Cotton Candy and a scary moment

Today was the day....the day we were going to venture to the asian side of Istanbul and try our luck! However the second we step outside, the rain begins, and as we walk toward the ferry, it only gets worse and worse. I'm not afraid of rain, i'm not afraid of the weather, i'm afraid of people i cannot trust. So even though it was raining i was more then game to go exploring. However the Brits wanted to find a quiet pub, have a beer and watch the football match on tv instead. We came to an agreement that we would take the tram to a new part of the city and find a nice shopping mall. Well the stop we get off on is in the middle of a neighborhood community, there are absolutely no tourists and almost no one speaks english. So we wander around a bit, looking at the map every 50 meters and try to find our way. Several times we stop and ask people if they can guide us to the Olivium shopping center. Finally, down one particularly ominous looking street where children are running around with toy guns, a large family jumps to our rescue, a kind man offers to take us there in the back of his van, but being the wise students we are, we politely refuse and ask him to point us in the direction. Meanwhile the entire family including grandmother and uncle and aunt are all giving in put and trying to help us. The man ends up telling his son to lead us to the mall. His son speaks no english so i never learn his name, but he led us through the neighborhood to the mall. What we did at the mall is so typical i wont even go into it. I was so scared for a while walking in the neighborhoods but looking back now, it was like walking around apartment complexes in the states, mothers were sitting on their porches watching their children, yelling at them to stay out of the streets, old men were playing backgammon, and young men were helping their fathers unload trucks of supplies for their stores. It was evveryday life, and they took a break from their busy day to help us find our way. It kind of made me wonder, how often do we stop and take breaks? How often are we willing to walk a mile out of our way to help someone get to where they need to be. We didn't trust them, but they trusted us, enough to let one of their children lead us to our destination. It was humbling and endearing. I know it doesn't happen all the time, everywhere, but the fact that it happened at all is touching.
That is all for now...except, that at the mall, we couldn't help but buy some cotton candy, which the Brits call Candy Floss...and took pictures looking like little kids at a carnival
its definatly the little things that matter!
Adios!