Avoid taxis as much as possible. In the four taxi rides I’ve taken by myself, the drivers have gone the wrong way twice. Both times it happened at the same fork in the road. Where the taxi needs to go left to go to my part of Istanbul, they go right. This adds on an extra 10-12 minutes to the ride, which translates to about eight bucks.
Although it seems possible they may have made this mistake on accident, both times it happened they went right despite my protests and gestures for them to go left. They then proceed past the only turnaround spot, and then…eureka! They understand what I was saying and are sorry! I’m not sure what’s worse: Them stealing my money by going the wrong way, or insulting my intelligence by pretending it was an accident. Just because I don’t speak Turkish doesn’t mean I’m a moron.
In other news, we have a game tomorrow against the team in 2nd place. We are currently 4th. It will be a tough game, we're missing our starting point guard which really hurts because we are a young team. He suffered a separated shoulder after being slammed to the ground on a layup attempt in our last game. In typical European basketball fashion no foul was called.
2/21/10
Other photos
Istiklal Street.
The really old tram.
A cool church I found just off Istiklal Avenue. Too bad it was cloudy, this picture would look a lot better if it was a sunny day. The picture doesn't represent how cool this church really is.
Funny photos
Saw this shop on Istiklal Avenue. It's a nice shop, a real pioneer in it's industry. You can get a bunch of touristy gifts and stuff. But for those who want a more....enduring....souvenir from Istanbul you can get a body piercing, or even a tattoo. Seems like it may be a bit of a niche market though.
Some kebab meat. Notice the meat on the left, the one about the size of the man standing next to it...it's made from chicken. Fortunately I haven't encountered a live Turkish chicken yet.
Saturday off
With today off I figured I'd get in a little sightseeing. I hadn't been to Taksim square yet, so I figured I'd check it out.
After consulting the unfriendly and unhelpful front desk guy at the hotel, I jumped on a bus that seemed to be heading toward Taksim. I used my patented foreign bus travel system. I'll even be gracious enough to share it with you. Step 1: Be the last to board the bus, and watch how people pay. Step 2: Get off whenever there is a mass exodus of people from the bus. Step 3: After getting off the bus search for a high vantage point to figure out where you are. If no such vantage point is available, follow the biggest crowd.
I'm proud to say that my system worked flawlessly...this time. After getting to Taksim I walked over to Istiklal Avenue, which is a classic European walking street. Some cool shops, none of which I entered. This is one of the downsides to being 6'11", clothes shopping is really difficult. Especially in Europe. But still it was cool to check out the walking street. Translated into Enlglish the name of the street is Independence Avenue.
The highlight of my day though had to be lunch. I found a Pizza Hut, and it was great. Well, actually the pizza was mediocre. Not as good as Pizza Hut in the States. But on the plus side it wasn't McDonalds and it wasn't Turkish.
Oh one more cool thing, the avenue has a really old tram service...it started in 1875. Wikipedia say it also has the world's second oldest subway station, but this seems doubtful. It would seem that the 2nd oldest would be near the oldest, but I can't find out where the oldest subway station is. Regardless, it is an old tram.
All in all, Taksim was alright. I mean, really it's just a big square. Istiklal Avenue was interesting, but not the best walking street I've seen. Definitely pales in comparison to Strøget in Copenhagen. Now that's a walking street done right! Whatever that means.
After consulting the unfriendly and unhelpful front desk guy at the hotel, I jumped on a bus that seemed to be heading toward Taksim. I used my patented foreign bus travel system. I'll even be gracious enough to share it with you. Step 1: Be the last to board the bus, and watch how people pay. Step 2: Get off whenever there is a mass exodus of people from the bus. Step 3: After getting off the bus search for a high vantage point to figure out where you are. If no such vantage point is available, follow the biggest crowd.
I'm proud to say that my system worked flawlessly...this time. After getting to Taksim I walked over to Istiklal Avenue, which is a classic European walking street. Some cool shops, none of which I entered. This is one of the downsides to being 6'11", clothes shopping is really difficult. Especially in Europe. But still it was cool to check out the walking street. Translated into Enlglish the name of the street is Independence Avenue.
