The brilliance of my boots is only dulled by the fact that the shoeshine man scammed me out of my lunch money.
I knew he was scamming me, but I didn’t feel like arguing with Ali. He said he would pray for me. I hope his prayers include something for me to eat after yoga, seeing as he has all my cash.
Ali the Shoeshine Man
29 Jan 2012 5 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Istanbul, money, scam, Shoeshine
Inspired Again
24 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: belly dance, dancer in Turkey, diffulties of being a dancer, foreign dancer in Turkey, inspiration, respect
I absolutely love dance. I love learning it, practicing it, teaching it, watching it, and especially, performing it.
I’d been feeling frustrated lately by weaselly guys and ignorant people who misunderstood what it means to be a professional dancer.
At the height of my anger and disappointment, I complained to a dear friend about how I was overwhelmed and fed up by the number of people I’ve encountered in Istanbul lately who have treated me with disrespect as a result of my profession and my gender. My friend well-meaningfully suggested that I give up performing in Turkey, and instead teach dance and languages, or at an international school full time so I could “meet some more elite people” instead of these ignorant toerags who just don’t get me. While I did enjoy teaching young children for awhile, and I do find pleasure in teaching private Spanish and English lessons, and of course I adore teaching dance, these things alone do not fulfill me completely. And let’s be honest, I’ve met a lot more so-called elite people (singers, actors, business people) performing in hotels, lounges, and at celebrations than I ever met cooped up in a preschool with 4 year-olds and occasionally, their nannies.
On Sunday, I met a modern, free-thinking, delightful Turkish woman at my yoga studio. She suggested that the solution was not to quit performing, but to raise my prices.
That conversation, coupled with two exhilarating shows this weekend, have me feeling inspired all over again.
A Belly Dancer’s New Year’s Eve in Istanbul
01 Jan 2012 5 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: belly dance, expat life, Istanbul, my awesome feather eyelashes, New Year's Eve, yacht party
My first New Year’s Eve performing in Istanbul consisted of four shows. The first was on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. It was in a mansion so lovely that the tile floor in the garage was nicer than what most people have in their kitchens.
I hired a driver to take me there (it sounds glamorous, but it’s basically a taxi), wait for me, then take me to a seaport where I was picked up by a yacht just before midnight. There was enough time before my show for a quick dinner in the captain’s cabin while watching a firework show. During my performance, the boat traveled toward Örtaköy, where it docked just long enough to allow them to transfer me to another yacht for my third performance of the night. (This was pretty glamorous.)
When the boat docked in Beşiktaş, I headed for Taksim. My fourth show was more of a favor to one of the places I dance regularly on weekends than anything else. I squeezed them in at the end of the night, although by that point, I would’ve preferred to go home and hang up my sequined armbands.
Today I slept until 4 pm.
Feather eyelashes!
