Updated and No Longer Quick, or Day 17 of the Epic May Adventure

Thıs ıs fast because I had a dınner to get and a
bus to catch back to Istanbul but I'll update you all tomorrow
mornıng.

That's what I wrote yesterday as I was racing out the 'door.' (I was at a beach bar, so there really wasn't a door, persay.) I guess I have all of yesterday (Day 17) and the end of Day 16 to update you all on.

Well, Day 16. I was in Izmır and already having an interesting time of it, what with old men and random ferries. After a bit of pushing from friends I was chatting online with at the internet cafe (basically saying, don't waste your short time in Turkey!) and the fact that it was still light out when I emerged from the net cafe, I headed back to the waterfront.

And I was walking along, deciding which seaside cafe or bar to sit down at when, hark!, the lovely tones of English drifted by.

It was a tall black guy with a short Turkish girl. And I acted super creepily. I was walking faster than them, so passed them, but turned around to look back once before finally turning around and introducing myself.

He said I 'looked American' and when I turned around, he figured I was. So, the three of us meadered, got some dondurma (ice cream... of course I would know the Turkish word for ice cream), then watched sunset. We ended up at the same cafe where early I had been doted on by the waiter. He was still around, and after a great conversation with the two of them until pretty late, I hung around and got another cup of free tea. (I had managed to pay for one when I was with the couple, and I left him a tip to 'pay' for this one as well. Which means, of my five cups of tea, I paid for one.) I took a cab back to my hotel and read a bit before bed.

Ok, so Day 17. I wake up and head to the otogar (bus station, which is a bit out of town, so I end up taking another taksı) and catch the first bus to Çeşme.

Çeşme is this pretty port town with one beach (because most people take boat trips along the coast). So I walk to that one beach, am greeted by the attendant(s) and grab this pillowed beachside sitting area. I read, tan, hop in the water, have an Efes beer (the local one), then nap.

When I wake up, I start my book again, but one of the beach attendant guys comes over. He points to one of the other attendant guys. 'He thinks you are pretty. He is 18.' Oh boy.

Well, he comes over then, with the older guy to translate. His name is 'Jimmy' (though spelled differently, with a 'c' for the 'j' sound). Turns out he is actually 20 (as his ID card showed) and he is from Batman, Turkey. (I know, right? There is a city in Turkey named Batman!)

Well, that is about as far as the conversation gets when our translator leaves. So I do whatever I do when faced with a Turkish man who doesn't know English... propose a game of tavla!

So the backgammon board comes out, and first we play this children's game where you basically just have to roll all of the numbers to win. I understand why when we finally play real backgammon... he's not very good (and doesn't quite know the rules).

So then the bartender comes over, and he knows a bit of English. So he asks the usual questions... 'What's your name?', 'Where are you from?', 'Do you have a boyfriend?'

Sigh. Those Turkish guys. He then asked something along the lines of 'Do you need love?' then propositioned me for sex. I'm so glad his limited vocabulary includes those words (in addition to some English curses, too). (What are they teaching at English schools these days?!)

Anyway, I play some tavla with the bartender guy. He was better, but let's just say, I haven't lost a backgammon game since I came back into Turkey.

Well, ready for the dramatic portion of the day? I walk over to the bar, attendant-who-fancies-me gives me a dondurma, and bartender is called over by a British photographer.

The photographer works for some Swedish (I think) magazine called 'Near and Far-flenzueng' or something, and wants to take pictures of me and bartender being a cute couple in one of the houses on the beach (look in the background of the picture of me, and you'll see the house-things I'm talking about).

So he has his arm around me, we stare off at the sea, and the photographer chats with me about economic policy and the volcano. A-w-f-m is in the background, getting jealous.

So after the photo shoot, bartender and attendant have a bit of a spat. Probably something like:

Attendant: You had your arm around her! And you were holding her hand! I saw her first!

Bartender: Dude, it was just a photo. Though she is pretty cute.

Attendant: No! Not okay! (stomps off)

So at this point, what's a girl to do? So I give the attendant a little attention, he invites me to dinner and to walk me to my bus, and we have a very interesting time trying to spend 45 minutes having a conversation when we don't know each other's language.

He does know 'I love you' and used it a few times, as well as drawing hearts on the pad of paper I pulled out. Another broken heart I'm going to leave in my wake...

(Just a note about the first post of this: On a Turkish keyboard, the 'ı' is where the 'i' is on an English keyboard, which makes it hard to type fast. We were online at the outdoor bar, becoming Facebook friends and I decided to let the world know that I was alive. Also, I've added pictures to a few of my previous posts. You can look at all of my blog pictures here.)