Thursday night I ordered a medium fry at BK to make crab fries. I offered the cashiers and manager some becuase of that the managere gave me a larger fry for free so I made more fries. They were oh so yummy! After that I went to ESN to dance the night away with the girls.
On Friday - Becca, Raven, Susannah, Emily and I all ventured to Kadikoy on the Asian side of Istanbul for a lovely Turkish lunch and jewlery. After that Emily, Raven and I visted the Spice Baazar were I tried cinnamon Turkish Delight for the first time, whic is one of my favorites. I also picked up two beautiful scarfs that called my name. lol. In the same store was shown plates that were made with moon stone and glow in the dark and the most expensive scarfs that are made in Turkey. They are called shatoos and are made out of goat beards and cost around 1000TL.
On the bus back to campus an old Turkish man sat accross from me and stared me down. After about 10 minuets he spoke in perfect English and asked me if my hair was real. I replied yes and said the steps that I take to retwist my hair.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Customs day
I took my final Wednesday morning and immediately headed to the exchange office to meet Fernando from Spain who also had to go to customs. On the bus to Kabatas I looked out the window to see a Turkish man blowing me kisses. SMH. (Shaking My Head) I pointed this out to Fernando and we shared a good laugh. We proceeded with our conversation which was Fernando's desire to hijack to Syria with Michal from Poland. I explained to him that hijack was an off limits word to an American and that the right word was hitch hike. After that a Turkish woman shushed us. I got pretty annoyed since it seems that Turkish people only have something to say to non-Turkish people talking on the public transportation but it's completely fine for them to talk.
We reached Kabatas and took the tram to Topkappi and then headed over to customs. What a primative place. I can truly say I am thankful for the accurracy of the USPS. I started at window 1 to show my notice, window 5 to hand in another paper then window 6 for customs to go through my things. then back to window 1 and window 6 to pay. All in all my process took only 30 mins and cost 2TL. Fernando on the other hand was running arround because his mother declared his package to be 300Euros or 600TL. I sat down while Fernando was sorting things out and a few seconds later the TA, Emre that proctored my final was getting his own package out of customs. He waited around and helped out Fernando since we were heading back to campus. Thankful Emre got Fernando's charge down from 200TL to 100TL.
On the way back we took Emre's way - the Metrobus to Medickoy. Immediately on the bus Fernando and Emre conversed in Spanish and English as Emre lived two years in Spain. I on the other hand listened and snacked on some of Fernando's Haribro Gummy Bears. The real kind. Once we got back to Sariya we boared the dolmus were Fernando immediately opened a pack of his Serrano ham. He said this taste better because it's forb-i-den not forbidden. I corrected him and he laughed and said all the same at this point my ham is for me. He offered me a piece but I could not express the same love.
Later on that night, Becca cooked dinner - herbed chicken and bruschetta inspired pasta. Yummmy.
We reached Kabatas and took the tram to Topkappi and then headed over to customs. What a primative place. I can truly say I am thankful for the accurracy of the USPS. I started at window 1 to show my notice, window 5 to hand in another paper then window 6 for customs to go through my things. then back to window 1 and window 6 to pay. All in all my process took only 30 mins and cost 2TL. Fernando on the other hand was running arround because his mother declared his package to be 300Euros or 600TL. I sat down while Fernando was sorting things out and a few seconds later the TA, Emre that proctored my final was getting his own package out of customs. He waited around and helped out Fernando since we were heading back to campus. Thankful Emre got Fernando's charge down from 200TL to 100TL.
On the way back we took Emre's way - the Metrobus to Medickoy. Immediately on the bus Fernando and Emre conversed in Spanish and English as Emre lived two years in Spain. I on the other hand listened and snacked on some of Fernando's Haribro Gummy Bears. The real kind. Once we got back to Sariya we boared the dolmus were Fernando immediately opened a pack of his Serrano ham. He said this taste better because it's forb-i-den not forbidden. I corrected him and he laughed and said all the same at this point my ham is for me. He offered me a piece but I could not express the same love.
Later on that night, Becca cooked dinner - herbed chicken and bruschetta inspired pasta. Yummmy.
I want to go home!
Tuesday, I received an email notification that my package finally arrived. (USPS Express mail still takes 2 weeks in Turkey.) So I run to the PTT Office before class and I'm given a form in Turkish to read. I look at the guy and ask for an English verison and he laughs. I waited about a minuet before a Koc student came in. The PTT guy asked the Turkish student for help and the student proceeded to laugh and then roughly translate that I needed to go to the customs location 2 hours away. I was so mad when I left. (That is part of the reason I've waited to post this.)
I arrive to class with customs heavy on my brain. My least favorite professor Canir Bakir who teaches International Political Economy arrives late and decides to finally take care of house keeping items. He started talking about the midterm and I replied when can I see it since we took it three weeks ago and I am taking my final tomorrow morning. The professor seemed to have a bit of an attitude and continued on with the class. A few minuets later he takes out a Turkish newspaper to read to the class. The only thing he translates is the header. I got annoyed and speak with Lexie as the professor has conducted atleast 25% of every class in Turkish. He turns to me and asks if I have a question I say no. Then I reply to Lexie why would I ask a question when he told a guy during midterm review not to ask questions in class. The professor turns to me again and asks me what he just said. I replied I understand what you are saying when you speak in English but not in Turkish. I'm pretty sure this made him angry as he cut me off numerous times while I recited his words.
After class I headed to his office with two other exchange students to see my midterm grade. I wasn't thrilled about the grade but I expected it since he's still of test was theory based and I'm not good at it. So any way the professor turns to me, looks me in the eyes and asks is it higher or lower than I expected. At that point I was fed up and had decided to write a letter to the Dean of Academics.
I left the professors office for the exchange office and I was told that I had to go across town to pick up my package and to bring 100TL with me in case I had to pay a huge amount for my package.
Overall this day was one of two bad days at Koc. As I felt a weight on my shoulders and my patience thining.
I arrive to class with customs heavy on my brain. My least favorite professor Canir Bakir who teaches International Political Economy arrives late and decides to finally take care of house keeping items. He started talking about the midterm and I replied when can I see it since we took it three weeks ago and I am taking my final tomorrow morning. The professor seemed to have a bit of an attitude and continued on with the class. A few minuets later he takes out a Turkish newspaper to read to the class. The only thing he translates is the header. I got annoyed and speak with Lexie as the professor has conducted atleast 25% of every class in Turkish. He turns to me and asks if I have a question I say no. Then I reply to Lexie why would I ask a question when he told a guy during midterm review not to ask questions in class. The professor turns to me again and asks me what he just said. I replied I understand what you are saying when you speak in English but not in Turkish. I'm pretty sure this made him angry as he cut me off numerous times while I recited his words.
After class I headed to his office with two other exchange students to see my midterm grade. I wasn't thrilled about the grade but I expected it since he's still of test was theory based and I'm not good at it. So any way the professor turns to me, looks me in the eyes and asks is it higher or lower than I expected. At that point I was fed up and had decided to write a letter to the Dean of Academics.
I left the professors office for the exchange office and I was told that I had to go across town to pick up my package and to bring 100TL with me in case I had to pay a huge amount for my package.
Overall this day was one of two bad days at Koc. As I felt a weight on my shoulders and my patience thining.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Phone Home
I finally spoke with my friend Tameeka today. We spent a couple of hours on the phone talking about my experience in Egypt and Ethiopia. I love talking with her because she challenges my thinking and overall is a very knowledgeable person.
While on Facebook I decided to see if my brothers were on and they were. My 15 y.o. brothers are no longer my babies. I just hope they stay focused in high school. I spoke with my mom about my Serenity. I've had a hard time speaking with her while in Turkey. I hope things will change when I come back. I love Serenity as if she were my own child. Serenity has helped me change in so many ways and it would be heart breaking not to be able to see her like I used to when I get back.
Finally I spoke with my God Mom Esther and God Brother Bernard today. Speaking with them was a reminder of how home is where the heart is. Every year I have Thanksgiving dinner with them. This year I called in for dinner from Rome but things were not the same. (Man I miss the food and falling asleep at the dinner table.)I say that to say this. I have become a young adult and ventured off into the world to find and create myself. Along the way I have lost many friends and family which often times have left me feeling lonely. Speaking with them made me realize that I am not alone. That my family is proud and I am doing the right thing.
I don't know about your family and friends but mine are real 24/7 or as they say in Turkey 7/24. They never beat around the bush and they do not stroke egos. They are anything but phony. They do not judge me based on assumptions because they take the time out to ask questions. Lately, I have been feeling as though people have jumped to conclusions because I am in the simplest of terms complex. I speak when I have to. I ask questions when I need to. Lastly, I am blessed to have the opportunity to go abroad on the weekends and see other countries. My eyes are not only soaking in knowledge for myself but information for all the people I know from home who have not been able to see what I have.
Remaining humble.
Salaam
While on Facebook I decided to see if my brothers were on and they were. My 15 y.o. brothers are no longer my babies. I just hope they stay focused in high school. I spoke with my mom about my Serenity. I've had a hard time speaking with her while in Turkey. I hope things will change when I come back. I love Serenity as if she were my own child. Serenity has helped me change in so many ways and it would be heart breaking not to be able to see her like I used to when I get back.
Finally I spoke with my God Mom Esther and God Brother Bernard today. Speaking with them was a reminder of how home is where the heart is. Every year I have Thanksgiving dinner with them. This year I called in for dinner from Rome but things were not the same. (Man I miss the food and falling asleep at the dinner table.)I say that to say this. I have become a young adult and ventured off into the world to find and create myself. Along the way I have lost many friends and family which often times have left me feeling lonely. Speaking with them made me realize that I am not alone. That my family is proud and I am doing the right thing.
I don't know about your family and friends but mine are real 24/7 or as they say in Turkey 7/24. They never beat around the bush and they do not stroke egos. They are anything but phony. They do not judge me based on assumptions because they take the time out to ask questions. Lately, I have been feeling as though people have jumped to conclusions because I am in the simplest of terms complex. I speak when I have to. I ask questions when I need to. Lastly, I am blessed to have the opportunity to go abroad on the weekends and see other countries. My eyes are not only soaking in knowledge for myself but information for all the people I know from home who have not been able to see what I have.
Remaining humble.
Salaam
7 weekends later
This weekend was my first time being in Istanbul since Halloween weekend. On Thursday night I cooked dinner - chicken, tomatoe, spinach and pasta soup. I invited a few people over because I didn't want leftovers. After dinner we headed to Besitas for "the best nargile in town". I beg to differ especially since the service was so sucky. After about an hour the 9 of us headed to the main road to find a cab to take 4 and 5 of us to Taksim. One cab driver had the nerve to say to me that he would get a ticket if he had 5 people in his cab. I told him I had be living in the country for 3 months and witnessed drivers driving up the wrong side of the road and many other things...
Our first stop in Taksim was BBQ Chicken (the restaurant name) for seasoned french fries. The store had been closed for an hour when we arrived but Lexie went in and flaunted her blonde hair and magically the fryers were on. 10 minuets later 7 of us had patatas. We left to find a good place to dance. We did find one place Club Purple, where men were throwing napkins in the air for our group to dance. Weird I know. The other weird thing was how many times I was called Beyonce or how many times people tried to convince me to get my friends to come into their club.
The night was wrapping up and we were waiting for Jasmine to come out of the bathroom of a Kumpir (baked poatatoe) shop. While waiting I saw a polis pick up a beer mug in the middle of the street. He looked at me with disdain and hand it over. Score! Another souvenir was added to my collection. We walked up Istakkal St. for a cab for the 11 of us. Before hopping in a cab a few people decided to try wet burgers. Yuck! After that we split into two cabs. (Ha! Remember the cab driver earlier said that wasn't possible.)
The next morning I headed out to Sultanahmet area to buy my train ticket to Sophia, Bulgaria for New Years with Lexie, Melissa, Becca and Raven. It began to snow for the first time while I was waiting on the dolmus. I was not thrilled as I thought I would miss the snow in Turkey. On the way to Sultanahmet we decide to stop in Taksim for 2 hours. Melissa, Lexie and I decided to go to BBQ for food. Our favorite person, the manager Mehmet was there. Mehmet has a crush on Lexie, so he purchased a bracelet for her while we were there, taught us some Turkish, gave us free food and drinks and mugs.(I call that a successful trip.)
In Sultanahmet we went to the Spice Baazar or Egyptian Baazar. There Lexie and I picked up match shirts, some jewlery and some tea. While in the Baazar the group of us were referred as Spice Girls and I was called Obama on atleast 6 occassions. After purchasing my ticket with Becca and Raven we headed out to the Mosaic museum and then the baazar (open market) that was there. I finally purchased my nargile, a pretty ceramic one with bronze accents.
By this time the weather is hailing, sleeting and mighty cold. The group split up to buy specific things in the area and met again on the tram. While on the tram we met an American man who moved to Istanbul 18 years ago to teach and was moving back to the States in January.It's funny that we met him because last week we were questioning where would we live outside of the US. The group split again and this time I went with Raven and Becca to try kumpir (baked potatoe) on Kumpir Sokak (baked potatoe street). I had a kumpir butter, cheese, corn, red cabbage and cabbage mayo. But there were lots of other toppings to pick - hot dogs, american salad, bulgar, olives, olive paste and more.
We arrived back to campus around 8pm and I was exhausted. I cancelled on hanging out in Taksim with the girls and the 57km/hr winds. Instead I opted to catch up things and ask Becca, my roommate 30 questions. She's quite interesting.
The next morning I woke up at noon when I was suppose to be up at 10 to make brunch with Becca and Raven. Becca was the star today. Last night she told me she could not successfully cook eggs. So I taught her and she made amazing scrambled eggs with cheese, spinach and tomatoes. I'm so proud. My stomach is too!
Our first stop in Taksim was BBQ Chicken (the restaurant name) for seasoned french fries. The store had been closed for an hour when we arrived but Lexie went in and flaunted her blonde hair and magically the fryers were on. 10 minuets later 7 of us had patatas. We left to find a good place to dance. We did find one place Club Purple, where men were throwing napkins in the air for our group to dance. Weird I know. The other weird thing was how many times I was called Beyonce or how many times people tried to convince me to get my friends to come into their club.
The night was wrapping up and we were waiting for Jasmine to come out of the bathroom of a Kumpir (baked poatatoe) shop. While waiting I saw a polis pick up a beer mug in the middle of the street. He looked at me with disdain and hand it over. Score! Another souvenir was added to my collection. We walked up Istakkal St. for a cab for the 11 of us. Before hopping in a cab a few people decided to try wet burgers. Yuck! After that we split into two cabs. (Ha! Remember the cab driver earlier said that wasn't possible.)
The next morning I headed out to Sultanahmet area to buy my train ticket to Sophia, Bulgaria for New Years with Lexie, Melissa, Becca and Raven. It began to snow for the first time while I was waiting on the dolmus. I was not thrilled as I thought I would miss the snow in Turkey. On the way to Sultanahmet we decide to stop in Taksim for 2 hours. Melissa, Lexie and I decided to go to BBQ for food. Our favorite person, the manager Mehmet was there. Mehmet has a crush on Lexie, so he purchased a bracelet for her while we were there, taught us some Turkish, gave us free food and drinks and mugs.(I call that a successful trip.)
In Sultanahmet we went to the Spice Baazar or Egyptian Baazar. There Lexie and I picked up match shirts, some jewlery and some tea. While in the Baazar the group of us were referred as Spice Girls and I was called Obama on atleast 6 occassions. After purchasing my ticket with Becca and Raven we headed out to the Mosaic museum and then the baazar (open market) that was there. I finally purchased my nargile, a pretty ceramic one with bronze accents.
By this time the weather is hailing, sleeting and mighty cold. The group split up to buy specific things in the area and met again on the tram. While on the tram we met an American man who moved to Istanbul 18 years ago to teach and was moving back to the States in January.It's funny that we met him because last week we were questioning where would we live outside of the US. The group split again and this time I went with Raven and Becca to try kumpir (baked potatoe) on Kumpir Sokak (baked potatoe street). I had a kumpir butter, cheese, corn, red cabbage and cabbage mayo. But there were lots of other toppings to pick - hot dogs, american salad, bulgar, olives, olive paste and more.
We arrived back to campus around 8pm and I was exhausted. I cancelled on hanging out in Taksim with the girls and the 57km/hr winds. Instead I opted to catch up things and ask Becca, my roommate 30 questions. She's quite interesting.