The highlight of my day though had to be lunch. I found a Pizza Hut, and it was great. Well, actually the pizza was mediocre. Not as good as Pizza Hut in the States. But on the plus side it wasn't McDonalds and it wasn't Turkish.
Oh one more cool thing, the avenue has a really old tram service...it started in 1875. Wikipedia say it also has the world's second oldest subway station, but this seems doubtful. It would seem that the 2nd oldest would be near the oldest, but I can't find out where the oldest subway station is. Regardless, it is an old tram.
All in all, Taksim was alright. I mean, really it's just a big square. Istiklal Avenue was interesting, but not the best walking street I've seen. Definitely pales in comparison to Strøget in Copenhagen. Now that's a walking street done right! Whatever that means.
2/20/10
Lost at home...
We lost our home game this weekend. The team we played is really talented, but haven't played well this season. They've actually had 3 coaches and haven't paid their players for 3 months! But they have a lot of talent, and their average age is 28. Compared to our average age of (probably) 22. It's always tough playing against veteran teams.
On the plus side I don't have practice til Monday and tomorrow it's supposed to approach 70 degrees! Two days off is something I really need for my ankle. I'll still probably get out and do some sightseeing tomorrow. I can't handle being in my hotel room for that long.
On the plus side I don't have practice til Monday and tomorrow it's supposed to approach 70 degrees! Two days off is something I really need for my ankle. I'll still probably get out and do some sightseeing tomorrow. I can't handle being in my hotel room for that long.
2/16/10
Damn!
Just got home and realized I left my shoes at the gym. Our practice was cut short because we lost power in the gym. Somewhere between changing and packing up in the dark I forgot to include my shoes. Good thing I have a backup pair, I just didn't want to go to them this early.
Ankle update: I didn't participate in practice, just some light shooting and some rehab by myself.
Ankle update: I didn't participate in practice, just some light shooting and some rehab by myself.
2/15/10
2/14/10
Great road win!!!
Had a road game this weekend and came away with a great win. The final score was 82-79 in OT. The team we played was in 11th place, but it was a road game and I couldn't play. I warmed up but my ankle did not feel stable at all. I decided to shut it down, despite the pressure to play. Their American, Joey Knight, went to a school in my conference, so it was cool to see him again. He went to a school with a lot of Mercer Island ties, Lehigh.
The city we went to is called Denizli. To put it mildly, I'm glad I'm playing in Istanbul haha. When I walked out of the airport I was surprised to see.....nothing. Literally, there were open fields as far as I could see. We were in a valley surrounded by mountains, but best I could tell there was nothing there. After an hour drive we arrived in Denizli, which.....well who cares.
Other notable things that happened during the road trip:
1) Got to watch an episode of Seinfeld. First American TV in a month. Funniest thing about the show? They blurred out the cigar that Kramer was smoking. Because it sends a bad image to the kids, my teammates said. Apparently all the Turkish people smoking doesn't send the bad message, American TV does.
2) We held our pregame scouting meeting in the basement of the hotel. Aside from moonlighting as a meeting room it also serves as "Flexible Club". Apparently it's a popular night spot too.
Should have some more interesting (to me) posts coming up, including such riveting topics as the Europe/Asia divide, sheepballs and my taxi cab vendetta.
Captions
Since blogger makes it extremely difficult to put multiple pictures in a post I'm just going to write the captions here for the photos in the below.
Starting from the bottom:
Some palm trees covered in snow. The first week I was here Istanbul saw the temperature drop lower than it's been in 50 years. My teammates responded by throwing snowballs. All the time. At everyone.
One of the walking streets in the center of Istanbul. I took this picture when the stream of people abated. It was mid-day on a Saturday.
A mosque. In Istanbul. Somewhere. I don't know the name or where it was, I had just gotten off the bus at a random stop. But cool mosque.
