Beş, altı, yedi, sekiz

Not many cultural updates today, but several personal ones (this is me giving you fair warning before a boring blogpost, so beware!).

Got up early this morning and took the bus down to Sariyer for breakfast at the cafe I've been to a couple times-- I had some tea and a cheesy pastry of some sort, and practiced my Turkish. On the way back to the bus stop, I had fun reading the street signs and was gratified to discover that I recognized more than ever-- portokal, for instance, means orange.

Classes as usual, pretty much the same as they are in the States. I guess let me know if you want to hear about them?

Anyway, here comes the event I've been waiting for since I got here-- modern dance class! They had a demo during our orientation, but class last week was canceled. So here it was at last, and it was fantastic! The teacher spoke very little English but the other students translated, and it was a lot of fun. Most of the other exchange students had little, if any, prior dance training, so I stayed for the "advanced combination" afterwards which was crazy awesome. Even though I didn't understand a word the teacher was saying and the other students stopped translating because they were working to remember the stepsI was able to get the gist of the feel of the combination. Dancers are naturally expressive, even without words. Anyway, it was a great experience, even if I'm much more rusty than I thought-- I don't think I'm going to be able to walk for a week. But that's all right, it'll leave me recovered just in time for next class!

Another note-- I'm going to Cappadoccia this weekend with a bunch of other exchange students to see the underground Christian city, etc. We're leaving tomorrow night, so I may not be posting for a couple of days. Don't worry, though, I'll resume with stories and pictures on Monday or Tuesday.

Until then!

Kediler ve köpekler (cats and dogs)

Animals are kind of a thing here. Every place I've been, there have been dogs and cats wandering the streets. Unlike many countries, however, they aren't considered a nuisance but rather a communal responsibility. Shopkeepers will leave piles of meat around for cats, and most of the dogs have tags on their ears which means they've been vaccinated and are ok to approach. And cats and dogs alike are mostly very friendly and affectionate. Despite having so many roaming around, I've never felt threatened by a dog. I think the attitude of the Turkish people is transferred to the animals-- that is, people here take care of the animals, and the cats and dogs respond in kind.

I took some cat pictures when I went to Yoros Kalise this weekend, but the Internet is being very slow so I'll have to upload them later.

Pictures, as promised

The view from the top

The Bosporus into the Black Sea-- note the poor visibility and gross rainy weather that this picture effectively captures. Totally deliberate, not bad photography at all...

View of the Bosporus-- notice the elegant power lines stretching from Europe to Asia!

We couldn't get in. Sad.

The Castle-- Yoros Kalise! There was absolutely no information about it to be found, but it looks quite old. So that's interesting.

That's all for now-- classes are classes, nothing new to report. Until tomorrow (probably....)!

No Free Lunch, but Close Enough

All right, so it's been a little while... maybe I just don't like writing on weekends!

On Friday I had an adventure with my fellow redhead, Cat-- we went into Sariyer to find a fun coffee shop. I must say, mission accomplished. Delicious tea, great pastries, nice view of the city and friendly employees. Very exciting.

Last night was the cultural exchange dinner-- exchange students from different countries made traditional dishes and we tried them all buffet style. Some stand-outs: Japanese noodles (Japan/Singapore), crepes (France), pasta (Italy)... and from the Americans, pb & j, always classy. But it was a really fun way to connect with the other exchange students.

Today was another ginger adventure: Cat and I met up at our coffee shop; I just ordered tea, but they gave us each a free eclair! Fantastic! Then we went across the Bosporus to Asia, the same town I was at last week. It was nice to go again and kind of have an idea of where things were so we could explore a little more. We hiked up to the castle (it's still closed, btw), and walked around at the top looking for nice views. We got quite a fantastic one of where the Bosporus feeds into the Black Sea-- gorgeous. Afterwards, we each ordered an enormous waffle-- they filled it with fruit, white chocolate, and nutella, then folded it up like a taco. Yum. We wandered around town a bit, killing time before we caught the ferry back. As we were walking and trying to keep warm (cold and rainy today, gross), one of the restaurant owners invited us in for some free tea. We thought it must have been just a ploy to get us in and make us buy some food, but once we sat down the waiters made sure we were close to the heater, brought us each a big mug of tea and left us alone to chat. Two free things in one day? That's got to be a cultural phenomenon. I must say, I certainly picked the right country!

Pictures to follow-- I did get a bunch from the top of the hill where the castle is, but my computer's being really slow. I'll try to upload them later.

Good night (or good morning)!

So I guess they have viruses here, too...

Not feeling so great today (don't freak out, Mom, it's just a cold!). But it's given me the opportunity to get to know campus a little better and drill some Turkish vocab. Turkish word of the day: Aslan--lion. (That's for all you Narnia fans!)

