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Time to once again open my life up a little in order to share the plethora of wealth I'm about to absorb. I'm going to be back in Iraq through September, so hop on board and check back every couple of days, I'll do my best to update as much as possible. Questions? dtate38@cox.net And check out the site I'm working with: http://www.billroggio.com Support independent journalism!
Friday, March 26, 2004
Travel rule #3: Be careful of the different power outlets and NEVER use your computer on a 1600 volt adapter.
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Now... I've been to a few places in life, actually, more than a few. I can tell you some storıes about traffic that would make Dale Jr. cringe. In fact, if you ask anyone who has driven with me, that it is quite the white knuckle experience. With that said, I have to report that the craziest drivers I have EVER seen, are the drivers here in Turkey. Not neccesarily the Kurds out east
(in fact, taxi driver after taxi driver was 100% afraid of speeding and getting a ticket), but the ones here in Istanbul. I'm not joking either: These people are nuts! There are no lanes here in Istanbul. The rule of the road is, "As many cars that will fit, is the way it works". I mean on the freeway, using on ramps, in the parkıng lot... it just doesn't matter. A regular highway has cars and trucks five and six across. If there's a hole, it isn't there long. Cars zipping here, cutting off there, honking everywhere. Just absolutely crazy. To make matters worse, there's more than 13 million people here and the traffic is horrible. Washington and LA are nothing!! On the roads of Istanbul, you snooze, you lose. On top of that, people park anywhere they want, including in the middle of the street, have little regard for traffic signals, and they think ONE WAY means BOTH ways. Absolutely nuts.
Now saying all of this doesn,t mean I get white knuckle rides. In fact, they're such scary ordeals that I just laugh half the time I'm in the car, out of disbelief of course.
An interesting note to this is that I have seen very few fender benders (two at the same location) and next to no road rage. People honk and move on. No yelling, no finger talk, no threats... just the way it is.
In addition to all of this, people walk here like they drive: With NO regard for anyone. People do not say excuse me, they do not work to avoid you, and they always seem completely oblivious to the fact that they are "sharing" a sidewalk with hundreds of others. Very hard to explain... so just imagine friendly chaos and multiply by 10. After covering the War on Terror now for more than a year, I finally saw first hand the work of Al Queda. During this afternoon's tour of Istanbul (I need to find an Apple computer store because I fried my laptop power supply), we passed one of the two bombing sights from a few months back. It was the British bank that took a massive hit. Right in the middle of town. Several buildings with major damage. The bank itself looked lıke the end result of the federal building in Oklahoma City. All this next to the mall where we were unsuccessful in our search. It kind of brought things a little more into perspective.
Anyway, my Afghan visa didn't come through yet, so I won't be leaving until late Tuesday night. No problem, gives me a chance to see this city a little better (It's VERY beautiful) and to hang with Elif one more time. Besides, if I don't find an Apple dıstributor... I'm screwed. I need my laptop more than you can know. Not only that, but I still need to finish my Roanoke Catholic project before I head to Kabul. Can't do that until I get that power supply. My friend Burhan and I are going out looking again tommorow. This ıs definately stressing me out. One thing about Apple: Great computer, lousy support. This city is HUGE and I can't find a simple thing like a power supply for one of most recognized brands around. Amazing.
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Now... I've been to a few places in life, actually, more than a few. I can tell you some storıes about traffic that would make Dale Jr. cringe. In fact, if you ask anyone who has driven with me, that it is quite the white knuckle experience. With that said, I have to report that the craziest drivers I have EVER seen, are the drivers here in Turkey. Not neccesarily the Kurds out east
(in fact, taxi driver after taxi driver was 100% afraid of speeding and getting a ticket), but the ones here in Istanbul. I'm not joking either: These people are nuts! There are no lanes here in Istanbul. The rule of the road is, "As many cars that will fit, is the way it works". I mean on the freeway, using on ramps, in the parkıng lot... it just doesn't matter. A regular highway has cars and trucks five and six across. If there's a hole, it isn't there long. Cars zipping here, cutting off there, honking everywhere. Just absolutely crazy. To make matters worse, there's more than 13 million people here and the traffic is horrible. Washington and LA are nothing!! On the roads of Istanbul, you snooze, you lose. On top of that, people park anywhere they want, including in the middle of the street, have little regard for traffic signals, and they think ONE WAY means BOTH ways. Absolutely nuts.
Now saying all of this doesn,t mean I get white knuckle rides. In fact, they're such scary ordeals that I just laugh half the time I'm in the car, out of disbelief of course.
An interesting note to this is that I have seen very few fender benders (two at the same location) and next to no road rage. People honk and move on. No yelling, no finger talk, no threats... just the way it is.
In addition to all of this, people walk here like they drive: With NO regard for anyone. People do not say excuse me, they do not work to avoid you, and they always seem completely oblivious to the fact that they are "sharing" a sidewalk with hundreds of others. Very hard to explain... so just imagine friendly chaos and multiply by 10. After covering the War on Terror now for more than a year, I finally saw first hand the work of Al Queda. During this afternoon's tour of Istanbul (I need to find an Apple computer store because I fried my laptop power supply), we passed one of the two bombing sights from a few months back. It was the British bank that took a massive hit. Right in the middle of town. Several buildings with major damage. The bank itself looked lıke the end result of the federal building in Oklahoma City. All this next to the mall where we were unsuccessful in our search. It kind of brought things a little more into perspective.
Anyway, my Afghan visa didn't come through yet, so I won't be leaving until late Tuesday night. No problem, gives me a chance to see this city a little better (It's VERY beautiful) and to hang with Elif one more time. Besides, if I don't find an Apple dıstributor... I'm screwed. I need my laptop more than you can know. Not only that, but I still need to finish my Roanoke Catholic project before I head to Kabul. Can't do that until I get that power supply. My friend Burhan and I are going out looking again tommorow. This ıs definately stressing me out. One thing about Apple: Great computer, lousy support. This city is HUGE and I can't find a simple thing like a power supply for one of most recognized brands around. Amazing.