The next morning I woke up at noon when I was suppose to be up at 10 to make brunch with Becca and Raven. Becca was the star today. Last night she told me she could not successfully cook eggs. So I taught her and she made amazing scrambled eggs with cheese, spinach and tomatoes. I'm so proud. My stomach is too!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
My skin
I went to the nail salon on campus a few minuets ago for a color change. The older woman that was there last week when I went for a manicure painted my nails today. Before painting my nails, she put my hand next to hers and said "very beautiful. In the summer I get darker."
Two months ago, I would have had mixed emotions about that statement. Now I'm just happy that she saw me as a person and not an object to stare at.
Two months ago, I would have had mixed emotions about that statement. Now I'm just happy that she saw me as a person and not an object to stare at.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Where are you from?
I've had the pleasure of being named something unique, Aquiera. Many thanks to my mother and my god-mother, Leese. My name has many versions and meanings - A queera, Aqui-era, Aquieria, Ackee and Salt Fish, Acura, Aquarius (Are you an Aquarius? Well yes, but my name has nothing to do with that.), A quiera (to want), Akira (Japanese Princess) and Aquiera (Ghanian for born on a Tuesday. I was born on a Saturday.)
I believe the uniqueness of my name is why many people do not believe I am American. Throughout my years at Drexel, I have been told that I was Ghanian and Dominican.In Egypt and Ethiopia I was referred to as South African. In Lebanon, I was referred to as Nigerian. I think it's quite amusing.
This past weekend in Beirut was probably the first time in my life where I have gone somewhere and multiple people were surprised that a group consisting of two whites, one black and a fair skinned Indian could all be American. More importantly be friends.
I'm proud of the diversity I have at home. I'm proud to be American.
I believe the uniqueness of my name is why many people do not believe I am American. Throughout my years at Drexel, I have been told that I was Ghanian and Dominican.In Egypt and Ethiopia I was referred to as South African. In Lebanon, I was referred to as Nigerian. I think it's quite amusing.
This past weekend in Beirut was probably the first time in my life where I have gone somewhere and multiple people were surprised that a group consisting of two whites, one black and a fair skinned Indian could all be American. More importantly be friends.
I'm proud of the diversity I have at home. I'm proud to be American.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Just some thoughts
I am ever so thankful and humble for being blessed with the opportunity to study abroad and country hop on weekends. This was almost not possible in September but God made a way.
Each day abroad is another learning experience. Another day for me to be humble and thankful for what I have and do not have. It is interesting to see cultural differences but one day my vast experience will mold my personality yet again.
Before Thanksgiving I applied for an opportunity of a life time. To go to Chile during my Spring Break in March with my college. Well I got accepted! I know many people of color espeically women who have not been granted the same opportunities as me. I hope they continue to strive to reach their desires.
I hope I'm making my mother, family and friends proud.
Salaam
Each day abroad is another learning experience. Another day for me to be humble and thankful for what I have and do not have. It is interesting to see cultural differences but one day my vast experience will mold my personality yet again.
Before Thanksgiving I applied for an opportunity of a life time. To go to Chile during my Spring Break in March with my college. Well I got accepted! I know many people of color espeically women who have not been granted the same opportunities as me. I hope they continue to strive to reach their desires.
I hope I'm making my mother, family and friends proud.
Salaam
Home is wherever I am! Thanksgiving in Rome.
I arrived back to my campus on Monday November 22. On Tuesday night Lexie and I decided while studying for our International Political Economy midterm that we wanted to fly to Rome to spend Thanksgiving with Olivia, who is studying in Rome and Adam who is studying in Mannheim, Germany. Adam and Lexie were both my residents two years ago in Myers hall. Talk about being a good RA.
Lexie and I headed out to Rome on Thanksgiving Day. We arrived around 3pm and met Liv and Adam at the airport train station. From there we headed to Liv’s apartment in Trastervre and shortly after went to the Colosseum which was only a 10 minuet bus ride from her apartment. It was a bit weird taking transportation in Rome because at the time they had Siesta which means a big break is taken from work during the middle of the day. The other weird part was that you could get on trams and buses without purchasing or validating a ticket. If you did see a ticket man coming one would hop off and get on again to avoid paying. Any ways the Colosseum was mind blowing from the outside; unfortunately I didn’t get to go inside because they closed down at 4:30. After that we walked over to other sites in the area and then to dinner. Along the way for dinner we turned a corner and walked past a park. I said I hear bats. Lexie, looked at me like I was crazy and said I don't think so. Next thing I know 100s of bats are flying over head into the trees.
For dinner Adam and I split ravioli and sausage pizza, we all shared a bottle of red wine for 20Euro. It is faux pau for one to drink white wine or coffee with dinner. We were wrapping up dinner when it began to rain. It rains everyday at some point of the day in Rome. Even stinkier was the fact that it was chilly around 50 degrees outside. After dinner we went for gelato around the corner. AMAZINGNGESS! I ordered coconut and cachi (persimmon). Adam had some amazing cinnamon which Lexie and I craved for the rest of the weekend.
We went back to Liv’s apartment to put on more layers in order for us to sstay warm at the Ice Bar and to try El Vino Nuevo a new style of red wine((The wine is made in months and not years.). The Ice Bar is exactly what the name implies. Each month 40 tons of ice is brought in and carved on sight. We entered the bar for 15 Euro and were given a poncho, gloves and one free drink. The drink itself was served in an ice cone cup. The bar was pretty dead for a Thursday but we livened it up by sharing jokes in the igloo.
The next morning we woke up at 6am and headed to Naples. We missed our train by 7 minuets so we waited around looking for Adam who had over slept and had no way of contacting us. I decided to purchase a snack while waiting, a nice apple pie. YUMMMY!
Upon arrival the train to Sorrento and Pompeii was on strike. The weather was rainy and cloudy so there were no available boats to Capri. There were men in the train station offering us taxi rides but Liv said those men were a part of the Mafia. Yikes! Eventually we figured out a regional train to take us to Pompeii because we could no longer see both Pompeii and Sorrento. While waiting around we decided to get pizza in Naples. It was pretty yummy but nothing to go gaga over in the city where pizza was invented. Naples it self is not the best looking neighborhood compared to other parts of Italy. There were a lot of street sellers and supposed Mafia affliated workers on the streets.
After a 3 hour train ride for the cost of 11 Euros we arrive in Pompeii. We began walking to the site in light rain to save money. About 10 minutes into the walk we saw a cab driver and decided to get in. Unfortunately none of us noticed that there was a 10 euro fair already on the meter. In the end we paid 15Euro to go down the block. The tickets for Pompeii were 11 Euro. Surprisingly enough after paying the rain cleared up and the sun came out.
Pompeii was once covered under 13 feet of dirt and was below farm land. Today one would never think so but the excavation still continues. The roads through the city were made of big rocks so water and horse manure could run down hill. The people of the city even put bigger boulders in to act as a walk way (cross walks). Pompeian’s were the first to have running water to their second floors. Unfortunately they used lead for this and in paints as well and in the long run suffered with brain damage. On the streets were fountains that women would get their daily water from and say a prayer at. I could see the indent in the marble from many people leaning over the sides. We checked out the amphitheater which was neat because of the amount of green, red, orange, blue and white marble that was in the floor. After that we stopped by the whore house where men would pick their sexual pleasure and go into a room with the woman where there was a rock bed and pillow. Remember Italians believed there was nothing wrong with sex being an integral part of everyday life. Lastly we checked out some remains of people that died in the Mt. Vesuvius eruption. I think the saddest remain is of a woman who lay on the ground to cover her pregnant belly. For a long time scientist believed the ash killed the people but it is now believed that the hot temperatures from the volcano had the same affect that an atomic bomb would have on the air.
We left Pompeii and immediately ate gelato. At that time I purchased a hybrid grapefruit/orange which wasn’t very sweet. On the way back to Naples I saw the beautiful island of Capri and lots of graffiti covered walls. In Naples we had to take a regional rail train up to Rome. We were assigned seats in a train car room. There we met a cool guy who lived in the US for a bit, was a MMA fighter and played American Football in Naples. We met up with Adam when we arrived in Rome and went in search of a cheap Italian restauarant that served gnocci. Everyone at the table except for me ordered gnocci, instead I ordered fried artichoke which was pretty good. I also ordered seafood linguine (This is when I realized I did not like mussels.) and lamb chops which were filled with bone spurs.
We shared stories about being abroad. Olivia shared her first steak experience, when she couldn’t remember how to ask for a well done steak so said black and that is just what she was served. I erupted in laughter when I heard that. I’m sure people in the restaurant will remember my laugh. We went outside towards a square to find Italians sitting together on steps. Liv informed us that Italians only talk to and date people that they know or are introduced to by acquaintances. That was pretty stinky to hear but understandable because I constantly felt like a tourist that weekend.
The next day we slept in and Lexie and I headed to Vatican City. The lines were extremely long so we decided to come back to see Piazza San Pietro and the Sistine Chapel the next day. We left to come across some amazing thin crust pizza and sweet gelato! Then we started on our walk around the city. We went shopping for shoes and bags, and then walked up a main street filled with lots of shops. This is where I saw the Lush Rome store and some BBoys breaking. We continued roaming until we got to Trevii fountain and then back to the cat sanctuary. During the walk I decided to participate in normal Italian habits and drink from a water fountain outside. I mean an ornate fountain. It was nice to drink tap water not in a bottle for a few seconds. For dinner we decided to have Chinese food since we had eaten so much Italian food. After that we had the wonderful gelato and headed back to Liv’s apartment for warmth and TV. In total we had gelato three times and other dessert that day.
The next morning we woke up at 5:30am to get to Vatican City to see Piazza San Pietro and the Sistine Chapel. The church was breath taking and filled with beautiful marble sculptures and colored marble floors. Then we went outside of Vatican City to the Sistine Chapel. We paid 25 Euro to skip the line and be in a tour. I felt like crying when I saw the chapel. As a child I was obsessed with Michelangelo. Seeing his greatest work in person was such an amazing experience. My favorite piece was how Michelangelo depicted God and seeing his famous piece when God created Adam.
After leaving we decided to get pizza one last time from the delicious place outside of Vatican city. The day before I had fresh mozzerella, tomatos and basil. That day I had rice balls and proscuitto and ricotta pizza. You may have noticed that I did not refer the pizza as a slice, that is because a rectangle was cut off the sicilian style pie. It was toasted and reheated in the oven and then folded in half and wrapped with parchmen paper for stablity. I must reiterate that eating this pizza was heavenly!
We decided to get gelato one last time after pizza but the server was so rude that we walked out. (When we walked in the server said pay before you taste in a rude town. Trust me I have no problem paying for what I am suppose to but I refuse to allow people to talk to me any way they please. Get another job if you don't like yours. Take a break if you need one to cool off your temper but whatever you do do not catch an attitude with me and think it will fly.)While outside I got into a heated disagreement with Liv about service standards around the world. I was very much so offended with his service since Lexie and I had just went less than 24 hours ago to the same place and were treated better by a different server.
We headed back on the bus and took the tram to the train where we said our good byes. Rome’s Fiumicino terminal is HUGE! It took us a while to get to check in and pass two security points. Inside the terminal you can find lots of duty free shops, cheese, grappa, high end stores like Ferrari and more.
Our plane arrived safely back to Istanbul. Lexie and I took the bus to Taksim and met up with Melissa to have Chinese food again for dinner. This was interesting as Turkish men served me my food. Please know Yeni (New) Hong Kong is a Chinese run establishment. The food was okay but not the New York Chinese food that I had craved for weeks. I spent 35TL on dinner and said to Lexie and Melissa don’t let me forget the food. When we were walking out a fellow exchange student heard us speaking English and came over to introduce herself. We then headed out to the bus and that’s when I remembered I left my expensive dinner in the chair. Lucky for me it was still there when I got there!
Lexie and I headed out to Rome on Thanksgiving Day. We arrived around 3pm and met Liv and Adam at the airport train station. From there we headed to Liv’s apartment in Trastervre and shortly after went to the Colosseum which was only a 10 minuet bus ride from her apartment. It was a bit weird taking transportation in Rome because at the time they had Siesta which means a big break is taken from work during the middle of the day. The other weird part was that you could get on trams and buses without purchasing or validating a ticket. If you did see a ticket man coming one would hop off and get on again to avoid paying. Any ways the Colosseum was mind blowing from the outside; unfortunately I didn’t get to go inside because they closed down at 4:30. After that we walked over to other sites in the area and then to dinner. Along the way for dinner we turned a corner and walked past a park. I said I hear bats. Lexie, looked at me like I was crazy and said I don't think so. Next thing I know 100s of bats are flying over head into the trees.
For dinner Adam and I split ravioli and sausage pizza, we all shared a bottle of red wine for 20Euro. It is faux pau for one to drink white wine or coffee with dinner. We were wrapping up dinner when it began to rain. It rains everyday at some point of the day in Rome. Even stinkier was the fact that it was chilly around 50 degrees outside. After dinner we went for gelato around the corner. AMAZINGNGESS! I ordered coconut and cachi (persimmon). Adam had some amazing cinnamon which Lexie and I craved for the rest of the weekend.
We went back to Liv’s apartment to put on more layers in order for us to sstay warm at the Ice Bar and to try El Vino Nuevo a new style of red wine((The wine is made in months and not years.). The Ice Bar is exactly what the name implies. Each month 40 tons of ice is brought in and carved on sight. We entered the bar for 15 Euro and were given a poncho, gloves and one free drink. The drink itself was served in an ice cone cup. The bar was pretty dead for a Thursday but we livened it up by sharing jokes in the igloo.
The next morning we woke up at 6am and headed to Naples. We missed our train by 7 minuets so we waited around looking for Adam who had over slept and had no way of contacting us. I decided to purchase a snack while waiting, a nice apple pie. YUMMMY!
Upon arrival the train to Sorrento and Pompeii was on strike. The weather was rainy and cloudy so there were no available boats to Capri. There were men in the train station offering us taxi rides but Liv said those men were a part of the Mafia. Yikes! Eventually we figured out a regional train to take us to Pompeii because we could no longer see both Pompeii and Sorrento. While waiting around we decided to get pizza in Naples. It was pretty yummy but nothing to go gaga over in the city where pizza was invented. Naples it self is not the best looking neighborhood compared to other parts of Italy. There were a lot of street sellers and supposed Mafia affliated workers on the streets.
After a 3 hour train ride for the cost of 11 Euros we arrive in Pompeii. We began walking to the site in light rain to save money. About 10 minutes into the walk we saw a cab driver and decided to get in. Unfortunately none of us noticed that there was a 10 euro fair already on the meter. In the end we paid 15Euro to go down the block. The tickets for Pompeii were 11 Euro. Surprisingly enough after paying the rain cleared up and the sun came out.
Pompeii was once covered under 13 feet of dirt and was below farm land. Today one would never think so but the excavation still continues. The roads through the city were made of big rocks so water and horse manure could run down hill. The people of the city even put bigger boulders in to act as a walk way (cross walks). Pompeian’s were the first to have running water to their second floors. Unfortunately they used lead for this and in paints as well and in the long run suffered with brain damage. On the streets were fountains that women would get their daily water from and say a prayer at. I could see the indent in the marble from many people leaning over the sides. We checked out the amphitheater which was neat because of the amount of green, red, orange, blue and white marble that was in the floor. After that we stopped by the whore house where men would pick their sexual pleasure and go into a room with the woman where there was a rock bed and pillow. Remember Italians believed there was nothing wrong with sex being an integral part of everyday life. Lastly we checked out some remains of people that died in the Mt. Vesuvius eruption. I think the saddest remain is of a woman who lay on the ground to cover her pregnant belly. For a long time scientist believed the ash killed the people but it is now believed that the hot temperatures from the volcano had the same affect that an atomic bomb would have on the air.
We left Pompeii and immediately ate gelato. At that time I purchased a hybrid grapefruit/orange which wasn’t very sweet. On the way back to Naples I saw the beautiful island of Capri and lots of graffiti covered walls. In Naples we had to take a regional rail train up to Rome. We were assigned seats in a train car room. There we met a cool guy who lived in the US for a bit, was a MMA fighter and played American Football in Naples. We met up with Adam when we arrived in Rome and went in search of a cheap Italian restauarant that served gnocci. Everyone at the table except for me ordered gnocci, instead I ordered fried artichoke which was pretty good. I also ordered seafood linguine (This is when I realized I did not like mussels.) and lamb chops which were filled with bone spurs.
We shared stories about being abroad. Olivia shared her first steak experience, when she couldn’t remember how to ask for a well done steak so said black and that is just what she was served. I erupted in laughter when I heard that. I’m sure people in the restaurant will remember my laugh. We went outside towards a square to find Italians sitting together on steps. Liv informed us that Italians only talk to and date people that they know or are introduced to by acquaintances. That was pretty stinky to hear but understandable because I constantly felt like a tourist that weekend.
