June 12th - Part II: Two events of circumstance

I studied German in high school and was often told that I should have taken Spanish. As an American citizen, I can understand the reasoning. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the US and is growing rapidly. Regardless, I wanted to learn German because it seemed more applicable to my long-term interests to work in technology and travel throughout Europe.  Today my decision was vindicated. Strolling through Istanbul and ending up quite lost as I searched for my hostel, I decided to ask for directions. I'd heared of Turkish hospitality and decided to put it to the test but ran into one hiccup - no one around me spoke English.  They still wanted to help and there I stood surrounded by three Turkish women pointing to the address on my iPad. Then one of them said "Deutsch"? When they only speak Turkish and German, and I only speak English and German, you use German! Five minutes later I was escorted down the street and straight to my hostel. Vielen Danke!!!

Photo: In the Grand Bazar

Later after checking into my hostel, I headed out for a walk. I grabbed a doner kebab for dinner and walked to the grand bazaar. On my way back, a young man approached. I was skeptical because I read to many stories of street scams. He quickly explained that he was only 16 and simply wanted to practice his English. So there I was sitting on a park bench serving as an English teacher and picking up some Turkish. Afterwards he was so thankful, he took me to meet his uncle and offered me Turkish apple tea. The tea was incredible and was pure apple. I guess my friend Geoff Lewis was right - when traveling "just say yes" and you are often rewarded with unique experiences :) Finally, it turns out the uncle has a background in electronics and studied in Switzerland. He owns his own rug whole seller in Istanbul. He invited me over for lunch tomorrow and promised to teach me about Turkish carpet making so I can identify a quality rug! One adventure leads to another.

Photo: Turkish Carpet with Medallion Design. 

Regarding carpets, I leaned that the difference between Persian and Turkish is the knots. A Persian rug is a single knotted carpet while a Turkish rug is double knotted. This makes the Turkish rugs less likely to fray.