izmir made me question all my life choices

woke up at 2 am after forgetting to charge my laptop again. whatever. decent weather for december? i just checked and it's... there right now. 8.53 degrees. feels like 6.93. hope you like that kind of thing. i’m wearing a hoodie and a scarf and still shivering. izmir vibes, right?

so yesterday i woke up expecting a normal day. what a joke. turned out local news mentioned some festival in the square. obviously i had to wander there with my camera. got lost in alleys. saw that weird cat statue everyone talks about? no. another one. behind a closed coffee shop. no sign. no nothing. just this cat staring at me like, "what are you doing here?" i pretended it was a tour guide and asked for directions. it directed me to a kebab stand. best decision of the week.

neighbors? the noise here is wild. not the cozy kind. more like a 2am street party in a place that doesn’t care if you sleep. heard that from someone who claimed to be a temp worker here. someone told me that the old man next door plays accordion at 5am. i didn’t hear it but i’m 90% sure it’s true. maybe he’s paying rent by shocking people. who knows?

reviews? yeah. overheard a drunken guy at a market yell that the beach is "just a short drive away." virally true? maybe. i checked yelp for places to sleep and found this hostel with 17 reviews about "ghosts in the shower." seems legit. booked it anyway. it’s called "black beach hostel" on tripadvisor. they have free tea. that’s a win.

what about the photos? took some but none matter. tried to capture the weather but it’s just gray and 8 degrees. tried to get a black swan in the water. got a white swan instead. took a photo of it. it’s now my profile pic. ironic? maybe. i used to think photography was art. now i think it’s just chasing light in fog.

someone warned me about the harbor. said it’s full of "suspicious boats."* didn’t believe it. ended up seeing a guy selling what looked like illegal electronics. asked a local and they said, "that’s not your problem. just don’t touch." okay. forgot that. now i’m paranoid about my phone.

food? had this weird fish sandwich. not sure if it’s a dish or a mistake. asked a chef and he said, "it’s a secret recipe. don’t ask." probably true. also tried a street food place that posted on instagram. the place is called "spicy lamb den" on Instagram. scroll through their pics and you’ll see why. p.s. they have vegan options. 10/10 would recommend.

maps? yeah. here’s the thing. izmir is a mess. you drive one way and end up in adana. you take a bus and suddenly you’re in a different time zone. google maps led me here.

look at that chaos of lines. that’s life here.

finished with three photos. first one is "an old run down building with a broken window" from unsplash. second is "a black swan swimming in a pond" because i’m dramatic. third is "a white swan swimming in water" to prove i’m not that bad. honestly, i only took 10 shots. that’s a win.

tagline? no. just this mess. sleep later. maybe.

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