I went to my first music of Istanbul class today, it was very interesting. As it turns out, Turkish traditional music differs from Western music in more than just instrumentation and style. Turkish music actually has a different scale, meter, and notation, as well as a different musical tradition. For example, traditional Western music harmonies (think melody and counter melody) aren't really present in Turkish music. It's been really tough to put aside what I think I know about music and learn everything from scratch. Difficult, but a great window into Turkish culture!

Sorry for the poor quality of the post, going to turn in early tonight.

Ben öğrenciyim-- I'm a student!

I had my first Turkish class today! It's been so long since my Spanish 1 class that I forgot how hard it is to begin to learn a new language... even saying the alphabet is hard! For Turkish this is especially true since there are several extra letters including some additional vowels that don't really have any English equivalent. But all the other students are in the same boat and the professor is really understanding so we have a lot of fun with it.

In other news, classes at Koc are only four days a week! It felt very strange to leave class today and have all the professors say, "ok, see you on Monday!" But as an exchange student, it really is a great system because it will allow me to do some sightseeing on the long weekends that I'll have every week.

You mean I have to go to school?

I had class today for the first time in quite a while, about two months in fact. Fortunately it wasn't too strenuous, the professors just went over the course objectives and expectations, the same as at Rhodes. Although I've never had a professor describe the topics for each week for a solid hour before, which was obviously great fun.

Since I don't have a whole lot to say about today, I thought I'd share some stories that really set Turkey apart from the States. People view children as more communal property here, and the kids seem equally comfortable having strangers pinch their cheeks. For example, when we went to get our residency permits yesterday there was a little boy who literally jumped into the lap of another exchange student, sat and hugged her and chattered away in Turkish. His mother looked on indulgently from a little ways away, and told him to wave good-bye to all of us when they were leaving.

The craziest thing I've seen yet, however, took place on the bus on Sunday. I was riding down to Sariyer by myself and an older woman sat next to me in the aisle seat. The bus started to get crowded, and soon there were no more available seats. About halfway to Sariyer, a woman got on holding her baby, and just plopped her in the lap of the woman next to me! I was shocked-- this woman just gave her baby to a stranger! Then I started to think about it; there was no where for the woman to take the baby, no room for her to drop it or anything, and the mother was standing as close to the pair as it is possible to stand. Still, though, can you imagine that happening on the subway in the States?

Catching up...

Hey everyone, sorry for missing a couple of days! It's been super busy over here in Sariyer...

On Saturday, we went into Istanbul and saw all the typically touristy sights-- Blue Mosque and a couple of museums whose names escape me, as well as the Grand Bazaar. It was a super long day-- we left campus at 11 am and didn't get back until like 10:30 pm! But it was nice to get a look at the city and see all the things we'll want to check out later. We all have museum cards so we can get back in no problem.

We didn't have anything planned yesterday so I met a bunch of girls in Sariyer and we decided to take the ferry across the Bosporus to Asia. We weren't really sure where we were going; we just bought a token and hoped for the best. We wound up at a cute little town-- kind of touristy, lots of fish and souvenirs. We hiked up a hill to a castle/fortress (Yoros Kasile) only to find that it was closed due to archaeological excavation. But we met a nice group of Turkish people who took our picture-- actually, who insisted on being in our picture and having us in theirs! Everyone is so friendly here; afterwards, they tried to get us to share their picnic, but we didn't want to miss the ferry back to Europe. (Actually, they informed us that their group was one Turk and several Kurds; they make that distinction here which would be odd to see stateside.) Back in Sariyer, we had a pretty traditional dinner at a Black Sea restaurant (Pideban). We all got something different and shared around. I can already tell I'm going to have to buy bigger pants before I leave, everything's so delicious and new, I just want to taste everything!

Back to Istanbul today but not for fun; we went to the police station to get our residency permits. We met at 1:00 and didn't get back until 7! So a super long and not very exciting day. But after that, a nice relaxing evening; Forrest Gump with some of the other kids. First classes tomorrow (well, today, but I had to miss them to get my permit). Wish me luck!

Here are some pictures, but just from Istanbul-- I forgot my camera on Sunday.

The Blue Mosque-- definitely lived up to my expectations

Blue Mosque minaret; one of the coolest things about being here is seeing minarets everywhere. Totally changes the skyline.
Inside the Blue Mosque; now you know why they call it blue!

No shoes inside the mosque. I'll try to get up a picture of me in a headscarf later-- pretty funny.

Part of the waterworks from Ottoman times; hard to see here, but the pillars are in a couple feet of water. Absolutely breathtaking, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar; sorry for the poor quality, I only took it so I would remember which gate to come out of. Fun fact: the Grand Bazaar is the largest covered bazaar in the world! I got a fun blue bowl there for only 7.50 TL! (like $5)

That's all for now, iyi gunlar!

