Istanbul

Istanbul awakens all senses. The smell of tea and spices, chestnuts and kebabs, the aroma of coffee blended with the picture of a grinder at work, hard sweat, sweetness, permeate the streets. Another one of those over-enthusiastic sellers asking me if I have a plastic fantastic; another attempting to konichiwa-me; yet another recommending turkish viagra with equal vigor. Strange yet familiar tastes melt delightfully in my mouth: pomegranate, coconut, mint. A harmonious experience of voices and colors, a boy carrying a tray of turkish tea cutting in and out of the crowd, a man pushing a cart of sesame, no, olive breads, a man pulling a cart of chopped wood.

The mosques are comparable to Roman cathedrals. Clothed in mosaic grandeur, flower shadows cast across a carpet weaved in rich symbolic meanings, the voice of the imam reverberates, fills the heart with calm, a blue-red haven. Broken tiles, worn out pillars, carved stones, fading paint, overflow with beauty and history.

so apparently it is that time of the year, when Amsterdam smells like cow. and i thought it was ME the whole time yesterday, when this poo smell kept following me.

Calm and anxiety

i try to pen down the random words and phrases that come to mind as the tram passes a moving blur: the taste of coffee on your tongue. a pink stained sky. i try, but i forget, i lose my train of thoughts almost immediately. the act of writing erases the process of thinking and replaces it with a mechanical stream of ink that belong neither to the mind nor the paper. i am fascinated by that illusory space which borders between fiction and reality, body and air, the moment before your feet touches the ground, that second pause before you catch your breath, before the heaviness of the crowd closes in on you. "you are very quiet, aren't you?" (none of your business). "is there a doctor?" (a man had collapsed in the tram, 2 steps away from me, a loud thud his head against the floor).

omg for 2 months now i've been battling the gemeente (town council) against taxes. seriously - why in the world would i, an international student with no income whatsoever, have to pay taxes? fkers!

other than that, school has been busy in a fun way. we're working on a project called triptiek. in a team of managers, branders and designers, we have to create a brand which reflects the zeitgeist, build a stand for the actual event, and design a collection. it's been nice working with other people, though sometimes annoying.

i did pretty bad for the design identity project, a disaster because i felt like i had so much to give, but it all fell short. don't know what's up with me but i sometimes feel like i'm going downhill. :/ and i can't conveniently blame it all on the weather, or time.