Habibindia 01: In Istanbul, arrival and Merve’s loving family
Ladies and gentlemen, Diljit and Alvi are getting married! and we are going to India! 10 friends are going to attend the wedding. With two good/nice/beautiful colleagues of mine, Christina and Merve, the trip starts in Istanbul. Merve convinced us to stop in the lovely city for two days and we found that great and we decided to go. From Stuttgart we flew with Turkish airlines. The ladies are so interesting that I couldn’t sleep, watch a movie or read in 3 hours. Instead, we had philosophical discussions about if you have the choice to let a train hit and kill 5 people or divert it to hit one guy. What would you choose? Would you focus on the action or on the consequences?
We landed in Istanbul around 4:20, where Merve found her way to the citizens line while Christina and I stood in the international line of the customs. We met the American/Mexican Andy who is coming to visit Europe and is staying one night in Istanbul. Andy was very sociable and talkative or “Gregarious” which is a new word I learnt from him.
Well, I guess I will fast forward the subway, the traffic, the drive, etc.. to meeting Merve’s family. This was a highlight of the evening with a fantastic dinner with 2 of Merve’s aunts in Istanbul and their children, cousins etc.. I must tell you that her aunt is doing a PhD in gastronomy. This won’t even explain how delicious the food was. It was not just delicious, it was art! I enjoyed every spoon of it. The company of the family was enchanting. The warmth and the authentic, genuine hospitality is priceless. For me, these are the best moments in life. Sharing time with great warm-hearted people. We ate, talked and laughed a lot.
“Shukran”, which is “Thank you” in Arabic, was the name of Merve’s mother’s cousin. As you can imagine, I was confused when I introduced myself: “Adham”, and she replied “Shukran”. I missed the logic for a some time till they explained to me later that it was her name 😀
The evening was full of cultural exchange that included hand gestures in different cultures. We found it impressive how 19 years olds looked and talked so maturely and intellectually. respect..
Merve and her family discussed for an extended amount of time the plan for tomorrow. We are planning to discover the city and visit and eat as much as we can. I love this city. Istanbul is one of my most favourite cities. Why don’t I come here more often? Why don’t I go to Roma, Barcelona, Berlin or Munich more often? Well, we are here now!
Merve is smoking cheap cigarettes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2KIWcM3f-A