The next day we slept in and Lexie and I headed to Vatican City. The lines were extremely long so we decided to come back to see Piazza San Pietro and the Sistine Chapel the next day. We left to come across some amazing thin crust pizza and sweet gelato! Then we started on our walk around the city. We went shopping for shoes and bags, and then walked up a main street filled with lots of shops. This is where I saw the Lush Rome store and some BBoys breaking. We continued roaming until we got to Trevii fountain and then back to the cat sanctuary. During the walk I decided to participate in normal Italian habits and drink from a water fountain outside. I mean an ornate fountain. It was nice to drink tap water not in a bottle for a few seconds. For dinner we decided to have Chinese food since we had eaten so much Italian food. After that we had the wonderful gelato and headed back to Liv’s apartment for warmth and TV. In total we had gelato three times and other dessert that day.
The next morning we woke up at 5:30am to get to Vatican City to see Piazza San Pietro and the Sistine Chapel. The church was breath taking and filled with beautiful marble sculptures and colored marble floors. Then we went outside of Vatican City to the Sistine Chapel. We paid 25 Euro to skip the line and be in a tour. I felt like crying when I saw the chapel. As a child I was obsessed with Michelangelo. Seeing his greatest work in person was such an amazing experience. My favorite piece was how Michelangelo depicted God and seeing his famous piece when God created Adam.
After leaving we decided to get pizza one last time from the delicious place outside of Vatican city. The day before I had fresh mozzerella, tomatos and basil. That day I had rice balls and proscuitto and ricotta pizza. You may have noticed that I did not refer the pizza as a slice, that is because a rectangle was cut off the sicilian style pie. It was toasted and reheated in the oven and then folded in half and wrapped with parchmen paper for stablity. I must reiterate that eating this pizza was heavenly!
We decided to get gelato one last time after pizza but the server was so rude that we walked out. (When we walked in the server said pay before you taste in a rude town. Trust me I have no problem paying for what I am suppose to but I refuse to allow people to talk to me any way they please. Get another job if you don't like yours. Take a break if you need one to cool off your temper but whatever you do do not catch an attitude with me and think it will fly.)While outside I got into a heated disagreement with Liv about service standards around the world. I was very much so offended with his service since Lexie and I had just went less than 24 hours ago to the same place and were treated better by a different server.
We headed back on the bus and took the tram to the train where we said our good byes. Rome’s Fiumicino terminal is HUGE! It took us a while to get to check in and pass two security points. Inside the terminal you can find lots of duty free shops, cheese, grappa, high end stores like Ferrari and more.
Our plane arrived safely back to Istanbul. Lexie and I took the bus to Taksim and met up with Melissa to have Chinese food again for dinner. This was interesting as Turkish men served me my food. Please know Yeni (New) Hong Kong is a Chinese run establishment. The food was okay but not the New York Chinese food that I had craved for weeks. I spent 35TL on dinner and said to Lexie and Melissa don’t let me forget the food. When we were walking out a fellow exchange student heard us speaking English and came over to introduce herself. We then headed out to the bus and that’s when I remembered I left my expensive dinner in the chair. Lucky for me it was still there when I got there!
Graffiti brought me
This past Friday I headed out to Beirut, Lebanon with my roommate Becca, Jasmine and Ben. The weather this whole weekend was in the high 70s with lots of clear skies. After arrival and checkin we walked around the city to find a map and a guide book. On the way we saw Place des Martyrs and a beautiful mosque. Before entering the girls and I had to put on an all black robe and scarf. The mosque was breath taking. Inside were huge crystal chandelliers and beautiful stain glass windows. The cool part about Beirut is the religious tolerance. Christian churhes, synogoges and mosques can all be found in the same area.
We continued on our exploration through out Beirut and found lots of Christmas trees and war torn buildings next to high rise condos. Eventually we found an exchange office were we turned in $100 for 150,000 LBP. One cool thing about the currency is that $1 equals 1500LBP. But you can pay for pretty much anything in either LBP or Dollars. Side not a bottle of water will be cheap as 500LBP. Eventually we reached American University of Beirut (AUB) and took great pictures of the sunset on the rocks. After that we began our journey to Hamra Street (Rue Hamra) a busy center city street. Our journey first started with us being told by hotel workers to go through a foresty walkway. From there we ascended up a nice steep hill. After complaining about my jeans being to tight from Italy, I decided to check out cupcake shop. There I had a delicious carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting! Oh, how that reminded me of home. We asked the students working for dinner recommendations and they said BarBar which is a fast food joint with good Lebanese food. We all ordered mutton (lamb) and chicken shawarma and some taboleh. On the menu was a Philadelphia sandwich that included coleslaw and Russian dressing. To bad we don’t have that as a sandwich in Philly.
After dinner we strolled Hamra in search of some nargile and night life. Along the way I found some amazing graf and we met a couple who was teaching English in Beirut. They were cool but the boyfriend seemed like he wanted space. After that we hopped in a cab to Gemmayze a bar district near our hostel. Before getting in the cab we set the price for 2000LBP. Upon arrival we paid 2000LBP and the cabby hopped out the cab and got angry with us. We were all like um we set the price. At that time a Lebanese couple came out and explained to us that taxis with red licenses plates make you pay person unless you say you want a shared ride price. After that was squared off we went to a nice nargile lounge to only be told we needed a reservation. That’s their thing in Beirut everyone needs a reservation, even if the place is empty... We finally found some good nargile at a restaurant and were able to watch the bar street below us. That night was a Halloween party so there were lots of bazzare costumes. We left in search of our hostel to only get lost down the block from it and end up taking a cab. Thank goodness for the hostel card or the lack there of. The cab driver didn’t know the name of the place and had to call the owner since there wasn’t an address listed.
On another note, Lebanese do not believe in driving normal. They always peel off, its like they want to hear the tires screech. Also there are ALOT of high cars and a mixed amount of cars from the 80s. The majority of my taxi rides were in Mercedes.
The next day we started out early to see some sights outside of Beirut. Our first stop was a cable car ride up a mountain with breath taking views of the port of Beirut. At the top we saw Our Lady of Lebanon or Harissa. After that we headed on another minibus to Byblos. There were still intact Phoenician ruins right on the water. Byblos had a little street market strip with lots of nick nacks. The interesting part of the town was the high amount of military officers and an UN Peace officer because the President was coming. The military is all throughout the city to keep things safe in case of another war breaking out. Nonetheless, I felt safe. The last stop on the list was Jeita Grotto a cavern with lots of rock formations and a river tucked with in a valley. After that we made our way back to Beirut to go to the Beirut Arts Center, a contemporary art gallery. Then we got dinner at Abdel Wahhad an expensive restaurant listed in the NY Times. The food was amazing for $35 a person but a bit too much. While trying to get a cab back to the hostel we saw the couple of teachers from the night before.
At the hostel one of the owners Wale asked me again if I was American. Then in a quizzical face he asked if blacks and whites were separate on buses. For him to be a man in his 50s he surely has been sheltered from world news. After that he showed the four of us how to write some words in Arabic. He also graded us on our writing. I scored 4 out of 10. I asked him to write my name in Arabic. I think the writing is beautiful and quite unique since words are written right to left.
That night we decided to go to B 018 a club that was once a bomb shelter and now has coffins as tables and chairs. Another guy from the hostel decided to tag along with us. He was a pretty interesting guy. From Amsterdam, on the 18th he will turn 34 and still be on his journey to country hop by riding his bike. That’s right the guy started riding his bike in Amsterdam in August and will continue seeing countries by bike until March where he will end in Addis Abba, Ethiopia. I asked him how many countries have you seen and he replied 40 or so. The club was dead so we decided to head downtown to Brut an R&B club. We were originally turned down because we didn’t have reservations but a few minutes later we got in when a guy said we had to come in with him. He brought us all a round from the bar and danced his butt off with us. The club closed at 2 and we were in search of a cab back to B 018 because we originally paid $20 to get in. Two nice college guys decided to offers us a ride since they were heading in that direction, while waiting for them to leave a thirteen year old boy walked up to me selling roses. I declined but Mr. Amsterdam purchased me a rose. The little boy was very fascinated with me and shook my hand and kissed my cheek after the purchase. One of the guys got in the back of the truck and played the Oud. This time the B 018 was exciting, especially since the roofs had been lifted back.
Sunday we called a cab to take us to the Hippodrome. Unfortunately it took
us to the sports complex which was over taken by the military. Normally one would be nervous when they are faced by many soldiers with big guns. The soldiers were very nice and accommodating since they all spoke English and French and we only spoke English. At one point a solider that spoke English did come around he helped us out and asked for a kiss on my cheek. I allowed this. Boy did he get cheers from his fellows. After that we went to the Hippodrome in a cab. Before going inside we ate bread purse filled with cheese and spices. Then we went inside and walked across the track to get to the stands. Horse racing is definitely a man bonding thing because there were only a handful of women there. At the Hippodrome people bet on races, while eating doner and smoking nargile. Around the corner was the National Museum of Beirut which was pretty cool. Again we hopped in a cab to take us to another part of town. The cab driver was confused and took us to the Hippodrome and said okay. We finally had him figure out that we wanted to go downtown. Note: Cab drivers don’t have a good sense of direction in Beirut.
In Downtown we were in search of a hot air balloon around Beirut. Unfortunately it no longer existed so we settled for seeing the shopping mall. Afterwards we walked to dinner at an Armenian restaurant. Yummy, I loved the lentil kebbe and cherry kofte. We decided to go out for one last time. So we hit Gemmayze in search of a chill bar. We ended up at Porto where we saw some five guys from Spain that we met the night before and met two Lebanese women who shared lots of laughs with us. I taught the bartender how to make Tokyo Tea and Hurricanes. We shared funny stories with the bartendar. He shared the time his bose said look at this Chinese
F*ck in Arabic to the man setting at the bar. Shortly after the guy said in Arabic I have lived here for 10 years. This Chinese bleep would like the cheek. The bartender said his manager turned pale. Boy did we laugh hard at that.
The two women, Maia and Tania showed us Oriental dances and Dou Dou shots (Dollar Dollar). The story goes that a Lebanese man used to come into the bar and order two shots of vodka, lemon juice, one olive and a splash of Tabasco sauce and would pay $100 for this. Yikes he was truly generous. Any ways I had one and felt like a dragon blowing fire! At one point Maia asked me how dance like the moves in the movie save the Last Dance. I explained the background of B-Boying and that it’s not really a club move here. I did show her how to two step and wine. Lol After the bar Tania and Maia gave us a ride to a café where we had some amazing nargile. There a women with three teeth in her mouth selling roses offered them to me and said in English that she loved me. When we left a little boy tried to sell me roses as well but belched as soon as he got up to talk to me. I replied cute, in a sarcastic tone. He proceeded to let out two more belches. Lol
This morning we headed out for an 8am flight. The weather was terrible but I’m sure that was Beirut’s way of saying it would miss us.
Dear Beirut,
I love you Beirut! Your people are very warm and accepting. I hope to see you again one summer.
XOXO,
Aquiera
We continued on our exploration through out Beirut and found lots of Christmas trees and war torn buildings next to high rise condos. Eventually we found an exchange office were we turned in $100 for 150,000 LBP. One cool thing about the currency is that $1 equals 1500LBP. But you can pay for pretty much anything in either LBP or Dollars. Side not a bottle of water will be cheap as 500LBP. Eventually we reached American University of Beirut (AUB) and took great pictures of the sunset on the rocks. After that we began our journey to Hamra Street (Rue Hamra) a busy center city street. Our journey first started with us being told by hotel workers to go through a foresty walkway. From there we ascended up a nice steep hill. After complaining about my jeans being to tight from Italy, I decided to check out cupcake shop. There I had a delicious carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting! Oh, how that reminded me of home. We asked the students working for dinner recommendations and they said BarBar which is a fast food joint with good Lebanese food. We all ordered mutton (lamb) and chicken shawarma and some taboleh. On the menu was a Philadelphia sandwich that included coleslaw and Russian dressing. To bad we don’t have that as a sandwich in Philly.
After dinner we strolled Hamra in search of some nargile and night life. Along the way I found some amazing graf and we met a couple who was teaching English in Beirut. They were cool but the boyfriend seemed like he wanted space. After that we hopped in a cab to Gemmayze a bar district near our hostel. Before getting in the cab we set the price for 2000LBP. Upon arrival we paid 2000LBP and the cabby hopped out the cab and got angry with us. We were all like um we set the price. At that time a Lebanese couple came out and explained to us that taxis with red licenses plates make you pay person unless you say you want a shared ride price. After that was squared off we went to a nice nargile lounge to only be told we needed a reservation. That’s their thing in Beirut everyone needs a reservation, even if the place is empty... We finally found some good nargile at a restaurant and were able to watch the bar street below us. That night was a Halloween party so there were lots of bazzare costumes. We left in search of our hostel to only get lost down the block from it and end up taking a cab. Thank goodness for the hostel card or the lack there of. The cab driver didn’t know the name of the place and had to call the owner since there wasn’t an address listed.
On another note, Lebanese do not believe in driving normal. They always peel off, its like they want to hear the tires screech. Also there are ALOT of high cars and a mixed amount of cars from the 80s. The majority of my taxi rides were in Mercedes.
The next day we started out early to see some sights outside of Beirut. Our first stop was a cable car ride up a mountain with breath taking views of the port of Beirut. At the top we saw Our Lady of Lebanon or Harissa. After that we headed on another minibus to Byblos. There were still intact Phoenician ruins right on the water. Byblos had a little street market strip with lots of nick nacks. The interesting part of the town was the high amount of military officers and an UN Peace officer because the President was coming. The military is all throughout the city to keep things safe in case of another war breaking out. Nonetheless, I felt safe. The last stop on the list was Jeita Grotto a cavern with lots of rock formations and a river tucked with in a valley. After that we made our way back to Beirut to go to the Beirut Arts Center, a contemporary art gallery. Then we got dinner at Abdel Wahhad an expensive restaurant listed in the NY Times. The food was amazing for $35 a person but a bit too much. While trying to get a cab back to the hostel we saw the couple of teachers from the night before.
At the hostel one of the owners Wale asked me again if I was American. Then in a quizzical face he asked if blacks and whites were separate on buses. For him to be a man in his 50s he surely has been sheltered from world news. After that he showed the four of us how to write some words in Arabic. He also graded us on our writing. I scored 4 out of 10. I asked him to write my name in Arabic. I think the writing is beautiful and quite unique since words are written right to left.
That night we decided to go to B 018 a club that was once a bomb shelter and now has coffins as tables and chairs. Another guy from the hostel decided to tag along with us. He was a pretty interesting guy. From Amsterdam, on the 18th he will turn 34 and still be on his journey to country hop by riding his bike. That’s right the guy started riding his bike in Amsterdam in August and will continue seeing countries by bike until March where he will end in Addis Abba, Ethiopia. I asked him how many countries have you seen and he replied 40 or so. The club was dead so we decided to head downtown to Brut an R&B club. We were originally turned down because we didn’t have reservations but a few minutes later we got in when a guy said we had to come in with him. He brought us all a round from the bar and danced his butt off with us. The club closed at 2 and we were in search of a cab back to B 018 because we originally paid $20 to get in. Two nice college guys decided to offers us a ride since they were heading in that direction, while waiting for them to leave a thirteen year old boy walked up to me selling roses. I declined but Mr. Amsterdam purchased me a rose. The little boy was very fascinated with me and shook my hand and kissed my cheek after the purchase. One of the guys got in the back of the truck and played the Oud. This time the B 018 was exciting, especially since the roofs had been lifted back.
Sunday we called a cab to take us to the Hippodrome. Unfortunately it took
us to the sports complex which was over taken by the military. Normally one would be nervous when they are faced by many soldiers with big guns. The soldiers were very nice and accommodating since they all spoke English and French and we only spoke English. At one point a solider that spoke English did come around he helped us out and asked for a kiss on my cheek. I allowed this. Boy did he get cheers from his fellows. After that we went to the Hippodrome in a cab. Before going inside we ate bread purse filled with cheese and spices. Then we went inside and walked across the track to get to the stands. Horse racing is definitely a man bonding thing because there were only a handful of women there. At the Hippodrome people bet on races, while eating doner and smoking nargile. Around the corner was the National Museum of Beirut which was pretty cool. Again we hopped in a cab to take us to another part of town. The cab driver was confused and took us to the Hippodrome and said okay. We finally had him figure out that we wanted to go downtown. Note: Cab drivers don’t have a good sense of direction in Beirut.