Sariyer and Brunch

The mentors took a group of us into Sariyer last night to run some errands; I got a new adapter so I don't have to use the crazy Turkish computers anymore. We stopped for dinner while we were out, and the mentor I was with treated us to my first official something-wrapped-in-grape-leaves. It actually wasn't as bad as I had expected; definitely not like anything I had ever eaten, but edible for sure. So that's an experience to cross off my (hypothetical) list!

We also went out to brunch this morning to a restaurant right on the sea-- the Bosporus, I think, though I'm not positive. I now know that the Turkish idea of breakfast doesn't quite gel with what I'm used to. The table was arrayed with a variety of bread and cheese, including a honey spread-- but also tomatoes, cucumbers, and parsley. We also got to try all kinds of other dishes-- eggs and fried cheesy something and some other kind of eggs with a pink meat. (Clearly I didn't have much of an idea of what was going on, but it was all quite good!)

Here are some more pictures from the day. Enjoy!

Pictures of Campus

The school is on a hill, so it's quite windy!

I live in Building K.

Some of the other dorms as seen from the front of mine.

Two Redheads, One Campus

So I met the other gınger on campus today-- she actually meant to study ın Caıro but was evacuated 2 weeks ago and had to try to fınd any unıversıty that would accept her for the semester. She saıd she was really near the protests, whıch ıs way cool. And I met the other gırl from Rhodes, whıch ıs good to know.

We had a scavenger hunt of campus, whıch would have been easıer ıf we knew where anythıng on campus was. But ıt was a really good way to get to know our way around as well as chat wıth a smaller group of people (lıke the other redhead). We also had a photographer followıng us around, so I'm sure we'll wınd up ın photos as examples of dıversıty or somethıng. Who knew I'd wınd up beıng anyone's dıversıty?!

So a story from the journey over that I neglected to mentıon last tıme-- I got my fırst taste of the frıendlıness of Turks on my flıght from Frankfurt to Istanbul. As I was chıllın' ın my seat watchıng the ınflıght movıe (that one where Katheryn Heıgel has to raıse a baby wıth some other guy...), the woman behınd me taps me on my shoulder. I turn around and she starts talkıng to me, askıng me where I'm from and where I'm goıng, etc. Now keep ın mınd that we're both ın the wındow seat so we're just talkıng through the crack between our seat and the wındow. Fınally she says ''I'm sorry, but you just look so Englısh!'' Crazy stuff. But people here have been really great, especıally the Turkısh students who are our ''mentors'' and showıng us around. And all the other exchange students are really frıendly sınce none of us really know anyone. It's just lıke freshman year, and thıs week ıs lıke Welcome Week before all the upperclassmen come.

We're goıng down to the town--Sariyer-- tonıght to pıck up essentıals lıke phones and grocerıes. I'll be sure to tell you all about ıt. Mıss you all, and hope you have a good mornıng!

In other news, I found the apostrophe! Hooray!

Here I am!

So I made it to Turkey! After a luxerious (for coach) Lufthansa flight (they gave me chocolate mousse! With a strawberry on top!), and a cramped cab ride with three other students I arrıved on campus. I will be lıvıng ın a quad but so far none of the other gırls are here whıch ıs kınd of creepy.

Today we had regıstratıon actıvıtıes rangıng from payıng our resıdence fees to fındıng our the offıce of our academıc advısor. We went together-- three Amerıcan students and our Turkısh mentor. We also had a Survıval Turkısh class whıch was great fun, though I am not yet fluent ın Turkısh.

Students seem to have a pretty wıde mıx of natıonalıtıes: the aforementıoned Australıan, Canadıans, Italıans, Germans, Swıss, and people from the Netherlands and Sıngapore (Sıngaporıans?). So far I have only met 2 other Amerıcans, whıch ıs both crazy and crazy-awesome.

Pıctures to follow, I just have yet to take them.

Why am I wrıtıng ı for i? Because I am typıng on a modıfıed Turkısh keyboard, and Turkısh has several addıtıonal letters. Here they all are: ö, ç, ş, ı, ğ, ü. It ıs just about drıvıng me crazy-- for ınstance, when I try to press a perıod I get a ç, and I stıll cannot fınd the apostraphe whıch ıs why there are no contractıons ın thıs entıre post. Serıously, you can check ıf you want!

(Insert Turkey Pun Here)

Merhaba! That's one of about 12 words I know in Turkish, which will hopefully be enough to get me through customs... because I'm leaving in two days! I finally got my visa and will be flying to Istanbul Monday afternoon, connecting in Germany. I've exchanged dollars for euros (which I've been told are easier to exchange, and will help me buy coffee on my layover) and have started packing and getting my last loads of laundry through. As it turns out, it's pretty difficult to decide what I'll need for the next four months. I just keep telling myself that there are stores in Turkey!

I'll do my best to post regular updates here. I want to keep in touch with everyone while I'm gone, so please, send emails!

Allahaismarladik,
Carolyn