It was my day to go out and about and do something fun today. I didn't have anything in mind, plus it is now the HOT time of the year and after being outside for ten minutes in the morning, I was angry and had a headache, so I knew being outside would not do. Therefore, I did what any red-blooded American would do and went to the mall.
I packed up my european man bag (Moleskine, partially charged Kindle, Buddhism For Mothers, several pens), gassed up my Volvo station wagon and drove the one kilometer to our fancy pants mall. The Özel Güvenlik waved me right through. They saw me comin'. They didn't need to search my trunk. Privileged!
Caffe Nero was getting a little tiresome with their foamy lattes and cappucinos, so I opted for something more local and hit the Starby's or Starbucks as they call it here. Before sitting down with my drip coffee, black notebook and mopey face, I sauntered by the movie theater to check out their offerings. There were ten American movies all starring my least favorite actor, Explosions. There was the Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy thing. And some movie called Disconnect.
Let me tell you about going to the movies in Turkey! The movie theaters are nice! You buy your ticket at the mall level either from a kiosk or a live person. If you are like me and stutter your way through Turkish asking for your ticket, they will type YABANCI on it, which means "foreigner" and not like the "I Want to Know What Love Is" band. Why did she have to do that? It didn't matter because no one ever looked at my receipt.
Yabanci
After procuring your ticket, you descend into the recesses of the mall where it's all completely cool and quiet and very very clean. There are several areas in which to get your food, and several nice areas to sit and wonder if you should go see World War Z next week (starring...Explosions!). I ordered a kucuk menu which was a small popcorn and an orange drink. This is not important.
Outside of each theater is a barcode reader that will scan the barcode on your ticket. I don't know if this is important as I didn't see it until the film was over. You go to your assigned seat, which is kind of nice. This was also not important as nobody else came to join me in the theater. I sat with rapt attention through the twenty minutes of ads and finally a trailer for Rush, which gave me goosebumps and that I cannot wait to see.
Just as the movie was reaching it's apex in action and excitement, the lights came on. I forgot. They have intermissions at the movies. It actually worked out great since I could use the tuvalet, or toilet. The movie continued shortly after I found my seat and I was treated to some more fine Disconnect soundtrack. It is really great. I emerged back to the mall and felt disoriented so I did the most logical thing I can do when feeling disoriented and looked at some shoes. Nothing fancy. Just some Vans. They look a lot like the Target shoes I was wearing except I believe they will last longer. That did the trick. I was my old self again. The movie made me miss my boy, so I motored home and found him sleeping which allows me to type up this little tidbit for you lot. Enjoy!
