Classes are Underway!

The first month of classes is drawing to a close, and with it come exams! Though I have only met with two of my classes twice, my other two classes seem to actually exist every week, and thus I am required to show how much I have learned along the way.  Tomorrow is my Turkish exam. This is terrifying as languages have never been my strong suite, this one especially.  But! At least güneşli - which means it's sunny (finally). 


The picture above shows an old castle, and the little buildings peaking out on the top of the hill are my school.  The building that is clearly visible is where I have my International Relations class - which is one of the classes that has only met twice.  This is a tad disconcerting because we will have to make up the hours missed at some point (hopefully not on a Saturday morning).  My professor works for the UN so I suppose he is busy pretty often, which is understandable.  


I am also taking a Political Anthropology class - which I love.  It basically takes what I learned in Theories of Culture (a class I took at Grinnell) and expands these theories - focusing on politics.  My professor also makes a lot of references to Turkish politics along the way, so I am getting a better feel for the country I am living in as well.  


This is supposed to be a beautiful weekend, so I will do some more exploring up the coast and post more pictures soon!

28 Days of Lentil Soup

I have now been in Turkey for a month.  The best part, by far, has been the delicious food.  I eat çorba on a daily basis (at least once) along with literal tons of freshly baked breads, chocolate puddings with hidden cream puffs at the bottom, eclairs, baklava, pomegranates, and blackberry yogurts.  I have noticed that whenever I talk to family and friends at home, the conversation consists primarily of my meal choices and the delicious desserts I find at the pastanesi I frequent.  YUM.

I suppose I should discuss other things as well though.  School is going well... we are on our way into March, but I don't seem to have a definite class schedule.  I may be taking International Relations, Political Anthropology, or Byzantine Art and Architecture... but nothing is official.  I am definitely taking Turkish though, which is turning out to be much more ridiculously difficult than I anticipated.  We spent a good 30 minutes last class attempting to pronounce ü, u, i, e, a, ü, o, ı, ğ, and worst of all ö (which for some reason seems to have an 'r' sound in it somewhere). I am hoping that once I learn the basics the rest will come a bit more easily.

I haven't been able to do much outside of classes and restaurants.  The weather has been depressing and cold - I haven't seen the sun in about two weeks, and it even snowed on Saturday.  Once it warms up a bit, I plan on spending more time down in Bebek - right on the waterfront.  Or studying outside in the quad, rather than just being cooped up, and well into the 5th season of Desperate Housewives... Which just unfortunately jumped forward 5 years into the future, while also jumping the shark I fear.

Oh Hey Istanbul

I have been living in Istanbul for a whole 6 days now! I have thus far concluded that the 3 major differences between Istanbul and America are the lack of women on the streets here, the lack of English spoken... anywhere, and the fact that people here are just about the friendliest I have ever met.  Even though they don't speak a lick of English, and I can hardly even say 'hello' correctly in Turkish, people go out of there way here to help us with the confusion of the bus system, the lack of pricing on anything in stores, and my complete inability to read the signs explaining when the next ferries will be arriving.  Its really unexpected for such a large city... I was assuming everyone would have a NYC mentality but I don't feel that far from Iowa after all.  Random passersby will say hello, or at least nod.  It is really a comfort.

Other than that Istanbul has turned out to be a bizarre and diverse city.  On Saturday I traveled on a ferry from the Old City up the Bosphorus to a little fishing village (that is still in the city limits) near the Black Sea.  The contrast between where I got on the boat, and where I got off, was astounding.  In the Old City I could hardly even buy a simit from a local vendor because of the crowds... but in Sarıyer I was able to sit in the sun, while enjoying some freshly made fish soup... while watching men catch more fish. There were parks on the water, and even a little playground with a ferris wheel. It was shocking to me that I could still be in the 5th largest city in the world in such a quiet, peaceful place.

So anyway, to rap this up, mother and I had a fantastic time exploring Istanbul this past weekend.  We ate delicious food (the highlight being this delicious waffle wrap filled with chocolate, kiwi, and strawberries) we wandered around beautiful places, and we saw artifacts and sculptures from well over 4000 years ago.  Overall a success! Though I did realize I forgot my camera's USB at home, so pictures may be delayed.

Tonight I am packing for my program excursion to Cappadocia and other areas of southern Turkey. I am beyond excited for this trip! Hopefully I will begin to pick up some Turkish along the way as well!