Route 603

Not giving up on the account that Caracas has very few bus routes identified by numbers, and after looking around for sometime, I, much to my surprise, finally found the 603 bus stop to follow the captain's call.

After waiting for a little too long, and thinking that I usually don't have that kind of luck, I realized that I was not in a bus stop, but just standing next to a road route sign. 'Well, at least I'm on the right track', I thought, dismissing the fact that I just made a fool of myself.

I started hitchhiking then. Oddly lucky I, got soon a lift from what appeared to be a car with a good sign, or at least a good license plate, the BKM 603 license plate, from Norh Dakota. I dind't ask about what a North Dakota car was doing in Caracas, as it seemed perfectly normal in this series of events.

Talking with the driver that picked me up, and telling my story, he, at some point, very wisely pointed out to me that I can't go to Turkey by car, or even by bus. 'There is huge ocean that takes us apart', he said. Well, that was a little discouraging, but I wouldn't let that detail get in my way of joining my fellow 603ers' war. I told the driver to leave me in the nearest international seaport, and so he did.

Looking for the 603 ship to cross the ocean proved to be a little more difficult. People didn't want to help me as they thought I was insane. After looking for a big 603 in any of the ships for a couple of hours, I gived up. It seems that there are even less numbered ships than buses in this country.

While I was going back, defeated as that time I was kicked out of Bulgaria, I notice a little boat that didn't have anything exceptional to notice about, except of the fact that it was named 'BAS'. 'This is it, this is actually my lucky day!', I thought. Any boat that is named after me has to take me wherever I want, right? Even if that boat would hardly go from Tophane to Eminonu, much less cross an ocean. Well, as this is my story, yes, I was right.

And so, this is the tale of how I joined the IF2F603 in it's quest to help the 603 and now I'm on my way.

I already took the boat.

Fight the power and keep the spirit!

International Front To Free 603

The IF2F603 deliberated in general assembly:

1- All International Members in exile have to come back to the base in Istanbul (yeah even you Greg)
2- All the activities in order to free our nation is allowed the use of force and sometimes violence.
3- The first mission of the IF2F603 will be: arrest the ?manager?.
4- Bring the cleaning team to our movement bribing them with çkerdek
5- Then demand an elevator until the 6th floor.
6- Then be sure that the ?manager? doesn?t eat.
7- Then only accept 603 back, not other room(s) or other dorm(s).
8- Is better the street then other(s) room(s) or dormitory(s).
9- If any of this ways of war doesn?t work the solution will be sadly: fire the dormitory then detonate it. (Aakash be sure that you steal the 603 plate before)

Your ?Captain? in the exile:

Cris!

I already took the bus

How would the 603 have reacted

Building on the post of how people from different cultures reacted, I was thinking how the 603 would have reacted, here are some thoughts and feel free to add...

The Captain would have said ' Lets burn the hostel'
Bas would have said 'Man, but why do we have to move' and then slept off or would have made a plan to go for beer or concert
Greg would have counted how this is the million th time he has had to move, bitch about the dorm administration, the @ers ofcourse and then would start packing his bags :)
Iva would be puffing up and down the place with anger on her nose making it visible to one and all that how it sucks!
Ash would have given a hour long analysis on the entire scenario, used some historical or political events to describe our situation and projected future scenarios etc, etc etc !!

Just a few who came to mind, use your imagination and suggest what others would have done...Natercia, Dutch Guy, Nikki, Moncia, Hinnnnnndddiiiii, Sindyyyyyyyyyyyyy and others!

The Unanimous winner gets to be the '603 person of the month'

Comment Alerts!

Yo Guys,

If you want to follow the comments on the blog posts closely, please leave your email ID's as a comment below this post and ill add you to comment notification so that you can stay upto date with what is happening.

Cheers!

In Desperation!

In order to communicate our view on the Dorm situation, the trainees are sending a letter to the management, check out the contents below and feel happy that you have a place to stay in that you know will be yours :P
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Whom It May Concern,

We are writing in regards to the accommodation situation at the Bilgi University dorms. As you know, there is currently a shortage of available rooms and as a result the AIESEC trainees were recently moved into a new building across from the main dorm. At this time, it appears to be uncertain whether or not the trainees will be permitted to stay in the Bilgi facilities at all.

