The B-Roll #27: A Work in Prog-mess

This is the twenty-seventh edition of my weekly(ish) newsletter, The B-Roll. Thank you for coming along for the ride. If you think someone in your life might also enjoy these letters, please share this with them.

“I’m back. For good.”

It feels so good to say this, especially when talking about being back for good after being away for 30 years. 

Yes, I’ve made the permanent return to my home, Istanbul, after going back & forth the past 5 years. The most common question I get asked is “why?” both from the people I’ve left behind in the US (though they’ve had 5 years to understand my reasons) and people in Türkiye. 

“It’s hard to explain if you’ve never been away from home for most of your life,” I reply. Because it is. It’s an ache like no other, even when you’ve built a good life for yourself. 

I’ve tried to soothe that ache by introducing my friends to my culture (like cooking a 7-course Eid meal every year), listening to Turkish music, keeping up with the news, and having reminders of home scattered around my apartment.

There’s nothing like the moment I step foot off the plane in İstanbul. Once I make the trek across the İstanbul airport that should have its own zip code (I mean, really, don’t get me started), I walk to the passport control line for Turkish citizens. I grab my overpacked bags from baggage claim and walk over to the taxi line. The ridiculous Istanbul traffic welcomes me home every time.

My home isn’t perfect. The reality of life here is tough, but it’s where I belong. 

February 28, 2025 is when I landed back in İstanbul, with my entire life packed into 7 suitcases, and began the process of building a life for myself here. The journey has been an interesting one so far, and I’m excited to share it with you. 

I’m obviously back in another sense.

I’m back to sharing my life with you in this space. 

It’s been a long hiatus, mainly because I was going through this huge life change (with other adventures along the way). But if you’ve been around long enough, you know that it’s been a rocky writing journey for me as I attempt to figure out what I want this space to actually be.

The B-Roll has been a work in prog-mess, like yours truly. 

So, here are a few quick notes as I figure things out (this is especially for the newbies):

• I’ve moved to beehiiv and with the move, I changed the name of the newsletter to From the Desk of Berrak as a way to capture future writing that may fall outside of The B-Roll.

• The B-Roll will continue to be a weekly(ish) newsletter hitting your inbox. This space will grow with your feedback. Which means I’ll use some of the cool features of beehiiv like polls & surveys in my newsletters to get your feedback along the way, and also a way to keep in touch with what’s happening in your world.

• The Language & Culture Corner will continue to be a prominent piece of The B-Roll. 

• If you’re new to my writing, you can see past editions here.

Friends, I continue to be a chaotic, gifted mess of a woman, and at the beginning of the next decade of my life, I have no intention of changing. I hope you continue to enjoy the ride with me, because it’s never dull (I hope).

For now, I’ll leave you with a new Culture Corner with one of my favorite legends.

CULTURE CORNER: A love story across the sea

There are two towers in Istanbul, one dominating the skyline and the other facing it from the Bosphorus Strait. You’ve probably seen their pictures in every article and social media post as “must-see attractions” in Istanbul. What those listicles don’t tell you is that these two towers have a legendary love story spanning centuries. 

Most people know the legend of the king who built the Maiden Tower for his daughter to protect her from a poisonous snake bite. The epic story of the Maiden Tower begins in the 5th century BC, and its love story with the Galata Tower began in the 6th century. After a century of watching the lovers on the Salacak Coast, the Maiden Tower’s loneliness continued to grow, until the Galata Tower rose above the city. 

This being a love story, of course there is a great obstacle: The Maiden Tower is in the middle of the Bosphorus and the Galata Tower is across the strait, watching over Istanbul. The legend goes that the Galata Tower wrote letters and poems to the Maiden’s Tower, with no way to get them to her. One day, Ahmet Çelebi has the great ambition of flying from the top of the Galata Tower, across the water, to Üsküdar. The Galata Tower insists that he takes the letters with him. As Çelebi approaches the coast of Salacak, the wind scatters the letters across the water, and the waves deliver them to the Maiden’s Tower. Their love blossoms when she realizes that their love is mutual. the letters are scattered by the wind, yet the waves deliver the letters to the Maiden's Tower. It is at that time that the Maiden realizes how much Galata Tower loves her. When they realize that their love is mutual, their beauty blossoms. 

The city has changed around them but their love hasn’t wavered as they continue to gaze at each other across the water. 

I like to think that when they light up at night, it’s not only for each other, but to remind us that beauty continues to exist in the darkness. 

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Thanks for reading this far, friend. As with everything in life, this is a continuous work-in-progress and you can always hit "Reply" to give me feedback, commentary, or your thoughts on the topic of the letter. Until next time, I wish you a sane and healthy week.

With love,

Berrak