Happy Birthday to Me!

Today's my birthday, guys! Happy birthday to me!

I always strive to do something interesting on my birthday since arranging parties always seemed a little too self-congratulatory for me.

One year I went with one of the professors from my school and caught turtles in the Itchetuknee River; another I went SCUBA diving with some sharks in an aquarium in Busan. This year I'm not doing anything as interesting, unless you count being in Istanbul interesting, which, I guess, it is. I was considering having another massage or going to the baths again, but, in all honesty, I would rather not spend the money.

Maybe I'll go to the Bazaar and buy something crazy for myself. Last time I was there I bought what I thought was a Ukulele, which turned out to just be a tiny guitar (Ukuleles have four strings, guitars have six). Which I suppose is for the best because I know kind of how to play the guitar, but not the Ukulele.

I could go get a haircut – wild and crazy person that I am. Or just spend the day around town sketching architecture. I guess I am just glad to have some relaxing time to myself after the craziness of the past couple of months.

All in all, I consider relaxing an adequate thing to do on my birthday, though I would rather be surrounded by family and friends. o_O

UPDATE:

What I ended up doing was just relaxing. I've come to the point in my vacation where I would rather be home. Not because the Kingdom is so hopping or anything. But because I miss being able to sleep in a room alone or sit on my bed all day without getting judgey looks from my roommates.

I went to the baths again with my new friend Janet. I bought a bunch of crazy jewelry from some stores, and had the best kebab in all of Turkey from the stand down the street.

I have one more day left in Turkey and I intend to spend it straight up chilling.

The Joys of Following Random People

Here is a great example of why I love staying in hostels:

I met this lovely woman here (Janet) who is an artist fresh from an artists residency in Capadoccia (images.google it – it's spectacular). She said that she knew of a drum recital going on in Taskim – which is where all the Turkish people go to party/shop.

Though I'm not really that into drums, I like music and I haven't been going out that much since I've been here, so I decided to go.

To find this place, we had to go into this unremarkable building and up three flights of half-lit stairs. I was just starting to think this is how human trafficking happens when we start to hear drums.

Turns out the 'school' is just a studio space in an apartment building where this woman holds week long intensive courses on the darbuka, the traditional Turkish drum. The recital was supposed to be a celebration of the end of the course and a chance for all the students to play together.

I felt very honored to be there, because me and Janet were the only ones who were not in the course in attendance.

It seemed like a chill session more than a concert and the students had clearly not counted one anyone showing up to be entertained. The teacher had to play about an hour before the students would touch a drum but eventually we were being serenaded (can you serenade someone with a drum?) with the most intricate drum beats.

The teacher than took out what she described as a 'spike fiddle' and started playing. Now, this thing looks like a black widow spider, but sounds like an orchestra. The music sounded like it was coming from the depths of someone's soul. It had a large amount of sympathetic strings, like a citar, but unlike a citar, you play this with a bow, so it resonates deeply. I can't describe it any better than that. I just hope the sounds comes through on the video better.

I could have sat there all night and listened to her play that thing.

One of the girls in the class was really into Balkan folk music and started singing along. It was unreal this mix of cultures that worked together so well.

I ended up having a lot of fun, met some really nice people, did some yoga, and learned a lot about Turkish and Balkan folk music.

What more can you ask out of a school music recital?