TeacherBeacon: Day 50, July 26, 2011 (Leave Bursa, Grand Bazaar, Being robbed)

vids to add 370/371/372/373/374

So we got up and met downstairs of the dorm and met Dr. Wells and Abramson at their dorm. I am the only one here right now. It is going to be a very hot day and we will be running around all day. We are taking a ferry from Mudanya which is part of Bursa which is on the south of the Marmara directly north to Istanbul. It will be a high speed ferry. I am reflecting a lot about the trip, the science and the people I have met here. We are all excited about a visit to Istanbul and a bit sad at the prospect of leaving. But I am excited to see my family finally. The day actually turned out to not be very good. But as I have tried to do as much as possible is not to panic and remember things happen for a reason.

We all hauled our luggage down the steps of our dorm at Uludag University. Each one of us trying to pack all of our Turkish treasures into suitcases made for much less stuff. Our packing skills had to be at there peak. We drove to Mudanya and left on a high speed ferry across part of the Sea of Marmara.
The boat looked like a big airplane inside with aligned seats everywhere. You could not go outside. I moved and sat on a ledge infront of the windows facing the bow. It was a foggy day on the water so you could not see much. But as we approached Istanbul the city burst into view. The color of the city and the mosques towering over the city, the boat traffic was startling. All of us took a lot of pictures of this unexpected special view. We needed 5 crammed taxis to get our luggage and the people of our entourage to the hotel. The luggage was crammed into trunks that remaind unlocked. As the taxis sped out of the area the trunks were bouncing up and I was amazed that no luggage was thrown onto the street. The lead driver got lost and we missed our street so all five taxis made 3 point turns at the same time to reverse directions with cars all over us honking and people yelling. The taxis drivers let us out at the hotel with the obligatory argument about the payment. I digress here about taxis which if you go to Istanbul you should be weary of. First the public transportation system is safe and great. I went from Asia back to Europe with little issues. Best thing to do is ask people as many times as possible different people how to get where, which bus or train to take. If people are saying the same thing you are going to be okay. If you use a taxi, suggestion is to ask the driver how much will this ride be do you think. Even before you go in a taxi you should ask someone who is Turkish where you are staying to help you get this information. Have knowledge as some of the drivers may take you for a ride (literally and figuratively), we had some great and fair cab drivers and some not so good. Anyway soon after we got to the hotel we left for the Grand bazaar. I wanted to try to get a lot of shopping done there. This place is so overwhelming it is like a mall on steroids with much more narrow routes to walk and venders that will insist that you look at their wares if you even slightly make eye contact with them. The Bazaar is unique in its color, sound, smell. Rugs, clothes, jewelry, gold, silver, food, trinkets and anything else combine to really make this a sensory shopping experience like no other. This place is older than Macy's, Sears and Walmart combined. It was started 533 years ago mostly as a place where animals were sold in the food and agriculture business. The carpets there were most spectacular, some were selling for $30,000 and up. We met a lot of young people selling things as workers. They were interesting to talk to. This was the busy season for them. In the winter they play soccer in the aisles and news spreads around the Bazaar when a sale is made and congratulations are sent out. But now it is total wall to stall people. I was simply amazed as I searched for things to bring back to the states. The real story begins on the way home, the incident really has been a big thing with the people here and at home. Me and 2 students were returning to the hotel after the shopping at the Grand Bazaar. As I was crossing a side street about 2 blocks from the hotel a young man crossed my path and for a second stopped and ripped my pouch that was around my neck that had money and my passport. I yelled out and the kid ran into some alley really fast. A lot of people started yelling at the young boy as he ran out of site. One man who saw this came up to me and he told me lets go see if we can find them (in broken english). We searched where the probably went but not luck. This person took me to the police station. All was so confusing as I tried to communicate what happened. I told my story to about 6 police officers, officers left and came. They asked me to go back to the street to show them what happened. They talked to people on the street to ask them what they saw. The police showed me and others around pictures of criminals to see if we could ID any of them, it was very hard. I was with the police for 3 hours. They had to do a report and to help them they found a waiter that could speak english, that seemed to have helped. The people there were very supportive and angry about this. They kept saying do not worry no problem. That was easy for them to say I did not have a passport was leaving the country in a day and a half. I asked an officer to help me call the US consulate so that I could find out how I could get a new passport in one day. He contacted someone gave me the phone and a Mark Buggy was helping me. This is 7 pm and I was in contact with an emergency number. I was able to secure an 8 am appointment for tomorrow to get a temporary passport. The police brought me to the computer and I was able to witness the entire crime on video, from when my pouch was snatched to the teens running away even in the alley ways, one of the 3 holding my flailing passport and money in a pouch. It is embarassing to see yourself getting ripped off. DO NOT USE A POUCH. They finished the report and an officer walked me back to the hotel. I was fairly upset but not bad. The people were really helpful and concerned. Now it was time to sleep I had to get up early to take a taxi to the consulate over on the Asian side of Istanbul.
Luggage in the van