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Thursday
Our last full day in town! We decided to head into Bodrum and do all our last minute shopping. Drew gave Mina one of his girly NYPD t-shirts.
Then Drew got jumped by Sadi.
On the way into Bodrum. (photo courtesy of Drew)
Ahh, a place for people like me!
Mina and I taking a break from shopping. I'm sorry, but you're talking about ten days straight of drinking and eating really well, and staying up until all hours of the morning. I'M ONLY HUMAN!!
I think Aydin and Drew are Jealous of Mina and I. Or they're getting really close with each other....
Hiding behind the bottle of Diet Coke. (photo courtesy of Drew)
Mina decided that she wanted Drew's NYPD hat, and stole it off his head whenever she could. The he would steal it back. It actually turned into quite a brawl!
And she wins this round!
Hey, why is she wearing a Brooklyn shirt? I'm not from Brooklyn?!?!
We saw this freaky looking blob guy ad, and it looked so familiar to us. But for a few minutes we couldn't place why. Then we realized... it's CALVIN!! (photo courtesy of Drew)
So, here's our homage to him! Go Calvin!
Since this was our last night in Turkey, and our flight out was at 5am, we decided to stay local.
Mina giving me that evil, yet sexy look.
Me and Mina. (photo courtesy of Drew)
Aydin sound asleep.
He's so cute. (photo courtesy of Drew)
Drew all freaked out.
One of our first days in Turkbuku, Drew met a girl who spoke fluent English and who helped translate while Drew was talking to Sadi (who speaks no English). One night while at the bar, the girl came in, and Drew wanted to go talk to her. Sadi stopped him, and since we couldn't really fully understand each other, we understood Sadi to be saying that the girl was protected and that Drew would get shot if he talked to her. It made little sense, but we let it go. Until Drew almost got her with the video camera while shooting footage of the bar. Sadi got very upset, and we understood the new clarification of the situation to be that she was Sadi's sister. That made a little more sense. But the next day, she made Drew and I a mixed CD of music, and Drew spent the rest of the week trying to find her and talk to her. And whenever Drew got annoyed with Sadi, he would mutter under his breath, "I wanna bang your sister."
Well, this night, Sadi finally explained the situation to Mina in Turkish, and she explained it to me. Turns out that the girl is the daughter of the owner of the club we were in, and if he went to talk to her there, the bouncers would stop him. But she wasn't Sadi's sister. I was sworn not to tell Drew until after we left the bar. Poor Drew.
For another Sadi story, one night while in the hotel room, Aydin, Nalan, Drew and Sadi showed up. Sadi brought his gun with him, but only had 5 bullets. Apparently, guns are cheap, and bullets are very expensive. But I guess that keeps down the number of stray bullets flying around. Anyway, I decided to take a shower, and while in there, Drew decided to have some fun. So he broke out the video camera, and told Sadi to go in the bathroom and scare me while Drew taped it. So, Sadi took out the gun, chambered a bullet, and walked into the bathroom. Drew freaked and made him put away the gun. Then Sadi took the camera and tried to video tape over the shower door. (Video of the trip should be on sale soon...)
Later, on our last night, Drew went into the men's room, and Sadi took the video camera and caught Drew peeing. Odd man. Odd Man.
Drew beating up Mina again.
He's awake!!
Drew trying out a new fashion statement. The New Millenniums answer to the Fig Leaf!
After this, it was time to head to the airport and say goodbye.
Look, a 7-11!! Woo Hoo! Slurpies! (photo courtesy of Drew)
It's always sad to leave after such a great vacation, and it's always tough to have to say goodbye to Mina every time I come to Turkey.
Calvin skydiving!!
At the Istanbul airport, they enacted new security procedures for flights leaving for the US. Now, in addition to the metal detector and X-ray scanner at the front door and at the entrance to the gate area, you get wanded and your carry on is hand searched before you can enter the waiting area for the flight. Then, when you get on the plane, you are pulled off two at a time to go down to the runway, pick out your suitcases from the pile, and then stand there as they hand search those as well. All in all, it took 2 and a half hours. Making our flight a mere 1 and a half hours late for take off. And of course, this is after a whole night of drinking for Drew and I, so we were really not in the mood.
Drew and I on the plane! (photo courtesy of Drew)
And then when we landed at JFK, I was pulled out of passport control and detained. Then escorted to get my luggage. And then questioned before I was allowed to leave. And I was never told why. :(
Finally back home!!
Well, that's the end of the trip. Again, big thanks to:
Spider Aydin (because he's such a huge Spiderman fan, though you'll have to see the video to fully appreciate that one)
Ozgur the Bunny (because he has a tattoo on his shoulder of the Chinese symbol of "Free" which is what Ozger means in Turkish, though someone who saw the tat and can read Chinese told him it actually says "Rabbit")
Drew the Virgin (you figure that one out on your own)
Serdar (be sure to check out La Jolla if you're in Bodrum or Southern California, be sure to mention you saw him on the SpatCave)
Danny (be sure to check out Pure if you're in Bodrum, also tell him you saw this on the SpatCave)
The Sadi-Meiser (for not killing any of us... yet)
My Dad and Gunten for putting Drew and I up at the Hotel (and for giving us separate rooms...). If you're ever in Turkbuku, be sure to stop by Tiyatro Restaurant and Hotel and tell them Spat sent you!
Atakan 86 (because he left for Istanbul, then we got word that he won the lottery and everyone was all excited for him, until we found out he only won 86 Lira)
Mina Potter (because she speaks English and Turkish with a slight British accent that I find irresistible) I just feel so bad that every time we're together my last memory is of her standing in an airport crying. Muckssss, and Happy Birthday!
And to Nalan and Vulkan and everyone else who we met along the way who helped make this an amazing vacation.
Be sure to check back soon as I will soon have the Bodrum '05 video ready!
Ok, now I need sleep.
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