A Runner in Istanbul

(From August 14, 2009)
Istanbul, Turkey

I was dizzy. My surroundings confused me: modern shops near archaic mosques, shabby apartments alongside ritzy hotels. The tacky juxtaposed with the homely. Chaos in the roads with all the taxis moving around as if they were hot wheels controlled by a five year old (I got the impression that there are as much if not more taxis than cars in Istanbul). Friendly Turkish men assisting helpless tourists.

......

The morning found going for my usual run. I had no idea what surrounded our dormitory and so wished to find out. Stepping outside, the sun immediately shone on my body clad in black running shorts and a gray t-shirt. This sun felt different than Berlin. Was it hotter? Brighter? Bigger? I really had no idea other than the initial visceral feeling. Not much I can do about that—so I planted one foot in front of the other and went my merry way. Within the first 200 meters (this is Europe, after all), I realized how spoiled I was running in Germany. Berlin’s occasional divot or raised edge on the sidewalk has got nothing on Istanbul’s ubiquitous potholes, shallow snaking water troughs and piles of rubble littering the roadside. This combined with the fact that taxi drivers scream by, missing me by a millimeter while honking their horns, gave me the tricky task of constantly switching between looking down to make sure I don’t fall and looking up to make sure I don’t end up as Japanese American roadkill.

The run was well worth the effort to stay alive, however, as after about 20 minutes of running roadside, I ended up in a small park next to the Bosphorus River. Despite my skepticism when reading about it, I was impressed. The waves crashed into the cement platform, spraying water onto the pavement. The water shimmered dark blue in the sunlight. Water birds flew overhead. Ships cruised around in different directions. I could stare endlessly into this river, my thoughts lost in the undulating currents. This was beauty. Beauty within the chaos of the surrounding city. Staring at the waters, I came to accept the confusion around me. My dizziness was cured.