In Downtown we were in search of a hot air balloon around Beirut. Unfortunately it no longer existed so we settled for seeing the shopping mall. Afterwards we walked to dinner at an Armenian restaurant. Yummy, I loved the lentil kebbe and cherry kofte. We decided to go out for one last time. So we hit Gemmayze in search of a chill bar. We ended up at Porto where we saw some five guys from Spain that we met the night before and met two Lebanese women who shared lots of laughs with us. I taught the bartender how to make Tokyo Tea and Hurricanes. We shared funny stories with the bartendar. He shared the time his bose said look at this Chinese
F*ck in Arabic to the man setting at the bar. Shortly after the guy said in Arabic I have lived here for 10 years. This Chinese bleep would like the cheek. The bartender said his manager turned pale. Boy did we laugh hard at that.
The two women, Maia and Tania showed us Oriental dances and Dou Dou shots (Dollar Dollar). The story goes that a Lebanese man used to come into the bar and order two shots of vodka, lemon juice, one olive and a splash of Tabasco sauce and would pay $100 for this. Yikes he was truly generous. Any ways I had one and felt like a dragon blowing fire! At one point Maia asked me how dance like the moves in the movie save the Last Dance. I explained the background of B-Boying and that it’s not really a club move here. I did show her how to two step and wine. Lol After the bar Tania and Maia gave us a ride to a café where we had some amazing nargile. There a women with three teeth in her mouth selling roses offered them to me and said in English that she loved me. When we left a little boy tried to sell me roses as well but belched as soon as he got up to talk to me. I replied cute, in a sarcastic tone. He proceeded to let out two more belches. Lol
This morning we headed out for an 8am flight. The weather was terrible but I’m sure that was Beirut’s way of saying it would miss us.
Dear Beirut,
I love you Beirut! Your people are very warm and accepting. I hope to see you again one summer.
XOXO,
Aquiera
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thanksgiving
For Thanksgiving I decided to fly to Rome with Lexie and meet with Olivia who is studying at the University of Rome and Adam who is studying at the University of Mannheim in Germany. All in all we had a great time. I checked out an ice bar, where the temperature inside was 27 degrees farenheit. I went to Vatican city to see the Sisteen Chapel, Pomepeii, Naples and explored Rome. Everyday, I had pizza and gelatto. Needless to say my jeans are a bit tighter today.
A more detail update will come soon since I still have to catch up my week in Ethiopia and I am going away for the sixth weekend in a row. This weekend will be dedicated to Beirut, Lebanon!
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and Black Friday!
A more detail update will come soon since I still have to catch up my week in Ethiopia and I am going away for the sixth weekend in a row. This weekend will be dedicated to Beirut, Lebanon!
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and Black Friday!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Update
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for reading my blog! Sorry, I haven't really been updating this blog in a timely manner because my computer crashed a month ago and I just purchased a new one. I have updated the blog until my the third week of Novemeber when I was on buyram holiday and traveled to Egypt and Ethiopia. This blog will come sometime next week as I am traveling to Rome, Italy this weekend. Photos will also come shortly.
In the mean time email me at aquierah@gmail.com if you would like to receive a post card from me.
Salam (Peace)
Aquiera
Thanks for reading my blog! Sorry, I haven't really been updating this blog in a timely manner because my computer crashed a month ago and I just purchased a new one. I have updated the blog until my the third week of Novemeber when I was on buyram holiday and traveled to Egypt and Ethiopia. This blog will come sometime next week as I am traveling to Rome, Italy this weekend. Photos will also come shortly.
In the mean time email me at aquierah@gmail.com if you would like to receive a post card from me.
Salam (Peace)
Aquiera
Buyram holiday
The second week of Novemeber flew by pretty fast. On Monday I went to the police station to pick up my residence permit. Once I got back to campus I went straight to the health center to get my 7 bug bites checked out. In the end I was diagnosed with an infection and prescribed medicine a nice shot of benadryl in my butt muscle. That night I booked my flight back to the States (I arrive January 11, 2011) , my flight to Beirut and my flight to Addis Abba, Ethiopia with an eight hour layover in Cairo both ways for the 10-day buyram holiday. The next day I went to Gold computers, mind you the world Gold was spelt in red for a netbook. The total cost was around 600TL ($375). The rest of the week ended pretty fast since I had a midterm, a quiz, a paper proposal and the CLS application to finish.
Auto reply: I will be in Africa exploring for the next 10 days.
Friday morning I head out to Ataturk airport using public transportation. This was a bad mistake on my part because there was so much traffic. I checked in and went through passport control with 15 minuets to spare. My Egyptaian Air flight was pretty fast but kind of weird as everything was in Arabic and then translated in English. After getting a visa for $15 and chasing in $100 for 575EGP I hoped in a cab bound for the Egyptian museum. My driver Ali, was rather inapproapiate as he asked to sleep with me and kiss me multiple times. At one point I yelled at him and said I am a married virgin. American's don't have sex before they are married. This meant nothing to him as he asked me two more times to sleep with him. Eventually he took out his cellphone and showed me his 2 y.o. and 5 y.o. sons and said he had strong genes so I should consider his offer.
With my ISIC card the museum cost 30EGP. The museum was filled with royal statues, King Tutankohmons cargophagous, animal mummies including a 20foot long aligator and other historical figures. Unfortuantaely I was not allowed to take pictures. I left the museum in search of an Egyptian dinner and ended up at Fefla a restaurant Jimmy Carter once ate at. I ordered Egyptian sausages for dinner but was torn between that and pigeon. After dinner my hired cab driver took me across the street to an oil shop where I purchased lotus flower oil and lavendar oil. I headed back to the airport with about 3 hours to spare and was immediately confronted with an Egyptian man who said “you have beautiful lips can I kiss them?” I replied no. He for some reason was convinced that I should say yes. I really do not understand why Egyptian men seem to be so disrespectful in a culture that seperates men and women.
Addis Abba – I landed at 4am paid $20 for a visa and cashed $300 for 4,920 birr. When I left that section I was immediately hugged by my cousin Lauren and greeted by her husband who said “man you two look alike.” I stayed up until 6am laughing with them and watching them deavour Turkish and Egpytian cheese chips and Whoppers from Cairo.
In the morning my cousin one of the maids, Si to make us french toast. Ten minuets later, Si came back with the best buttered bread of my life. Lauren replied this is not french toast. Si replied we were out of eggs and cinnamon. I just laughed and asked for the strawberry jam.
That night we went out to Sishu, a snazzy burger restaurant. Here I ordered a double butter burger for 140bir (8.75), lemondade and a strawberry tart. Without a doubt the butter burger takes third place for best burger. The first being Butcher and Singer in Philadelphia fillet mignon burger. The second being Viallini's in Philadelphia kobe beef burger. After that we hurried home to make sure we got in before the hyennas came out.
Sunday was a low key day as both my cousin Lauren and her son Azariah were both sick. We spent the day watching Law and Order and CSI on the tv. The cool part is there shows come from Dubai, so the majority of the channels are in English with Arabic subtles.
Auto reply: I will be in Africa exploring for the next 10 days.
Friday morning I head out to Ataturk airport using public transportation. This was a bad mistake on my part because there was so much traffic. I checked in and went through passport control with 15 minuets to spare. My Egyptaian Air flight was pretty fast but kind of weird as everything was in Arabic and then translated in English. After getting a visa for $15 and chasing in $100 for 575EGP I hoped in a cab bound for the Egyptian museum. My driver Ali, was rather inapproapiate as he asked to sleep with me and kiss me multiple times. At one point I yelled at him and said I am a married virgin. American's don't have sex before they are married. This meant nothing to him as he asked me two more times to sleep with him. Eventually he took out his cellphone and showed me his 2 y.o. and 5 y.o. sons and said he had strong genes so I should consider his offer.
With my ISIC card the museum cost 30EGP. The museum was filled with royal statues, King Tutankohmons cargophagous, animal mummies including a 20foot long aligator and other historical figures. Unfortuantaely I was not allowed to take pictures. I left the museum in search of an Egyptian dinner and ended up at Fefla a restaurant Jimmy Carter once ate at. I ordered Egyptian sausages for dinner but was torn between that and pigeon. After dinner my hired cab driver took me across the street to an oil shop where I purchased lotus flower oil and lavendar oil. I headed back to the airport with about 3 hours to spare and was immediately confronted with an Egyptian man who said “you have beautiful lips can I kiss them?” I replied no. He for some reason was convinced that I should say yes. I really do not understand why Egyptian men seem to be so disrespectful in a culture that seperates men and women.
Addis Abba – I landed at 4am paid $20 for a visa and cashed $300 for 4,920 birr. When I left that section I was immediately hugged by my cousin Lauren and greeted by her husband who said “man you two look alike.” I stayed up until 6am laughing with them and watching them deavour Turkish and Egpytian cheese chips and Whoppers from Cairo.
In the morning my cousin one of the maids, Si to make us french toast. Ten minuets later, Si came back with the best buttered bread of my life. Lauren replied this is not french toast. Si replied we were out of eggs and cinnamon. I just laughed and asked for the strawberry jam.
That night we went out to Sishu, a snazzy burger restaurant. Here I ordered a double butter burger for 140bir (8.75), lemondade and a strawberry tart. Without a doubt the butter burger takes third place for best burger. The first being Butcher and Singer in Philadelphia fillet mignon burger. The second being Viallini's in Philadelphia kobe beef burger. After that we hurried home to make sure we got in before the hyennas came out.
Sunday was a low key day as both my cousin Lauren and her son Azariah were both sick. We spent the day watching Law and Order and CSI on the tv. The cool part is there shows come from Dubai, so the majority of the channels are in English with Arabic subtles.
I shall retire in Antalya. The most beautiful city in Turkey.
Monday morning I decided to go to Arti Apple Reseller in Sislı to have my Mac checked out. On the way there an African man stopped me and asked why I was in Turkey and all that other jazz. In the end he told me that he was Nigerian and had lived in Istanbul for 6 years. Only one person that I could see spoke English in the store because of this I had to wait on one man to act as my translator. The workers did a brief diagnostic test on my computer finding out that my logic board had crashed from overheating. I was told 4 weeks because the parts had to be ordered and that my computer would cost over 900TL to fix. My Mac turned 4 years old in September so it made no sense to get it fixed. I knew deep down that I should have given in and purchased a new Mac before coming abroad but I didnt want to let go of the computer that got me through college, the computer I paid for with the last of my fathers memory.
I was a bit depressed after hearing the news. But on the way back I cheered up when I saw cows grazing in front of flats near Koc. When I arrived back to campus I used the laptop in the basment to ask another exchange student who's computer crashed what did he do. Tim, replied that he had purchased an Asus netbook for 500TL ($375). I decided I would probably do the same but I wanted to get a few other opinons. At dinner I spoke to Josh, a Canandian exchange who worked at the Apple store. After talking with him I decieded to wait until January to buy my Mac. I was on my way to the dorms when I met Tyler, a Critical Langauage Scholarship (CLS) reciepent. After getting the inside scoop I decided that it would be worth applying for CLS to learn Turkish intensively for seven weeks this summer. The rest of the week was pretty busy as I was focused on writing the four essay requirements for the CLS application. Other than that, the exchange office helped Becca and I order a 20lt bottle of Pinar water to our room for 24TL ($16).
Thursday Melissa, Lexie and I headed down to Antalya, a beautiful southwestern city with every activity you can think of. We flew from Sabiah Goken airport (the airport on the Asian side) while there we saw a nice German woman with red hair green highlights and a a brown bang. We flew Pegausus air which only took 50 minuets compared to the 15 hour bus ride so of our coherts were embarking on. Once we arrived we took a shuttle bus for 10TL to center city Antalya and walked to Sabah Pansyion, the place where Jasmine and three others stayed in the begining of October. The three of us paid 70TL for one night and Turkish breakfast. After unpacking we headed out to tour Antalya bay, get food and see some sights. The bay was filled with lots of yachts and breath taking views of Anatalya. After taking in the scenery with a few good shots we headed out on the search of food. Along the way we met Fredy a nice çay (tea) vendor who gave us 4 cups of free tea and had a bit of a respectable crush on me. For dinner we ended up in a nice jungle like restaurant where we had seafood dinner platers (whole sea bass filleted at the table, calamari, shrimp, salad and fries) for 50TL ($). This was actually a bit pricey since a fish dinner was only 20TL ($). Nonetheless it was well worth the expense. After dinner we went to a museum, purchased a bunch of scarfs for 10TL each and went to the Hamam. The Hamam location was 600 years old and deced out with marble everything. Lexie and I paid 35TL for a Turkish bath, peeling (scrub), a soap massage and oil massage. For the Turkish bath Lexie and I pretty much washed out skin with a piece of soap wrapped in a t-shirt and then rinse off from water out of a marble fountain. Once we were done a man by the name of Doktor came in to do our peelings and soap massages. He decided to wet my skin first and throw a bucket of water on my freshly twisted locs. Needless to say I was abit annoyed. We then layed on a huge marble table and allowed the doctor to peel our skin and was it with soap several times. After this was done we left the marble hall and drank apple cay u until it was time for our oil massage.
The next day we had breakfast at Sabah, were I ate the sweetest green grapes in the history of my life! Then we hopped in our hired taxi (disco taksi) to go to Termesos, Karanian cave, Pegme and Aspendos all for 160TL ($106). Before going to Pegme we had lunch Antalya salad (white beans, eggs, parsley, tomatos and olive oil) and tavuk (chicken) sandwics at a local Turkish restaurant. At Aspendos there was a near perfect stadium which was beautiful to see. When we arrived back to the hostel it was around 7pm. We had dinner from the kitchen and met a nice Southeast Indian Frenchmen named Robert. He's such an awesome guy with a wealth of knowledge. He shared a bottle of red wine with us and shared stories from around the world.
The following day I had those same amazing grapes and hopped in the hired out cab to take us to Antalya museum, Side, Managavt waterfall and Alanya and a in cave for 200TL ($133). I watched the sunset in Alanya while swimming in the Mediterrean. Alanya is such a beautiful city surrounded by mountains. I would love to vacation there one day. I stopped by a restaurant to use the bathroom before leaving, there I met a Turkish Mel Gibson look alike named Nahim. On the way back we stopped at a gas station and drank cay, eat Magnums and danced to traditional Turkish dance music in the parking lot. There was alot of traffic when we entered Antalya so we decided to have karoke and dance to the blue disco lights in the car. For dinner that night we had balik emeke (fish bread) for 6TL at a nice karoke resaturant. After dinner I decided to window shop and I ended up sliding down the tile and falling on my tail bone. Many thanks to the two Turkish men who were helping me up as I literally laughed my butt off.
We decided to roam around the city a bit in the day time to see the harbor and other parts of Old Town. After that we took the tram to the otogar for a bus to Olympos. Unfortunatley we ended up waiting at the top of a mountain for a bus to take us 11km down the mountain to Olympos. Olympos was filled with tree house pansyions and beach side ruins. Once we got there we whipped out our handy dandy museum cards for free entrance. Our first path led us to Orange groves were I picked four softball size oranges. Yummo! Shortly after we ended up at the beach which was without sand but filled with lots of smooth ocean rocks. The beach was such a beautiful site becuase there were ruins right on the waters edge, an inland river and in the distance I could see a snow capped mountain. Before leaving Olympos I decieded to use the handicapped bathroom because that is the only one in Turkey that will always have an actual seat and not a whole. I guess my theory had bad luck that day because I found the toilet but I left with 7 misquito bites which eventually swelled up and became inflammed when I reached the airport.
I was a bit depressed after hearing the news. But on the way back I cheered up when I saw cows grazing in front of flats near Koc. When I arrived back to campus I used the laptop in the basment to ask another exchange student who's computer crashed what did he do. Tim, replied that he had purchased an Asus netbook for 500TL ($375). I decided I would probably do the same but I wanted to get a few other opinons. At dinner I spoke to Josh, a Canandian exchange who worked at the Apple store. After talking with him I decieded to wait until January to buy my Mac. I was on my way to the dorms when I met Tyler, a Critical Langauage Scholarship (CLS) reciepent. After getting the inside scoop I decided that it would be worth applying for CLS to learn Turkish intensively for seven weeks this summer. The rest of the week was pretty busy as I was focused on writing the four essay requirements for the CLS application. Other than that, the exchange office helped Becca and I order a 20lt bottle of Pinar water to our room for 24TL ($16).
