Istanbul Local Custom Tips by Firestar24

Wherever I travel, I always try to pick up a little bit of the local language and happily I found Turkish easy to pick up and remember.

Try this link for a brilliant video with a whole heap of useful Turkish phrases. Fantastic!

Here's a few examples:
Hello = Merhaba (merharba)
Good Morning = Gunaydin (goo nay dun)
Goodbye (person leaving) = Allaha Ismarladik (ala ushmall a duk)
Goodbye (person staying behind) = Gule Gule (gooleh gooleh)
Please = Lutfen (lewtfen)
Thank you = Tesekkur ederim (t shek a ed erin)
What is this? = Bu ne? (Boo nay)

My phoenetic spelling isn't great - check out the link for more helpful and accurate phrases!

You could also try Before You Know It who offer free downloadable software for just about every language in the World and use a flashcard system to teach languages. BYKI Lite is free - be warned they will keep sending you mail to try to get you to upgrade but it's harmless junk and well worth it for the free software.

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If you've read any of my other scribblings you probably will have gathered that my boyfriend and travelling partner, Jonathan, likes a drink or several now and then. Given that I love to visit predominately Muslim Countries, and given that - as a rule - Muslim's don't drink, we've had a few problems travelling together in the past. The fact that we have travelled to two Muslim Countries during the Holy month of Ramadan has caused poor Jonathan no end of sorrow.

Let me just clear this up - Jonathan is not a lairy, in your face, drunk. Unless you take note of how much he's drinking you will probably not notice that he's been drinking alcohol at all. It's just that without a drink he is less confident and tends to get a bit grumpy with less enthusiasm for my random excursions and, worse still, the hangover starts kicking in! Generally I humour Jonathan in his drinking and try to indulge him if possible and acceptable.

In Turkey the local community seems split between those who like a drink now and then and love their Raki above all else, and those who hate sight, smell and would not even think of tasting an alcoholic drink. This is where it gets a bit confusing because, to some Turks regard alcohol as in England, where as other Turks are very offended by anyone who drinks near them and hate to even touch a can that once contained an alcoholic drink.

My advice to anyone travelling through the areas of Turkey which aren't dominated by tourists would be to abstain from alcohol if they want to completely avoid causing offence. Though the majority of Turkish people accept alcohol as a habit/treat for non-Muslims to enjoy, and some even partake of the odd glass of Raki themselves, there are people who are very offended by alcohol in general. If you are going to drink then generally there is a radius around every Mosque where it's considered poor etiquette to drink and you'll find that places in this area won't serve alcohol.

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Website: http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/