Antalya Part 2

 

It took me awhile to adjust to the city, but I’ve come to appreciate it as a separate entity from Istanbul.  It amazes me that beach towns everywhere are similar regardless of the country.  It’s the palm trees, the laid-back atmosphere, the waitstaff dressed in shorts and comfy shoes.  Türkiye adds its own flavor with the vendors walking the beach selling Turkish pastries and corn on the cob.  Most of the restaurants on the beach offer hookah and shisha pipes that just adds to the chill out vibe.

I was able to extend my time in the apartment for a total of three weeks.  The host was good enough to give me a discount by paying in cash.  I always appreciate having to spend less money, but it meant doing the legwork to find the bills in USD.  There is a row of ATMS near the beach and some do offer other denominations.  Of course, I had to try multiple ones to find the USD, ran into cash limits, had to call the bank to make sure I didn’t hit any fraud alerts, give half to the host on one day and to his father on another day, yadda, yadda, yadda.  It’s all done now, but I’m still not sure if the discount was worth all the hassle.

It’s about 1 ½ miles from the apartment to the beach, an easy walk on the wide, still nearly deserted sidewalks.  The issue remains the heat.  Temps didn’t reach the 100-degree mark again (thank goodness), but it is still quite toasty in Antalya in August.  I quickly learned to carry a towel with me to mop up the endless amounts of sweat.

The beach is covered in restaurants, usually with a large sitting area right on the on the water.  I don’t usually hit these places because I know the prices are seriously jacked up.  Turns out, the couple of places I’ve visited so far, the food is not that pricey.  It costs around 10 bucks for time on one of the chaises.  But (unsurprisingly) the drinks are where they get ya.  I had a lovely cosmo on the beach that was about twice the lira I paid at a bar just off the beach.  Still, I could not resist the experience of relaxing by the Mediterranean with a nice adult beverage.  I even made a new friend one day.

The job search continues.  Since the search engines and job listings appear to be horribly broken, I try to find as many alternate sources of income as possible.  My writing on Medium has made me few bucks but nothing to sustain me yet.  I have to keep reminding myself that it’s a marathon and not a sprint and continue to be grateful for every new subscriber I get.

In trying to find a new source of income, I decided to open an Instagram account.  Nothing major, just thought I’d post some of the travel photos and videos that didn’t make it to this blog.  I went through all the steps to open the account, not really knowing how to proceed after that, and shut the program down.  A few hours later, I got someone trying to message me on the program. 

Guess.  Just guess who it was.

If you said Zaza, you get a WHAT THE HELL IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW?!!!??

Hours!  I’d had a profile on the website for hours!  The only picture I posted was a profile pic, a rare selfie I took in Istanbul last year.  How did he clock it so quickly?  Why is he clocking it at all?

Please note: I have not seen this man in person since last July.  I last spoke with him in September when I broke it off.  He’s tried to text and call a few times since then but I can’t remember the last time he did.  Now, a year after our last meeting, on an app I’ve never been on and didn’t know he was on, I get a message.  He was my first subscriber.  WHAT THE HELL!?!?!?!?

I realized only later that the program taps into WhatsApp and, of course, it picked up Zaza’s name along with one of my former hosts.  It also brought up my brother’s name as a possible connection – someone else I haven’t spoken to in a long time (and don’t care to speak to again).  This is somewhat disturbing and just reminds me why I avoided social media for so long.  I’m not sure opening the account was the best idea.

And I just wanted to post some travel pics …

A last note:  Lisbon experienced the biggest earthquake it’s had in a decade on Monday 8/26/24.  Fortunately, there weren’t any deaths and very little damage.  So good to hear.  I think I’m headed back to Portugal soon.