Thursday Melissa, Lexie and I headed down to Antalya, a beautiful southwestern city with every activity you can think of. We flew from Sabiah Goken airport (the airport on the Asian side) while there we saw a nice German woman with red hair green highlights and a a brown bang. We flew Pegausus air which only took 50 minuets compared to the 15 hour bus ride so of our coherts were embarking on. Once we arrived we took a shuttle bus for 10TL to center city Antalya and walked to Sabah Pansyion, the place where Jasmine and three others stayed in the begining of October. The three of us paid 70TL for one night and Turkish breakfast. After unpacking we headed out to tour Antalya bay, get food and see some sights. The bay was filled with lots of yachts and breath taking views of Anatalya. After taking in the scenery with a few good shots we headed out on the search of food. Along the way we met Fredy a nice çay (tea) vendor who gave us 4 cups of free tea and had a bit of a respectable crush on me. For dinner we ended up in a nice jungle like restaurant where we had seafood dinner platers (whole sea bass filleted at the table, calamari, shrimp, salad and fries) for 50TL ($). This was actually a bit pricey since a fish dinner was only 20TL ($). Nonetheless it was well worth the expense. After dinner we went to a museum, purchased a bunch of scarfs for 10TL each and went to the Hamam. The Hamam location was 600 years old and deced out with marble everything. Lexie and I paid 35TL for a Turkish bath, peeling (scrub), a soap massage and oil massage. For the Turkish bath Lexie and I pretty much washed out skin with a piece of soap wrapped in a t-shirt and then rinse off from water out of a marble fountain. Once we were done a man by the name of Doktor came in to do our peelings and soap massages. He decided to wet my skin first and throw a bucket of water on my freshly twisted locs. Needless to say I was abit annoyed. We then layed on a huge marble table and allowed the doctor to peel our skin and was it with soap several times. After this was done we left the marble hall and drank apple cay u until it was time for our oil massage.
The next day we had breakfast at Sabah, were I ate the sweetest green grapes in the history of my life! Then we hopped in our hired taxi (disco taksi) to go to Termesos, Karanian cave, Pegme and Aspendos all for 160TL ($106). Before going to Pegme we had lunch Antalya salad (white beans, eggs, parsley, tomatos and olive oil) and tavuk (chicken) sandwics at a local Turkish restaurant. At Aspendos there was a near perfect stadium which was beautiful to see. When we arrived back to the hostel it was around 7pm. We had dinner from the kitchen and met a nice Southeast Indian Frenchmen named Robert. He's such an awesome guy with a wealth of knowledge. He shared a bottle of red wine with us and shared stories from around the world.
The following day I had those same amazing grapes and hopped in the hired out cab to take us to Antalya museum, Side, Managavt waterfall and Alanya and a in cave for 200TL ($133). I watched the sunset in Alanya while swimming in the Mediterrean. Alanya is such a beautiful city surrounded by mountains. I would love to vacation there one day. I stopped by a restaurant to use the bathroom before leaving, there I met a Turkish Mel Gibson look alike named Nahim. On the way back we stopped at a gas station and drank cay, eat Magnums and danced to traditional Turkish dance music in the parking lot. There was alot of traffic when we entered Antalya so we decided to have karoke and dance to the blue disco lights in the car. For dinner that night we had balik emeke (fish bread) for 6TL at a nice karoke resaturant. After dinner I decided to window shop and I ended up sliding down the tile and falling on my tail bone. Many thanks to the two Turkish men who were helping me up as I literally laughed my butt off.
We decided to roam around the city a bit in the day time to see the harbor and other parts of Old Town. After that we took the tram to the otogar for a bus to Olympos. Unfortunatley we ended up waiting at the top of a mountain for a bus to take us 11km down the mountain to Olympos. Olympos was filled with tree house pansyions and beach side ruins. Once we got there we whipped out our handy dandy museum cards for free entrance. Our first path led us to Orange groves were I picked four softball size oranges. Yummo! Shortly after we ended up at the beach which was without sand but filled with lots of smooth ocean rocks. The beach was such a beautiful site becuase there were ruins right on the waters edge, an inland river and in the distance I could see a snow capped mountain. Before leaving Olympos I decieded to use the handicapped bathroom because that is the only one in Turkey that will always have an actual seat and not a whole. I guess my theory had bad luck that day because I found the toilet but I left with 7 misquito bites which eventually swelled up and became inflammed when I reached the airport.
Happy 87th Anniversay of the Turkish Republic!
Monday night I celebrated Dunia's 21st birthday with cake and candles. I finally spoke with my mother through skype after being in Turkey for over a month. Most importantly today was the first day I tried a Magnum ice cream. I am officially hooked to the classic and pistacio and white chocolate.
The next day I went to apply for my residence permit which took about 5 hours. Tonight was the night of the Halloween party that I planned to skip. After the best cafeteria dinner of rotisseurie chicken I went to my room to take a nap and do homework. Soon after laying down Damian came by and asked me to help him get dressed in my clothes. We shared so many laughs especially when Damian went through my dirty clothes and found a bra and other laundry to stuff the bra with. After the laughs with Damian I had to get ready. So I deceided to dress up like a college party girl.
Wednesady night I went out with some of the Italians to a local Italian restaurant in Dirt Levent. The restaurant was upscale and the group of us (12 in total) were one of two tables in the restaurant. We all ordered pizza with many of us sharing pies because they were all over 30TL ($25). This is where I saw pork for the first time in Turkey in the restaurant.
Thursday was the 87th anniversary of the Turkish Republic and a national holiday. I stayed in my room caughting up on sleep and trying to figure out why my computer wouldn't turn on. That night I left with almost 100 other exchange students to Cappadocia. I ended up on the minibus because the coach bus filled up fast. Without a doubt this was the longest bus ride of my life - 13 hours. The bus driver stopped ever two hours and would take forever coming back to the bus. A CIEE guy by the name of Tim decided to talk to all throughout the night! By the morning I was on a hairs edge. We arrived in Cappadocia and went to Dadak Spa and Wellness (Murat's family hotel) shortly after we left for Capadocia ceramics where Abrar mad a ceramic bowl and I purchased lots of ceramics. After about an hour of shopping I had to go to the bathroom. This was my first encounter with a toilet in the ground I was not to thrilled but I made it through. We went across the street for lunch. This is when I tried Heaven fruit for the first time. It looked like a big orange tomato.
After lunch I saw a rainbow headed out to the fairy chimneys (http://www.cappadociaonline.com/nature.html). Goreme Open Air museum was a few minuets down the road. It was filled with lots of cave Christian churches which had early works of Fresco. It was night fall by the time we reached the Imagination Valley, which had rock formations in the shape a camel and an eagle. Luckily my Nikon Coolpix was able to take excellent shots and I even got a good shot of the sky when lightning struck. About an hour later I was back at Murat’s hotel relaxing in the thermal bath and sauna. After dinner I deceided to have a low key night with some nargile and pool. John and I lost to Bethany and Lexie. Bethany had the winning shot by laying on the table and shooting the white ball from the top left corner pocket to the bottom left corner pocket. This was definetely an unforgettable shot.
The next morning I had breakfast at Dadak Spa. Unfortunatley in my hurried manner for the bus I cracked what I though was a hard boiled egg all over the table. I headed out to the buses and hopped on the coach bus because I refused to be on the shuttle bus again. Our next stop was to Truva winery to take a tour and try some Turkish wine and some sicak sarap (hot wine) warmed with spices and sugar. We headed back on the bus to make our way to the underground cave. It was amazing to see that people had a full city underground where the ceilings were between 4 and 6 feet high. I purchased some beautfiul Turquoise earrings (turquoise is from Turkey), Jade earrings and a nice ceramic plate. At one point I picked up a pair of cream colored earrings thinking they were a type of stone or maybe ivory. I asked the shopkeeper what they were made of and he responded “camel bone”. I wasn’t ready for that response as hearing that almost made me want to go vegetarian again.
The last stop on the trip was the Inhara Valley. On the way there Paolo, an Italian was talking and said my “my woman uncle...”. I laughed and said your aunt? I could tell he felt a little embarrased but I couldn’t help but to laugh at the cultural differences. Sitting behind me on the bus was a Masters exchange student from Barcelona who did a study on tipping culture. She said that French men tip the least and Americans tip the most. I could understand that because as an American in Turkey I feel the need to tip the waiter or cab driver becuase I know they need the extra money. Unfortunately when we reached the Inhara Valley instead of seeing it before the sun went down, the mentors decided to have the group eat first and watch the sun set on the valley. Then it was back to the bus for a 13 hour bus ride which included the driver falling asleep along the way and all 60 people switching to another bus because of technical difficuluties. When we arrived back to campus it was about 6:30 am. Thanks to daylight savings time I was able to watch a beautiful sunrise. Around 10:30am there was a suicide bombing at the Taksim police station. This was a bit nerve racking because Taksim is where we usually party at.
The next day I went to apply for my residence permit which took about 5 hours. Tonight was the night of the Halloween party that I planned to skip. After the best cafeteria dinner of rotisseurie chicken I went to my room to take a nap and do homework. Soon after laying down Damian came by and asked me to help him get dressed in my clothes. We shared so many laughs especially when Damian went through my dirty clothes and found a bra and other laundry to stuff the bra with. After the laughs with Damian I had to get ready. So I deceided to dress up like a college party girl.
Wednesady night I went out with some of the Italians to a local Italian restaurant in Dirt Levent. The restaurant was upscale and the group of us (12 in total) were one of two tables in the restaurant. We all ordered pizza with many of us sharing pies because they were all over 30TL ($25). This is where I saw pork for the first time in Turkey in the restaurant.
Thursday was the 87th anniversary of the Turkish Republic and a national holiday. I stayed in my room caughting up on sleep and trying to figure out why my computer wouldn't turn on. That night I left with almost 100 other exchange students to Cappadocia. I ended up on the minibus because the coach bus filled up fast. Without a doubt this was the longest bus ride of my life - 13 hours. The bus driver stopped ever two hours and would take forever coming back to the bus. A CIEE guy by the name of Tim decided to talk to all throughout the night! By the morning I was on a hairs edge. We arrived in Cappadocia and went to Dadak Spa and Wellness (Murat's family hotel) shortly after we left for Capadocia ceramics where Abrar mad a ceramic bowl and I purchased lots of ceramics. After about an hour of shopping I had to go to the bathroom. This was my first encounter with a toilet in the ground I was not to thrilled but I made it through. We went across the street for lunch. This is when I tried Heaven fruit for the first time. It looked like a big orange tomato.
After lunch I saw a rainbow headed out to the fairy chimneys (http://www.cappadociaonline.com/nature.html). Goreme Open Air museum was a few minuets down the road. It was filled with lots of cave Christian churches which had early works of Fresco. It was night fall by the time we reached the Imagination Valley, which had rock formations in the shape a camel and an eagle. Luckily my Nikon Coolpix was able to take excellent shots and I even got a good shot of the sky when lightning struck. About an hour later I was back at Murat’s hotel relaxing in the thermal bath and sauna. After dinner I deceided to have a low key night with some nargile and pool. John and I lost to Bethany and Lexie. Bethany had the winning shot by laying on the table and shooting the white ball from the top left corner pocket to the bottom left corner pocket. This was definetely an unforgettable shot.
The next morning I had breakfast at Dadak Spa. Unfortunatley in my hurried manner for the bus I cracked what I though was a hard boiled egg all over the table. I headed out to the buses and hopped on the coach bus because I refused to be on the shuttle bus again. Our next stop was to Truva winery to take a tour and try some Turkish wine and some sicak sarap (hot wine) warmed with spices and sugar. We headed back on the bus to make our way to the underground cave. It was amazing to see that people had a full city underground where the ceilings were between 4 and 6 feet high. I purchased some beautfiul Turquoise earrings (turquoise is from Turkey), Jade earrings and a nice ceramic plate. At one point I picked up a pair of cream colored earrings thinking they were a type of stone or maybe ivory. I asked the shopkeeper what they were made of and he responded “camel bone”. I wasn’t ready for that response as hearing that almost made me want to go vegetarian again.
The last stop on the trip was the Inhara Valley. On the way there Paolo, an Italian was talking and said my “my woman uncle...”. I laughed and said your aunt? I could tell he felt a little embarrased but I couldn’t help but to laugh at the cultural differences. Sitting behind me on the bus was a Masters exchange student from Barcelona who did a study on tipping culture. She said that French men tip the least and Americans tip the most. I could understand that because as an American in Turkey I feel the need to tip the waiter or cab driver becuase I know they need the extra money. Unfortunately when we reached the Inhara Valley instead of seeing it before the sun went down, the mentors decided to have the group eat first and watch the sun set on the valley. Then it was back to the bus for a 13 hour bus ride which included the driver falling asleep along the way and all 60 people switching to another bus because of technical difficuluties. When we arrived back to campus it was about 6:30 am. Thanks to daylight savings time I was able to watch a beautiful sunrise. Around 10:30am there was a suicide bombing at the Taksim police station. This was a bit nerve racking because Taksim is where we usually party at.
1 month anniversary
In the beginning of the week I baby sat Kayla. We shared alot of laughs especially when she asked me to climb into her little 3-foot high tent. I looked like a giant with my legs sticking out the tent. Shortly after playing in the tent Kayla decided that she wanted to color. I picked up a brown marker smelling it to see if it had a chocolate scent like my markers growing up. The marker had no scent but Kayla had to check as well. She was so adorable especially when she colored the tip of her noise brown. Soon it was time to leave and I said bye bye to Kayla. She replied bye bye Akera. This made my heart melt. Later that night Rachel called me and said she wanted Kayla to be taught English by one exchange student for the whole year.
Wednesday night was the opening event for ESN (Erasmus Student Network). It's a pretty low key bar that’s focused on good conversation and a bit of dancing. It was packed when I arrived so I did a brief walk thouhg and left for two other bars. Later that night I went back to ESN and met a lot of exchange students from other universities. At the end of the night I was approached by a Turk who asked me if I was American. I replied yes, why? He replied that I looked American and brought his friend over. His friend had studied at Yale and wanted to know my thoughts on living in a secular society. I said my family questioned my choice but I have my own reglious views. She agreed.
Thursday October 21st was my grandmother's 78th birthday. I'm was so glad I was able to speak to her and the she is still holding on strong. I'm proud of her being a fighter. Today was also my one month anniversary of being abroad!
Friday I went to the Turkish Cultural Foundation in Taksim to meet Hulya. This was a requirement since I am a reciepent of ther $2,000 scholarship. On the way there I stopped at Sariyer Borekivi and had the most amazing potato borek. Upon my arrival I had to wait 20 minuets for Hulya to get off the phone. She spoke to me for a few minuets and then spent 10 minuets talking on her BB and greeting people at the door even though there was a receptionist. Hulya showed me their website which was filled with Turkish song, dance, foor dand many other cultural things. The receptionist and Hulya both offered me çay (tea) about three times later on I realized Hulya's business etiquette would seem less rude if I was preoccuppied by cay. All in All TCA is a great place that I can come to for help.
Later on that night was the Taksim pub crawl. Alex, the backpacker I met the weekend before was back from Cairo so Lexie, Zack, Damian and I decided to meet up with him on last time. In between meeting with Alex and the rest of the group Damian and I went for food. Damian and I had a McKofte burger from McDonalds. Kofte is a tradtional Turkish dish of barbeque meatballs in Turkish. On our way back to Joker Joker a guy named Ben walked up to me and said I heard you speaking English and I saw you the other night at ESN. Are you American? I was so excited to speak to someone else who spoke English. Turns out Ben is from California but studies at Columbia University. We exchanged numbers and head our seperate was. Joker Joker was packed so Damian and I decided to head out to ESN. There I met two people from Long Island, students living in Conneticut, an Assuie and a guy from Mauritius. Soon after this I went to a dance club where I meet Indonesians that worked in Dubai and two Portugese Erasmus studying in Sophia,Bulgaria.
The next day was a planned photography trip. During the trip I witnessed a woman drop a basket with money from her 7th floor window for the neighborhood grocery store across the street to bring her food. I purchased some vintage necklaces and had lunch at limonlu bache (lemon garden), a nice restaurant inside of a three part gardern. Here is where I had my first near death exeprence in Turkey. I ordered a fresh squeezed limonade for 8TL and a meat wrap for 20TL. My sandwich came out with red sauce on it. I took the first bite which wasn't to bad but a second later I was on the verge of tears. My lips turned beat red and I had a hard time breathing. I gulped down my $6 limondade and asked Batu, my ex-mentor to order me another sandwich and limondade.
