Istanbul & Gürtel-Rosi

Hello from Istanbul!

I nearly could have reported on a wonderful night here. But it was just nearly. Shortly after midnight, I woke up because I was itching on my head and in several other places. Mosquitoes! Despite the earplugs in my ears, I could hear them buzzing, and my attempts to catch these pests while they were blood-sucking on my head were not successful. So, flashlight on and hunting mode activated. I sent seven or eight of these vampires to oblivion. There had to be at least one more hiding somewhere, but we didn't care. After waking up in the morning, I used the heating adapter for my smartphone multiple times, which was fine in the end.

What was not so fine was my back. But let's go step by step: Last Saturday, I had hellish headaches that got better after taking some Thomapyrin. Along with that came a scratchy throat, which vanished after two days on Monday. At the same time, I felt something in the mid-back area was pinched or had been overworked. On Wednesday evening, I asked Rudy to apply pressure on a specific point near my spine. When I leaned back with my bare upper body in the camper on the bench, I heard from the three people behind me: “Oh”. “Okay”. They took pictures of my back, and now I also saw the rash. My first suspicion for the cause of these skin irritations was bedbugs. However, ideas quickly shot off in several other directions as well. But we first drove to Istanbul.

Today, the rash had significantly increased in size, but only on the left side. We pooled all our expertise. Doc Google and the online doctor were consulted, but our studies at YouTube University helped enormously, too. Shingles was our 97.3% diagnosis. However, it is crucial to act quickly with this illness caused by dormant chickenpox viruses. Otherwise, these creatures made of protein components can travel along the entire nerve and cause pretty ugly long-term damage.

I found dermatologist Dr. Fatih Göktay, whose office was only 850m away from us. What luck that Kadir had paid close attention in school here and speaks Turkish at a native level. This is probably often confirmed to him. Of course, he can tell us a lot :-)

We arrived promptly in front of the office only to find that it opens not at 9 o'clock but at 10 o'clock. So, we used the time to clarify the toll questions for traveling on the appropriate roads in this country next door. The two candidates behind the counters made us fill out a small form only to tell us that they were not responsible for vehicles over 3.5 tons. We should take this concern to the PTT headquarters. When Kadir asked where that was, we received the precise info: “Just look for the headquarters.” Ah, okay.
Now the office was also open, and we were allowed in. We could not answer yes to the question of whether we had an appointment. However, until we left that location, there was only one other person besides us. So it worked.
Dr. Göktay, a very friendly-looking man, sat majestically behind his dark brown desk and questioned me. I was sure he would come to the same diagnosis as we did. And sure enough, when I showed him my upper body, it was merely a confirmation of his suspicions. He explained the medication to me but also asked me to get a blood test to ensure the functionality of my kidneys. If something else comes up, the medication will be adjusted. My question of whether I would need to come back to the office was answered with: “That's not necessary. We'll figure it out via WhatsApp.”

I paid with my card, and we went to the prettiest pharmacy in the world, right under the practice. Maybe we just felt it was the prettiest in the world because the pharmacist was by far the most beautiful in her profession. We praised the premises, and she happily showed us the certificate she received in 2019 for just that reason. We would have loved to stay a bit longer, but since we couldn't decide between lozenges and blood sugar measuring devices, we had to eventually leave that beautiful place.
Just across the street were various laboratories, so we could also immediately have the blood test done. Once again, super friendly people who took care of us right away. And also: “We will send everything to you by email.” Easy.

Now we had certainty and simultaneously the clear directive: take it slow. Don’t take it lightly. Rest and relaxation (ideally). However, we were still on the Benz. Kadir and I were already discussing that contrary to our plan to take the Balkan route, we would head straight back home. It's annoying, but luckily I only became “Gürtel-Rosi” now and not already during the trip to Trabzon.

We had a small breakfast in our apartment and then headed into the hustle and bustle (for me with a slightly pulled handbrake). The weather was so-so. It was pleasantly warm in the sun, but really cold without due to the wind. Our goal was particularly “The Headquarters,” but since it was right at the Bosporus ferry dock, it fit pretty well. We strolled, marveled, and tried things. We enjoyed being swept along by the stream of the crowd again. We passed countless bars, restaurants, and grocery stalls of all kinds. In between, we clarified all toll issues. NOT! However, since that would be far too complicated to unravel here, just this much: it is completely unclear to us, a) how people who are not fluent in the language handle this here, and b) what we have paid (or will pay) or should have paid. There is still a deposit of 2000 Lira on some state account on top of all our previous payments. Whether that's even... WTF.

We decided to skip nearly all Turkish specialties today. Okay, we had baklava already in the afternoon with Turkish coffee. We reflected on our supplies. So we enjoyed original Thuringian bratwursts with pasta salad. The cucumbers from my jar brought back from the stop in Kastamonu tasted unbelievably good, so much so that I regretted not taking more with me.

Kadir was watching a hockey match from the stands and cheered for the Fischtown Pinguins while I received further care for the skin areas on my back from Rudy. The tincture concocted by Ms. Ace Bayram is also beneficial...

Sweet dreams from Kadiköy