One of two pictures I took in the Grand Bazaar. I had to leave within 5 minutes because I was swarmed by vendors. It would be a really cool place as long as you are able to blend in with the crowd. Unfortunately that is not one of my skills. I wouldn't make a very good ninja.
A picture of the outside of my hotel. It's really old. Like 18th century. The building to the left is abandoned, and best I can tell, is only used as a house for homeless dogs. Regardless, my hotel is still a "luxury" hotel as they call it in Turkey.
Starting from the bottom:
Some palm trees covered in snow. The first week I was here Istanbul saw the temperature drop lower than it's been in 50 years. My teammates responded by throwing snowballs. All the time. At everyone.
One of the walking streets in the center of Istanbul. I took this picture when the stream of people abated. It was mid-day on a Saturday.
A mosque. In Istanbul. Somewhere. I don't know the name or where it was, I had just gotten off the bus at a random stop. But cool mosque.
One of two pictures I took in the Grand Bazaar. I had to leave within 5 minutes because I was swarmed by vendors. It would be a really cool place as long as you are able to blend in with the crowd. Unfortunately that is not one of my skills. I wouldn't make a very good ninja.
A picture of the outside of my hotel. It's really old. Like 18th century. The building to the left is abandoned, and best I can tell, is only used as a house for homeless dogs. Regardless, my hotel is still a "luxury" hotel as they call it in Turkey.
2/11/10
Exhibition game
Yesterday we had a friendly against another Istanbul team. We lost, but that doesn't matter because it was just an exhibition. What does matter, however, is the sprained ankle I suffered at the end of the 3rd quarter.
It's now the morning after our game, and I still can't put any weight on it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say I won't be able to play in our game on Saturday. This sucks, it will be only the 3rd game I've had to sit out since my freshman year of high school.
It's now the morning after our game, and I still can't put any weight on it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say I won't be able to play in our game on Saturday. This sucks, it will be only the 3rd game I've had to sit out since my freshman year of high school.
2/7/10
Grand Bazaar, Gouda cheese and techno fist pumping
Yesterday was my first off-day of the weekend and I was determined to take advantage of it. I woke up….late…and got off to a bad start. I went downstairs and asked the World’s Most Unfriendly Hotel Receptionist if the hotel had a map of Istanbul. I was pleased when he pulled out a detailed map from a drawer. When I tried to take the map he informed me that I couldn’t have it because the hotel doesn’t give away maps. What kind of $150-a-night hotel can’t spring for some freakin maps????
Dismayed but not deterred I opted for plan B. Ask the receptionist known for being extremely unhelpful for directions into a place I’ve never seen, sans map, and without being able to speak the language. When I asked him how I could get to the Grand Bazaar, his response was, “Take bus 25E. Get off and you should take the Metro.”
This was not how I pictured my day touring Istanbul starting off. I pressed the fiend behind the desk for my details, and he finally relented, telling me I should get off the Metro at Beyazit. He also told me where I could catch the 25E bus. Despite my efforts to coax out something more than just a starting point and an ending point I couldn’t get him to divulge any more state secrets.
Because I’m naturally a competitive person I tend to twist situations, making competitions with people who have no idea I’m competing with them. I was in full-fledged eff-you mode, determined to get to the Grand Bazaar to spite the guy working at the front desk.
After successfully figuring out how much to pay on the bus (my preferred strategy is to put a 5 TL bill down and hope I get correct change), I stood there, packed in like a sardine, waiting for the Metro stop. I knew before I got on the bus is that I live in the northernmost district of Istanbul, so when I was on the bus I decided I would ride it until I figured I was in downtown and then get off when a lot of people got off. Advanced strategy, I know.
I rode the bus for about 45 minutes; saw the bridge that connect the European side of Turkey to the Asian side. That was cool, it is a really impressive suspension bridge. When we got to what I imagined downtown Istanbul to look like I started waiting for a mass exodus of bus passengers to signal my destination. As we pulled up to a stop I saw a huge Metro sign and looked around the bus. Half the bus got off, and I was suddenly left with a dilemma.
