Istanbul

Istanbul is definitely my favorite city thus far. It's clean, it's cheap, it has great food, and it has amazingly nice people - and unlike most large cities, everyone here seems really laid back. I could definitely spend a few more weeks here.

Anyway, the highlights:
- Stray Cat Hostel, which is home to three rescue kittens and has THE BEST breakfast I've had so far this trip. (Sunday's menu is eggs and crepes, and the rest of the week they have yogurt, nutella, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta... plus free coffee and tea all day long :))
- Visiting Hagia Sophia & the Blue Mosque
- Learning about Islam, which is strikingly similar to Christianity
- Watching Salah (Islamic prayer) at a mosque - interestingly, men pray up front, and women all pray in the back
- Buying souveniers - Turkey has all kinds of good stuff :)
- Having seafood and wine (our best meal yet) with some boys we met from Portugal
- Watching the World Cup
- Smoking nergili (a.k.a. hookah in the States and shisha in Egypt)
- Visiting Topkapi Palace
- Cruising the Bosphorus River by ferry
- Our hammam experience (i.e., being bathed by a topless old woman... not necessarily my idea of an enjoyable experience...)

Tidbits about Turkey;
- Since Istanbul is such a progressive city, these statistics were shocking to me: 45% of Turkish men (which of course includes men from all over the country) believe they have the right to beat their wives, and 37% of Turkish men believe a woman who commits adultery deserves to be killed
- Turkish was the model for an ill-fated international language
- Boys here are circumcised around the age of four, and are dressed in prince costumes to celebrate the occassion (we thought they were really cute until we realized what they signified)
- Oddly, no one here works out - apparently there are very few gyms in this city, and running outdoors is nearly unheard of
- Turkey actually belongs to both Asia and Europe
- In Arabic, the prefix "mu" means person, e.g., Muslim means person of Islamic faith, and Muhammad means blessed person
- Bananas here are really expensive, but cherries are cheap

Typical Turkish foods:
- grilled corn
- sardines
- mussels
- fruit smoothies
- "Turkish delights"
- apricot juice
- apple tea
- shwarma (shaved meat)
- borek (phyllo dough and cheese)
- kompir (cheesy baked potatoes)
- ayran (a salty yogurt drink)
- dondurma (handmade ice cream)
- corn nuts and dried chickpeas (which sound gross but are really good!)