We sincerely hope that you will allow us to remain in our current living situation. To begin with, Tophane?s central location is ideal. Many of us face a lengthy commute to work every day and would have to commute even further, perhaps even several hours each way, should we be forced to move to a less centrally-located accommodation. More importantly, it is essential that we remain in close proximity to the AIESEC office, which is located in Beyoglu. We are in Istanbul without any major support systems and so we rely very much on AIESEC to support us.

In the unfortunate event of us being forced to move to Baltanimani, which is an all-girls dorm, there is a likelihood that the male and female trainees would no longer be together. A big part of the AIESEC experience is based on living with and learning from each other. We are also support systems for each other as we are going through similar experiences. We are content with our current situation ? men and women sharing one room ? and would very much prefer to stay together as we are than be forced to live in different locations.

The trainees have been living in Bilgi for several months now and have forged meaningful and long lasting relationships with the students and management of the dorm. We strongly believe that the principles AIESEC stands for ? tolerance, open-mindedness and cultural understanding ? go hand in hand with the principles of Bilgi University.

We know that you are in a difficult situation and that you are trying your best to satisfy everyone?s needs. We appreciate the fact that you have always been a friend to AIESEC and that you have been working so hard to help us find a solution in this situation. We hope that you will allow us to remain in our current accommodation and further demonstrate Bilgi university?s commitment towards fostering Internationalism and continue your positive relationship with AIESEC.

Thank you for your time and for your continued help!

Sincerely,
AIESEC Istanbul Trainees

Juliana Zanetti Bessa
Aditya Singh
Judit Dunai
Nizar Kanakane
Nicolae Sasaran
Virginia Zhelyazkova
Osman Soğancı
Sana Msahel
Aakash Sethi
Sina Schuck
Helen İyidilli
Eugene Doris
Muhammed Amine
Akiyo Seino
Alexandra Smith

Judgement Day!

People in all parts of the world, tomorrow,Wednesday, 28th September is:

Why?
The dorm administration meets to discuss among other things the future of AIESEC trainees, if trainees stay or trainees go to the girls dorm in Bebek (so you see I am not complaining) none the less, keep your fingers crossed and pray !

Hanging on.... !

How cool you are :)

HEY GUYYYSSS!!!!
Probably u thought im lost somewhere cause i didnt write such a long time...Well, actually, I even didnt know about this blog until Aakash told me about it a week ago (i guess he was just checking if im cool enough to not forget Istanbul to give it to me ;) Well, u can imagine how happy i was then to read the posts, get to know how all of u r, see some pics, check some blogs out... Actually, if i have to be honest, it made me so sad, cause i really still miss Istanbul SO MUCH! maybe its strange cause i was there just 2 months and , come on, i didnt spend that much time in the dorms ;) but still...I actually really think it was one of the best times in my life...And im so happy that i didnt come in summer...cause all the people were telling me " oh, u cant imagine how beautiful it is etc..."...which is true i guess....but i totally have the feeling that this place is a LOTTTT cooler with not all too many trainees, the atmosphere of a family we used to have was like really the best ever, it was so amazing..and also i wasnt just the Ceeder Nr... but i actually had the chance to be the only ceeder at a time and thus get to know the real atmosphere...Come on, i was unique (as u know from me always saying how cool i am u know im anything but modest...hahhhahah)...
The reunion u had guys must have been amazing, oh MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!11
its hard imaging the dorms without all but greg...I guess it would have been weird if i would have come in october for a visit (which i was trying to...)...I would really so much like to come in december, also to visit some friends i get to know here (cause now im totally an Istanbul fan, Viva Istanbul forever...)
And last but not least....I would like to greet all of u...
Mam Natercia, rocking her internship and being hard- working, oh, girl, how can u manage?!??
Our sweet Costa Rica girl, u are a real globe trotter, im envious....
Nikki, i loveeee uuu, i hope u will be in Istanbul in December, write me!
Serious Iva ;) I hope Ankara didnt kill ur enthusiasm but u r really cool, u can manage so much!
Greg, i have to say i was so happy u found a job in Poland, i was worried if u can manage at all to leave Istanbul, cause it was so deep into u, but as i can see, u r happy :)
Aakash, come on, come to visit me man and continue being our news men from The Dorms ;)
Ash, Christiano, send me pics from Portugal, im so proud of u that u managed to make the reunion
Basilio, ur posts r so funny....
Maarten, how is good old Maastricht doin??!?!?
Well, guys, i just wanted to say i didnt at all forget u. And i do hope that u have put my poster in the whatever room, cause otherwise ill get so angry ;)
Ciao cucciole, te voglio benne, stay cool and never forget the Spirit of 603
Cok öptüm
TSVETI (bulgarian, italian, german, turkish: or simply: cool ;))

