Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Can I have a power outage with that pizza?

Their timing may be unpredictable, but power outages--and the dropped Skype calls, suddenly cold showers, and fumbling around for your cell phone to provide a little glow since you couldn't possibly be expected to keep a flashlight and batteries on hand, now could you? that go along with them--are a reliable fact of life in Istanbul.

And though far too localized to create city-wide community spirit--it's not at all uncommon for my apartment's electricity, water, and/or Internet connection to go out while that of my neighbors, whose house I could hit with a rock if I had any kind of arm at all, stays on, or vice versa--our mini-blackouts do knit us yabancıs closer together, as we load up our laptops or bathrobes to use the Internet or shower at someone else's house. They also somehow seem to lead to ordering pizza.

After a cranky day at work today, a chance phone conversation led me to invite a friend over so he could use the Internet while his power was out, which in turn converted an evening with no plans into a nice one of drinking wine and ordering from Domino's (I know, I know, but they have a two-for-one deal)--a "tradition" initiated one time when our electricity went kaput, though only after much befuddled wondering how in the world we could order take-out without the Internet. Ah yes, that little thing with the numbers and the buttons and the ring, ring, ring. How quaint.

8 comments:

Barbara said...

I love this! I'm so glad that the tradition lives on!

Tactless Wonder said...

Maybe it was missing "traditional" American food at the time, but the Dominos Pizza I had in Mexico was kinda yummy. And yeah, two for one!

spf said...

so what are the wacky Turkish ingredients offered by domino's? i suppose they have olives.. but.. sucuk? anything else Turkified?

The Turkish Life said...

Well, just about everything has corn on it, tabii! Their "pepperoni" is salam, which tasted surprisingly pepperoni-ish.

And then you've got your dana jambon, beyaz peynir, pastırma, sucuk, and kıyma options. And lots of olives and peppers too.

Sher said...

Hi aliteralgirl,
Sounds like a wonderful tradition--what better way to cope than by visiting the neighbors and ordering pizza!!! Wish we had that tradition here (in Prague, Czech Republic) and in the US, where I'm from!!

Thanks for signing up for World Blog Surf Day!! Looking forward to your post!!

Have a great day,
Sher :0)

Sher said...

Hi Jen,
I am so sorry for using the wrong name on your blog!! I do apologize and thanks, again, for signing up for World Blog Surf Day!

Have a great day,
Sher :0)

Sher said...

Hi Jen,
We have an update about WBSD you can read here: http://sheroffthebeatenpath.blogspot.com/2009/05/world-blog-surf-day-update.html

We also have a reporter for WBSD–Thandelike–you can read about her on the post, too. Here’s the bio to include for Thandelike (along with a backlink): Anastasia Ashman is an American cultural producer based in Istanbul, and is a creator of Expat Harem, the anthology by foreign women about modern Turkey. Her Tweetstream focuses on women, travel and history and she shares resources for writers/travelers, expats, Turkophiles & culturati of all stripes.

If it would be easier to email about WBSD, please send me a note!

Have a great day,
Sher :0)

Unknown said...

This post could also describe our place. Fortunately, when you were here, we had no said issues. Currently, we do.