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!