life to the fullest. 
3. We take a major step toward honesty. Perhaps the single greatest barrier to recovery is the inability to be honest. In Step 5 sharing, maybe for the first time in our lives, we open our deepest, darkest secrets and most private hurts to another human being. 
4. Addictions, by their nature, isolate us from other people and from God. Step 5 sharing breaks down the barriers we have erected through our addictions. 

Sharing is the beginning of the end of our isolation. 

AMEN!!!