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7/30/02
New camera
day! Woo hoo!
I got up early, hopped the bus, and started shopping. But after 2 hours
of walking around I still hadn't found a shop that had a camera with
the features I was looking for at a price I was willing to pay.
I was about to give up when I found this little sign over a flight of
stairs leading into a basement shop that said, "digital cameras"
in Turkish.
I decided to give it a try.
And there it was, a Canon A40. It had all the features I was looking
for, and a price I could live with. 2 mega pixels (as opposed to the
1.3 on my old camera), 7.5 x zoom, and a movie mode with audio.
So I plop down my Citibank debit card, and make all sorts of evil plans
of what kind of pictures and video's I'll be taking with my new toy.
Declined.
Ouch. Well, maybe debit cards don't work out here, that's fine, I'll
just hit a cash machine and get the money that way.
Rejected.
What the fuck? I took cash out a few days ago without a problem.
So I tell the guy to hold the camera for me and I'll be back in a few
hours.
Back on the bus, back to Turkbuku, and into the restaurant lobby to
use their phone.
I call the number on the back of the card and explain my situation.
The woman on the other end checks, and tells me that for security reasons
they stopped my account. They were worried it was stolen because it
was being used in Turkey. I verify who I am (practically down to my
shoe size), she unlocks my account, and I'm back in business.
I contacted Atakan (the hotel's official driver) and had him run me
back into bodrum. While he was getting ready, my dad decided to give
me a cell phone to use while here on vacation to make things easier.
It took him forever to find all the attachments and charger and everything,
but finally I was in business.
I called Miray, and she was still sleeping, so I called Idil to let
her know I was going to be even later than planned. See how nice I still
am?
Now, I know what you're thinking. Why would he call her after all the
messed up things she did?
What can I say? I still care about her, and I'm just not the kind of
guy that likes to be rude.
So, back into Bodrum, get the camera, back into the car, and I read
the instructions and test out the camera on the way home.
And damn does it work sweet.
First
shot with the new camera!
Mine
with Askin at Tiyatro.
So now the plan is to head over to Maki and meet the girls.
My dad stops me and asks me if I want to go for a ride in his boat.
Ugh.
I tell him that I'm on my way to Maki, and he offers to give me a ride.
I figure "what the heck?"
We ride over, and instead of just pulling up to the dock to let me off,
he parks it (or whatever you call it when you park a boat). So, I guess
he's coming in.
We get into Maki and spot Miray and Nazli. We head over and then I spot
someone waving to me in a very subtle way. It's Idil. So I give her
a subtle wave back.
Remember, my dad hates her because basically, when I came to Istanbul
in April, she didn't fall for me.
I guess he thought he was a pretty good matchmaker, and he still believes
that she basically just used me to get taken out to nice restaurants,
and to get nice gifts. Maybe he's right, who knows.
So Idil and I have to carry out a forbidden friendship behind my father's
back. How sad is that?
Well, Miray and Nazli said they were leaving, so my plan was to tell
my dad that I was going to stay and relax. Figuring that he would leave
and I could hang out with Idil. But no, he decided to find a place for
us to sit.
So I changed gears and told him I'd leave, now figuring he'd take me
back to the bar, then I could always walk over to Maki myself.
Instead, my dad and I went for a ride in the boat.
Uhh...
I was just testing the zoom capabilities of the new camera. I swear!!
For the
next hour we cruised around all over the little islands and alcoves.
It was actually a lot of fun.
Video
of the Boat Run (2 megs).
One
thing you always have to watch for in Turkey is a Pirate invasion.
I later found out that Idil stopped by that morning and told Gunten
to tell me to meet her at Maki. Idil was pretty sure my dad overheard
this, so maybe that's why he tagged along, just didn't want me to be
there alone with her. I think he's afraid that I'm paying for her. He
hates girls who use other people like that.
Everybody
loves their cell phones in Turkey.
Umm...
still testing out the zoom. Seriously.
Just
playing around.
Video
of Aydin cursing out Calvin (1
meg).
Video
of Aydin looking to get laid. Chickens
(.5 megs).
My dad's
ducks.
After a nap and a shower, it was time to meet up with the girls and
head over to Ship Ahoy. I'm starting to see a little rut type of pattern
emerging in my vacation.
The
Turkbuku Fire Department.
At about 1 am I headed back to Tiyatro to video the band playing, and
then Kerem gave me a ride back to Ship Ahoy on his motorcycle.
No
such thing as a helmet law, gotta love that!
Video
of Kerem pulling up (1 meg).
Video
of the Ride to Ship Ahoy, on the
sidewalk no less! (1.5 megs)
This
is Miray's 50,000,000 Turkish Lira belly. That's right, she got 50 million
for letting someone kiss it. But I'm not saying who.
Had a few drinks, a few laughs. I must say, I kind of enjoy hanging
out at the bar with five or six 22 year old girls.
Man,
I have to get a dog. Chicks went crazy over this thing!
Met a guy named Devon from Philly. Chatted with him for a while. He
thought I was 25! Nice kid. But 6 years off.
We all started getting ready to leave, and I offered to walk Nazli home.
But somewhere in the mix of saying goodbye to everyone, we got separated,
and I finally gave up and headed home myself.
On the way home I bumped into Aydin and the rest of the bar crew going
out for soup. How could I not join them? Mmmm… Turkish soup…
Video
of Aydin cursing Calvin for not
coming this summer (.5 megs).
Don't
know what kind of soup it is, but I like it!
