Bodrum '02


7/23/02 - 8/6/02

Page 5

 

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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!


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If you have any questions, E-Mail me. Spat@spatcave.com