Three weeks ago, I was taking the metrobüs with my brother from Şirinevler, on a very rainy day. Being as crowded as it was around 7-8 pm, I skipped about 15 buses to get on one which was slightly emptier than the rest. As we were making our way to Beylikdüzü, we spoke about life in Istanbul. And since we spoke in English, we did get the usual “They’re yabangee, meh” stares.
At every bus stop, more people got on than off, and I found myself squished against this guy, who was stranded just like us and got on the bus as we did. At this point we were halfway through our journey, and I felt claustrophobic in the crowded and stuffy metrobüs.
I turned to my brother and explained that however uncomfortable my current situation was, it was still better than the metro back in Dubai, where you come across rude people, who disregard the importance of a mandatory shower. And me being the person I am, I followed the sentence with “at least, the people here are nice and smell of döner, so in a way, more than 90% of your transportation problems are solved.”
Almost immediately, the guy behind me started snorting and trying to contain his laughter. And for a second I thought to myself, “Jesus Christ, Soraya. You just compared this guy and the people of Turkey to the döner stands of Taksim.” Then I thought “Maybe he was laughing at one of those cat videos.”
The metrobüs started getting emptier as we approached the last 7 stations. And when the bus was closing in on his station, he turned to me and said he too thinks his people smell of döner.