On 1/11, she uploads pics at three different times: one in the morning, one around noon, (both Sultanhamet mosques) one of train tracks at around 6pm. Starting on that day she will begin to upload a succession of ‘ 5 pics in 5 day’s’ for a‘ low down’ contest she was chosen for; photos of train tracks, a body of water, and streets. She comments that she is ‘loving’ those Istanbul streets, the city is ‘amazing’, and yes she has hit up a couple of good restaurants. She describes the trip as a whim and her excitement is obvious. T comments once more, praises the mosque pic with a ‘Waoow’ followed by ‘are you in Sultanhamet?’ to which she politely responds ‘Thank you,.and I was yesterday
” Only one smile, out of politeness. She saves the 3,4, or 5 smiles for her genuine IG friends.
No further posts from him.
On the 12th is her 2nd submission, a water shot "kinda low", uploaded around 10am. It’s well received.
On the 13th she uploads a NYC pic for her 3rd submission and IGers love it but wonder why a NY photo? D asks if she misses NY and she says yes, adding it's hard to find low down street shots in Istanbul. (Recall that a woman on her street told reporters how she drew a lot of attention when she photographed the street). She makes pleasant exchanges, discusses the weather and her upcoming trip to Amsterdam.
On the 14th, she uploads 3 more photos: Istanbul mosque at sunset, a city street and a bridge, her 5th ‘low down’ submission.
The 15th, no photos are uploaded- but this was the day she travels to Amsterdam.
The 16th is a train reflection pic from Amst, and a water shot for a 'reflection' challenge, the 17th is an Amsterdam seagull. Her fans applaud her photographic efforts and she theirs.
On the 18th, back in Turkey, she uploads 'In the cut', and discusses how ‘epic’ her time was in Holland. She tells another poster who asks that she just left Amst and is back in Turkey but only for 'a few days' as she has decided to cut her trip short and return home.
(Maybe this is when she informs LL she’s leaving early?)
The 19th, in the morning, she uploads ‘An Unfiltered Istanbul’, and at 3 pm a pic ‘Never far from my mind’ and she also tells other IGers that although she will be happy to be returning home early, she loved Istanbul. It was awesome.
On the 20th, as usual, she uploads a photo, but this will be her last one. This is the day she was seen on video at the mall and the last time LL saw her. That is also the day she met up with T, according to his statement given at a police station of his choosing and published in an article on Feb. 1
Sunday's Zaman which reports that this was the second time he met up with her. The second time.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-305...issing-new-yorker-met-with-her-on-jan-20.html
It’s also the day he referred to, in that infamous brag attributed to him, heard by an unbelieving world, right after the battered body of a petite beloved mother and wife is discovered, that startling claim that he got with that girl, made some uh huh passion in the loo, before his wise lawyer silences him and retracts it, likely pointing out such machismo is not only stupid and in the poorest of taste, but shines an unfavorable light on him in every respect.
Respect.
On the 21st, no pics are uploaded. No skype calls home.
“Sierra, 33, disappeared last week while vacationing in İstanbul. The last time she contacted her family was Jan. 21, the day she was supposed to begin her journey home. She never boarded the plane. The Turkish police have recorded the statement of T.K., who is said to be the last person to see missing New Yorker Sarai Sierra in İstanbul. According to the police, T.K. and Sierra met twice in person before she went missing. The last time they met was
Jan. 20 in Sirkeci."
He never mentions where or when the first of the two meetings occurred. But even if it did happen,
twice they meet in person, and anyone would buy a hot flaming romance?
She hardly knew this guy, even her LL said in his statement that she had no friends there, and I think a guy who was home to get her mail, who said ‘she told me she was single’ who knew that she like Sultanhamet, who greeted her everyday and told the press he last saw her go out for dinner, would have noticed any friends and been concerned for her. She was his guest. In his country. This hit him hard. Mr. Sierra said he was broken by it.
Aside from capturing, editing and uploading pics everyday with her phone and answering posts as well as time spent commenting on other IGers pics, she was also, according to her family, busy skyping, texting and facebooking her kids and family every day and evening on her Ipad. Sure she had fun, she found it all ‘amazing’ was ‘def lovin it’ all.
Daily Sarai seemd to openly and enthusiastically share her experiences & visions with family and fellow IGer friends. So after the all the rumours of illicit sex, lies and hints of smuggling, it seems that in the end this creative, daring to step outside-the-box woman really was simply there for photography and hip and ancient culture & maybe, surrounded by the love of families, it just made her keenly miss hers, enough, as she told her babies, to cut it all short and fly on home. Distances can make us value what’s truly important. Maybe that was the reason.
.
Her great romantic Turkish love affair in this ‘trip of a lifetime’ seems only to have been with the vibrant soul of Istanbul, the city itself, steeped in wonder, alive to her, especially the mosques, and the many kind people who returned her smiles and captured her own heart and soul as she walked those cobbled streets, chronicling a letting go passage in time.
The ‘shame of a lifetime’ belongs to whoever shattered that precious spiritual embrace, stealing her spirit from her family, and leaving many behind to mourn her passing.
May Sarai rest in peace.
