Hello everyone! For a long time, I really wanted to make this video to share my thoughts about
Istanbul or in general Turkey actually, about the things that I like and why not also dislike about
the country and I don't know for a long time I did, I was thinking about it but I didn't have
the chance for making this video and finally today I'm gonna give you my opinions about the country
and I know, nobody asked, but I really want to share my experience. In case that you don't know I'm
a Mexican living in Turkey for the past 7 years, in Istanbul I have been living for 6
years and before I was living in another little city in the Black Sea region it is called Ordu
a very small and lovely city which by the way if you haven't visited I recommend you to go because
you will love it's small but you will love it. And finally let's go with the things that I dislike,
and don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that I hate the country or please don't tell me like as I
have read in many other Facebook groups of people just trying to share their experience and trying
to tell others how they feel and immediately some people are telling them "so if you don't like
it, go back to your country". It's not like that. We all have the right to express our feelings
towards something, of course, not everything is a fairy tale everybody likes something but also you
must dislike something else, those are just little things, that doesn't mean that we hate the country
because it is not like that, I love the country but of course, there are those little things that
I cannot adjust myself yet or I just cannot like them so I'm gonna share my honest
review about my thoughts on the country and specifically in Istanbul, what are those little
things that I dislike. So let's start with my first dislike on Istanbul and this is that everybody is
in a rush and the city is quite chaotic, and I know, as in any other major city in the world,
as any super mega-city, of course, every mega city will be like that, you will be in a rush,
you will be running from your work back home and vice versa and so on I totally understand this but
this is something that I cannot get used to it, sometimes I just want to take it slow like slow
down, sometimes you just need to ask somebody about I don't know where is this
place and they just don't stop and help you, I don't know it's just everybody is
in a rush I totally understand it but sometimes it's a little bit too much
and as somebody who is coming from a very small city in Mexico
of course, this change was huge for me, and it is the moment that I cannot adjust to it properly
but I know within time, I will get used to it but of course this is normal, some people coming
from Mexico City, for example, or from Los Angeles, New York and they come
to Istanbul so it's a very similar um how can I say, like a very similar city, but in my case
I come from a very small city and then coming to Istanbul is like "whoa! Okay, hold your horses!
Number 2. Okay, this is something that really stresses me so much even when I'm at home and of
course because right now I'm mostly working from home and sometimes I need to do voice recordings
and most of the time I need to be in a place that is not too noisy but if you have been
in Istanbul or if you live in Istanbul you will understand what I try to say. Everywhere is so
noisy, it doesn't matter where you are, in the toilet, in your room, it doesn't matter, everywhere.
There's a lot of traffic but the cars here, I don't know why the drivers, the Turkish drivers
honk at all times, this is something that really took me by surprise because
I remember like in Mexico we don't really do that unless it's necessary like they honk their cars
but when you come here they are just honking honking honking and I remember when I first
came to Turkey I was like "what happened?", "did I do something?" or I don't know what happened
so I was getting quite confused and yeah, that's something that I dislike
a lot. like how much they honk their cars. Number 3. The driving culture in Turkey
and yes I don't know probably if you come from any European country even from The U.S
you will notice that there is a huge gap between the culture there in driving and the
driving culture in Turkey here even though you will see cross lines so pedestrians can cross
and even at schools where we all know, it's logic that at schools we must stop and let the little
kids or the students cross the street, that's what happens cars must stop but here
they will not do it they will just keep driving, they will honk, and they will tell them to hurry up
and so on so this is something that I just cannot get used to in Istanbul in
Turkey in general because even I remember the first time when I arrived here I thought like of
course I was checking uh like to both sides before crossing the street but all of a sudden a car came
and I almost had a little accident there and yeah this is probably one of the things that most of
foreigners living here have a bit of trouble with because it can get a bit difficult so they just
drive so fast and they don't stop and even if there is green light for us to cross they
just want to cross, also the motorcycles the motorcycles are just everywhere
even sometimes I need to look at the sky and see if a motorcycle is not coming from there because
really sometimes it can get a bit crazy so that is something that I dislike as well.
Number 4. Yes, Istanbul is a gorgeous city, I love it, it's like a fairy tale, but also, for example, in
my case I love walking if it's on a straight land, for example but Istanbul has a lot of hills, it
is very sloppy as well and if you put me to walk on sloppy areas, then I'm dead so this is something
that I do not like, I do not like because I just get tired so easily and then I cannot breathe and
it gets difficult for me so that is something that sometimes I do not like about Istanbul so
even if I see some sloppy area I'd rather take a mini bus and then after we pass that, then I can
keep going on but I just don't like sloppy areas. Number 5. The hot weather of Istanbul in summer.
