Friday
Friday night we went out to an exchange student dinner. It was fun to meet more of the exchange students, although in this situation it was hard to do so because CIEE-ers were separated (since our program was paying for us YAY!!!). Again, it was a HUGE meal and I couldn't finish everything, but it was really good. There was some music (mostly electronized latin songs... /:[ But at some point they played electonized Turkish music and all the mentors started dancing in the middle and making us join :DDD Tons of fun.
Saturday
We had our first visit to some of the most iconic sights in Istanbul. First we went to the Blue Mosque. It was INCREDIBLE. The moment I stepped inside I was struck by the size of the interior space and the gorgeous designs covering all the walls. When I went to Orthodox churches in Russia I felt something eerily and deeply "spiritual" (sorry Charlie :D), and I had a similar experience at the Blue Mosque. Linda, Kathryn and I got separated from the rest of the group because we spent so much time there being stunned, plus Linda stopped to pray. Somehow, we found some Erasmus kids (Erasmus is another study abroad program on campus) and went with them to the group-organized lunch. And we ate köfte. Omg. I've had moments of questioning my decision to give up vegetarianism for study abroad, but this was not one of them. Out and about we also tried some fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice which was likewise DELISH. Linda, Kathryn and I ate with Ibrahim (Singapore), Joan (Portugal), Marco (Italy), and Ozzie (Netherlands). And the other CIEE-ers left without us. So we didn't get to see the Hagia Sofia, which is supposed to be more incredible than the Blue Mosque, somehow. But we were reunited to check out the cistern next to it, which was super cool. This big dark space underground, all columns and barrel vaulting. There's still water in it. We saw some other cool monuments at a distance and then went to the Grand Bazaar. It was really cool and they sold everything from jewelry to fake designer polos to hookahs. I didn't buy anything (though sorely tempted) because apparently they really raise the prices there since it's so touristy.
The Blue Mosque:
Köfte! and Kathryn:
The Cistern:
The Grand Bazaar:
That night the ISS (International Student Society) organized a party night for us in Taksim. So we danced alllll night and went to bed at 5 :D.
Sunday
This was our first unplanned day. We went to a special exhibit at a museum. I went with Linda, Kim, and Charlie. It was so great. They had so many fantastic things. It went chronologically from Roman era through the Ottoman Empire. There were incredible examples of Roman capitals and statues as well as indescribably beautiful korans and Ottoman swords. I wish we could have taken pictures. There was also a dome where they projected actual domes in mosques across Turkey. I hope that makes sense :P Afterwards we went to a great restaurant and ate DÖNER and some ridiculously delicious desserts (one of them with COCONUTTTTT). Kim's birthday was the day before so we treated her to the desserts and got the waiter to put a candle in one of them :D
Today!
Was the first day of classes! I'm registered for Mythology and Religion, which looks like it might be pretty good. Otherwise, I'm looking at registering for Soc 100, Brain and Behavior, Turkish History and Culture (for exchange students only), and/or Modern Masculinities. And we're required to take Turkish, of course. It was a pretty overwhelming day, trying to figure it all out. I really don't want to hear about classes anymore. We're about to go out to Sariyer and get some essentials, like detergent and notebooks :P I really need to do laundry, but am worried about buying the wrong detergent. Also, in the past 24 hours I've gotten to skype with mama, Deda, Candy, Rachel, Krista, and Danielle!! It made me sooooOOOoooOOOooo happy!!!!!! lovelovelovelovelove
Vocabulary!!!
- Friday: Cuma (pronounced "djuma")
- Saturday: Cumartesi
- Sunday: Pazar
- Today: Bugün
- Blue Mosque: Sultanahmet Camii, aka amazingness
- Hagia Sofia: Aya Sofya, aka probable-amazingness
- köfte: meaty deliciousness
- döner: another term for meaty deliciousness
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