Jennifer Hattam
Journalist from San Francisco, been here 18 years.
Writes in English for international publications from here.
She’s the head of an organization of foreign journalists in Turkey.
She came to Istanbul initially to see a friend then fell in love with it and found a way to move back. Home is here, friends are here. She said she would apply for somewhere else but she’d have to move ”at a month’s notice”, to upturn her home on such short notice would be horrible.
She’s lived on the same street for 18 years.
Doesn’t have Turkish citizenship because then if anything went down, the US wouldn’t help her because she’d be seen as a Turkish internal problem.
She’s getting more into nature lately, doing a running group.
She has a newsletter about local arts and culture.
When Obama was elected people here congratulated her for US having a Muslim president.
Amazing that things here (coffee, food, lipstick) cost the same as San Francisco or London yet people aren’t earning those salaries, so how?
She suspects people are buying little luxuries (lipstick, latte) to replace their lack of the bigger luxuries (new coat, holiday).
People work really long hours here, for not enough pay.
When I was surprised at blatant plastic surgery she suspects it’s currently in a trend where it’s conspicuous instead of subtle as a signaling to show they can afford it.
Lots of women with bandaged nose.
Part of the Istanbul appeal is you feel in the middle of things.
Friends got back from Kiev, Kuwait.
She wasn’t here for the ’99 quake, but friends are still traumatized by it.
18 years ago there were only a few Metro stops.
Tourism is down a bit since some people have slight concern about middle east disruptions, might affect flights.
Not worried about Istanbul but just enough fear that tourism is down.