Istanbul is fairly Westernized as far as cities go-- you can find a McDonald's or a Starbucks anywhere, and they eat more french fries here than people do in the States. But if you're feeling adventurous, there's always something Turkish to try.
Yesterday I had my first ciğ kofte. Technically this means "raw meatball;" the name comes from the way these used to be made, as raw meat kneaded for a long time instead of being cooked. With the stricter food safety regulations put in place in preparation for EU membership, however, ciğ kofte is now strictly vegetarian. It's actually a spread that you eat in a wrap, though I got a free sample wrapped in lettuce. It was spicy, with a texture like mashed potatoes, and quite good! If you ever have the chance to try it, though, don't look at it too hard-- it's not the most appetizing meal I've ever eaten.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Church, Chocolate, and Public Transportation
As many of you may have noticed, yesterday was Easter. Though churches aren't as common in Istanbul as they are at home (the country is literally 99% Muslim, after all), there was a church nearby my mom's hotel that had an English mass. It was interesting to see the diversity in the congregation-- Catholics and non-Catholics, people of every ethnicity and nationality.
We met some of my friends after church for lunch and finally tried tavuk göğsü, a Turkish dessert made of chicken. It's very sweet and very sticky; in fact, most of the Turks here don't believe it really has chicken in it! Definitely an experience, but I'm not sure I would try it again.
Since my mom's going to be on her own in the city for a couple of days while I'm in class, I showed her how to take the tram down to Sultanahmet, the old city with lots of must-sees like the Blue Mosque and Topkapı Palace. We made it down there successfully, but it was too crowded to see anything. The lines were all so long that the museums would be closed by the time we made it inside!
We made it back to Taksim in one piece-- we even got seats on the tram both ways! After a quick stop at the Spice Bazaar we headed back to find a chocolate cafe nearby the hotel some friends had told me about. They had raved about this place, and they were right! We shared a chocolate cake and some fruit and fondue-- I can't wait to get back here! A loonnng bus ride later, and here I am, back on campus, catching up on my neglected homework.
We met some of my friends after church for lunch and finally tried tavuk göğsü, a Turkish dessert made of chicken. It's very sweet and very sticky; in fact, most of the Turks here don't believe it really has chicken in it! Definitely an experience, but I'm not sure I would try it again.
Since my mom's going to be on her own in the city for a couple of days while I'm in class, I showed her how to take the tram down to Sultanahmet, the old city with lots of must-sees like the Blue Mosque and Topkapı Palace. We made it down there successfully, but it was too crowded to see anything. The lines were all so long that the museums would be closed by the time we made it inside!
We made it back to Taksim in one piece-- we even got seats on the tram both ways! After a quick stop at the Spice Bazaar we headed back to find a chocolate cafe nearby the hotel some friends had told me about. They had raved about this place, and they were right! We shared a chocolate cake and some fruit and fondue-- I can't wait to get back here! A loonnng bus ride later, and here I am, back on campus, catching up on my neglected homework.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Annem Istanbul´da otuyor!
So my mom is here in Istanbul! I´m staying with her at her hotel about an hour and a half by bus from my school. I´ve actually been quıte busy with homework and rehearsal for my upcoming dance performance, but be sure to ask her about her adventure to the Hagia Sofia today-- it seems she had quite the experience! But it´s been nice to catch up and show her how I´ve learned to get around the city. And now she fınally understands how frustrating it is to use these crazy Turkish keyboards!
We´ve got a bit planned for the rest of her week here, so keep reading to hear about our adventures!
We´ve got a bit planned for the rest of her week here, so keep reading to hear about our adventures!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Conversation Group
At the beginning of the semester, I signed up to be an English tutor for the students in the pre-freshman year language studies program, the year that many students here take to make sure they can cope in fully English-language classes. Today I finally started my first conversation group! We'll be meeting once a week to chat in English, just to give them some practice speaking differently than they might just chatting with their friends or in class.
Since it was just the first week we didn't talk about anything in particular; I wanted to get a feel for their particular language skills. They were actually more curious about me than willing to talk-- where was I from, what my major was, what I did for spring break. But it's a great group so far-- three girls-- and I think we'll have an awesome semester. Let me know if you have any fun conversation starters!
