Interjection: My Intellectual Sexy Time

Pardon the sketch title, but I honestly cannot describe my academic and pseudo-spiritual euphoria right now. 

In lieu of discussing the summit today, I am going to jump ahead to the future of my narrative, i.e. the past: today. 

After a lovely day at Toplum, working and making some entrepreneurial connections and chatting with the founder (as well as preparing for the Gala on Wednesday... C-List celebrities and paparazzi much!), I did some Taksim exploring with Edgar, my lovely co-worker. 

Now there are some things you need to know about my current life and mental state. 

1) I am working with Edgar, who is a lot like me, yet nothing like me. While we are both, shall we say... bold? he is more direct while my style is more sublimated. We both do what we want though and say what we feel. Thank god. Edgar, while being a Salvadorian powerhouse, is also the kind of intellectual and literary expert who could kick your ass in anything. MUNTY much? As a result, our conversations are charged with---well, not intellectual masturbation--but some sort of sincere academic intensity, always with the Hyperbole lock ON. 

2) I am reading a lot of Buber, I-Thou, Utopia kind of things (Campanella too). Not to mention writings on Political theology, World Bank summaries on Education, Turkish and Ottoman history, and... of course... the Qu'ran. 

3) I drink about 12 cups of tea a day. 

Naturally, my mental state is biting, sharp, intellectual to the extreme, and informed--a sort of A-Game I haven't felt since maybe my Donne essay in High school. So, you can only imagine what I felt when walking through Taksim, the heart of the city, and then I find an old antique book store. 

At Denizler Kitabevi, the Pearl of the Pera (www.denizlerkitabevi.com) They sell maps, pins, rare books, and they had a kickass old version of Madame Bovary in the original French (Edgar liked it more--I detest Madame Bovary). 

And guess what I find? Just imagine my two favorite things in a single book. 

Modern Egyptian Drama ed. Farouk Abdel Wahab. 

Yes my friends, everything I love in one. The introduction was so fabulous that I read the entire thing while holding my 15 pound laptop bag. The owner eventually said, "I'm going to have to charge you more if you like that so much." In response, I said, "Well, I hate this book and want nothing to do with it." "Okay, for that, I give you discount." 

We became friends. Turns out he taught himself Ottoman Turkish at the age of 45. His best friend is head of Harvard's Middle Eastern Studies Department. This guy is connected and intelligent. He gave me his business card (as many Turkish people do---I LOVE business cards) and he invited to show me some of the old maps they have (along with cigars and tea). Honestly, this place is a diamond in the rough.

At that moment, I wanted to just stay in Turkey for part of my life, studying Ottoman Turkish, Persian Drama, and Islam, sit on a balcony and watch people go by as I drink 15 teas and 5 turkish coffees a day with some baklava, write about what I see and think and then go to Cairo and do it there. 

So what do I do after my academic, spiritual, life encounter? I walk down narrow streets of amazing stringed instruments, run into an arts fair (with rich hipsters galore), share some wine Edgar bought and muse on my future as a leading expert in Utopian philosophy/history, Arab Drama and Islam.  

I love Istanbul.