Moving!

After almost 4 months in 101 aka 603, as some of you know the time has come for us to move on. It seems that the dorm administration is hell bent on throwing us out, from the 6th floor to the 1st floor, now from the 1st floor to the room next to the security guards. There are 16 beds in that room, 8 will be for girls and 8 for guys, its perhaps going to be the worst quality of life (even worse than kasim pasha i think) but the positive side is that one enclosure has natural light and a glass roof, so we will always have natural light unlike the kasim pasa dorms. There was chaos at 2 am on a thursday night when we got to know this was going to happen. The useless administration informs us and says you have to move rooms in one day, ie is move to that god forsaken room on Friday, was interesting to observe the cultural differences in the way people reacted, here are some realtime examples:

The Tunisian made a banner saying 'We will stay here, We wont leave' or something to that effect
The American first charged the turks of being assholes, threaten to leave, and then acted as the representative of the trainees to talk to the administation to solve the dispute
The Brazilian was on 'Vacation'
The British was not bothered with what was going on because he is leaving in 3 days
The Romanians were spreading the news around about what was happening
The Two indians were gossiping about everyone else and having a good laugh and then slept, thinking we will think about this tomorrow!

Anyways, to sum up, there are challenging times ahead with 16 people in a room, but on the positive side, that is going to bring everyone together, bring back the spirit that has been recently lacking.

45 more days in Istanbul, the countdown has begun!

a little love from the Rich Coast

www.monicastravels.com

The benefit of being the venezuelan guy (and not the dutch guy)

I didn't became aware of this particular benefit of being venezuelan until I left the country, and now that I see this list and put everything into perspective it seems completly ridiculous.

I'm not proud of this at all, but if you come to visit me in Venezuela sometime, you know what to buy for present to your family (specially you Maarten).

This list pretty much explains itself

reunions and nostalgia

Wow, I haven´t checked this blog for a few weeks and I'm very impressed. Iva´s post especially rings so true. This past week I had two reunions of my own, one with Pat and his gf Martina and also with some friends I hadn´t seen for two years since we had our exchange in Mexico. When they left, I was left with a feeling of homesickness that I hadn´t felt since I´d gotten here. But the homesickness wasn´t just for "home" but it contained all the nostalgic feelings of you guys and Istanbul. And when Iva said it doesn´t happen often, that is so true. It´s true for me here in Costa Rica and I think the magic and also hard times of a city like Istanbul really pulls everyone together.

I feel optimistic though because already in the past few months I have seen some ppl I never would have thought I would meet again. Nuinuy came to San Jose a while ago, the Pat and Martina, and then my American friends. And the European reunion is soooooooo cool, lovin those pics, thanks Ash.

That´s a super cool pic Bas, and kudos to you and Cristiano for always keeping it spunky and entertaining, will try to take or find a pic that matches your talent.

I can´t believe I only have 3 months left in Costa Rica, this is really passing so quickly. I guess sooner or later I´d have to find a stable job in Canada and grow some roots, for a while.

I´m happy to see yall tanned and smiling:)

Write about it

I was going to title this post 'What about the 603 reunion?' but I don't want to kill that phrase from overdose.