Later on that night I celebrated Dunia's birthday at Open House, a beautiful contemporary restaurant in Ortakoy. After dinner I purchased a handmade Amythyst pendant and ring for 40TL. Shortly after I caught a cab with Lexie and two others to go dancing in Taksim. Lexie and her overly friendly hello got our cab followed by 4 men all the way to Taksim. Our cab driver even cut them off and went up an alley way and they continued to follow us. They even got out of there car in Taksim and asked us alot of questions until we met up with Dunia and the others.
Sunday was pretty low key since Jasmine and I decided to go downtown for dinner and groceries. On the dolmus there I told her about the potato borek. Burger King was already our choice for dinner but Jasmine said “we could get borek and eat it on the way to Burger King.” That is exactly what we did.
Wednesday night was the opening event for ESN (Erasmus Student Network). It's a pretty low key bar that’s focused on good conversation and a bit of dancing. It was packed when I arrived so I did a brief walk thouhg and left for two other bars. Later that night I went back to ESN and met a lot of exchange students from other universities. At the end of the night I was approached by a Turk who asked me if I was American. I replied yes, why? He replied that I looked American and brought his friend over. His friend had studied at Yale and wanted to know my thoughts on living in a secular society. I said my family questioned my choice but I have my own reglious views. She agreed.
Thursday October 21st was my grandmother's 78th birthday. I'm was so glad I was able to speak to her and the she is still holding on strong. I'm proud of her being a fighter. Today was also my one month anniversary of being abroad!
Friday I went to the Turkish Cultural Foundation in Taksim to meet Hulya. This was a requirement since I am a reciepent of ther $2,000 scholarship. On the way there I stopped at Sariyer Borekivi and had the most amazing potato borek. Upon my arrival I had to wait 20 minuets for Hulya to get off the phone. She spoke to me for a few minuets and then spent 10 minuets talking on her BB and greeting people at the door even though there was a receptionist. Hulya showed me their website which was filled with Turkish song, dance, foor dand many other cultural things. The receptionist and Hulya both offered me çay (tea) about three times later on I realized Hulya's business etiquette would seem less rude if I was preoccuppied by cay. All in All TCA is a great place that I can come to for help.
Later on that night was the Taksim pub crawl. Alex, the backpacker I met the weekend before was back from Cairo so Lexie, Zack, Damian and I decided to meet up with him on last time. In between meeting with Alex and the rest of the group Damian and I went for food. Damian and I had a McKofte burger from McDonalds. Kofte is a tradtional Turkish dish of barbeque meatballs in Turkish. On our way back to Joker Joker a guy named Ben walked up to me and said I heard you speaking English and I saw you the other night at ESN. Are you American? I was so excited to speak to someone else who spoke English. Turns out Ben is from California but studies at Columbia University. We exchanged numbers and head our seperate was. Joker Joker was packed so Damian and I decided to head out to ESN. There I met two people from Long Island, students living in Conneticut, an Assuie and a guy from Mauritius. Soon after this I went to a dance club where I meet Indonesians that worked in Dubai and two Portugese Erasmus studying in Sophia,Bulgaria.
The next day was a planned photography trip. During the trip I witnessed a woman drop a basket with money from her 7th floor window for the neighborhood grocery store across the street to bring her food. I purchased some vintage necklaces and had lunch at limonlu bache (lemon garden), a nice restaurant inside of a three part gardern. Here is where I had my first near death exeprence in Turkey. I ordered a fresh squeezed limonade for 8TL and a meat wrap for 20TL. My sandwich came out with red sauce on it. I took the first bite which wasn't to bad but a second later I was on the verge of tears. My lips turned beat red and I had a hard time breathing. I gulped down my $6 limondade and asked Batu, my ex-mentor to order me another sandwich and limondade.
Later on that night I celebrated Dunia's birthday at Open House, a beautiful contemporary restaurant in Ortakoy. After dinner I purchased a handmade Amythyst pendant and ring for 40TL. Shortly after I caught a cab with Lexie and two others to go dancing in Taksim. Lexie and her overly friendly hello got our cab followed by 4 men all the way to Taksim. Our cab driver even cut them off and went up an alley way and they continued to follow us. They even got out of there car in Taksim and asked us alot of questions until we met up with Dunia and the others.
Sunday was pretty low key since Jasmine and I decided to go downtown for dinner and groceries. On the dolmus there I told her about the potato borek. Burger King was already our choice for dinner but Jasmine said “we could get borek and eat it on the way to Burger King.” That is exactly what we did.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
West Coast Trip'n
The third week of school flew by pretty fast. On Wednesday Lexie planned out a weekend itinerary starting from Izmir (southwest, Turkey) back to Istanbul. At first it was only her and I going. Then we figured a blonde woman and a black woman backpacking through Turkey would not be the safest thing. So we invited Ben, Damian and Zack to come along with us.
Thursday was pretty busy since we all had class, last minuet details to complete before the trip and I had to babysit a 2 year old Turk named Kayla. Kayla is adorable. She’s highly intelligent and already in kindergarten. She was born in California so her mommy (in Turkish anne (an nay)), a child psychologist wants her to learn English immediately. As well as pass all of her developmental markers. A few minuets into my hour session she nicely explained Kayla’s developmental stages and how I could help her reach them. At the end Kayla said in Turkish that she did not want me to leave and helped press the button to the elevator. I’m so glad I have this opportunity. I miss my goddaughter Serenity everyday. Seeing Kayla will fill Serenity’s void.
Our weekend journey up the west coast of Turkey began at 3:30am Friday morning. I called for a cab in Turkish to take the 5 of us downtown to Sariyer. Everyone was ready except for Zack who kept the cab driver waiting for an extra 10 minuets. We stopped a little farther in Sariyer than we wanted to because no one could remember how to say stop (dur). We got out the cab and started walking to find a formal bus stop for the all night bus to Taksim. I happened to look up and the bus was coming towards us. We waved our hands and yelled stop. Thankfully the bus did stop for us. (Something to note, in Turkey bus drivers stop whenever they want. The key mission for them is to make as much money as they can.) We got on the bus to cheers from the 4 men that were already on the bus. A few minuets later one of the older guys came over and introduced his self and danced for us. Shortly after our greeting he sat down to converse with the other guys and then feel into a deep sleep in a matter of seconds. This was a hilarious sight because his snores filled the bus.
We arrived in Taksim at about 4:30am and caught a cab for 40TL to Atuturk airport. I must say it was kind of weird going through pre 9/11 airport security. I had a Red Bull in my backpack and Zack had a water bottle and we went through security with no problems. We had about an hour before take off so we ordered breakfast at Starbucks. Soon it was time to board the plane. We were shuttled on the tarmac to the plane where we had to climb up stairs into the plane. I settled in and thought to myself, “I will have an epic nap.” Boy was I wrong. There was a child behind me who kept arguing with his mother and then there was noise of breakfast trays. Lexie and Zack made sure to wake me up for breakfast which was peynir (cheese) ve (and) domato (tomato) tost (sandwiches) or kek (cake) accompanied with suyu (fruit juice) or kahve (coffee). We landed and I immediately rushed to the bathroom. Normally this experience would not be worth mentioning. But this time was my first experience with a toilet in the floor. Needless to say I said a few choice words in my head. Then looked on the floor and saw the reflection of a toilet bowl and waited for that stall to open.
Once outside we boarded the free shuttle bus to Selcuk a small town 2km away from Ephesus. Then we caught the dolmus for 2TL to Ephesus. We arrived at the base and had the option of walking 2km up or down. We choose to take what we thought would be a shuttle up. The shuttle turned out to be a horse drawn carriage; the 5 of us plus a Norweigen couple piled into the tiny carriage for 30TL. Lexie unfortunately ended up with the worst seat and simply had half her body in the seat and the other half on the ledge. We road in the carriage up hill on paved and dirt roads for about 15 minuets while waking up fully and chatting with the norweigns. The couple was retired and decided to sail up the west coast of Turkey and come on land to see a few sights. Finally we arrived to the top and whipped out our handy Muze Kart, which saved us 20TL. We attempted to use Lexie’s Lonely Planet Turkey book to give ourselves a self guided tour but eventually gave up. At this point our group split up because Zack is cheap and Damian said he wouldn’t understand everything since his first language is Polish. We asked around for pricing and were told 100TL for 1.5 hours. We said never mind we are students and left. Two minuets an old man named Gunduz said he would give us an hour tour for 50TL. He was great, very informative and answered all of our questions. In the end he gave us the whole tour.
On the dolmus back to Selcuk we met a backpacker named Alex, a Canadian now working in Norway. He joined us for lunch and toured the Cistern, St. John the Baptist church, a mosque and the Ephesus museum. We arrived in Izmir after a two-hour bus ride from Selcuk. Izmir is a beautiful city filled with lots of hustle and bustle. The city is on the Aegan’s rocky coast and surrounded by mountains. As fate would have it, Alex was in the same hostel as us, Vatan Otel. After settling in we wandered the closing bazaar and the coast for dinner. We decided to roam around after dinner and find a nice bar. We ended up walking in a group of 50-college freshman that were into the arts. After about 5 minuets of walking with them we ended up in a square dedicated to Atuturk. The students perform charades type of games for each other and us. Alex thought it would be good for us to do something as well. So we played Red light, Green light and left shortly after. While searching for a bar to hang out in we came across a bar with a drag queen singing. I was quite surprised to see this and decided to end my night early.
The next morning Lexie, Ben and I went to see Angora, which was right around the corner from our hostel, the bazaar, a clock town and a castle. While at the castle we brought hand made bags made from wool from women who were making rugs. After this we checked out of the hostel and made our way up the coast to Bergama to see the Acropolis. Boy was that an interesting ride. We were given assigned seats on the dolmus and the Jandarma (military police) stopped the bus to check everyone’s IDs. I was able to see pomegranate groves while I was waiting. A taksi driver immediately approached us in Bergama to see where we wanted to go. He took us to the Acropolis and waited for us for an hour for 50TL. The Acropolis had breath-taking views of Bergama and the ruins. A few minuets after being on top of the mountain I jokingly said “I’m pretty sure you’d die if you fell here.” Literally 5 minuets later Damian fell backwards about 3 feet on to a rock cliff; thankfully he only scrapped up his right arm and side.
We caught the 5:30 bus to Ayvalik, a beautiful seaside town from the otogar for 6.5TL. We arrived in two hours later and stayed at Taksiyarhis Pansiyon, an eclectic hostel. The owner of the hostel showed us a wonderful Turkish restaurant a few minuets from the hostel where we ate a combination of specialties for 8TL. We roamed the town after dinner and ended up in a pool hall. Alex was the only one out of the 6 of us who was actually decent. So he showed me a few pointers and at the end of the night I knocked in two of my balls and the 8-ball.
The next morning we woke up and head out for Edermit and ultimately Troy. Alex on the other hand was going to Lesvos, a Greek island off the coast of Turkey. After a 15-minuet ride out of the city he transferred to another bus. We said our goodbyes and made our way to Edermit, an erie Cold War era town. I purchased the bus tickets for Troy for 15TL each instead of 18TL. There was about an hour wait for the bus so we roamed the town and picked up borek for lunch. I went to put my backpack in the bottom of the bus and then I saw a familiar backpack, Alex’s backpack. I hoped on the bus and said it was meant to be. Alex and I chatted about his life in Norway and globalization until it was time for him to truly depart. We said goodbye again and I waved to him out of the window. It felt a bit weird like I was saying good-bye to a good friend. I guess because Alex was the first person I actually had to say goodbye to in Turkey. We arrived in Channakle and had to take the dolmus from under a bridge to Troy.
Troy was rather boring after seeing the Acropolis so we ended up staying for an hour. We had about 6 hours before our bus headed out so we explored the bazaar at Channakle and ate dinner at a nice fish restaurant. I ordered shrimp and everyone else ordered sea bass. Unfortunately there were only 3 left so Zack had Ibream. I noticed a man leave the restaurant to go fishing after the waiter told us about the Sea Bass. As we were packing up the same fisherman walked through the restaurant with a sea bass flapping in his hand. Now that’s what I call fresh seafood! We wandered around a bit and I began to get worried about the bus. We made our way to the otogar to find out that Lexie could not get a seat on our bus and that we had to go back to the waterfront to pick up our bus tickets. Finally everything was settled and we all boarded our buses and the ferry for a 5-hour ride to Istanbul. We arrived back on campus at 7am. All in I had an amazing time on this trip. I’m so glad Lexie and Ben were able to plan out the trip and take the lead in traveling.
You can take a look at my photos here!
Thursday was pretty busy since we all had class, last minuet details to complete before the trip and I had to babysit a 2 year old Turk named Kayla. Kayla is adorable. She’s highly intelligent and already in kindergarten. She was born in California so her mommy (in Turkish anne (an nay)), a child psychologist wants her to learn English immediately. As well as pass all of her developmental markers. A few minuets into my hour session she nicely explained Kayla’s developmental stages and how I could help her reach them. At the end Kayla said in Turkish that she did not want me to leave and helped press the button to the elevator. I’m so glad I have this opportunity. I miss my goddaughter Serenity everyday. Seeing Kayla will fill Serenity’s void.
Our weekend journey up the west coast of Turkey began at 3:30am Friday morning. I called for a cab in Turkish to take the 5 of us downtown to Sariyer. Everyone was ready except for Zack who kept the cab driver waiting for an extra 10 minuets. We stopped a little farther in Sariyer than we wanted to because no one could remember how to say stop (dur). We got out the cab and started walking to find a formal bus stop for the all night bus to Taksim. I happened to look up and the bus was coming towards us. We waved our hands and yelled stop. Thankfully the bus did stop for us. (Something to note, in Turkey bus drivers stop whenever they want. The key mission for them is to make as much money as they can.) We got on the bus to cheers from the 4 men that were already on the bus. A few minuets later one of the older guys came over and introduced his self and danced for us. Shortly after our greeting he sat down to converse with the other guys and then feel into a deep sleep in a matter of seconds. This was a hilarious sight because his snores filled the bus.
We arrived in Taksim at about 4:30am and caught a cab for 40TL to Atuturk airport. I must say it was kind of weird going through pre 9/11 airport security. I had a Red Bull in my backpack and Zack had a water bottle and we went through security with no problems. We had about an hour before take off so we ordered breakfast at Starbucks. Soon it was time to board the plane. We were shuttled on the tarmac to the plane where we had to climb up stairs into the plane. I settled in and thought to myself, “I will have an epic nap.” Boy was I wrong. There was a child behind me who kept arguing with his mother and then there was noise of breakfast trays. Lexie and Zack made sure to wake me up for breakfast which was peynir (cheese) ve (and) domato (tomato) tost (sandwiches) or kek (cake) accompanied with suyu (fruit juice) or kahve (coffee). We landed and I immediately rushed to the bathroom. Normally this experience would not be worth mentioning. But this time was my first experience with a toilet in the floor. Needless to say I said a few choice words in my head. Then looked on the floor and saw the reflection of a toilet bowl and waited for that stall to open.
Once outside we boarded the free shuttle bus to Selcuk a small town 2km away from Ephesus. Then we caught the dolmus for 2TL to Ephesus. We arrived at the base and had the option of walking 2km up or down. We choose to take what we thought would be a shuttle up. The shuttle turned out to be a horse drawn carriage; the 5 of us plus a Norweigen couple piled into the tiny carriage for 30TL. Lexie unfortunately ended up with the worst seat and simply had half her body in the seat and the other half on the ledge. We road in the carriage up hill on paved and dirt roads for about 15 minuets while waking up fully and chatting with the norweigns. The couple was retired and decided to sail up the west coast of Turkey and come on land to see a few sights. Finally we arrived to the top and whipped out our handy Muze Kart, which saved us 20TL. We attempted to use Lexie’s Lonely Planet Turkey book to give ourselves a self guided tour but eventually gave up. At this point our group split up because Zack is cheap and Damian said he wouldn’t understand everything since his first language is Polish. We asked around for pricing and were told 100TL for 1.5 hours. We said never mind we are students and left. Two minuets an old man named Gunduz said he would give us an hour tour for 50TL. He was great, very informative and answered all of our questions. In the end he gave us the whole tour.
