Lindy Hop of course! Rumeysa, our AirBnB host, takes classes and invited us out to one of their weekly socials. It was in this really cool roof top bar that overlooks Taxism Square and was full of Lindy Hoppers. We met some of the nicest people who taught us the basic steps....rock step, bounce, bounce, rock step, bounce, bounce. Two of the guys we met there became our own personal Istanbul tour guides and showed us some really cool parts we never would have seen on our own. We went to another Lindy Hop social in a park right on the water a few nights ago too...we're getting almost okay at it. |
We've also gotten acquainted with the ultimate scene in Istanbul and have been able to play some pickup here. Like every ultimate community I've encountered, the people have been so welcoming and relatable. There were at least 3 or 4 that were at Windmill and they have a Mixed team going to Worlds so we get to see them there too! |
I also highly recommend 'watching' a Turkish movie in the open air cinema... Have no idea what the movie was about but supposedly it was quite funny. We really just enjoyed a bottle of wine and taught Onur and Samet the noises American animals make.
The boys took us to the beach one day too, so I can check swimming in the Black Sea off my list. We went to Samet's university beach, which was more like an exclusive beach club. Not too far from the city either, maybe a twenty minute drive. One of my most memorable days from Turkey for sure,.
Things I've learned:
- you can't always go into a grocery store and buy a milk carton and assume you're getting milk. Thankfully Ayran (a traditional, salty, liquid yogurt'ish drink) goes quite well with cereal
- causally mentioning 'güllaç' is a great way to start small talk with the locals
- Candace is pretty incredible (I already knew that but Turkey reaffirmed the fact) her phone was lost or taken and she still managed to enjoy the day, and our very unique experience with the 'International' police
- you can't always go into a grocery store and buy a milk carton and assume you're getting milk. Thankfully Ayran (a traditional, salty, liquid yogurt'ish drink) goes quite well with cereal
- causally mentioning 'güllaç' is a great way to start small talk with the locals
- Candace is pretty incredible (I already knew that but Turkey reaffirmed the fact) her phone was lost or taken and she still managed to enjoy the day, and our very unique experience with the 'International' police