Yes, it is too hot and this is something that my body, I haven't gotten used to it yet, after 6 years that
I've been here in Istanbul this is something that it is so difficult and yeah I don't like
winter either but it's just the summer here is just extreme because of the humidity, in Mexico
in my city, we are used to having temperatures during summer of 40 even 45 degrees Celsius
but the difference is that it is a dry weather there is a big desert as well so that makes it
dry but here is just humidity so even though we only reach 28 to 30 degrees Celsius in summer
the humidity makes it feel impossible to breathe sometimes I cannot go out during the day because
no! I feel like if I'm melting so yeah, that is something that I also dislike, the
weather in summer in Istanbul, humidity. Number 6. Unfortunately the beautiful city of Istanbul
is not bicycle-friendly and if you come here and if you want to live here and if you love riding
bicycles, there are some special areas where you can do it, especially on any seaside there will
be very very long roads where you can easily and freely ride your bikes but if you want to use it
as transportation mean, let's say from your home to work, then you will struggle here because first
of all as I told you before the Turkish culture in driving it's just something else so first of
all they are not going to respect you and there is just so much traffic so I do not recommend using
a bicycle as transportation mean, this is something that I would love to do,
I would love to buy a bicycle but I just don't do it because I'm so afraid of that. Number 7. This
is specifically about Istanbul and the city. Every day, every season is getting more and more and
more crowded, this is a city where a lot of people are immigrating lately and I know because
from many other countries especially people coming from The U.S. or from the European Union
they find much more affordable living in Turkey than in their own countries so a lot of people are
coming here to istanbul and that it's like just making it a lot so right now you will find much
more traffic and well it just the city is getting much more crowded so that is something that also
I just don't like too much but it's also good to see more diversity in the city as well
and also many Turkish people living in smaller cities in the country are also coming to
Istanbul because they are coming here to study or to find a better job so that is one of the main
reasons why Istanbul specifically is getting more crowded every day not only with foreign
people but also with the locals. Number 8. This is something that, for example, when I was living
in the Black Sea region in Turkey in Ordu, this is something that I loved the most and it was that
it was green everywhere just the mountains it was much fresher you could feel the breeze,
it was so nice living there but here in Istanbul unfortunately, it's just like a building jungle
it's very hard to find green areas because the city is growing
more and more and more so more and more buildings are being built so it is quite hard to find those
green areas nowadays, of course if you go to the seaside or there are some other little
oasis that we call it like Ataturk arboretum or some forests like Kemerburgaz or Belgrade
then there you will find some areas but those are a bit far and like people living on the Asian side
or in the center of Istanbul and without a car can sometimes get a bit difficult going there but yeah
that is something that i would love to see more, a bit more green areas and parks for people
just to go sit and breathe the freshness of the trees. Number 9.
As a non-smoker this is something that wow! it's been so hard for me getting used to it and because
in Turkey, it's just like one cigarette so mostly everybody smokes
probably it will be difficult trying to find one person who doesn't smoke
than finding those ones that are smokers so even at restaurants like literally everywhere
you will find somebody smoking. For example, I don't like when I go to a restaurant that's why I prefer
getting indoor places because it is not allowed smoking inside but if you cannot find
place then you have to sit outside and usually you don't know what you're tasting if your food or
the next table's cigarettes so that is something that I don't like that much. Number 10.
The electronic devices are way too expensive in Turkey and yes that is so true, even
telephones, tvs, anything that you think about electronic devices here in this country are
way too expensive because the taxes are very high and for example in my case in Mexico I also had
the chance to cross mostly every weekend to The U.S. and also I was able to buy many things like
phones or cameras or whatever from The U.S. which was a bit more affordable than getting them
from Mexico once I came to Turkey I was like "okay, maybe the prices will not be that expensive" but no!
Seriously! The prices here for those devices can even double or triple and even if
you want to renew your phone which in my case that happened to me I had to buy one here because
I didn't have any any option because if you bring one phone from abroad you need to pay an extra tax
for that phone which I think now it might be almost 3,000 Liras just to register
that phone in Turkey because otherwise it will get blocked in 120 days so that is something
very interesting, so at the end of the day you are forced to buy one phone here in Turkey which is
much more expensive so yes, if you are thinking that Turkey is maybe affordable for
that, let me tell you that it isn't, it's not and the main reason for this is because as you already
know the Turkish Lira is devaluating very fast against the US dolar and and even Euro so this is
something that the price is already set in dollars but of course, the Turkish lira is just falling and
falling every single second so that is why people earning in Turkish Lira is difficult
to buy those products because from one day to another they just get more and more expensive so
this is why it's difficult buying electronic devices especially for people earning in
Turkish liras. And number 11. this is my last dislike and this is about the taxes and yes,
I'm not against paying taxes actually I'm a very responsible taxpayer here and in Mexico because
in my country I'm still paying taxes and this is something that I don't mind,
this is our responsibility and I always do it but here in Turkey is like a country of taxes
of the taxes of the taxes of the taxes so this is something that I just don't understand and
taxes are quite high compared to many other countries even compared to Mexico
and well, a great example is from YouTube that we
earn something but we only have like half of the money left because of all the taxes of the taxes
of the taxes but well this is something that we need to comply with and another best example as
well will be with cars, that's why cars here in Turkey are very expensive because
it's like if you're buying two cars, I don't know, if you are in The U.S. or even in Mexico, for example,
because you need to pay a tax which is almost the same price as a car so that's why a lot of people
cannot afford a car because it is so expensive, you are just paying so many taxes
with the cars. Another one is with registering foreign phones as well
you need to pay almost 3,000 Liras if you're bringing a phone from another country so yes
that is the little thing that also I don't like that much, I'm not against paying taxes, as I
mentioned I'm a very responsible taxpayer but it's just like tax of the tax of the tax of the tax.
so these were the things that I like and dislike about Turkey and Istanbul and feel free to comment
below what are your thoughts and even if you if you visited Turkey just as a tourist or if
you are already living here please feel free to comment below what are the things that you like
and dislike maybe that way we can all share our experience and also have fun, remember, I'm not
slamming Turkey with this because also many people think that "oh she's slamming Turkey, and this and
that". No, it's not like that. I'm just sharing my thoughts but I love this country, there
are many more things that I love than I dislike so this is just totally normal, normal people
will like and dislike things. And before we finish with the video once again I would love to thank
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