Halfway point

I'm just about exactly at the half-way point of my time in Istanbul. Part of me wishes that I were spending more time sharing stories and sights of my time here. Another part of me is just enjoying the chance to be, rather than to think so much. I don't know if it is the fact that its summer, or that this city is so vibrant, or that there are so many fun things to do, but I feel like I am in a comfortably busy rhythm - one which hasn't left room for reflection.

Of course, I do have the long Lithuanian winter for pondering, so for now, I am enjoying the watching the ripening of the moon over the waters of the Bosporous, wiping the drips of sweat from my forehead in the midday heat, eating fresh cherries and watermelons every day at lunch, smelling fish and cigar smoke and the roasting ears of corn for sale on the street corners. I am not usually one who enjoys squeezing myself into a dingy corner of a bar that's pulsing with people, or shouting across tables where music is too loud to admit conversation, but for some reason, I relish that now, being out on the streets filled with tables of people who're leaning in close to each other, sharing their tea and cigarettes.

I like the Wednesday nights when we've gone to hear the Gypsy music at the cafe up the hill, and the evenings of walking the pedestrian-choked Istikkal Cadessi street as everyone watches everyone else. It's a feeling of fullness and color and life taking place at an organic level, too deep for thinking, just sensation and sound.