On the dolmus back to Selcuk we met a backpacker named Alex, a Canadian now working in Norway. He joined us for lunch and toured the Cistern, St. John the Baptist church, a mosque and the Ephesus museum. We arrived in Izmir after a two-hour bus ride from Selcuk. Izmir is a beautiful city filled with lots of hustle and bustle. The city is on the Aegan’s rocky coast and surrounded by mountains. As fate would have it, Alex was in the same hostel as us, Vatan Otel. After settling in we wandered the closing bazaar and the coast for dinner. We decided to roam around after dinner and find a nice bar. We ended up walking in a group of 50-college freshman that were into the arts. After about 5 minuets of walking with them we ended up in a square dedicated to Atuturk. The students perform charades type of games for each other and us. Alex thought it would be good for us to do something as well. So we played Red light, Green light and left shortly after. While searching for a bar to hang out in we came across a bar with a drag queen singing. I was quite surprised to see this and decided to end my night early.
The next morning Lexie, Ben and I went to see Angora, which was right around the corner from our hostel, the bazaar, a clock town and a castle. While at the castle we brought hand made bags made from wool from women who were making rugs. After this we checked out of the hostel and made our way up the coast to Bergama to see the Acropolis. Boy was that an interesting ride. We were given assigned seats on the dolmus and the Jandarma (military police) stopped the bus to check everyone’s IDs. I was able to see pomegranate groves while I was waiting. A taksi driver immediately approached us in Bergama to see where we wanted to go. He took us to the Acropolis and waited for us for an hour for 50TL. The Acropolis had breath-taking views of Bergama and the ruins. A few minuets after being on top of the mountain I jokingly said “I’m pretty sure you’d die if you fell here.” Literally 5 minuets later Damian fell backwards about 3 feet on to a rock cliff; thankfully he only scrapped up his right arm and side.
We caught the 5:30 bus to Ayvalik, a beautiful seaside town from the otogar for 6.5TL. We arrived in two hours later and stayed at Taksiyarhis Pansiyon, an eclectic hostel. The owner of the hostel showed us a wonderful Turkish restaurant a few minuets from the hostel where we ate a combination of specialties for 8TL. We roamed the town after dinner and ended up in a pool hall. Alex was the only one out of the 6 of us who was actually decent. So he showed me a few pointers and at the end of the night I knocked in two of my balls and the 8-ball.
The next morning we woke up and head out for Edermit and ultimately Troy. Alex on the other hand was going to Lesvos, a Greek island off the coast of Turkey. After a 15-minuet ride out of the city he transferred to another bus. We said our goodbyes and made our way to Edermit, an erie Cold War era town. I purchased the bus tickets for Troy for 15TL each instead of 18TL. There was about an hour wait for the bus so we roamed the town and picked up borek for lunch. I went to put my backpack in the bottom of the bus and then I saw a familiar backpack, Alex’s backpack. I hoped on the bus and said it was meant to be. Alex and I chatted about his life in Norway and globalization until it was time for him to truly depart. We said goodbye again and I waved to him out of the window. It felt a bit weird like I was saying good-bye to a good friend. I guess because Alex was the first person I actually had to say goodbye to in Turkey. We arrived in Channakle and had to take the dolmus from under a bridge to Troy.
Troy was rather boring after seeing the Acropolis so we ended up staying for an hour. We had about 6 hours before our bus headed out so we explored the bazaar at Channakle and ate dinner at a nice fish restaurant. I ordered shrimp and everyone else ordered sea bass. Unfortunately there were only 3 left so Zack had Ibream. I noticed a man leave the restaurant to go fishing after the waiter told us about the Sea Bass. As we were packing up the same fisherman walked through the restaurant with a sea bass flapping in his hand. Now that’s what I call fresh seafood! We wandered around a bit and I began to get worried about the bus. We made our way to the otogar to find out that Lexie could not get a seat on our bus and that we had to go back to the waterfront to pick up our bus tickets. Finally everything was settled and we all boarded our buses and the ferry for a 5-hour ride to Istanbul. We arrived back on campus at 7am. All in I had an amazing time on this trip. I’m so glad Lexie and Ben were able to plan out the trip and take the lead in traveling.
You can take a look at my photos here!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
It's all in my head
Tuesday was a pretty low-key day. My flu had turned into sinus congestion so my participation in Turkish class was a bit hard. Towards the end of class my professor asked me a question and I said sorry I cannot hear you. I could tell she was getting annoyed because she was repeating herself an octave higher. But the sounds I heard in my head were slightly different than the ones I had been learning.
I headed to the cafeteria with John after class. Once there we met up with thee Germans (Sebastian, Nina and Liviu), some Americans (Nate, Petra and Jamie). We had a good time cracking up about Turkish class and learning languages. I think I’m going to attempt to learn German while I am here.
My last class of the day was at 3:30 with Damian, Lexie, Kat and Freda. We usually sit in the second row but this time Damian left us because the teacher calls on us too much. He was right, the teacher asked me a few financial and economics related questions. Again these topics are not my forte. After class I met Mart, the guy Damian sat next to during class. I asked him why Turks laughed at me when I practiced my Turkish. He said, “all of our lives we try to learn English. It’s weird to see someone try to learn Turkish.”
I went back to my room after class to start studying for my Turkish quiz on Thursday. The dreaded quiz that will cover all of the Turkish words I have learned so far, approximately 100 words. I studied for an hour then headed out to dinner at 6 and ice-skating with a few exchange students at 7. We had a good time especially since I was not the first to fall. Lexie was the first one to fall with a grace fall face dive.
Most of us left after about an hour of skating to go study for our Turkish quiz. I suggested to my roommate that we study together. We had a little system going on for a bit of time until she hopped in the shower and I said I would “rest my eyes”; at the time this was true because I was reciting Turkish words. Next thing I know its 6am in the morning. Oh, well so much for resting my eyes.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Week 3 already!?
What a blah day. My asthma has really been kicking my butt. I had two classes today international trade, which was filled with lots of comparative advantage problems. (Have I ever express how much I dislike math problems and graphs in econ? Well I do.) I also had globalization and international relations. We had a good debate on sovereignty of nation-states and Mr. Xioaba the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
I left class and headed straight for the student center for food with Michal from Poland and Fernando from Spain. I literally choked on my pasta while Fernando translated jokes in Spanish. Fernando and I left for our dorms and chatted about unemployment and our lives in our own countries. We departed and I went to bed so I could stop looking like a zombie.
I must say this experience is really opening up my eyes on multiple levels.
Exploring Old Town
Yesterday I sat out to explore historical attractions located in Sultanahmet. Ben, Lexie, Vera, John and I left at 10am for the long trek downtown. Sultanahmet is on the other side of Istanbul because this we had to take a dolmus to Sariyer, another dolmus to Metro, the Metro to Taksim, the Funicular (tram like) and finally the tram to Sultanahmet. The total trip took 1 hour and 30 minuets but it was well worth it.
We arrived in Sultanahmet a little after 11:30am. Heading straight to Haagia Sophia, we were determined to obtain öğrenci Muze Karts (student museum cards) for a years worth of discounts. After about an hour of waiting in lines we had muze karts and were embarking on our tour of the beautiful Haagia Sophia. The museum was filled with breath taking views. Thankfully Lexie had a guidebook that gave instructions for a self-guided tour through museum. I took a photo and made a wish for my grandmother at the miracle pillar. Later on I went upstairs and took photos from the emperor’s view and saw mosaics of Jesus Christ.
Around 2:30 we left and head out to Mozaik an expensive Ottoman inspired restaurant. I noticed the restaurant Enjoyer, which is owned by Cevat (Ja-vat) the nice Turk that I met in Geneva. I believe the food was good, as I still can’t taste. After lunch we continued on our tour of Sultanahmet. On our way to see freestanding remains of the Egyptians and Romans I was stopped by 4 women from Turkmenistan. They had asked me to take a photo of them. Next thing I know they were lining up to take photos with me. This was a little awkward and of course Lexie found this funny. In the process they asked, my age, where I was from and my name. I guess I’ll be in their scrapbook.
Later on we checked out the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. They’re currently holding an exhibit for the 1400 Anniversary of The Holy Qur’an. It was cool to see Qur’ans 12 centuries old. There were mini Qur’ans the size of an infants hands to 3 feet in height, Qur’an stands, Qur’an boxes, inspired jewelry and prayer rugs on display. I think the museum has done a great job with the exhibit. After looking around the museum we met in the gift shop. John came to Lexie and I and said Magnums are so cheap here. We looked at each other and said what are you talking about. John held up a popsicle stick and said don’t you have these in the states? We replied Magnums are condoms in the US. Talk about those cultural differences.
We left at 4:30 in search of another mosque and a 16th century Christian church. We found the mosque in a few minuets. While inside the court yard two children filled up a water gun and tried to squirt me. I yelled no! Hayir! I was hoping they would listen because I did not want to get sicker. We left the mosque in search of the church. On the way, I saw a man reorganizing plywood in his arms and a wheel. I thought I would help him open up a door to a store; turns out the door was a gate to a cemetery. After that I had an old man follow me laughing for about 2 minuets. For now on I will just pay attention to the details. Now we were lost and asking for directions. A few minuets later we ended up next to the Bosporus.
We asked for help and found our way again passing little balık restoranı (fish restaurants) where the fish were still alive in tubs. I have to go back there one day. After 20 minutes we found the church, which had just closed. We then headed on our dissent up the hills. They were pretty steep. The steepness combined with the cold are in my lungs mad my asthma flair up more. We zig zaged through streets to give our bodies time to adjust. Every time I looked back I could see the Bosporus shimmering at the base of what seemed to be an endless hill. Finally, we arrived at the top of the hill and were greeted by the hustle and bustle of sellers near the Grand Bazaar.
Check out the pictures here.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The best part of the adventure is getting lost
Last night, Lexie and I decided with the help of her travel books that we would explore another part of the city today. Our plan was to leave by 11am this morning. Daybreak comes and Lexie decides we should invite other people and plan our day. Vera and Zack end up tagging along and I end up looking how to get to Old Town (location of historical sites like the Blue Mosque) on the dolmus to Sariyer. After about 15 minuets of trying to figure out transportation systems I suggested we go to Beshitas because I heard it has shops and lots of things to do.
So we hopped on the next dolmus and embark on my longest dolmus rides to date approximately 1 hour. I can assume by the slowness of the bus that the driver was either conservative or that the bus was going to break down soon. There were a few moments during this ride where I thought “I’ll call AAA if we break down but I’m not pushing.” After about 6 “Are we there yet?” from the group we arrived in Beshitas, a huge city that’s full of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. For all of two seconds we attempted to find the Saturday Bazaar. When we looked forward we realized there was a seaport ferry stop to Anatolia (the Asian side of Istanbul), Kadikoy to be exact. The ferry only cost us 1.5TL ($1.06) each way.
The ferry ride provided an awesome view from the top. The skies were still grey but the sun was keeping the rain at bay. In the middle of the Bosporus we could see the Old Town, Beshitas and more of Anatolia. After a 25-minuet ride we were on another continent. By this time it was 1:45 and Zach and I were hungry. We got off the ferry and decided to follow the mass crowd. We ended up on side streets filled with lots of shops and restaurants. For lunch we ate at a nice café/pub. I ordered schnitzel (bread chicken breast), Lexie ton salata (tuna salad), Zach sosis (mini hot dog) and patata (fries) and Vera ordered tavuk (chicken) nuggets. The place had really slow service but it didn’t matter to me because I lost my taste buds sometime during our trip but from what I heard, the food was actually decent. At the end of the meal I went to the restroom to clean up and saw a non-traditional toilet and the American standard. I think this is when it hit me that I was in another continent.
I can assume Zach wasn’t satisfied because he ate corn kernels from a street vendor and lamchaun (a spicy flat bread pizza). Once he was satisfied we started shopping and practiced our “that’s what she said jokes for the other exchange students. Kadikoy had lots of great boutique shops filled with jewelry, clothes, shoes and a wedding dress themed street. The prices were among the cheapest we have seen in the area. The only downside to shopping here was that we don’t bargain. The time was now 4:20 and Zach looked like he had enough of hanging out with 3 girls so we hoped back on the ferry to Beshitas.
We again set up to find the bazaar. Instead we found winding side streets filled with Turkish coffee, roasted peanuts and soft serve ice cream and fish markets. We stumbled upon a bakery where they were still making oven baked loaves at 5 in the evening. I purchased one for 1TL ($.70) and ate it like a banana, first peeling down the wrapper they used to pick up the loaf. The bread was warm and crusty. I truly enjoyed it and the owners enjoyed watching me eat the bread. We looked around some more for the bazaar but then gave up once the rain started.
The 29 bus took us from the Beshitas seaport to Sariyer, another long ride. So long that we all looked like bobble heads in our seats. Traffic was pretty bad in Sariyer. At one point I looked out the window and caught a man starring at me. I smiled and turned away. I looked back one last time when the bus began to move and watched the man run out and point me out to his unspecting friend. After about two weeks I can finally say I appreciate my awe factor and the curiosity many Turks have.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Germany Vs. Turkey
Last night I forced myself to bed at midnight and woke up this morning at 10am. I spent most of my day in my room on my computer looking up job and service opportunities after graduation. Slowly but surely it’s hitting me that I’ll be done soon and have to start repaying my private loan debt in December. The last few weeks I have realized how culturally closed minded I am. Nonetheless, I am eager to see what the next 4 months bring.
At 2:30 I ventured outside my jail for lunch in the S building. No dinning experience on campus ever goes smooth. Of course I think I’m doing myself a favor by bring my ID card to pay for lunch but the card machine was broken. Thankfully I had 5TL on me and Jenn covered the other 2TL. During dinner Jenn told me that a few exchange students were going down to Taksim to watch the Germany Vs. Turkey futbol match. Now I have never watched soccer a day in my life. So naturally, I declined a few times. Then a few hours later I thought it would be a good idea since the skies finally cleared up.
The plan was to leave at 6:45 for a game that started at 9:45. I knocked on Jenn’s door knowing deep down that she had probably left already. I was surely right. (Jenn’s good for doing this. I still don’t know why I follow her on some trips.) So I meet up with Lexie and Zack to go downtown. Now there is no such thing as a dull trip. We talked about my ex-roommate purchasing a room by herself instead of getting the Turkish roommate she always wanted. It’s funny how people can lie to one person’s face and then tell the truth to another. What’s done in the dark always comes to the light. Then we laughed on the first minibus about Zack going to the free belly dancing class to pick up girls. On the second minibus we laughed at Lexie when she attempted to talk to a Turkish toddler in Turkish. Seems like they both had a good time laughing with each other.
We got Taksim Square a few minuets before the other exchange students and decided amongst the three of us that we wanted American influenced food. A few minuets later I heard someone call my name. We chatted with the other exchange to see if they knew where they were going. I started talking to Abara (from Pakistan) while Lexie and Zach were figuring out the details. He said, "I hope you don't mind if I ask this question but is your hair real or a weave?" I answered real. I am locing my hair. Abara continued with questions "How do you do that? Can I touch it? Is this like cornrows?” It’s funny that he asked me this because I've seen young and old Turks and Italians with locs. Nevertheless, I am glad that I can answer people’s questions and debunk a "mystery".
Eventually we asked again about the game but no one knew what pub they would go to. So Lexie, Zack and I decided to get some food at BBQ chicken. Needless to say the manager remembered us and we ended up with great service and free food. Lexie texted a few people to see where we should go while we were still eating dinner. Of course no one knew the alleys they took to get there. So Lexie went around showing her text message to any Turk that would help. Finally we ended up in a small bar with a crappy TV and not enough seats to the three of us. That was kind of crappy since people knew we were coming back but not surprising because a lot of people here say one thing and do another. I think Lexie and I both thought that exchange students would try to stick together when exploring town. Unfortunately, so many cliques have been formed that the atmosphere has turned into a high school drama.
Anyways we ended up going to a family style restaurant a few doors down and drank cay (tea) while we watched the game. A few people left to go to another pub and planned to regroup later. When we were about to head out Maryann and Jenn came in. we stayed and drank more cay and then went next door to watch the last 10 minuets of the game. (By the way Germany won 3-0.) The pub was still packed but we managed to squeeze in. I ended up sitting next to a Turk who had picked up a British accent and explored NYC only 10 days ago. One can come to the conclusion that he dominated the conversation with talks of his NY adventures. The game finally ended and all of the sudden people wanted to stay in Taksim. I knew this was going to happen. But I was determined to get back to my warm cozy room. So Lexie and I headed out to the bus stop, which was about 10 minuets away in the rain. We waited at the stop a few minuets before we realized the bus was down the street and had no intention on coming up to the actual stop. Luckily, we got on in the nick of time and head back to Sariyer on the night owl night bus.
