Some of you may notice the change in title for this blog. This change stems from an inside joke amongst my friends and I about always striving to be “classy, not trashy.” This weekend has proven to me that I can live by that motto.
Admittedly, I did have some help from the common cold. I had been feeling (and sounding) like shit for a week since getting back from Cappadocia. On Thursday and Friday, I finally started to feel considerably better, but weekends have a way of bitch-slapping your health. So I decided to abstain from drinking, something easier said than done of course. However, I managed to achieve this goal, while also not sacrificing my social life. Here is a chronicle of how I achieved that.
Thursday night, a friend of mine invited several of us out to Trivia Night at an Istanbul bar. Being a HUGE fan of Trivia Nights back in Worcester, I jumped at the chance to use my vast array of useless knowledge. Of course, since it would be at a bar, this meant that temptation would be all around me. Fortunately, I was able to resist while also having a blast. The two themes of the questions were “Power to the People” in honor of the protests happening across the Arab World, and “The Oscars” in honor of the Oscars. Since these are two areas where I know a ridiculous amount about, I couldn’t have been happier, and neither could my trivia team. Although we didn’t end up winning, they were all very grateful to me for knowing that Pandit Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India, Corazon Aquino was the leader of the People Power movement in the Philippines, and that Gregory Peck was the actor who portrayed Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Friday, after the museum trip, a few friends and I decided to go to the Ortakoy district of Istanbul to hang out for awhile. Ortakoy is a district famous for its food, especially the Turkish street food and fast food that you can find there. We ate a few of the street mussels that Turks love (and which are delicious), as well as baked potatoes topped with just about everything, naan bread with cheese inside, and of course, waffles (Turks seriously are obsessed with them). We then went to Taksim to hang out and where just about everyone besides me had at least four tequila shots and too many beers to count. The highlight of our night was undoubtedly when about nine of us sang karaoke to Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline in a Turkish bar, much to the amusement of all the Turks watching us. Anyone from Boston or who has been to Fenway Park will understand why this song made me feel just a tee bit nostalgic for home.
Saturday afternoon, I took a few friends to the Asian side to show them around, and then we went back to the European side for some nargile (hooka) and dinner. We went to this restaurant in Beşiktaş right on the water, where we all ordered kebabs or kebab wraps and got all the free bread we could eat. Later that night, we watched the movie Big Fish (very good movie). All in all, I am proud of myself.
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| Good times never felt so good, so good, so good! |
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