The Model Van

Greetings again from Istanbul. So if you've ever seen pictures of the insane city, you would know that is it absolutely massive! The tiny little hilly stone paved streets are a mess and the most confusing thing I've ever seen in my life. I believe today was the first day I actually saw a street sign. It would probably take a person about 3 hours to go across the entire city; Europe side to the Asia side. With traffic, crazy drivers, and the vast of land it covers, there would be no way to navigate this city with a map and bus routes; therefore, we get a driver :)
Now you would think, "Oh shit, that's pretty cool. You have your own driver." BUT the two cars the agency has is shared between every single model in town. So if you have a casting close to the time that someone has a job then you are that van quite awhile in order to drop people off and get to where you need to go. And these cars are NOT the most comfortable or spacious when every model is crammed in. There may be 3 rows of seats but those 3 rows are filled with 12 models at times. A great example of this wonderful thing called having a driver was yesterday.
So yesterday myself and two other girls had castings starting at 7 and 2 girls at a job at 6:45 so in order to get the bathroom I was up at 5:30. Yea, 5:30! You might ask well why didn't you shower the night before? Well that is for a different blog. So the driver shows up at 7 and us 3 girls that live here hopped in the car to go fetch the 4th girl from the other apartment. We snag her and off to drop them at their job. Weaving in and out of traffic, up and down the steep hills, dotching speed bumps, we finally arrive 30 minutes to their job. Our wonderful driver makes sure they made it inside okay, and then us 3 remaining girls are off the Asia side of Istanbul. Traffic was too bad on the way there so we made it to the casting at 8:15 am and was told that client wouldn't even be in for another 45 minutes!!! WHAT!!! We were almost an hour early! WTF! After an hour, other models showed up and then we were told that one of the designers was running late so we waited almost another hour before we even saw the client. ALMOST 2 HOURS OF WAITING!!!
The clients are there so we go up, and they don't like any of us ICE models so that was a pointless ass trip. On top of that, our driver had to leave to take another girl to a job so another agency's driver was taking us home, and who did the client like, those models in that agency that we were riding with. So after 3 hours of being there, we finally were able to leave and were heading to the agency. Once there I learn that me and one other girl have a casting in about 20 minutes so we get back in the car and off again to the most traffic filled part of the city, the rich shopping district. Now we had already been here yesterday but this young, non-English speaking driver told us the wrong building so we missed the casting. So back we were at the same spot and the driver, again, told us the wrong building! So we walk out of the building, he's like no no this one, and it was the one I had pointed to and asked him if it was it and he said no. We enter the right building and finally get to the casting which went real smooth. The client spoke really good English and the company was actually part American owned so I'm glad we finally made it. After a quick wardrobe change, we were back in the car and back in the traffic heading to a fashion show casting for some god-awful dresses.
We were the last ones to show so we waited for the other 10 girls to go and then it was our turn to impress the client with these wonderful curtain like shorts and nasty makeup covered white shirt. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure I didn't get that job. Once everyone was done, 2 girls went in the small car and the rest of us were off to drop only 3 girls off at their casting. So we drove dropped them off and waited 30 minutes in the cramped, smoke-filled van for those 3 girls to finish. Then off to drop 1 girl at a job and one more casting for the rest of us. We go and after 30 minutes we leave. Finally at 6:45 we are heading home!
Now having a driver is pretty nice just so we don't have to worry about getting lost or being late, but the majority of our days if we don't have jobs are spent seeing Istanbul through the dirty windows of the model van. We've been to some pretty cool parts of town but I only witnessed them in the van. And this van attracts a lot of attention
Imagine seeing a van filled with 5-10 models slowly drive by (windows not tinted). Your eyes would be hooked on that van. As are all the Turkish people that see us drive by. And when we stop it's like a freakin circus car. Model after model after model jumping out of this little van. So many eyes turn our eye and gawk at us. and they aren't shy about it. They will stand and stare and talk Turkish right at you. And you know they are talking about you because they point and comment and look you up and down. It's as though no one has ever seen girls wear sky-high heels and move in packs. gosh :) Our model van is an attraction to say the least. It is like a creep magnet for all those weird Turkish men to get their fix of beauty for the minute or two they see us. Imagine being on the inside of the van and feeling like a piece of meat from the moment you exit until you get in the building to the casting or job. No fun!
So now you know a little about the model van. We ride in it for hours through the crazy, tiny, ever-so bumpy, hilly Turkish streets with no seat belts and filled to the brim. Now that's what I call luxury :)
Next up, a little story I like to call Models on Parade. Have a wonderful day my little readers! MUAH!