Same country, different world

For many people, this is what Turkey is like: dancing in outdoor restaurants, walking on the street practically naked, eating pork wherever you like, beer available everywhere. For me, it’s the first time ever in a typical tourist resort and it feels like a different world. I adapted quickly. As soon as I got to my hotel, I changed from my long trousers and modest shirt into a short summer dress with bikini underneath, then I went to the swimming pool and had a swim and a beer and within half an hour four chats about nothing at all with four different but at the same time totally alike guys. I went to dinner with two Dutch girls who are on holidays here (I’m writing an article about one of them), which was nice. But somehow I feel stupid in my short dress, as if it’s not really me walking around here, or as if it’s not really Turkey here. But it is me, and it is Turkey. It’s just a different world in the same country.