People

Meet Samer.  My friend Julianna and I were walking through the spice bazaar when we heard her name.  She quickly recognized a person she had met in Taksim Square.  Samer is Syrian and a lawyer.  Now with the civil war in Syria, he is working in the spice bazaar in Istanbul.  Hopefully things will get better and he will have opportunities to help fellow Syrians in the future. 

Meet Adan (not sure if I'm spelling that right!).  He came up to me and asked for my photo...catching me off guard since I've been the one with the camera on the whole time.  I asked if I could get his photo and I showed him the peace sign with my fingers.  He returned the Turkish sign for peace...at least I think that is what he is doing! 

 

 

Meet Namud (Nah-mood).  I met him in the Ramadan Bazaar where he was working in his textile booth.  I asked about the cocoons and he generously offered one for free (in a city where everything has a price tag).  He was very interested in my background as a teacher and was glad when I told him I'd share the cocoon with my students. 

 

 

 Meet my funicular (Tram/Metro) friend.  He was playing an accordion on our Tram ride back from the Imperial Palace.  For an extra lira I got a picture with him.  A very charming boy who wasn't afraid to look passengers in the eye and look sweet in order to collect liras on the tram. 

 

 

 

 

I'll add more on as I meet interesting people :)