Without reason I jumped off the bus and took in my surroundings. I started walking left because, well why not? I ended up walking around some cool walking streets, seeing all types of vendors. But no Metro station. It should be noted that I was looking for a subway entrance because that’s what I think of when I think of Metro. It turns out the Metro was more like an above-ground light rail that they are building in Seattle.
I circled back to the spot where I got off the bus and figured I’d get back on and see where the other half of the people get off. Fortunately another one came along in less than a minute. After riding the bus about a mile or so we pulled up to a stop light. All of the sudden everyone rushed for the exits, and before I knew it I was the only one on the bus. Figuring they knew something I didn’t, I hopped off and tried to figure out where everyone was running to. Turns out they were running so they could cross the street and catch the next Metro. I’d finally found the Metro!
The next part was easy, I mean the guy at the hotel even gave me the name of the exit to get off at! I got off at Beyazit and found the Grand Bazaar. I had planned on looking for gifts for people, but I had drastically underestimated the amount of attention someone who is 7 feet tall and foreign generates in a place where shop keepers are constantly calling out to people to entice them to shop.
I first attempted ignoring the people, pretending I didn’t speak Turkish or English. Apparently they’ve seen this strategy before (who would’ve guessed?!?!), and they started coming up and pulling my jacket. It’s much more difficult to ignore three people tugging you in different directions than it is when they simply call out to you. It was madness, before I could say “no thanks” to one guy, another would come up and pull on my coat. I walked around briefly, took one picture and got out of there as fast as I could.
Since it was about 3 pm I figured I’d try to make it back to my hotel. The traffic in Istanbul is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’m not lying when I say I’ve sat in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway….on the way home from a club at 4 am.
Unfortunately traffic takes no holiday in Istanbul and it took me a long time to get home. I hadn’t eaten lunch and was getting hungry, so I stopped in at a grocery store close to my hotel to see if I could find any snacks to hold me over until I could eat dinner. That’s when I saw Gouda cheese, and I was psyched! There aren’t a lot of familiar foods for me to eat where I am, so the sight of Gouda cheese made me more excited than I should have been. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any good crackers to go with it, but I bought it anyway and ate it straight.
After relaxing in my room and eating dinner I got a call from my friend, Kemal. He works for my agent. He invited me out, so I wrote down the name of the place he was at and got into a taxi. I don’t have a cell phone or a way to communicate with the driver, so I was happy when I figured out he knew where the place was. I have no idea if he ripped me off. But it wouldn’t be the first time that happened to me by a Turkish cab driver.
Me and Kemal hung out for awhile at a TGI Fridays, it was a carbon-copy of the American version. After drinking some Turkish beer (Efes Pilsen is really good) we headed to a club, hilariously named Supper Club. It was an unreal scene. We were going there because Kemal’s best friend was having a birthday party. We skipped the line, went in for free and went to the VIP section. Instead of a table, we had a couch (maybe it was a king size bed) with silk sheets and silk pillows. In the middle of the couch was a table with a bunch of bottles of alcohol, fresh sliced fruit, chocolate cake and other food. I had a few beers, ate a bunch of kiwis (what? They were delicious) and took in the scene.
The music was strictly techno. And with all the fist pumping going on I was waiting for an appearance by a Jersey Shore cast member. The dancing was terrible, but the beer was free and food was good. My favorite part of the night came when a guy came out with a microphone and started singing some song. The strange part about this guy was that he had a shaved head, one earing, was wearing a CORSET, tight leather pants and high heel boots. He was a dead ringer for Xerses from the movie 300.
Overall the club wasn’t really my scene. Everyone smoked and the music sucked (how do you dance to techno if you are unwilling to abuse MDMA?). But the alcohol was free, the food was free and our couch/bed was right next to the couch/bed being used by Turkey’s equivalent of George Clooney. At first I thought he was just a creepy old guy dancing with a lot of younger women, but then I found out he was famous so it all made sense.
