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April 30, 2003
So. Much. Stuff.
We have only one request: do not even think about dying until you have visited the bazaar quarter of Istanbul. We would put money on the fact that we have seen more stuff today than you've ever seen in your whole life (unless you've been there already). And it rocked.
After passing through several times as a tourist or tour guide for friends, Girl-E made a decidedly outcome-based trip to the Grand Bazaar and surrounds this afternoon. It's kind of like a first date - it takes a lot of psyching up in advance, but if you meet your objectives by the end of the evening it is well worth it. What with the current slowdown in tourism, the shopkeepers will practically lie prostrate at your feet begging you to do them the honor of taking one of their hand-carved backgammon sets back to your beautiful family. Smirk, and they drop $10 off the price of your belly dancing costume. Some of the shit's real nice though, and we pity the fool who is too overwhelmed by the salesmen's attentions to go through with a purchase. And if you happen to know Girl-E, no, her new "Prada" handbag is not real, but she just dares you to tell the difference. Copied straight from the 2003 catalog, bitch.
While Girl-E tends towards leather, woven, and ceramic goods, the following is a partial (very partial) list of what she could have bought in one square kilometer (yeah, our globetrotting has turned us metric):
Gold jewelry, soccer jerseys, silver jewelry, loofahs, glass jewelry, dried figs, oil lamps, pashmina scarves, chessmen, dried meat, tobacco hookahs, peanuts, batteries, every kind of fabric, plastic flatware, bootleg CDs, bootleg DVDs, bootleg VCDs, car-cigarette-lighter cellphone chargers, meat on a stick, bras, fisherman hats, tea sets, socks, light fixtures, wedding dresses, trivets, bananas, carpets, carpets, and carpets (Girl-E and The Dude have racked up four and counting).
Bow down low, Wal-Mart, nose to the freakin' ground.
Posted by The Twins at April 30, 2003 03:31 PM
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