Journey to myself

I woke up in Maltepe on the outskirts of Istanbul, at my hosts Ibrahim‘s place. Early in the morning, we drove to Kadiköy to Ibrahim’s hostel. Ibrahim was taking care of his son, while I was hanging at the hostel. I prepared breakfast and chatted with people staying at the hostel. I met a guy from Russia, Michal, he coincidentally told me how he met his biological father his year. Perplexed I thought, he must have read about my story on my blog or instagram, in fact he did not and both of us were astounded by this coincidence. Curious, I asked how Michal’s meeting went, how he felt, how he could forgive.

Then I went to explore Kadiköy, Ibrahim had asked me, to walk his dog, Soda, for him, so here I was, having my first walk in Istanbul with a dog – that made me feel like a local. After having a wander, I found myself back at the hostel, where I met an American guy – who met his biological father this year, for the first time – I was in disbelief, meeting two people in such a short time, who had experienced this year, what I will experience soon.

Later on I took the ferry to Besiktas to go to my friend’s place – Didem. Didem, I had met 10years ago in New York. It was amazing to reconnect with Didem after so many years. We went to the Four seasons hotel to meet some of her friends for dinner and Turkish live music. I ate Turkish Manti, which are traditional Turkish ravioli from Kayseri. Afterwards we went to a house party at an apartment with view of the Bosphorus. Curious I was watching the space, watched young Turkish people partying. We stayed out until the early hours of the morning, going to different bars, which gave me the opportunity to explore the nightlife of Istanbul. Early in the morning Didem and me talked about the challenges of life, trauma and relationships, until we decided it’s too late for that and went to bed.

So long – güle güle from Besiktas!