I really would like to hear more stories and see more photos from the reunion. I want to know what things were stolen and how did you keep the 603 spirit alive. It would be great if everybody involved writes something.

And now, to contribute myself and not just ask for other people to contribute, here you have a picture I took yesterday on my way to university. I will try from now on to carry my camera with me as much as I can to document a little of this city and to capture the 'magical realism' that is present on the small details of everyday life in Caracas. I would like to call this project the 'Trigger Happy Project', in honor of that great show Cristiano introduced me (and because the idea is to shoot a picture first and then ask yourself if it was worth it). I wanted to do this, and had done it sporadically, since a long time ago, but now I thought it would be interesting to share it with you in this blog, taking back a little of the original idea behind the 603 philosophy. I will appreciate very much if other people did the same and became part of the 'project'. It would be interesting to see a piece of everybody's life thru photography.

So, here it is, my first piece. I titled it: 'Moving comfort'

As the oldest trainee leaves

I wrote this post about a week ago, so its not really up to date but since there are much more interesting things coming up all the time (like the reunion - I so wish I could have been there), I think I should just finally publish it...

Yes bobs (I know, I have been spending too much time with Aakash, who will btw be a great new 'Padrino' to all now - I somehow never had the personality and knowlege for it), the time has come and I, the oldest trainee since Greg left (looks pretty scarry when it's written), am also leaving, not sure exactly when yet but the count down is in days now...

Everyone seems to be writing around here what they will take/have taken with them from this experience. So let me try to do the same... Although I realize that I haven't been spending all the time I could in and with 603, I think I still realize the value we all had to each other and this experience to each of us and I especially realize that such a thing doesn't happen too often or rather often enough. I became especially aware of this when there was a farewell for a few people leaving in the summer. The guy in charge of organization (Saad) did a really good job to make it a memorable farewell (not just partying and getting drunk but a nice dinner and a slide show on the roof before the partying and getting drunk started). However, I felt like there was something missing. There were too many faces, some of which I couldn't even connect to a name and although I believe that most of these trainees had a great experience and met amazing people, they didn't seem like they were a group all together, they didn't seem to be carrying away a piece of life that they will all always share. Although they all said that they had a great time here and they will never forget, it definitely didn't feel the same as when one of the 'winter' trainees was leaving. (Anyway I might have gotten it all wrong and maybe I just simply concentrated too much on my own Istanbul life at the time). My point is that, to me, what the winter/spring 2005 trainees shared was really special and happens only rarely and I am happy I was able to be at least to some extent a part of it...

And what will I do next? First I will go for a vacation. Not planning to travel too far just will enjoy at least a bit more of the summer in Antalya/Olympos region. Then, in mid-Sept. I will move into another Turkish dorm, this time in Bilkent University, Ankara, and start a masters program.
Yeah, I know, I am writitng this long entry about leaving Istanbul while I'll be living only a few hours away, which doesn't really sound like a big deal. I do feel like I am leaving thou or rather I feel like the spirit of 603 is once and for all leaving Istanbul (although Aakash and Fred are still carrying on the tradition bravely) as the last few people go...

To make my post up to date, I am in Ankara since yesterday (living under rules even worse then in Bilgi that we didnt even have to keep) and not going for a vacation because Turkish institutions are completly disorganized... Although things haven't started the best way, I am still really excited to begin my classes on Monday and do something new and different

Missing all of you, Istanbul and my lost freedom

Three things I did not know about Istanbul till yesterday!

1. Istiklal means 'Victory' Street'
2. The Galata Bridge can split wide open to allow a huge ship/cruise boat to pass through!
3. You can meet Fred at 2.00am by Karakoy water, facing Eminonu with a Turkish girl that you met for just 3 hours !

By request

So you wanted a close-up of my new self, here you have not only a closeup, but also a bonus description of the "new" items:

1. Black t-shirt: as some of you may know, I gave all my black t-shirts to my brother a few years ago. That's why I didn't have any black t-shirts in Istanbul. I bought this one here for $5, with a couple of other, and that's all my new clothing for now. Nothing exciting.

