to keep these ideas separate

I can't resist a little addendum, but it has to be an addendum rather than a new paragraph.

When I got on the metrobus to go home after Necla's, I found myself, as usual, surrounded by dudes giving me the googly eye. (You should know by now that they give everyone the googly eye here. I could be married and pregnant and 40 and they'd still try to look down my top.) The bus was a little less crowded than usual, which meant no one's elbows were jabbed into my back and my face wasn't in someone's armpit. A very handsome man in a grey suit and luggage from the airport got on and sidled next to me at the window. I noticed as the journey continued that he was getting progressively closer, and absolutely didn't need to be. And then I felt him touching my leg. I try not to make direct eye contact with men here, because if you do, they think you want to make babies with them. Maybe it was his suitcase, though, I thought. So I sneaked a peak. Totally not his suitcase. Totally him. And then, not to be vulgar - but this is an unfortunately vulgar story - I felt him rubbing against me. Rhythmically. This guy was... rubbing his erection on me. Ugh. I moved a few inches in the opposite direction to give him a discreet "fuck off." But he persisted. If this had happened at home, I would've said something loudly. Maybe along the lines of "if you touch me again I will knee you in the balls," but as a foreigner here with no Turkish skills, that isn't an option. So after ten more minutes of this gross game of perverted cat and uninterested mouse, I lurched towards the door and decided to get off the metrobus so I could shake him.

When the doors opened, I bumped into someone also trying to get off. I looked up and saw - him. I gestured "You first." He got off. I was too far out the door not to get off. I optimistically thought that maybe, just maybe, this was his stop, after all. Maybe I'd gotten the whole situation wrong. But no. He waited for me. I hid behind a pole. He thought I was getting on the next bus that came, so he got on. I didn't. In fact, just to be safe, I let three buses pass before getting on again.

Nothing says "sleep tight" like minor sexual assault on public transportation.

Oh, Istanbul. You old so and so.