Assistance At Every Turn - June 19, 2010

I have heard it a hundred times - people in large cities are cold, impersonal, and certainly will not go out of their way to help someone in need. Yesterday, my guardian angels in Istanbul disproved that myth, as I traveled to my next stop, the harbor city of Canakkale.

Canakkale, which is located about six hours south of Istanbul, is a popular weekend destination, especially during summer. I found that out the hard way when the first two bus companies my host, Gökhan, called said they had no seats for the next two days.

The third time was the charm, but the catch was the company could only hold the reservation for one hour. I jumped on a bus and raced to town to pay for the ticket.

For some reason, the bus began to head in the opposite direction. I tried to get an explanation from the driver, but he did not understand my Turkish, which consists of about 10 words.

Then, the first of a string of guardian angels sprung into action. A group of four riders huddled around me and through their combined efforts managed to communicate to me that it was just a deteor.

I breathed a sigh of relief and we continued toward the section of town with the bus station. My earlier plight must have made quite an impression on one of the four group members because, suddenly, I saw her demeanor change, as if she were contemplating something important.

Next, the woman smiled, popped up out of her seat, and gestured for me to follow her. I got the feeling it was not her stop, but she was on a mission.

I handed the woman a piece of paper with the name of the bus company on it, and we were off. For several blocks, she led me through the streets until we arrived at the bus company. The woman would not leave until the attendant confirmed that I had a reservation.

Then, I gave her my warmest teşekkür ederim (thank you), a handshake, and she was gone. She will never know how much her kindness meant to me.

With the bus not leaving for several hours, I wandered around and eventually made my way back to the bus company to catch a shuttle to the bus station. Here, too, the attendants personally looked after me and led me to the right shuttle when it arrived.

After a few minutes, we pulled into the station, which was full of buses headed in all directions. I did not have to search for the correct bus because the shuttle driver asked for my ticket and led me to a waiting area.

Before leaving, he said something to another employee, who looked in my direction. About an hour later, my bus arrived. I knew it had arrived because, you guessed it, that same employee walked me to the bus, where the driver greeted me with a cheerful, "Ah, American. New York City."

I am certainly grateful for the assistance I received, but as I wrote a couple of days ago, such instances of traveling kindness are not unique. I believe that most people have that spark inside motivating them to help someone in need.

As I close, I want to tell you that I have safely made it to my stop, Canakkale. Even though the bus was three hours late, my new host, Özgür was still waiting. CouchSurfing really is amazing.

I will have more in the next day or two, but bear with me because sometimes it is hard to get to a computer.