Yeah.
You remember that guy I met in Istanbul? The one I thought of as a one-night stand who has instead appointed himself as my Turkish bodyguard? The one who’s been ‘blowing up my phone’, like the kids say, since we met?
Freaking Türkiye man!
Yeah, that guy. Well, he is a honey-dripping bastard. After a month of talking on WhatsApp, Zaza convinced me to postpone my plans to head to Australia. I decided instead to go back to Istanbul for a week and be delicious.
I’m not trying to marry this dude. I have my own plans that don’t involve moving
to Türkiye and being fit for a burka. As
sweet as Zaza is, he’s still too short, he smokes, and he lives in a crappy
apartment (with a great view) in Türkiye.
But the stuff that comes out of his mouth is just pure … delight. Yes, I will go full-on sappy and call him my
Turkish Delight. And I plan to enjoy the
hell out of him while I can. I only had
to go to the other side of the planet to find someone who likes me, so I figure
I’d better take full advantage of the situation.
Besides which, having never had a fling in my life, I think
it’s fair time I flung. I can
fling. Who says I can’t fling?
I started to do some research on Türkiye on YouTube. I was mostly interested in picking up some of
the language or getting tips on what else I should visit. I was shocked at the number of videos I found
regarding dating Turkish men.
Particularly, black women dating Turkish men. I had no idea this was a thing. Yes, Zaza told me he was into black chicks
(as were a couple of his relatives who were married to black women and living
in the U.S.), but I didn’t realize the extent of this … fetish? Phenomenon?
I don’t know.
My research is how I figured out this was not to be a great
love of my life. Turkish men are known
to be sweet talkers, persistent, jealous, and workaholics (more on that later). They also have the reputation for being major
Mama’s boys. They fully expect their
girlfriends/wives to be their substitute mom.
And while I am 13 years older than the man … naw, my friend. I have no interest in being anybody’s
mother. Doesn’t mean this ‘thing’ can’t
be mutually beneficial. His Turkish ego
is stroked by the fact that he deflowered the American with the big breasts and
I get hugs and sweet talk. It works out
for both of us.
But first, getting there.
And it was a bear of a travel day that started at Changi in
Singapore. At least it was a good
start. That is a well-designed
airport. The place was meant for the
comfort of the travelers and, while not as pretty as the jewel, Terminal 4 has
its own advantages. Have I ever
mentioned how much I love koi? They are
so fun to watch!
From Changi it was 2 hours back to Bangkok. Can’t say I was looking forward to going back to Thailand, but my flight to Türkiye was out of BKK, Bangkok’s big airport. I had arrived at Don Mueang and dreaded the idea of dealing with another rude cabbie. I almost did the happy dance to find that there was a shuttle from one airport to the other. It was already parked at the gate when I arrived and I didn’t even have to pay for it. Yay!
Suvarnabhumi (BKK) is one of the top 10 biggest airports in
the world. I swear, half of the
population of Thailand was in there waiting for flights. There was even an entire football team just
milling around. I had plenty of time to
observe everything since my flight from Singapore arrived at 4 p.m. and my
flight to Dubai didn’t leave until 1:30 a.m.
Not ideal but it was the best I could arrange under the circumstances.
While BKK is not a great airport, it looked like heaven compared
to Dubai. The airport is almost as sprawling
as BKK, but it wasn’t meant to be comfortable.
It was barely functional in that I arrived on the tarmac and had to walk
awhile just to catch a bus to my departing terminal. After that long ride, which took me all over
the airport, it was another long wait in a hot, overly crowded waiting area. When my flight was finally called, it was
onto another bus to take me to the plane. Because
of just how inefficiently designed the place felt, I gotta say that Dubai sucks
(this opinion applies only to the airport – I know nothing about the country).
Finally arriving in Türkiye, in the smaller SAW airport this time, it was on to my first concern upon returning to the country; my visa. If you recall the issues I had with Turkish
Border Patrol on arriving from Bulgaria by bus, I wasn’t entirely sure the visa
would still be valid. E-visas applied
for online are valid for 90 days. Since
I couldn’t find any other info, I assumed the same rule would apply for my paper
visa (which has no additional info about length of visa validity, re-entry
requirements, or anything else). Fingers
crossed …
And Border Patrol didn’t even recognize the visa. Sigh.
I had to explain to them the circumstances and that this is the only
visa I had which did allow me into the country for a week. I was fully prepared to pay for a new one if
necessary, but I just didn’t want to be fined or banned or anything worse.
After a few nerve-wracking minutes while the guy made a call
and consulted with the other agent sitting next to him, he finally stamped my
passport and let me through. Whew. Now on to the next bit of fun; another ride
in an Istanbul taxi.
Well, a month out of the country hasn’t made the taxi drivers
any saner. At least I was prepared for
it this time. Actually, this trip went
better than my first intro into the city.
This guy understood the address with no problem, it wasn’t raining, and
he brought me directly to the apartment.
It took some fumbling to get inside (the host’s maid had not
returned the key to the correct lockbox), but once I was in, I was very pleased
with the place. It’s got a great layout
and I instantly felt at home (though I wasn’t crazy about that rug – more on
that later).
My neighborhood this time is called Balat in Fatih. I specifically chose this area because it was closer to Zaza’s home and shop. Turns out, not close enough. It’s an hour walk or about a 15-minute cab ride depending on traffic. After texting him on my arrival, I got unpacked, showered, and freshened up. I had been nervous for a while before I even got back to Türkiye, being that this was the first time I’d ever travelled across a few countries to see a man. So it was a long tense wait for his next text.
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