Note to self

Don't leave the erik fruits out thinking they are going to ripen. They don't, and they just get mushy and disgusting. Also, don't try to eat one in this state. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but....no.

New fruit

I decided to go out on a limb and buy this "erik" fruit I've seen so much of in recent weeks. Literally translated to plum, I couldn't exactly figure out what they would be like because they are so small. They are crunchy sort of like an apple, rather tart, but overall almost like an unripe, well, plum. I've let them sit in my room for a few days, and they've gotten a bit softer and a touch sweeter but remain rather tart. Because this fruit is all over and people seem to be buying it, I can't imagine that they would be really unripe, unsuitable for consumption. The fruit is sort of refreshing, however. And, also like a plum, it has a large pit on the inside of it. Anyhow, I've been snacking on these in recent days and we've all (well, most of us anyway) enjoy them. In a side note, they are also good for pelting your friends.

Sugarless sugary treats

BREAKING NEWS.... Even though I thought it was physically impossible, I found a pastane (pastry shop) in Istanbul that makes sugar-free Turkish delight (lokum) and sugar-free baklava! The prices are comparable to the regular stuff, and the baklava is quite delicious. The syrup is a bit less sweet, which is not a bad thing. In fact, a friend told me she'd almost prefer the sugarless version because it's not so toothachingly sweet. The lokum is a bit strange, particularly in that it's covered in something that resembles powdered sugar but can't be. It tastes a lot like a flavor of Turkish delight, albeit more bland.

And, in case you are interested, the old name for a diabetic in Turkish şeker hastalığı (literally sugar sickness), but now it is diabetik. I hope that I'll be able to handle such a difficult foreign word.

May Day in Istanbul

The first of May is always a volatile day to live in Istanbul. In 1977, an unidentified gunman opened fire on a celebration of labor solidarity, and by the end of the gunfire and the panic that followed, 36 people had died and 200 were injured. In 1978 and up until this year, city officials banned demonstrations on Taksim Square and Istiklal, where the horrific tragedy occurred, but riots and demonstrations still occurred, leading to many arrests and injuries, and to the use of tear/pepper gas and water to control the crowd, who often become violent. Last year, at least according to anecdotal reports, up to 900 people were arrested.

This year, the government actually opened the square for a march but kept a tight control on just who can take part and what they can do as forms of protest. Over 5,000 people have come to the historic square, and, according to some reports, only about 30 people have been arrested in Taksim at this point.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara issued a warden message warning of impending violence and transportation delays all across Turkey, but particularly in large public places in Istanbul, naming Taksim and Kadikoy as two specific places. Now, just so everyone knows, Taksim is where we spend most of our Friday and Saturday nights because of all the bars and restaurants and clubs, and because today is a holiday, we went out last night to Taksim one last time before the demonstrations and the police presence was already more marked. Barricades blocked off all side streets, more police were around with their AK-47s, and the like. We have all committed to not going anywhere in downtown Istanbul today, and instead decided to walk up to the Black Sea, an hour or so walk down the hill of our campus, and far away on the other side of Istanbul.

The video below is footage taken from today about the demonstrations and police intervention for the May Day celebrations.

Hürriyet Video'larını izlemek için Flash 7 veya daha yüksek eklenti yüklenmeniz gerekmektedir. Yüklemek için tıklayınız!!!

Buttered Popcorn gum?

I got some chewing gum from the grocery store on campus and was absolutely appalled. Appalled, I tell you. I didn't really look at the flavor before I bought it, and when I popped it in my mouth, I tasted buttered popcorn, not wholly unlike the flavor you get in a Jelly Belly jellybean. I find it a disgusting flavor by the way, and even though it does taste like popcorn, there's something about the flavor-texture combination that repulses me. I looked at the flavor after this rude awakening and saw that it was rice pudding flavored. Yes, Turkey makes rice pudding flavored chewing gum.

Only here...

Princess Islands

Just an hour-and-a-half ferry ride from downtown Istanbul there exists several resort-like islands. Known here as adalar, or "the Islands," the Princess Islands are the perfect place for a trip outside the urban life that is Istanbul. For a mere 2.80TL (1.72 USD), you can hop on the ferry and visit one of the islands, all of which do not allow cars but instead have bike rentals, carriages, and donkeys. Palatial resort homes and condos line the streets, palm trees offer shade from the warm sun, and parks and monasteries flank the residential areas--great place to overlook the Marmara Sea.

