Questions I have...

Andy and I are traveling in Turkey right now... and I have stumbled across a few questions. They are random, but funny in my own head (not necessarily funny as in laugh out loud, but scratch your head kind of funny/interesting).

1) What do you do if you are old and "squatty pottys" are the toilet option? After using a sqatty potty here, and my own 31 yrs old legs getting tired and my knees aching, how does some 80 year old person pull THAT off? seriously! How would some old geezer be able to stand back up-- they'd get stuck?!

2) When is it ever good to NOT have trash cans readily available? Apparently when you are in the area we're visiting in Istanbul... we've been walking this one drag at night and always end up with a bag full of empty water bottles and coke cans cuz we can't find trash cans. Finally we asked our translator what the deal was. His response, simple. "Well, this street has been bombed many times by trash cans so, now, you cannot find." Ahhh. Lovely. So trash cans are the official drop spot for bombs in Istanbul. Awesome! And the good street to do so is our area.

3) Does "Event Time" apply to Muslim prayer too? So, you know how Muslims pray 5 times a day and there is a "call to prayer" over loud speakers throughout the cities so everyone knows when its time to stop and pray? Well, they are usually at 5am, 1pm, 5pm, 8pm, and 10pm (or something like that here in Turkey). Well, in Istanbul, the call to prayer is consistently late. 1:21pm. 5:17pm. 8:42pm. 10:23pm. Strange! I would have guessed it was strict time, but apparently, it's time when it's time. Huh! Maybe someone out there knows this is actually normal because I am not entirely sure of when the "directed times" are to pray.

4) How can 4 AA batteries cost less than $2?! Ahhh... when they only last 2 days!

5) How can it take 8 hours to drive to Istanbul from Izmir when it only takes 1 hour to fly? When there are mountains to pass and a sea to ferry over (Sea of Marmara). Flying ROCKS!

6) Does rice pudding actually have rice in it? I never thought so before, but after dessert tonight, apparently so. I felt several large, carby-flavored white rice nuggets neatly tucked in my soft pudding. Kinda gross actually.

7) Why can't we get BBC News in Austin? I think if Andy and I had some fancy-schmanzy cable/dish thing we could, but I just wish it came just in the standard package. As a news junkie, I Tivo 2 hours of news a day-- 1 hr on Fox News and 1 hr on CNN (so I can get a diverse view). CUE THE LAUGHING at what a complete dork I am. But even with those 2 hrs, I want more world news and I don't ever feel like I am getting the full story from those two stations. BBC gives a view into World News that the others cover in a 10 second sound bite. I used to Tivo a third hour of news each day, with CNN's "Your World Today" show that covered international news. But since the election season has commenced, they cancelled it and replaced it with "Issue #1" (which is about "the most important issue" for the election, currently deemed the economy)-- AS IF the regular news isn't covering the election or the economy enough already!!! Apparently, we really ARE so American-consumed that we don't need to talk about the rest of the world during this season. And yes, I can read online at BBC's site, but I would prefer a one hour news show. So, this is actually one of my very favorite things about traveling abroad... getting to watch BBC world news each night as I get ready for bed. mmmm.