During the ride the rain came down pretty hard and started flooding the streets. I don’t think Istanbul has good sewers in place. Lexie was up to her usual antics of practicing Turkish on the bus. So many people were laughing at her. When she finally sat down she began to ask me about my hair. Lexie was my resident two years ago so she has seen me with a shaved head, relaxed hair (straightened), bleached hair, in an afro and now locs. Talking with her made me realize how typical it is to see African Americans with relaxed hair. To each there own but I must say I feel more liberated and intellectually stimulated with locs.
We made it to Sariyer in about 50 minuets and caught a cab to campus. All in all I think this was a decent night but I could have stayed out of the downpour that occurred while commuting back.
At 2:30 I ventured outside my jail for lunch in the S building. No dinning experience on campus ever goes smooth. Of course I think I’m doing myself a favor by bring my ID card to pay for lunch but the card machine was broken. Thankfully I had 5TL on me and Jenn covered the other 2TL. During dinner Jenn told me that a few exchange students were going down to Taksim to watch the Germany Vs. Turkey futbol match. Now I have never watched soccer a day in my life. So naturally, I declined a few times. Then a few hours later I thought it would be a good idea since the skies finally cleared up.
The plan was to leave at 6:45 for a game that started at 9:45. I knocked on Jenn’s door knowing deep down that she had probably left already. I was surely right. (Jenn’s good for doing this. I still don’t know why I follow her on some trips.) So I meet up with Lexie and Zack to go downtown. Now there is no such thing as a dull trip. We talked about my ex-roommate purchasing a room by herself instead of getting the Turkish roommate she always wanted. It’s funny how people can lie to one person’s face and then tell the truth to another. What’s done in the dark always comes to the light. Then we laughed on the first minibus about Zack going to the free belly dancing class to pick up girls. On the second minibus we laughed at Lexie when she attempted to talk to a Turkish toddler in Turkish. Seems like they both had a good time laughing with each other.
We got Taksim Square a few minuets before the other exchange students and decided amongst the three of us that we wanted American influenced food. A few minuets later I heard someone call my name. We chatted with the other exchange to see if they knew where they were going. I started talking to Abara (from Pakistan) while Lexie and Zach were figuring out the details. He said, "I hope you don't mind if I ask this question but is your hair real or a weave?" I answered real. I am locing my hair. Abara continued with questions "How do you do that? Can I touch it? Is this like cornrows?” It’s funny that he asked me this because I've seen young and old Turks and Italians with locs. Nevertheless, I am glad that I can answer people’s questions and debunk a "mystery".
Eventually we asked again about the game but no one knew what pub they would go to. So Lexie, Zack and I decided to get some food at BBQ chicken. Needless to say the manager remembered us and we ended up with great service and free food. Lexie texted a few people to see where we should go while we were still eating dinner. Of course no one knew the alleys they took to get there. So Lexie went around showing her text message to any Turk that would help. Finally we ended up in a small bar with a crappy TV and not enough seats to the three of us. That was kind of crappy since people knew we were coming back but not surprising because a lot of people here say one thing and do another. I think Lexie and I both thought that exchange students would try to stick together when exploring town. Unfortunately, so many cliques have been formed that the atmosphere has turned into a high school drama.
Anyways we ended up going to a family style restaurant a few doors down and drank cay (tea) while we watched the game. A few people left to go to another pub and planned to regroup later. When we were about to head out Maryann and Jenn came in. we stayed and drank more cay and then went next door to watch the last 10 minuets of the game. (By the way Germany won 3-0.) The pub was still packed but we managed to squeeze in. I ended up sitting next to a Turk who had picked up a British accent and explored NYC only 10 days ago. One can come to the conclusion that he dominated the conversation with talks of his NY adventures. The game finally ended and all of the sudden people wanted to stay in Taksim. I knew this was going to happen. But I was determined to get back to my warm cozy room. So Lexie and I headed out to the bus stop, which was about 10 minuets away in the rain. We waited at the stop a few minuets before we realized the bus was down the street and had no intention on coming up to the actual stop. Luckily, we got on in the nick of time and head back to Sariyer on the night owl night bus.
During the ride the rain came down pretty hard and started flooding the streets. I don’t think Istanbul has good sewers in place. Lexie was up to her usual antics of practicing Turkish on the bus. So many people were laughing at her. When she finally sat down she began to ask me about my hair. Lexie was my resident two years ago so she has seen me with a shaved head, relaxed hair (straightened), bleached hair, in an afro and now locs. Talking with her made me realize how typical it is to see African Americans with relaxed hair. To each there own but I must say I feel more liberated and intellectually stimulated with locs.
We made it to Sariyer in about 50 minuets and caught a cab to campus. All in all I think this was a decent night but I could have stayed out of the downpour that occurred while commuting back.
Of course I would get the flu
So I woke up yesterday morning feeling like crap. My nose was runny the night before so I knew that a cold was brewing internally.
I headed to the student center to grab some pasta and tea to soothe my throat. I was almost done eating when Charlie, a CIEE kid from Northeastern stopped by. He’s a cool kid. He’s taking the American Cinema class that I wanted to take. Apparently he’s the only American in the class. It was almost time for my Turkish class. I arrived to class and sat next to my usual partner Fernando, from Spain. When I sat down I felt achy all over like I had the flu. Class was actually pretty good yesterday. I learned Turkish numbers, a few more words and a few more vowel sounds. FYI there are 8 vowels in Turkish. Click on this link to hear what I am talking about.
When class was over I walked with Marteen, from The Nederlands (Netherlands) through the maze of under ground tunnels. I have to do that more often. The maze helped me stay dry and by passed 4 flights of stairs. I started feeling achy again when I was at the student center. I decided to use the hour I had between classes at the library and finish my Turkish homework. After about 30 minuets I packed up and head to the health center.
The health center was empty when I arrived. 3 nurses who only spoke a few words in English greeted me. I saw the doctor after about 5 minuets of waiting. I came in and said Merhaba. The doctor asked me if I knew Turkish. I replied only a little bit. She replied we could converse in Turkish. I declined. The diagnosis was that I had a mild case of the flu. The doctor prescribed ibuprofen, an antihistamine and an antiseptic for my tonsils. I left the office and I handed the prescription into the receptionist so he could call it in to the pharmacy.
I went back to my room and napped until 5pm when the pharmacist arrived on campus. The pharmacist only spoke Turkish because of this I immediately gave him ID card. Even though he had my ID he still for some reason he tried to give me someone else’s medication. After about 2 minuets of confusion and the help of another customer I received my medicine, which was 16.71TL (11.73). Thank goodness for the little bit of Turkish I do know because the instructions were all in Turkish!
I left for my room took the medicine and relaxed a bit more. Then I headed out to Migros to get my tea and mug from Lexie, the cafeteria for dinner and the library to pick up some movies (Boyz N the Hood and Borat). I had a good time relaxing but felt bored as soon as the movie was done. I’m not used to having to sit down for such an extended period of time. Thank goodness for my mom because she called me three times last night. Thanks Mom!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Blah hump day
I think im catching a cold. The weather here is changing into fall with the addition of living near a sea. I met with my new mentor, Irem today who is in my International Trade class. She seems nice but to quiet. Hopefully she opens up with time.
I went to my trade class and was faced with economic equations. I thought I was over that phase of my academic life two years ago. I really have to study hard to understand those problems.
My second-class Globalizations and International Relations was kind of a bore today. The debate was rather week because only a few students read the homework. I did have one highlight my Uludag Frutti – Karpuz-Cilek (watermelon-strawberry) soda. I’m seriously addicted to that drink.
Before class started Michal showed me his textbook that he had copied in Besitas for half the bookstore price – 30TL. This would be called copyright infringement in the States. Honestly the only difference between the copied version and the real thing was the glossy cover. I wish I would have known about that place before hand.
After class I went to Migros (the grocery store) and found Barilla spaghetti sauce! I’m going to turn into a typical college student and eat cheap meals as much as I can.
My roommate moved in tonight. She’s an exchange student from Bryn Mawr, PA. I hope things go smoothly.
Learning the cultural ropes
I woke up and organized my room this morning before housekeeping came to do their weekly cleaning. I should do that every morning because my room looked amazing after my long stressful day.
Earlier today, I decided to tackle loose ends with the bank Yapi Kredi. I waited approximately 20 minuets to see a teller. I told the teller I wanted to pick up my bankcard and also transfer money to my student ID card so I could buy my Xerox copies. The teller called over another Koc student to help since she did not speak English. (So much for my account privacy.) The student took me outside to a machine that is only in Turkish. She placed me card inside and then pressed 1, enter asked me to enter my pin. I then told her I wanted to put on 50TL ($35.44). She put in .50 and said that it would save as 50TL. I graciously said thanks and went to the basement of the library to purchase my copies.
I waited online for 30 minuets. The wait was extremely long because Koc students all believe their request should be top priority. So they skip and speak to the workers in Turkish to speed their order up. Then they look at my angered body language. I finally get to the front of the line and offer to pay to only find out that I only have .50TL on my card. I became furious at that moment because I could have handled my own banking issues by myself if there was an English button on the machine. (I don’t understand how I can be at an English speaking university and only classes and a few food court workers know how to speak English! This is extremely frustrating.) I looked at the clock and I had 7 minuets to get to my 2 hour Turkish class.
Class let out at 14:20. I rushed over to the Science building and order tavuk pilav (chicken pilav). After 5 minuets of inhaling the food and 2 minuets of walking to the engineering building I arrived at class. Not my class because I confused my schedule times. My class actually started at 15:30 and not 14:30. I had spare time so I decided to go back to the bank and transfer money. I got back to the library to find a long line for the copy center. I went to my last class, which a quarter of was spoken in Turkish and then translated later to me and the four other exchange students.
After class I went to the Xerox center. This time I bombarded the line and got my order in no time. I’m learning quickly. I must say this experience has made me miss the US and the way we do business.
At 6:30 Jasmine and I left campus for Istinye Park mall. We got on a pimped out dolmus with a red velvet interior and blue rope lights. This bus was slow as heck since it picked up everyone in the world! We went for snacks at a bakery when we finally got to Sariyer. After a 5-minuet walk we were on the dolmus to the mall. This was an interesting ride. I watched the driver count a wad of money, light cigarettes, answer phone calls, drive on the road and almost run over passengers.
Jasmine and I roamed around the mall and then grabbed dinner from Burger King. The Whopper tasted just like the ones in the States. The only difference was the soft shoestring fries and the addition of mayonnaise to my plate. Nonetheless that meal brightened up my day. For dessert we had Haagan Dazs I had butter pecan, which was creamier. I just want to point out that here sprinkles are called vermicelli. In the States vermicelli is a noodle, along the lines of Ramen. I found Pupa the Apple reseller and purchased my charger for 251TL ($177). 38TL was just in tax. I did a price check on MacBooks, which start at 3333TL ($2364).
We left the mall at 9:45 and waited 40 minuets for the bus to come. We saw about 10 dolmus going in every direction but Sariyer. Two women helped us figure out whether or not we were on the right side. The older woman of the two was so friendly that she would not stop talking to me in Turkish even after I took out my Turkish paper that said I do not speak Turkish. Finally Jasmine and I decided to hop in cab. The driver told us the cab would be between yirmi (20TL) and yirmi bes (25TL). We took the cab to campus and ended up paying 27TL because we forgot to finalize a price before getting in the cab.
Starting over again
I think I’m finally rested. I woke up and went to the gym shortly because I forgot deodorant. Seems like a lot of exchange students partied to hard over the weekend because they were dropping like flies in class.
The Apple store on campus didn’t open today.
I have been assigned a new mentor, Irem. I hope she is better than the previous one. Either this experience will be apart of my journey or it won't either way I don't want to be disrespected again.. Each day I realize how much I love the culture of the US. On a day to day basis we cross lots of cultural barriers but for the most part people manage not to offend others.
My roommate moved out tonight. I don’t understand why people always attempt to disrespect someone and then try to be friends again.
First week
Classes started last Monday. Fortunately for me I was already assigned four classes. While many other exchange students had zero. I got lost every day last week trying to find classes. On Monday, I was foolish enough to tell Damian and Ricardo that I knew where class was located. We ended up in a class that was taught in Turkish! After about 3 minuets Ricardo raised his hand and told the teacher we were exchange students. She replied in Turkish. We ran out the class laughing. We found our class a few minuets latter, which were filled with exchange students.
I went downtown to Sariyer after classes to buy a cell phone. This is when we still used Facebook as the main method of communication. I posted a tag on my FB for 3 people. Turns out 20+ exchange students went downtown for phones. I did not end up with a phone because it was too much of a Hassel. But I did end up with a headache from waiting for other people. The one benefit is that Ozzy and Yunus were going to Istinye Park mall afterwards. This mall is very high end and huge! I didn’t buy much this time around because my Turkish was bad.
Today really took a toll on me mentally. While in Sariyer people starred at me like I had two heads. People starred out of cars. Others starred on the street. The crazy thing is they would sometimes look away when I looked or not say anything at all when I said Merhaba (Hello). When I got on the bus to Istiyne Park a 2 year old turned to her left to stare at me for about 10 minuets. On the bus back a teenager sat next to me and just stared me in the face. Thank goodness for my iPod because I was starting to get frazzled.
This was a huge culture shock for me. The next day the Turkish-American exchange advisor explained that not many people of color come to Turkey, which is why people were curious. This made me feel a lot better and formed my reasoning to take Turkish and learn more about the culture while I’m here.
The next day was pretty chill. I had dinner with Zach and ended up hanging out with some other exchange students. It was a beautiful night so we ended up in the woods area and talked about politics, conflicts, religion, price of education and our lives prior to this trip.
The rest of the week was pretty decent with the exception of my roommate waking me up everyday at 7am because her cell phone alarm vibrated and rang extremely loud on the table and the noise she made when she got ready. I was on hairs end by Thursday. Especially after I addressed the situation and she denied it. She got my point after I decided to make the same amount of noise. Now I’m roommate less.
Thursday rolled around pretty quick and was the first day of my weekend. I went to Taksim with Zach, Lexie and Duhn. We took the dolmus and subway. It was very clean and efficient. We got off in Taksim Square and who do I see the same Gypsy child that jumped on me a week prior. We ate Patata (fries) with curry sauce, koketl (mayo + ketchup), babekue and olive sauce. Yum. We hung out till the wee hours of the morning. At Kafe Pi and Joker Joker a bar on the 6th floor. Can we say 6 flights of marble stairs. We met some kids from Koc’s rival school in the beginning of the night. Zach wanted to go to club 360 for 25TL. Glad we didn’t end up there. Walking up the main strip we saw another dance club. While trying to figure out if it was free we prepared our free Turkish words. I said to Lexie I think that guy has a confederate flag on his leather jacket. Then he responds I speak English and the club is free. Needless to say I was not comfortable there.
The kids from earlier showed us were there college party was being hosted. We ended up going to a familiar place. Later on they met us at Kafe Pi. I’m glad they did because Onur was nice to intercept this teenage kid how came stood next to me while I was sitting and pointed and laughed in my face. I said what did you say and Onur said its nothing. Most likely it was because of my race because kids did the same thing when I came out of the Blue Mosque. The only difference is the called me Afrikan. Please note I am not offended by being called Afrikan. I am offended at the ignorance “curiosity” that exists with many.
The next day I lounged around so I could prepare for the beach party. I did laundry. Now ordinarily this would not be a task to mention. But going to the basement from the third floor multiple times was no fun. At on point of time I said I would hang in the TV room. The housekeeper came in and said, Nasilsen? (How are you?) I of course forgot my Turkish so it was an awkward moment. The beach party was fun minus me freezing my butt off.
Saturday was a blah day. I woke up to an email from my Koc mentor telling me that he was not my mother or servant. This was his reply to me asking which Apple store was the closest. I was livid and felt disrespected. I worked off my anger at the gym.
Later on I went down to Sariyer and had Borek a lamb filled dough with currants. It was okay at best. What really caught my eye was the fact that this little restaurant had granite counter tops when my meal was only 6TL ($4).
Tonight was the cultural dinner. I made sweet teach, which was a hit and brought pork rinds to represent my families cultures but pork is illegal. Opps. The food was amazing especially Portugal, France and Pakistan. I stayed in that night because I planned to go with a few exchange students to Erdine. My stomach told me otherwise. Good thing I stayed in because Lexie told me there were only toilet holes.
All in all I had a good first week. My advisor explained to me that Turkish student would tell me they don’t know English because they are not comfortable. I’ve become a quick learner by memorizing what I like and dislike, especially food wise. I finally figured out how to order at the cafeteria. 3 plates o food is 5-6TL.yet my first few days cost 7-12.50TL. Something to note spinach is a main dish and yogurt sauce is extra. And a normal cafeteria meal is a soup or salad, entrée, side or dessert.
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