One two three ... take that leap

Standing on a bridge railing I could feel fear creeping up to me and paralyzing my body and mind. I could feel wind blowing to my back. I could feel my legs trembling. In front of me there was a 40 meter depth flight path. - a wide, but not too deep river below my feet. Instantly thoughts of how could I ever step into the air with no solid background under my feet crossed my mind. One moment I was holding to instructors hand, another - I wasn't. He counted to three, but I paused before taking the step. I don't know which force pushed me of the railing - but I was in the air for a short moment. Then I felt the force of the rope stopping my flight. There I was swinging in the air on a long rope under the bridge, waiting for my rescue boat, still holding tight to my rope though I was perfectly safe at that moment.
There were moments in my life that required as much courage as this short leap. Maybe a lot more than this. Yes, I wasn't standing on a railing that high. And I didn't have any safe ropes, no safety instructions and risk agreement to sign. There was solid ground under my feet literally, but no assurance what will happen tomorrow. I do not regret taking any of those past leaps of the unknown - because of that I am where I am now, I saw and I did a lot more. No, I didn't become a better person (a better person is a very subjective opinion anyway). I just enjoyed life more. But past victories over your fear doesn't count, if you succumb to that fear in the future. You have to keep taking those leaps every day. To live life just standing on a bridge railing is a lot less exciting.

some couchsurfing experience

Just yesterday I officially finished hosting my 5th guest from Couchsurfing. And it all happened just in 2 and a half weeks. If I can't come to world, the world is coming to me. Probably I've been very lucky - all my guests were wonderful whether they stayed for the whole day or just needed a place to crash. With each of them I had amazing and interesting conversations. I hope I'm becoming a better conversationalist myself and I'm always glad to practice my English.
Some of them wanted a tour of the city, which made me think that there isn't that much to show to tourists in it. But what seems usual and boring to us - is a totally different thing for a foreigner coming from other side of the world. All you have to do is add an interesting story to it. And to do that you have to do a research, which might lead you to that your town or city is not so boring or common. What I'm struggling now with - how to tell different stories each time and not to repeat myself.

Couchsurfing, 10k and Gregory Porter

Last weekend i had my first couchsurfing hosting experience, I took a hitchhiker first time in my life and I fell on the ground while running my 10k. First two experiences where rather fun, and the last one - quite painful and it's still lasting. But i learned a few lessons. First, if everyone is taking the left side of the road - follow  them. Right is not always better than left. Second - if you fall down, just get up and run. Momentary pain is sharp, but walking back(or giving up)- is shameful. Of course, if you have a broken bone, don't follow my last advice. But if it's just bruised palms or bloody knees - you can run 8K more. This might sound a bit extreme, but in life we rarely fall literally - but we might get our ego bruised. If the goal is worth it - everyone can handle a little bit suffering.
This flight resulted in me not going to tango lessons. Having a free Sunday evening, I ended up going to the best concert I've been in my life - Gregory Porter. And in live he sounds way better than on records. But anyway, just listen to his "liquid spirit" or "musical genocide". And this concludes to the third lesson - bad experiences can lead to good ones.

Stray cats and dogs of Istanbul

Lying lazily on a pavement or a bench (sharing it equally with other people) Istanbul is filled with cats. Even when you can't see one, you can smell it (not in good way). Few on the roof of the fish market near Galata bridge enjoying a company of the seagulls. One playing in a window of a jewelry store, or posing for tourists near Blue Mosque, or begging for food near architecture museum. Or lying on a chair while its owner stands nearby. All these little moments made my stay at the Istanbul even more amazing. I didn't ask the locals about the cat cult, but clearly there is one. You can even get souvenir magnets with cats there. But it's not only about cats. There are quite a lot dogs in the streets of Istanbul as well. But usually they are just lying on the ground, not caring for anything. None of them seems hungry and the reason for this are the piles of dog food in the streets I noticed around 5pm. And the chips in the ears of the dogs prove they are not homeless at all. They are just not imprisoned in homes of their owners, that's why there are so many of them in the streets of the Istanbul.

Last day, Istanbul

Leading double life - being tourist at day and dancing salsa at night - requires lots of energy from me. I ended up being very tired. So, tired that I can't sit down to describe the things I've seen during the day. So, this is the second day I'm in this state. Now just trying to "pay my debts" while sitting in the hostel's bar, drinking the beer and watching the sun go down into the misty cloud over the roof tops of Taksim district.
I went to four workshops today after getting to sleep for four hours. Just before that I partied until 5am, barely walked to my hostel with bloody toes and my feet one size bigger. I almost could put my shoes on.
Yesterday was a fruitful day in a sense of covered kilometers - Topkapi palace. A beautiful place, I would recommend for history and ornaments lovers, but very cool for inside expositions.
From the first day of this vacation I realized one thing, but waited for it to confirm. Yes, you can hook on to travels. Yes, new places you see excite you. But the best thing you have to experience - is meeting new people while on vacation. Staying at hotel and traveling on your own makes it harder, but staying at the hostel makes the difference. - it's just that simple. I hope I have made some good friends after this vacation, with whom a friendship will last longer than this week.
The sun has colored the feather shaped clouds in a pale orange. Many layers of rooftops - mosques, just old buildings decorated with tv antennas and pigeons, and seagulls - all drowning in golden bright light. Watching this sunset makes me realize it's a perfect place and moment for someone like me to be.

Big market experience

Handsome and charming Turkish men pulling tourists into their trap to buy spices or carpet. They usually speak pretty well in English and with non-Turkish accent. You can consider this being a sign that things they sell are overpriced. That could be my short description for the Spice market and Grand Bazaar.  However annoying this may sound, you can't skip those two when visiting Istanbul. Just for the experience of this colorful and loud mass of people. This might not be different from any big market in any other country. There you can overpay for the goods or get into people traffic jam or just observe how much passion they put into trying to sell anything. Yes, anything and this applies to all corners for Istanbul. It's like they were made for selling. To make it happen they could promise you discounts and then forget they did it when it comes to paying. Some clients don't argue and end up overpaying, others stand for the themselves and usually the sellers don't argue too much at this point. Devious and righteous at the same time. If you let them fool you, they will, if not - they won't.

Keeping it cultural

I have to pay my debts otherwise they will start accumulating a huge interest rate. Yes, a debt to myself to write something here. Memories are described best once they are fresh, right after the adventurous day, not a day after tomorrow.
Yesterday I stayed on a diet. After eating a breakfast, I had only a chocolate bar at lunch and the a dinner at 6pm. I was eating culture and history all day. In a form of Hagia Sofia and archeological museum and the Istanbul cisterns, and dancing dervishes. The cisterns was the most impressive experience, only it could have been a lot quitter, less schoolchildren. Their chat was echoing really badly.
Dancing dervishes was a relaxing ecperience though an unplanned one. We were served tea and then presented with some books about Quran, about the latter one I'm still confused.
And then more salsa dancing at night.