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The Istanbul Chronicles: Mary Poppins



So it was my first winter in Istanbul and it was the first winter that Glenna and I was spending together.  Of course I can tell you that the winters in Turkey are far different from the winter in Chicago.  The differences are that one, Istanbul is some 2,634 meters above sea level (y'all don't ask me how many miles is that! I am still on the meters part) and two, there is no wind but the steel cold  that is sharp enough to cut through all the layers that is between your coat and clothes.

Now as a Chicagoan I am so used to being blow around by strong wind that I sometimes don't even move. But on this particular day in which I am about to talk about, I had to be Glenna's anchor so that she would not get blown way.  I did tell y'all that there is no wind in the winter, right?

  Before I mentioned that we lived in Kadikoy inside Istanbul and on this day I can not remember where Glenna and I was going however we were heading towards the ferries by the Bosporus.  We had just cross the Albay Faik Sozdener Caddesi (a mouth full, I know. I lived there and still could not pronounce that damn street name right) walking towards Rihtim Caddesi talking about who else; Edward's ass.

Here is a short story about me and Glenna first winter together.

It was the winter of 2001 and Glenna and I stuck up like two sore thumbs in our winter coating.  Glenna like a dark marshmallow man in her black snowsuit and me look like a black Russian socialite in my long red cashmere coat with fur cups on both arms and a fur hat. And let me not forget the long black umbrella, but even in the mist of the fresh new snow that was coming down, you could still spot us as we walked arm in arm towards the ferries.

As we walking there were three young men behind us and we can hear them talking.  Glenna could not make out what they were saying and all I can tell her was that they are talking about nothing, so Glenna proceed to continue to talk about Edward and how he was about money. Suddenly I notice that their conversation had change and that they were now talking about the woman in the red coat. One friend ask another to ask her if she was for sale.  This worries me because I see no other woman within five feet or more near us in a red coat except me and I am trying really hard not to pay attention to these kids.  And it was really hard to do so.

Glenna still talking about that damn Edward as we are walking across the park to the ferries.  But then the young boys started to really question as to who should be the first to have business with me; y'all I was like "What the Fuck!" and in a moment of quickness without warning to Glenna did a turn about so fast that Glenna was confused with the "What the Fuck!" in the middle of her sentence.

To their own surprise, all three of them went their separate ways and I ran after on the one who did the most talking, with my umbrella waving in the air.  If only Dick Van Dyke was there to see what new defense tactic that was then in used.  Supercalilfragilisticexpialidocious (Fuck that is a word!) was not in my head at that time.  (Hats off to the person(s) who create that word!)

In her own state of confusion, Glenna said all she saw was a red coat woman running looking like Mary Poppin with her umbrella open flying in the Istanbul's winter air.  Okay, so I give the hood verse in Muslim country.  They went along with it.

Y'all, all I remember that I was madder than hell and wanted to put just a little fear in their heads about the woman in the red coat.

'Til this day, Glenna still does not understand what the hell happen that day!  All she remembers is Mary Poppins running across the park. The same goes here with me, I don't understand why I felt what I felt that day.  Never the less, my feelings for Turkey will never change, and I will always love it there for it's rich culture and it's kick-ass scenery.





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