Dismayed but not deterred I opted for plan B. Ask the receptionist known for being extremely unhelpful for directions into a place I’ve never seen, sans map, and without being able to speak the language. When I asked him how I could get to the Grand Bazaar, his response was, “Take bus 25E. Get off and you should take the Metro.”
This was not how I pictured my day touring Istanbul starting off. I pressed the fiend behind the desk for my details, and he finally relented, telling me I should get off the Metro at Beyazit. He also told me where I could catch the 25E bus. Despite my efforts to coax out something more than just a starting point and an ending point I couldn’t get him to divulge any more state secrets.
Because I’m naturally a competitive person I tend to twist situations, making competitions with people who have no idea I’m competing with them. I was in full-fledged eff-you mode, determined to get to the Grand Bazaar to spite the guy working at the front desk.
After successfully figuring out how much to pay on the bus (my preferred strategy is to put a 5 TL bill down and hope I get correct change), I stood there, packed in like a sardine, waiting for the Metro stop. I knew before I got on the bus is that I live in the northernmost district of Istanbul, so when I was on the bus I decided I would ride it until I figured I was in downtown and then get off when a lot of people got off. Advanced strategy, I know.
I rode the bus for about 45 minutes; saw the bridge that connect the European side of Turkey to the Asian side. That was cool, it is a really impressive suspension bridge. When we got to what I imagined downtown Istanbul to look like I started waiting for a mass exodus of bus passengers to signal my destination. As we pulled up to a stop I saw a huge Metro sign and looked around the bus. Half the bus got off, and I was suddenly left with a dilemma.
Without reason I jumped off the bus and took in my surroundings. I started walking left because, well why not? I ended up walking around some cool walking streets, seeing all types of vendors. But no Metro station. It should be noted that I was looking for a subway entrance because that’s what I think of when I think of Metro. It turns out the Metro was more like an above-ground light rail that they are building in Seattle.
I circled back to the spot where I got off the bus and figured I’d get back on and see where the other half of the people get off. Fortunately another one came along in less than a minute. After riding the bus about a mile or so we pulled up to a stop light. All of the sudden everyone rushed for the exits, and before I knew it I was the only one on the bus. Figuring they knew something I didn’t, I hopped off and tried to figure out where everyone was running to. Turns out they were running so they could cross the street and catch the next Metro. I’d finally found the Metro!
The next part was easy, I mean the guy at the hotel even gave me the name of the exit to get off at! I got off at Beyazit and found the Grand Bazaar. I had planned on looking for gifts for people, but I had drastically underestimated the amount of attention someone who is 7 feet tall and foreign generates in a place where shop keepers are constantly calling out to people to entice them to shop.
I first attempted ignoring the people, pretending I didn’t speak Turkish or English. Apparently they’ve seen this strategy before (who would’ve guessed?!?!), and they started coming up and pulling my jacket. It’s much more difficult to ignore three people tugging you in different directions than it is when they simply call out to you. It was madness, before I could say “no thanks” to one guy, another would come up and pull on my coat. I walked around briefly, took one picture and got out of there as fast as I could.
Since it was about 3 pm I figured I’d try to make it back to my hotel. The traffic in Istanbul is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’m not lying when I say I’ve sat in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway….on the way home from a club at 4 am.
Unfortunately traffic takes no holiday in Istanbul and it took me a long time to get home. I hadn’t eaten lunch and was getting hungry, so I stopped in at a grocery store close to my hotel to see if I could find any snacks to hold me over until I could eat dinner. That’s when I saw Gouda cheese, and I was psyched! There aren’t a lot of familiar foods for me to eat where I am, so the sight of Gouda cheese made me more excited than I should have been. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any good crackers to go with it, but I bought it anyway and ate it straight.
After relaxing in my room and eating dinner I got a call from my friend, Kemal. He works for my agent. He invited me out, so I wrote down the name of the place he was at and got into a taxi. I don’t have a cell phone or a way to communicate with the driver, so I was happy when I figured out he knew where the place was. I have no idea if he ripped me off. But it wouldn’t be the first time that happened to me by a Turkish cab driver.
