i describe turkey as the land of the friendly.
the friendly folk can be classified thus
friendly shopowners: they befriend you upon seeing you. a great source of information about the environs of istanbul and its denziens, friendly shopkeepers hang around outside their stall and await business, chat with tourists, and invite some up for apple tea!
friendly young women: in their headscarfs, sitting near the fountain outside Sultanahmet Mosque, trying their utmost to communicate in broken English and sign language and many smiles.
friendly random citizens: who have never seen singaporeans in their lives and perpetually mistake us for Japanese. an abdundant source of cheery "nihaos" and "konichiwas" called out towards your direction.
friendly apple tea sellers: who offer you a cup of apple tea for 17 lira (around $17). upon seeing the quizzical look on your face, the price quickly drops to 10 lira and 5 lira and 1 lira. we gave him 50c. he was very friendly about not being able to make a slight profit off two poor students.
friendly old men: lugging their carts with their balding heads and beards and slightly leery smiles, friendly old men offer you free fried fish, pistachio nuts, help you adjust your jacket...but can be dangerous to beautiful young women like the gf. at best they try to dress you up. or give you a painful squeeze on the round but fat-free cheeks. at worst they give you two friendly, shudder-worthy-full-smack-on pecks on the cheeks. you have been warned.
- "him"