A group of us went to the largest island (Büyükada, meaning "large island") for a day and decided to walk instead of spending any money on rentals (yeah, 2.50 US per hour seemed a little steep for college kids, even if we were only going to spend a few hours there). We walked up to a park and sat around for a while, then we continued our trek up a very steep cobblestone street to the top of a mountain with an Orthodox church on top. We found a large cliff that overlooked the sea, so we relaxed before we took our long walk back to the ferry.

We were shocked at just how CHEAP this place was, and just how very different it was from the city of Istanbul, visible from most locations with a view. As it seemed a tropical destination, daytrips are very common for local Istanbul residents, if for nothing more than having a nice picnic in a change of venue.

One of my friends had a friend visiting, and we were very happy that he could see this place, even though it was nothing like the Istanbul to which we are all accustomed. Funny how you just discover things out of the blue...

Canada, eh?

So I made a very recent discovery that was most surprising to me: apparently, my three favorite children's shows growing up were Canadian shows, and I didn't even realize it! Sharon, Lois, and Bram; Fred Penner's Place; and Under the Umbrella Tree are all products of the CBC. Who would have thought? Although, in retrospect, it totally makes sense as to why one of the quintessential S,L,&B's songs, "One Elephant, Deux Éléphants" includes both English and French lyrics. Perhaps this discovery was a long time coming...

Making the distinctions between Canadian and American cultures is actually an interesting pastime among my Canadian and American friends here. I now have picked up several regional slang from my friends, including the all-time favorite "deec." Derived from the word "decent," this word is comparable to "awesome" or "sweet." I have learned that I wear not a snowcap, a ski hat, winter hat (or, incidentally, a toboggan) but instead a toque/tuque (sp?). And, if I were to order coffee and want two sugars and creams, such a drink is commonly referred to as a double-double. Of course, this drink is often associated with the famous Tim Horton's--or Timmie's, as it is sometimes called.

Now, having had a fascination with Canada for years, I am even more interested for some reason in light of this realization. The U.S. and Canada are so similar in many ways but are also so very different. The relationship between the two nations, the politics, and the perceptions of each other are quite interesting to study, and my interest in doing so has been compounded by the fact that many of my relatives are or once were Canadian citizens. I have been to Ottawa once and absolutely loved it, but it is due time for me to take the road trip there that I've always wanted, and now I have many friends with whom I can stay!

Children's Day

April 23 marks Children's Day in Turkey, and so we have no school on Thursday. After having no idea what Children's Day even was (apart from a day to celebrate children, of course), I did a little scholarly Wikipedia search to find that on April 23, 1920, the first meeting of the Grand National Assembly took place during the Turkish independence war, and that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk--the father of modern Turkey-- proclaimed that day a day for children so that they may understand the importance of independence.

Apparently, children from around the world travel with their families to Turkey and stay with host families with children of similar ages. Throughout this week (including here on campus), there are lots of cultural festivals and carnivals and the like. And, the seats of parliament are held by children on the 23rd, and Turkey even has a child president for the day, who apparently makes a speech on national television. What an interesting holiday!

Let the sun shine in--

Because the sun was actually out and it was rather warm today (60s), the students were all outside basking in it while eating ice cream. I am surprised, though, that many people are still in coats, scarves, gloves, and boots (both on campus and around town) at this point in springtime. I wore shorts today (gasp), only to get strange looks from people. I stuck out like a sore thumb, but it was okay because I thought it was too hot to wear jeans and a coat.

I find it amazing that I can find clothes in this country that fit me--shorter people, I guess? Anyway, I found a pair of jeans today that were a bit long but actually fit me in the legs and waist. I might have to get them hemmed or try them myself, but the kicker: I paid 10.99 TL ($6.63) for them!! They are from a somewhat fashionable Turkish department store (as opposed to on the street), and they were on sale from 70 TL I do believe, so I was proud of my purchase, to say the least. I now desperately need sandals and sunglasses. And, apparently, needle and thread, which is surprisingly hard to find!

THEY GOT A PUPPY!!

Nothing to do with Turkey, unless of course you count Obama coming here last week: I'm a tad bit too excited for this otherwise silly season news story, but as you all stateside likely know, the Obama family welcomed Bo, a Portuguese water dog, into their home, after Sen. Kennedy offered it to them as a gift. Seeing the family running and laughing in the White House lawn really just shows how happy they all are. They are just a beautiful family, and I can't help but get unhealthily giddy when I see a new story about this all-American, picture-perfect first family.

