Training sessions...a time to sleep off, or, less conspicuously, stare vacantly slash listlessly at your pc screen and lapse into a comatose stupor.
Add to it the pre-cognition that the medium, if not the content, will be Greek and Latin (for all practical purposes) - Turkish to be precise.
Top it all with the instruction for dress code to be what can be roughly translated as
'free clothing'. Paying no heed to the improbable possibility of sudden nudist tendencies of my patrons, I landed up quite a bit late, albeit decked up in my now usual business suit. The only way I could stand out more would've been if I had in fact stood outside. So by lunchtime I had been asked to lose the tie and willingly obliged.
Days 2, 3 and 4 exposed me to a realm of public transport- different route each day. Day 1: Cab to the dock, ferry to the European side, and another 2 cabs. Day 2 saw me take a bus to another bus stop, from the 2nd bus to changing 2 metros. Day 3: was ditto Day 2, add to it the pleasantness of playing pool during coffee breaks. Plus a delicious veg. macaroni lunch at a small nondescript restaurant, where the head waiter spoke English! (Having been here for 5 months now, hearing the Queen's language - or a watered down version of the same - is more musical to the ears than well, other music.) And then to top it all, he spoke 2 lines of Hindi! "आप कैसे हैं?" and "बहुत अच्छे" - winning me over instantly - and reminding me again how sweet one's mother tongue sounds, especially from someone who doesn't know the language!!
Day 4: The most comfortable ride of all - only had to change 1 bus near journey's end... Public transport - thou art a saviour and a bitch! More pool followed, knowing this was the last day of no work and all play :) Lost to a lady (horror of horrors!) My excuse? Tried all the tougher shots but well, wasn't good enough...
Did I mention my impressing more people with Turkish learning skills? No? So that too happened.
Next up - the travelogues begin... enough of my core competency (in case you're wondering - that's "laziness").
Add to it the pre-cognition that the medium, if not the content, will be Greek and Latin (for all practical purposes) - Turkish to be precise.
Top it all with the instruction for dress code to be what can be roughly translated as
'free clothing'. Paying no heed to the improbable possibility of sudden nudist tendencies of my patrons, I landed up quite a bit late, albeit decked up in my now usual business suit. The only way I could stand out more would've been if I had in fact stood outside. So by lunchtime I had been asked to lose the tie and willingly obliged.
Days 2, 3 and 4 exposed me to a realm of public transport- different route each day. Day 1: Cab to the dock, ferry to the European side, and another 2 cabs. Day 2 saw me take a bus to another bus stop, from the 2nd bus to changing 2 metros. Day 3: was ditto Day 2, add to it the pleasantness of playing pool during coffee breaks. Plus a delicious veg. macaroni lunch at a small nondescript restaurant, where the head waiter spoke English! (Having been here for 5 months now, hearing the Queen's language - or a watered down version of the same - is more musical to the ears than well, other music.) And then to top it all, he spoke 2 lines of Hindi! "आप कैसे हैं?" and "बहुत अच्छे" - winning me over instantly - and reminding me again how sweet one's mother tongue sounds, especially from someone who doesn't know the language!!
Day 4: The most comfortable ride of all - only had to change 1 bus near journey's end... Public transport - thou art a saviour and a bitch! More pool followed, knowing this was the last day of no work and all play :) Lost to a lady (horror of horrors!) My excuse? Tried all the tougher shots but well, wasn't good enough...
Did I mention my impressing more people with Turkish learning skills? No? So that too happened.
Next up - the travelogues begin... enough of my core competency (in case you're wondering - that's "laziness").
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