Since it was just the first week we didn't talk about anything in particular; I wanted to get a feel for their particular language skills. They were actually more curious about me than willing to talk-- where was I from, what my major was, what I did for spring break. But it's a great group so far-- three girls-- and I think we'll have an awesome semester. Let me know if you have any fun conversation starters!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Dinner and a Movie
My friends here and I have been wanting to make dinner for quite some time-- today we finally did it. Pasta, broccoli, and chicken-- delicious and ordinary. Awesome.
We had a bit of an adventure trying to get the ingredients in the grocery store. While I know many food words in Turkish, I don't know how to differentiate between tomato sauce and paste except by guesswork (we guessed right). And good luck trying to find spices in a mini travel dictionary. We were stuck trying to smell the spices through the wrapping and guess if they'd go well with tomato sauce. But in the end, we succeeded in creating a perfectly ordinary dinner. Yay us.
We had a bit of an adventure trying to get the ingredients in the grocery store. While I know many food words in Turkish, I don't know how to differentiate between tomato sauce and paste except by guesswork (we guessed right). And good luck trying to find spices in a mini travel dictionary. We were stuck trying to smell the spices through the wrapping and guess if they'd go well with tomato sauce. But in the end, we succeeded in creating a perfectly ordinary dinner. Yay us.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
As promised, some pictures
London Eye on a cloudy day... it wasn't as dreary as it looks.
Helpful hints for the tourists! This is by St. Paul's Cathedral; the shadow is a bus driving by.
That's actually quite a striking picture... which I of course framed carefully and intentionally...
Couldn't resist!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Final Musings on London
I just wanted to take a post to wrap up the loose ends of my London trip, especially since there's not a whole lot going on here at school.
On staying in a hostel: I loved getting the chance to meet new people-- I met lots of British people, an Australian, a French girl, a couple Germans, a handful of Spaniards, and one really cute South African guy who sadly only stayed one night. But it was really interesting to hear everyone's stories and see why people decide to come to London, or why they travel at all. But it did make me realize that although I do love traveling, I don't want to still be moving around when I'm 50. You kind of get the feeling that some of the older people who come through the hostels don't have a permanent home, which I definitely want, though maybe not quite yet.
On my first trip to a left-driving country: So I almost got hit by cars or bicycles many times. I kept forgetting which way to look and stepping into traffic; fortunately, the busier streets in London had handy directions on them noting which way to look.
On navigating the Underground: All in all not as difficult as I had expected. The stations are in pretty logical positions, and it's possible to get just about anywhere without too many changes. There was, however, a fair amount of construction to spruce the city up for the Olympics next year, so there were a fair amount of delays. I guess that means I'll have to take another trip back someday to see the new and improved stations!
I was going to post some pictures along with this by my internet connection is being kind of sketchy and I don't want to push my luck. Next time for sure!
On staying in a hostel: I loved getting the chance to meet new people-- I met lots of British people, an Australian, a French girl, a couple Germans, a handful of Spaniards, and one really cute South African guy who sadly only stayed one night. But it was really interesting to hear everyone's stories and see why people decide to come to London, or why they travel at all. But it did make me realize that although I do love traveling, I don't want to still be moving around when I'm 50. You kind of get the feeling that some of the older people who come through the hostels don't have a permanent home, which I definitely want, though maybe not quite yet.
On my first trip to a left-driving country: So I almost got hit by cars or bicycles many times. I kept forgetting which way to look and stepping into traffic; fortunately, the busier streets in London had handy directions on them noting which way to look.
On navigating the Underground: All in all not as difficult as I had expected. The stations are in pretty logical positions, and it's possible to get just about anywhere without too many changes. There was, however, a fair amount of construction to spruce the city up for the Olympics next year, so there were a fair amount of delays. I guess that means I'll have to take another trip back someday to see the new and improved stations!
I was going to post some pictures along with this by my internet connection is being kind of sketchy and I don't want to push my luck. Next time for sure!
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