Balkans and the Like

The only way I can describe the past week in the Balkans is to say that this life-altering experience will make stories for years to come. Three friends and I visited Sofia (Bulgaria), Belgrade (Serbia), Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Dubrovnik, and Split (Croatia). In Split we split up (ha ha ha...get it?) and a friend and I continued on to Zagreb (Cr.) and Ljubljana (Slovenia), while the other two went back to Belgrade as they had to be home earlier.

One remarkable thing was how different all of these countries actually are. The feeling once you go to Sofia from Istanbul is palpable, as you immediately notice differences in dress and public behaviors. As we moved west, we felt like we were more and more in western European cities. This seems a bit obvious, yes, but I don't generally think of countries of the former Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavia to be very western places, but I clearly was mistaken.

The views of all the cities were unbelievable. I have seen pictures of all these places in books before and have scene photos of videos of the scenery elsewhere, but to see it in person feels not much less than a dream. I couldn't quite fathom that such beautiful views, crystal-clear waters--"paradise on Earth," as Mark Twain aptly described Dubrovnik--actually exist until I saw them for myself.

Split and Dubrovnik are comparable cities, both on the coast of Croatia, with Split being farther north than Dubrovnik. Both are huge tourist attractions, but luckily for us, we were visiting during the off-season so we could have relatively cheap and uncrowded visits. Dubrovnik is famous for its old city, a fortressed former republic from the Middle Ages. Both positioned along the Adriatic, but Dubrovnik has several stone beaches (and REALLY cold, possibly less than 50 degree, water), while Split is mostly a landing point for posh yachts and cruiseliners. We had a seafood meal in Dubrovnik that cost roughly $10 each, which was great for two people ordering mussel and two people ordering shrimp dishes, plus a liter of wine and apertifs to start out our meals.

When I think Sarajevo, the first thing that pops in my mind is all the war and conflict of the 1990s, and, unfortunately, the wounds of those times are ever so apparent today. I would estimate that about 70-80 percent of the buildings in Sarajevo are peppered with bullet holes or shrapnel, most of such holes having not yet been repaired. Virtually every park doubles as a graveyard (on top of the two large ones that are on big hills in the outskirts of the city), and many of the gravestones have the exact same death date. The city is still divided ethnically, exemplified mostly by the two bus stations across town that go different places, yet only one mode of transportation per day connects them.

Ironically, the unyielding spirit of the citizens of this town was quite inspiring. While there, we went to a sort of festival in one of the main squares of town, and there were families dancing and children singing, making for the epitome of family outings. The smiles on everyone's faces and the fun all were having under the warm sun showed--at least to me--the resiliency of the people despite such a horrid recent past. They are so proud of their city, as they should be; it was so incredibly beautiful, both in the old town and the modernity of the new town. They seem particularly proud of their city being home to the 1984 Summer Olympics. You can still buy memorabilia and take site tours of this event over twenty years ago, which we found very interesting.

A small aside: I have always wanted to go to Cheers in Boston because I was a fan of the show, but I was enthralled to discover that the bar also exists in...not making this up...Sarajevo. (?!?) People didn't exactly yell "Norm!" when I walked in, nor did the inside look anything like the set of the show, but I am glad that I can check off my list that I went to the place "where everybody knows your name"...only not really.

Zagreb was a neat city, but after seeing the churches and going on the self-guided tour, we were kind of done with it and felt we got a good Cliffs-notes version of the city. Ljubljana, a place which I must admit I never heard of previously, proved to be a really cool city with numerous parks and very trendy European shopping and eating along the Ljubljanica River. One of the most famous squares is adjacent to the triple bridge, and this is where you will see the most people, as shops and ice cream and gelatto stands (oh, the pains of being diabetic) radiate from this point. A short hike will bring you to the castle that overlooks the beautiful city. One of the neatest things about the city, other than having a horseburger, was our hostel. A converted Slovenian prison, the old building was transformed into a very modern, eclectic hostel complete with a cafe and bar.

Belgrade was my friend's and my last stop before our fun ride home (can you read sarcasm?). Because we had about one hour here on our first go-through, we decided to spend a couple days there, and we are glad we did. Also a very beautiful city, there are two long or three really long streets with shopping and eating and the like (also, the ice cream), a park and old fortress, and a huge open market with all the fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish you would ever want. I went to a museum for Nikola Tesla, and it was also quite cool. We even stumbled upon an Amstel Light festival where you could get a .5 L beer for a little over $1. We both partook and sat on one of the cafe tables listening to great live music (for some reason New York, New York is the only song I remember) while young children were dancing or watching the street performers. So much fun.

