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!

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.

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 16^th 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.

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.

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.

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! 

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 6^th 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.