I finish my dawn ritual, a quick breakie, another steaming cup of Joe, and head to the sea … I need some answers; I need to dig deep inside my soul.
A bit chill but I like it, I’ll have Datça all to myself I say …This is Turkey; no one is ever up this early in the day!
As I saunter a whiff of freshly baked bread mesmerizes my senses, people walking by carrying loaves of bread. I turn around; the baker’s almost run out.
The path made clear
I continue to the marina, then bay ……. Packed! People walking, running, swimming, and exercising with those outdoor machines scattered everywhere! A different Turkey I think to myself.
I find my favorite spot, sun yawning still … gorgeous. I lay facing the gushing waves, pebbles big and small massaging my body, droplets of salt water deliciously splashing me … I lose myself…. Two hours pass, and I haven’t had my fill.
Nevertheless, I get up; I need to pick some farm eggs (the best I have had in my life), fix myself breakfast, walk to Jacque Cousteau’s house, take his bike, and then head to the gym.
Essentially life and ME :)
Jacques: Good choice to come to Datça, it’s considered the destination right before heaven! Stress-free, everything here moves in a slow, untethered rhythm. Welcome to Datça!
Fast forward one month …
Jan the tennis man: how did you even find it here?
Jacques Cousteau: she threw a dart on the map, it hit right at Datça!
Jan the tennis man now looking inquisitively at me,
Lana: it’s true you know.
Not exactly a dart, but an approximation of how randomly I chose Datça. I had 2 weeks to leave Istanbul, yet in no hurry/ inclination to make any decisions. One thing I was certain of … the sea, I wanted to be near the sea! For several months I have been hearing it calling, there was this tug every time I jumped on a furry …. It was pulling me towards I don’t know where water.
I googled “small sea town”, “non-touristy”, I was looking for somewhere non-pretentious, with rugged untouched nature … bottom line, I wanted somewhere I can, just like thin air, disappear!
A few names popped up. In seconds I scratched off party towns like ALAÇATI, ÇEŞME and BODRUM or what they call “the playground of the rich” – I mean seriously – I was left with less than a handful of names, but very little information otherwise.
Datça ,ex-pat Facebook group suddenly appeared on my screen, promising I thought. I joined and posted a question (don’t ask me why but I included a personal bio along with a lengthy introduction). I got many welcoming messages. Among them was the before-mentioned message of Jacques, it resonated with me, and I thought to myself: Datça, here I come!
One after the other I met almost everyone I conversed with in the group but not Jacques. I received an invitation for coffee from him as soon as I landed in Datça, but his message went into the “hidden” messages – beats me why they even exist – and when I found out, Jacques was far gone in his boat sailing around the Mediterranean. So we agreed to meet as soon as he comes back. 3 weeks later we met in Coffee Grinder the go to café’ for a half-decent coffee in town (Turkey and good coffee go together like peanut butter and fish)
French I thought: looks/dressed the part, speaks the part (accent), and the name – I mean DUH!
Jacques Cousteau: from Luxemburg.
Lana (still not buying he isn’t French) I thought you were French?
Jacques Cousteau: well I am fluent in French, actually I speak 5 languages.
A dentist by trade; cultured, well-spoken, and very well-off from the looks of it, Cousteau is your quintessential lifelong athlete. Started pro sailing among other sports at the ripe age of 12. Today he sails, bikes everywhere, plays tennis, and has the vigor, energy, and posture of dudes half his age. I would like to say he is incredibly fit and healthy for his age but that would be an injustice, he is just fit, athletic, and healthy, period.
Over two orders of coffee, we talked sailing, travel, Turkey, food, Istanbul, bikes, houses, and all things Datça. We were later to be joined by my Landlord (Brant the writer/ composer/ singer/ and Fabi’s Amore as she likes to call him), and a new dude I never met before. Keith, from Scotland – that accent tho – a professional skier who seems to wander a lot but lives between Austria and Datça.
Cousteau: I heard Jan has a place by his tennis court, I’ll ask him if it’s still available.
He calls Jan and comes back with an affirmative
Cousteau: Jan is my tennis coach; I am heading there in an hour, would you like to come check his place?
Before I answer, he gives me a brief history of Jan’s life including his political history that got him in much trouble; he keeps assuring me Jan is a good dude.
Lana: (Jan’s persona is of little interest to me as this is not a date set-up) Sure why not, I just need to hop by the farmer’s market first.
Cousteau: Great, I will meet you here in an hour, and Lana: put on your sports shoes, let’s have you try your hands at some tennis!
Lana (very excited now): AWESOME!
A rooster crowing and Greek blues music played in the background as I watched the game between Jan and Cousteau. A cute tennis center (Datca Tenis Merkezi) in the middle of a nowhere forest, adjacent to it is Jan’s big house where he is letting a tiny space (I did not like).
I cheer for Cousteau as he plays a good hand; I am surprised he did not lose his breath once.
After the game, Jan offers to give me a tiny lesson where he starts shooting me balls, and to my surprise, I am suddenly in the zone and hitting (well more like smacking).
I LIKE IT SO VERY MUCH I SAY! What do you know … me and tennis? I inquire about his lessons/ prices as I start to seriously consider tennis.
Can: (how his name is spelled a la Turka) you like to hit hard and heavy …. According to Andre Agassi, tennis is like boxing!
Lana: I like Agassi, I read his book (Open: a good read), but my fav player of all time – yep biased – is Steffi Graf. What about you?
Jan: Federer!
Lana: he’s EVERYONE’S favorite.
All that is gold, does not glitter … again!
As we chatted some politics, economics, and world affairs over refreshments Can kept mostly quiet, barely participating, only nodding slightly. As I looked at him I could not but think that his assured demeanor is a sign of intelligence, not shyness. I was right, I will later discover that he has a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Zürich (politics yo)
Can, is also a Tango dancer, and somewhere in there he does films
Is his name really Jacques Cousteau?
Jacques is the real name. I am not mentioning his family name for safety reasons (although I believe he is the ONLY Jacques in town, because every time I say Jacques to ANYONE they seem to know exactly who am I talking about)
The reason I call him Cousteau is that in the first few moments we met he went on to tell me why choosing Datça was the super duper smart thing to do: “Jacques Cousteau once said it was the most beautiful place on earth”
I will conclude with another part of my profile (check my last blog). This profile thing opened my eyes a little, affecting me deeply
Your deepest Purpose in life is to manifest the Gift of Strength.
To realize your Purpose you need to transform the Shadow of Force.
Your Radiance:
You are someone who needs physical activity to remind you how alive you are. If you do not move, you cannot thrive. Also, physical movement is the very best way for you to get out of your head and enter that magical state of pure presence, where all your worries come to an end. You also need spontaneity in your life as much as you need oxygen. This doesn't mean that you need to take unnecessary risks — rather that you allow yourself to surprise yourself as much as possible. You will never know how easy things are until you actually do them, so it's really important for you not to become overly absorbed in thinking about the future. If you find yourself worrying, it's best to move your body or find something that allows you to get out of your head.
To be continued...