Transportation was a mess both ways in Bulgaria. We took a train from Istanbul to Sofia and then to Belgrade (24ish hours), and we had to do the same on the way back, although no layover in Sofia. On the way there, we stopped in a small town and waited for over an hour for no reason it seemed, that is, until we were told someone had been smuggling guns over the border. On the way back, our second class car was disconnected at one of the stops, so we had to switch cars obviously. The first class car did not take us, and he said we could go to the next car. We did so, found an empty room, and put our stuff down. An angry train conductor yelled at us, presumably telling us to leave, and so we went to the next two cars, only to be told to go back to the second car. They basically motioned to find an empty room, and when we did, the angry conductor came back, really started lighting into us, throwing our stuff in the corridor and basically forcing us out of the room. The girl in the room next to us was yelling back at him and apparently pointed at him and then he smacked her hand. We finally got to a car that was a sleeper, but we had to pay an additional 22 lira each to be able to stay, or else wait on the Turkish border for the train the next morning with a second class cabin. Needless to say, we paid the extra money for at least 4 hours of sleep. We arrived in Istanbul and 9:00ish and got back to school, exhausted yet oddly refreshed at the same time.

In sum, the best warm weather ever (no clouds at all except a brief sprinkling one night late in Sarajevo), breathtaking scenery, and the best company I could ask for made this trip just awesome. I spent quite a bit of money (although not a lot considering all the stuff we did and the fact that we had a lot of transportation, lodging, and food), but every penny was worth this trip. I have gotten a relapse of the travel bug, and all I really want to do now is save money and go somewhere else in a few years. This will be one of those times where, years from now, I can look back at all the stories and memories that accumulated and say, "That was the life."

Happy Election Day!

Picture Source: flamabayrak.com


Ahh, just when I think I escape the addictive grasp of American politics, I fall into the clutches of Turkish elections!

March 29 marked Turkey's municipal elections, where thousands of political positions are up for grabs, including the mayoral position here in İstanbul. In recent weeks, the streets are covered by thousands of little pennant flags strung between buildings and electrical posts, posters and billboards covering virtually every building, and myriad enormous tour buses blaring with persuasive rhetoric about individual candidates being blasted from megaphones. The amount of money that must have been spent on these things is mind-boggling, but since they seem to spend little time on television, I presume they are just putting their money elsewhere.

What is important to note in all of this is that despite having multi-story posters of people's faces with their names, the logo in the corners of these posters is perhaps more important for voters. You see, Turkish politics is extremely party-oriented, and political candidates are simply instruments to empower the parties. Mind you, some leaders are able to accomplish a lot and others little, people sometimes equate their performance with the party. Think of the United States and people attributing a leader's actions with the party as a whole, even though here, the attribution is to a greater extent.

Even though thirty-three parties competed for the big election in 2007 and nineteen did today, coalitions are rarely formed between the parties, so forming pluralities and majorities are quite important. Coalition governments are viewed here as failures essentially because Turkey had severe economic collapses and other crises in the 1990s under such rule. This, again, makes party politics all the more important.

According to election returns, it looks like the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, or Justice and Development Party) has retained a relatively strong lead nationwide, even though not quite as strong as it had performed in 2007. The president and PM of Turkey both belong to the AK Party, and so continuation of this party's policy seems to be bolstered. Among its promises are pushing forward with institutional transformation of Turkey for EU accession as well as promoting moral principles in Turkish society.

While some opponents of the AK Parti argue many of these reforms are either negative or haven't been instituted enough, it appears that voters are giving the party a chance to advance its agenda further.

The mood here is very politically charged today, with celebrations in the streets as well as protests and, unfortunately, some violence, particularly in the eastern part of the country. In an effort to stymie violence and unrest, the Turkish government bans the sale of alcohol on election day as well as the carrying of firearms.

As it is quite late and I have more pages of reading to do tomorrow than I'd like to think about, I am going to end this post somewhat abruptly and hit the hay. Goodnight everyone!

It's been a while...

It has been several weeks since my last posting, and it feels as though life has been turned upside down since I've last written. With apologies as to the delay, I must explain that it occurred due to my computers exploding on me: literally smoke, sparks, popping, the whole enchilada. Because I have not been able to upload pictures and have had to acquaint myself with a Turkish keyboard, weeks have transpired; luckily though, I have a new computer and am trying to finagle English language settings, and now I am offering my first post...