2. Bracelet or whatever it's called: this was a birthday present my friend Katia gave me (Katia is the one I visited in Germany and is here now for holidays). I have tried several times to use accessories in the past but for some reason I can't keep them on. I often even carry my wristwatch in my pocket because I can't stand having it in my wrist for long. Anyway, this time I'm trying to keep this one because it has an added sentimental value.

3. Sideburns and goatee: as with the accessories, several times in my life I have tried to grow a beard only to find complete failure. I don't have exactly too much facial hair, but this is the furthest I have come. I don't think it will last long though, it's just to know that I at least tried.

4. Glassy eyes: spicy food makes me cry of happiness.

I admit that I wanted a new look, but I'm still in the search. By the way Aakash, what happened to the clothes and stuff I donated to the 603? Has anybody find a use for them? Like for drying washed dishes or something?

Ok, I'm dedicating too much time to this blog now. I have to go back to worry about my thesis.

603 Partial Reunion

Hello Bobsters,

So we is be in Porto at the Captain´s at the moment and are planning to hit up a nice cafe/bar at the moment. So a quick photo update. Nikki and I arrived at Lisbon on the 2nd and then went to Natercia´s lovely house that day. We had a crazy night at the beach later on with Natercia´s friends, and of course the Captain joined us for the fun. More detailed updates on that soon. We ended up waking up around 7PM the next day!! On the 4th we all went to Porto and spent the afternoon and evening by the Ribeira (river) and did some serious sight seeing. Natercia went back later in the evening and today we also did plenty of cool touristy stuff around the city. Here are some interesting photos.


By the river in Porto.

Again by the River where they used to bring Port wine with boats into the city.

At Aveiro playing "till the end" with Natercia´s friends.

Chilling at a Buddhist Cafe called Rota Do Cha today.

Some of Natercia´s friends and a Cambodian (me), a Pakistani (Cris) and an Italian (Nikki), atleast thats what her friends were told we were.



We have tried our best to keep the Southern Spirit alive in our own ways and more on that soon. Wish you guys were here.
Ash

Tandoori Chicken for the Venezuelan Soul

Today I went to the 'goodbye lunch' for Angela, an american girl I met a couple of months ago. She left today to Colombia. She is traveling around South America for one year and got stuck in Caracas, her first stop, for something like 5 months. I met her through nomadlife in my attempt to meet foreigners living in Caracas and share experiences. Maybe I will elaborate more in the next days on the subject of sympathizing with expats and seeing and understanding things different now. Maybe.

Anyway, it turns that the goodbye lunch was at an indian food restaurant. Maybe the only one in Caracas. I was really excited about that but then I remembered when we went to that indian-pakistani restaurant in Istiklal and we got very disappointed when we saw the amount of food we got, specially for the amount of money we had to pay. Well, this place was the same, only that fancier. The rations were incredibly small and pretty. It looked more like french cuisine than indian food. I was really disappointed... I wanted to eat with my hands, taste everybody's food and have so much food in my plate that I had to ask the rest of the food to take home. At least that's what's indian food for me. It's a fun, colorful and spicy experience. That's what I took from our countless hinnnndi dinners in the dorm.

Despite of that, I enjoyed the (little) food I had. I ordered tandoori chicken and a kind of dal. I don't remember which kind now, but it was not exactly the one we always had. It was green lentil and not even close as tasty as our dal. I guess there is nothing like eating homemade indian food made with love.

Well, food and cooking has become a big part of my life since I started the 'cooking team' with Aakash like 9 months ago, so you will have to excuse my food-centric post. At least has some pictures in it.

'Its official'

Well its exactly 5.19 am, just a while back i have walked back down the hill (not jumping on cars this time) from 45 ! Annnnneeeeeettttttaaaaa has just had her farewell tonite and Iva has had hers yesterday :) So basically 'its official', Me, Myself that is Aakash is the next Padrino. (I guess my potential for being Gregs successor was first pointed out by Marteen back in April 2004 and I was quite shocked at his prediction)

Anyways, Ash, Cris, Natercia and Nikki are having a blast in Captain's city. I get this message from the Captain 'stupid Aakash we are totally drunk, me, ash, Nikky, Natercia me is cris We are drinking absent is Fucking strong you pussy Peace?'

I call them up through the skype out account at 3.25 am, not caring that the my roomies/hommies were asleep, talk to all 4 of them, felt good :) Ofcourse wished that I could be there as well, but i couldnt make up mind who was missing who more, the 4 of them for not having the rest of us around or the rest of us not being around!

Anyways, these days I get this question a lot, how is it for being here for sooooooo long, which period was the one you cant forget and which are the people you cant forget. The typical diplomatic reply is to say ' You have to live every experience as a different one and not compare it to anyother' But the fact of the matter is that I cant help but compare, however much I try, while coming down Istiklal, I still remember our walks back from drunk nights, whenever I am in 203, I still visualize us watching the movies together, and whenever we are with freddy, I remember the time when the term 'fred' was coined.

The fact of the matter is that our bond and time was definetly special, I dont think anything can really replace the spirit, and yes good things do come to an end, I am glad we had this time together, and I am glad it ended 'physically' it left behind a spirit that I carry, and the same spirit today is being carried by someone in Portugal, USA, Czech Republic, Turkey, Netherlands, Poland, Venezuela, Canada, Costa Rica etc. etc. Today as well as in the coming years, when I meet anyone from any of these countries my face lights up, it reminds me of the times and it always will and I know if one fine day my grandchild comes up to me and tells me, Gradpa I am off to (Portugal, USA, Czech Republic, Turkey, Netherlands, Poland, Venezuela, Canada, Costa rica etc. etc) on an exchange program, I will probably accompany them to spend and relive the good times or will just shoot him contact info of some of you, so that when he/she is feeling homesick he could just hop over at your place for a quick 'home made' meal ! (Probably one out of the 3 things you will feed, he/she would have eaten cooked by Granpa himself!

Its 5.52 now, and I have blabbered enough!

Break the loop!

Finally I have come with an update

I was waiting to get some of the pictures from last sunday to put here with this post but that will have to wait (and if I had waited to get the pictures before posting I might never write anything, alas this pictureless non-exciting-looking update). The reason why I don't have the pictures with me is kind of complicated but I can tell you this time is not my fault. I hope to get them next week though..... Anyway, enough of explanations

I don't need to write much to tell you that I'm still writing my paper for University and not doing much else, but as Aakash wisely told me, I don't have to have an incredibly exciting 'the-bulgarians-don't-want-me-in-their-country' kind of story to make an update. I know it deep inside but my excuse is always that I don't have time because I'm busy writing my thesis, which is not exactly true. What it is true is that I'm putting almost everything in my life on hold till I'm finish with that. Actually, I spent like 1% of the time actually writing and the 99% left worrying that I should be writing. I know that statement will shock some people that think that I never worry about anything, but that's how it is. I remember when Cristiano did the same in Istanbul and I told him not to worry because there is no use, well, I'm actually also like that. That's my big secret for today.

Now that I have managed not to give a reasonable excuse as why I'm not writing more often, I want to say that I appreciate the effort that the people who has written something in this blog has put, specially Aakash who is the main reason why this is still alive and kicking. There is a lot of activity (ok, not A LOT but close) lately and I'm happy to see that. I check this blog regularly and I have to say that I'm excited any time there is a new entry (as you can see, there are not many sources of excitement in my life lately..... well, and its also good to read anything that comes from you people). And now that I'm on the subject, I would like to tell people like me, that are postponing to write for some reason, till the next reason comes, and then the next, and thus creating a perpetual loop; Ill tell you to break the loop now and don't wait for those pictures to come to write your post. I know that sometimes is not easy to break the loop but I hope my openhearted confession inspires some non-writer to write. The same way Alcoholics Anonymous helps alcoholics.... Stop procastinating and write!

Well, this post was initially meant to be about my birthday party but it took a completely different direction. Maybe is better this way so I will have something to write when I post the pictures (which I hope are a little bit interesting... or at least focused).

Thanks to everybody that sent their happy birthdays to me.

Hope to break the loop again soon