Me and Kemal hung out for awhile at a TGI Fridays, it was a carbon-copy of the American version. After drinking some Turkish beer (Efes Pilsen is really good) we headed to a club, hilariously named Supper Club. It was an unreal scene. We were going there because Kemal’s best friend was having a birthday party. We skipped the line, went in for free and went to the VIP section. Instead of a table, we had a couch (maybe it was a king size bed) with silk sheets and silk pillows. In the middle of the couch was a table with a bunch of bottles of alcohol, fresh sliced fruit, chocolate cake and other food. I had a few beers, ate a bunch of kiwis (what? They were delicious) and took in the scene.
The music was strictly techno. And with all the fist pumping going on I was waiting for an appearance by a Jersey Shore cast member. The dancing was terrible, but the beer was free and food was good. My favorite part of the night came when a guy came out with a microphone and started singing some song. The strange part about this guy was that he had a shaved head, one earing, was wearing a CORSET, tight leather pants and high heel boots. He was a dead ringer for Xerses from the movie 300.
Overall the club wasn’t really my scene. Everyone smoked and the music sucked (how do you dance to techno if you are unwilling to abuse MDMA?). But the alcohol was free, the food was free and our couch/bed was right next to the couch/bed being used by Turkey’s equivalent of George Clooney. At first I thought he was just a creepy old guy dancing with a lot of younger women, but then I found out he was famous so it all made sense.
Big win
We won our game on Friday. The team we were playing was one game ahead of us in the standings. Long story short we won, 69-62. I played poorly, got in early foul trouble and couldn’t get in the flow. I played well down the stretch, scoring 5 points in the last two minutes, including the go-ahead free throw to make it 63-62 with 40 seconds left.
We were originally scheduled to practice Sunday, but the coaches reconsidered and our next practice is Monday at 7:30 am.
Depending on what the other teams ahead of us did this weekend we will either move into a tie for second place, tie for third or have fourth to ourselves.
We were originally scheduled to practice Sunday, but the coaches reconsidered and our next practice is Monday at 7:30 am.
Depending on what the other teams ahead of us did this weekend we will either move into a tie for second place, tie for third or have fourth to ourselves.
2/5/10
Just stick to the menu....
So far Turkey has been awesome. It kind of sucks living in a hotel, but I'm used to it now. The food here is good, I live across the street from the sea, and there are plenty of cool things to see in Istanbul (when I get the chance).
But one of the biggest differences between Turkey and Japan/Denmark is the level of communication. This is my first experience having a non-American/Canadian coach. Obviously everything is said in Turkish, and I get about.....40% translated for me by the assistant coach. His translations are sometimes a little funny, and maybe a quarter of the time make no sense, but hey I roll with it. Often times this leads to me having absolutely no idea what we're doing in practice. I compensate for this by being the last into drills, so I can figure out what we're doing. This is unusual for me, I've always been one of the first to go in drills. But no big deal.
Besides adjusting to a foreign coach, I've had to adjust to general public not speaking/understanding English. In Denmark, everybody under 60 speaks English, many better than myself. In Japan many people are too shy to speak, but most can understand you if you speak slowly and with basic words. But in Turkey there is almost no English. Sometimes it's frustrating, but most of the time I don't mind because, hey, I'm playing basketball in Turkey.
Tonight I went down to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner. I wanted something really filling because we have a game tomorrow at 1 pm. I had eaten their tortellini before, and it was delicious. But it came with mushrooms and no meat. I decided to order the tortellini, with grilled chicken on top and minus the mushrooms. This was my first big mistake: Never complicate food orders, it doesn't work!