I will surely update you on two trips that I have taken--Topkapı Palace and Cappadocia-- that were quite memorable, but I instead want to take the opportunity to pay homage to my grandmother, Murrell Helmke, who died last week.

Grandma's life cannot be described with any ease, as words do not illustrate aptly the depth to which she valued life: family, friends, new experiences. Her vivaciousness inspired all who knew her, and her death is a great loss to so many.

Above all else, family was of utmost importance to her. While blood relations were of course one of her definitions of family, who she considered to be in her family seemed to transcend that. She forged such deep friendships through the years and embraced the friends of other family members to the point that reunions and gatherings consisted of scores of people, blood-related and otherwise. She took in nieces and nephews and considered them her own. It seemed that Grandma was always in contact with friends, not only from now but from her past as well. Many, many people considered Grandma their best friend, and she was to them all.

She was always so proud of everyone in her family, and she made great strides to keep in contact with us all. If I ever had a question of how someone was doing, in most cases Grandma had the answers. (And sometimes, we would have the answers too...but to crossword puzzle clues) In regards to her pride, all of her friends and even random strangers she would meet and befriend soon knew about us all. Becky at the bank, Anne, her hairdresser, her bridge friends, and the list continues. I was always astounded when her friends or acquaintances would say, "You must be Jon...." She clearly loved all of her friends and family, and the familial reports about the attendance to her memorial service attest to that, as many people loved her too.

My memories of Grandma are vivid, even from when I was quite young. I remember running from imaginary waves (sounds from a sound machine) with her when we couldn't go to the beach. I remember the beach trips so very well and the games of Clue we would play. I remember the Twinkies in her pantry and the hollow sound of the pantry door opening when Grandma was going to cook. I remember the orange sippy cup she would give me (and the rest of the grandkids and great-grandkids). I remember her visiting us in Peru. I remember her stories. I remember sitting in her lap and "working" the crossword or jumble or cryptoquote (which I never quite figured out). I remember always having soft drinks outside in the garage: Grab a tray and go get yourself a Coke; we are eating around, she'd say. I remember she would always be working on a stocking or advent calendar for a grandkid or great-grandkid.

I remember Christmas Eve and the lengths she would go to impress, and every Christmas seemed to be a little bit sweeter and magical each time. Planning started promptly in June, regardless.

This stream of consciousness is not exactly eloquent, but these are just a few of the random memories that have been flooding my mind.

Of course, these random memories are mere flashes of the rich tapestry that is my reminiscence on Grandma. I realize just how influential she was on my childhood, on the way I think and the person I am today.

Her unwillingness to accept what was not right, her tenaciousness, her wisdom and brilliance, her selflessness, her vivaciousness and general positive attitude despite obstacle, and her love of life and family (read:family and friends) make Grandma my absolute hero. I wish I could be half the amazing individual Grandma was to so many people.

Because of my obvious absence from home, her death has been particularly hard because I have not had the close friends and family from whom I garner the most support. This is not to say that my friends here have not been incredible to me (and of whom I am eternally grateful); it is just that sometimes you would love nothing more than a hug from family member. Nonetheless, I know that Grandma would have been mad at me had I traveled back to the States on her account, so I have some solace from missing my family so much.

I am not exactly sure how I should close this besides saying that despite the world has suffered an immeasurable loss, I would rather say that it has been graced and has been witness to a truly remarkable, fulfilling, and full life of an awe-inspiring woman; and for that, I feel immensely blessed.

Thank you, Grandma, for leaving your mark and meaning so much to so many of us. Your legacy will live on for generations to come.

In the meantime...

I've done a few things this past week, but I am going to wait to post until I have more time and I get the photos from my friends. Surprise! Jon forgot his camera on two excursions.

I did, however, stumble across this story on CNN.com that describes well my experiences in getting a Turkish residency permit.

http://inthefield.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/02/a-rite-of-passage-for-ex-pats-in-turkey/

Enjoy!

Cevahir, etc.

There exists a mall in the Şişli (read: SHEESH-lee) neighborhood of Istanbul that towers above all others in Europe. The Cevahir mall spans a total of 4.5 MILLION square feet and features nearly 350 stores, a two-story food court, a multiplex movie theater, and a small amusement park, all within the confines of its walls.

The mall has a strictly European feel to it, and the stores tended to be high-end American or European establishments. