The return of the sun
After days and days of gloom and light snow, the sun decided to revisit Istanbul. Having a Central European disposition, I am normally right at home in a slate-grey world with only the wind and drizzling rain to keep me company. But I have been ill for three weeks now, and the damp cold has been making me feel like good health is an illusive dream. Yesterday, I woke up feeling horrible, looked at the snowflakes blowing by the window, and decided to skip class and stay in bed.
However, feeling vaguely more fortified after a day of sleep, today I rejoined the world of people who don’t regularly carry around three inhalers. I even got to school early, ready to manipulate the agglutinative infixes and suffixes of Turkish verbs. I was even happy when the sun broke through the clouds mid-morning and reminded me that I am, indeed, living next to the Mediterranean.
After class, I strolled through Cihangir with M., as fellow student who grew up in Saudi Arabia. Over pizza we talked about her recent travels through Eastern Europe, Turkish cuisine, and the blessing/curse of perpetual wanderlust. Before parting, I got a glimpse of sun on the Bosphorus between the houses and remembered that this city still enchants me.