I was excited to see my tortellini being delivered just as I was finishing my vegetable soup. I was pleased by the impeccable timing, but dismayed to find no chicken and mushrooms in my tortellini. Too hungry to care, I dug into the tortellini...leaving the mushrooms on the side. I wasn't third-world hungry! The last time I ate tortellini I wasn't full when I went back to my room. To compensate I started eating a lot of rolls that were at my table. After the rolls I was feeling satisfied and looking forward to desert.
As the waiter came to take my plate away, I saw he was carrying another plate. This caught my eye, because normally they serve my ice cream in a bowl. When he set my plate down, I was surprised to see another dinner entree. My grilled chicken had arrived. Complete with mashed potatos (unequivocally the worst mashed potatos I'd ever had. I now know why they serve fries with everything), rice and half a tomato. The waiter then explained to me, or at least what I think he was trying to explain to me, was that they aren't supposed to serve two entrees but he was doing me a favor. I thanked him and as he walked away I wondered how I was going to eat this second dinner.
I managed to eat half the chicken and all the rice. I took one bite of the potatos and nearly lost everything. This leads me to something else....I think I have a weird reaction to terrible food. When something is really terrible, and spitting it out is not a viable option, I lose my ability to swallow it. I don't know what it is....maybe I'm worried about the after taste, because sometimes that is worse than the regular taste.
Anyway, point of the story is I finished both entrees, all those rolls, soup and desert. And now I'm laying in bed writing this post, unable to move and with a severe stomach ache.
But one of the biggest differences between Turkey and Japan/Denmark is the level of communication. This is my first experience having a non-American/Canadian coach. Obviously everything is said in Turkish, and I get about.....40% translated for me by the assistant coach. His translations are sometimes a little funny, and maybe a quarter of the time make no sense, but hey I roll with it. Often times this leads to me having absolutely no idea what we're doing in practice. I compensate for this by being the last into drills, so I can figure out what we're doing. This is unusual for me, I've always been one of the first to go in drills. But no big deal.
Besides adjusting to a foreign coach, I've had to adjust to general public not speaking/understanding English. In Denmark, everybody under 60 speaks English, many better than myself. In Japan many people are too shy to speak, but most can understand you if you speak slowly and with basic words. But in Turkey there is almost no English. Sometimes it's frustrating, but most of the time I don't mind because, hey, I'm playing basketball in Turkey.
Tonight I went down to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner. I wanted something really filling because we have a game tomorrow at 1 pm. I had eaten their tortellini before, and it was delicious. But it came with mushrooms and no meat. I decided to order the tortellini, with grilled chicken on top and minus the mushrooms. This was my first big mistake: Never complicate food orders, it doesn't work!
I was excited to see my tortellini being delivered just as I was finishing my vegetable soup. I was pleased by the impeccable timing, but dismayed to find no chicken and mushrooms in my tortellini. Too hungry to care, I dug into the tortellini...leaving the mushrooms on the side. I wasn't third-world hungry! The last time I ate tortellini I wasn't full when I went back to my room. To compensate I started eating a lot of rolls that were at my table. After the rolls I was feeling satisfied and looking forward to desert.
As the waiter came to take my plate away, I saw he was carrying another plate. This caught my eye, because normally they serve my ice cream in a bowl. When he set my plate down, I was surprised to see another dinner entree. My grilled chicken had arrived. Complete with mashed potatos (unequivocally the worst mashed potatos I'd ever had. I now know why they serve fries with everything), rice and half a tomato. The waiter then explained to me, or at least what I think he was trying to explain to me, was that they aren't supposed to serve two entrees but he was doing me a favor. I thanked him and as he walked away I wondered how I was going to eat this second dinner.
I managed to eat half the chicken and all the rice. I took one bite of the potatos and nearly lost everything. This leads me to something else....I think I have a weird reaction to terrible food. When something is really terrible, and spitting it out is not a viable option, I lose my ability to swallow it. I don't know what it is....maybe I'm worried about the after taste, because sometimes that is worse than the regular taste.
Anyway, point of the story is I finished both entrees, all those rolls, soup and desert. And now I'm laying in bed writing this post, unable to move and with a severe stomach ache.
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