The Turkish Experience
I've heard some interesting things said about the Turkish people in Germany- some good, some bad- but always interesting. Here's my story:
I went on a pub crawl with a few people from my hostel; which was incredibly fun. The job of the people leading it is to make sure you have blacked out by the time you get back home. They did their job a little too well with me, but I ended up having a great night anyway. At the last stop of the crawl, a few of us separated from the masses and went out for some more boozing- this was a bad idea.
We were befriended by a mad dutchman whose head you sorta see behind the girl. He bought us all beers with money he got when "my muzzah die from too much smoking, I get monies for coming to Deutschland for holidays". Ahh yes, monies indeed. I couldn't stop laughing the whole time, the guy was hilarious. Neither could Manav, a pretty cool Indian guy whom I met on the crawl from New York.
Since we were all headed different directions, I had to get back to my hostel alone. I jumped on a train, after staring at the map for a few minutes- not nearly long enough, because this is what the Berlin subway map looks like:
No, that's not a joke. Its incredibly intricate, and in my inebriated state, was just too much for my senses to understand. I took the right train, in the wrong direction, and ended up in what felt the Czech Republic. I was woken up by the train conductor, who gave me a sympathetic smile when I looked down and saw that I had drooled all over myself. He helped me up as he shook his head and muttered something in German, which translated to as something like "Young, dumb, full of cum". (Yes, its from "Point Break"). I stumbled out and was pointed to the taxis. With no trains headed back to the city, and only a few Euros left in my pocket, I hoped I had enough money to get my within a few kilometers my hostel. My head was spinning and my legs felt weak; and I knew I would yak at any minute. I made my way to the bathroom and let it rip.
Splashing the cold water on my face, I fought the drowsiness that started to take over, slapping myself in the face and "motorboating" my face to try and shake the booze out- it didn't work. I walked out of the bathroom toward the taxi stands where a few drivers stood around smoking. As I made my way, a group of guys were walking towards me, drinking beer out of cans, and laughing in my direction. As they got closer, one of them yelled "Hey India!", noticing the flag on my jacket. I started getting nervous, and thought I was about to get mugged-
I heard some stories about the Turkish being the unsavory type, but I knew opinions of them are probably similar to those of any immigrants like us in Europe or even the States. "No big deal" I thought. "They probably just want to bullshit with me as they're drinking and I'm obviously lost, drunk, and in the middle of nowhere." As we slowly came face to face, I blurted out- "Hey, do you know when the first train runs in the morning?" They took a quick look at me and then started laughing hysterically. I tried to manage a smile, but at the same time stood up tall and tried to play it cool... then I realized that my fly was wide open! I quickly zipped up and started laughing too, and said "where can I get some beer?" "Come with us" one of them said as he continued laughing and slapped me on the shoulder. "We'll find some doner and more beer." Things were starting to look up, and as I approached the silver Audi, they all introduced themselves. Ibrahim, Deniz, and Mohammed took me to a small Kebab joint a few minutes away, and during the ride we talked a bit. I told them about the pub crawl, blacking out on the train, and that I was staying in a hostel in Mitte. "No problem my friend, we take you there" Ibrahim said. "No traffic, no problem. 15 minutes driving" I checked my watch, and it was nearly 3.
After buying my new friends a round of beers, I was broke again. We sat around drinking for a while until our kebabs were ready; about cars, university, politics, and of course women. What else would a bunch of drunk guys at 3am talk about?
For those of you who haven't experienced Döner kebab, its this:
It was probably one of the best meals I've ever had. The guys knew the owner, and we basically ate for free. It was these sorts of moments that I seem to remember better than seeing the Eiffel Tower, or the Canals of Venice. It was a connection to people that in the end left a lasting impression.
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