It is very natural to become nostalgic when thinking about the past. When we think back about the different stages in our life which have passed we often become nostalgic about a special time in our lives. Whenever we find something that makes us happy, we tend to want to repeat this experience, over and over and over again. Why not? Isn’t the point to be happy and experience joyful things? For me, my childhood is my happy memory. It’s such a cliché but memories are special and you should hold onto them and NEVER let them go.
So many parts of Istanbul reminded me of Tripoli (my hometown). As soon as we arrived the humid atmosphere and cigarette filled air reminded me of Libya and I couldn’t help but miss my country even more. It’s not just the atmosphere that screamed Tripoli to me making my heart feel nostalgic but also the winding streets filled with fast food restaurants and grocery stores, local boys playing football and balcony apartments; I just I couldn’t help but feel that Istanbul will maybe try to make up for the 3 years I wasn’t able to visit Libya and my family.
On one of the days, we started off the day with shakshooka for breakfast because even though we’re in Turkey we can’t seem to give up on our family’s favourite breakfast. Anyway whilst enjoying my shakshooka I spotted the lady living opposite us pulling up her basket filled with groceries, that a little boy has bought for her into her balcony.
This is something very common in Libya and whilst living there I have a vivid memory of my mum doing the same thing, she so often used to send one of the boys playing football to quickly grab her items from one of the local corner shops that she was missing whilst in the middle of making our lunch. The trick is very simple but clever (it’s a lazy hack) you tie a rope to the handle of the basket and lower it down the balcony to the person who you’ve sent to grab you some groceries, they fill it up and you pull it back up again, so cool! It was so simple and yet I looked forward to watching the old lady do the same thing every morning, it just made me smile that I was able to encounter something that I haven’t seen in so long and it was honestly one of the most sentimental encounters of turkey because it reminded me of a part of my childhood in Libya.
During most afternoons I always used to go for walks to check out the area we were (staying) in, soak up the culture and to an extent grasp what everyday life is like for local
people in Istanbul. There were so many steep hills and street cats that would roam around with no particular owner but just healthily living in the streets, local people would feed them and you will find little pots of water mainly under trees in the streets for the cats to stay hydrated. However, the most difficult part and unfortunate for me was that not a lot of Turks know English or Arabic so the only way of communicating with them was through sign language or drawing pictures which was really difficult, but the people there were really friendly and tried their best to understand you which makes it a little bit easier. Although the language was a barrier there were so, so many Libyan people in Turkey. We were always overhearing so many Libyans chattering away in almost every place we went is what made it great; meeting new Libyans on our trip was notorious because within the first 5 minutes into a conversation we already knew half of their life story and their family and almost every time, we found that we knew a member of their family or we were related in some odd way. Anyway, that’s what made it feel like Libya to me!
Another part of Istanbul I really enjoyed was the night life in the area we were staying in; it’s really different to the UK but very similar to Libya; there were lots of cafe’s around where groups of friends and families sat and drank tea or coffee whilst eating desserts and chatting. I wish we had something similar in the UK. At the end of most of my nights I blast the air conditioner, dim the light (a ritual done in Libya) and gruesomely with a little bit of regret but secretly enjoying it, stuff my face with a cheeseburger from McDonald’s and then spend the rest of the night watching wanasah; (an Arabic music channel) something me and my sister Yasmin would usually do together; it was my first holiday without her, I really missed her and wished she was with me in Turkey, it would’ve been the best thing ever!
Ahh Istanbul! I could ramble on and on about it, but it’s the smells, atmosphere and little encounters that always stick with me and make up my memories. My childhood was the best part of my life and I have so many happy and loving memories so having experienced so many small things in Istanbul that reminded of my hometown and childhood it will always be a nostalgic spot for me that I will always want to go back and visit.
Have you ever experienced something like this?
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