East Meets West

I meant to write this post in Turkey. The defacto boarder country of the East/West divide. A country that is 98 percent muslim yet also 98 percent European in its "feel." The clothing is Europe. The food is not...however the quaint cafe pervades. There are mosques and sometimes the shops close for prayer times. But business is conducted in English. Streets and sites are clearly marked. Tourism has taken full hold. Shopping is a shared national sport...however in this part of the world buyer be very aware. Legitimate shops with expensive designer labels operate right next door to markets full of blatant trademark infringements. I find it much harder to bargain here...because who knows what they're buying? Real or fake...and the price difference can be in the 100x range. Wouldn't it hurt to get burned to that tune?

Other transitions back to the West: Democratization of the automobile. Skirts and exposed shoulders are back for the ladies. People know what a map is and how to use it. Mixed race couples seem normal again and not a freak of economics. Public transportation is clean and a dream to use. Public toilets I have decided are quite crass in every corner of the planet.

And now, here I am in London. The "true hub of the Western world"...NYC, keep advertising. What an amazing transition I have had back into the life of which I was born. I now know that I took the right path. This journey took me Westward and the dividends are now paying in trumps. I had my shock factor with the first stop in Japan. Transitioned progressively deeper into harder to navigate SE Asia. Then set myself up for luxury living in Thailand and Laos. Just when I was feeling a bit low and wanting to end the trip...a hop over to Israel, a new region of the world - the Middle East - and re-energizing a possible aborted mission. Knocked off a few natural wonders of the world and swept into a final new country - Turkey before London and home. Wow...next stop: The States! The mixture of excitement, fear, love, hate, and wonder...answered and newly unanswered questions that are all welling up inside me is indescribable....