Current Mood:
Happy
Fear not! This entry is not actually about traffic, nor is it very long. Well maybe it does have something to do with traffic. As I am learning more and more about Turkey, I am really beginning to appreciate the… small differences. One such difference came to my attention last night.
Yesterday I was invited to a nice dinner at a luxury resort near to where I live (it was only 15-20 minutes drive from here). Everything was excellent (far better than spending the evening at home, or around mimarsinan and buyukecekmece). When I finally got around to leaving it was nearly midnight so there were not many cars on the road. In fact, the highway was nearly deserted except for the occasional car.
The funny thing about the roads around Istanbul is the small side roads running against the flow of traffic. From what I can tell, these roads serve two purposes:
1. They provide easier access to shopping centers and other places people might really want to get to.
2. They act as a way of turning around. Since there aren’t many ways to cross over the highways, you can take these small side roads, against traffic, until the next crossover, roundabout, bridge or whatever.
This looks inefficient and confusing at first – I am sure there is a better way of doing it so that there can be more highway lanes in each direction – but I suppose Istanbul is an old city, and they started doing these at some point because there weren’t other economical solutions. This assumes thought went into the road system, something I am very skeptical of.
Now picture this; I am driving home, it’s night, it’s dark, there aren’t many cars around, but it’s still somewhat urban. Since it’s a highway I am going fast. After about the third car I encountered on the road, I realized when I switched my brights off that the difficulty I am having seeing is because there are no street lights.
I realize that Long Island, New York is the kind of place that has excellent infrastructure, and I have driven on the roads in Vermont that have no streetlights, but that was the middle of nowhere. The road from here to Silivri is lined with buildings, so it should fall somewhere in the middle. If something had been in the road, I don’t think I would have been able to stop in time with out my brights on.
What makes this all amusing, is that all the feeder roads from here to Silivri are lined with street lamps! Why!? They are not close enough to the main road to shed light on both roads, although I am sure they could have been built that way. My guess it is because they are next to housing developments and the homes wanted well lit streets all around. Seriously though, how can you not light the highway in a heavily trafficked area?
Ok, I am done. Here is a picture of me with my new office decoration. Until my poster gets here, that will have to do.
And here’s another picture form my brother’s graduation. Those are my father’s parents, my parents, graham, his girl friend Elise and myself! (My dad is wearing a traditional Afghan hat. I have no idea why).
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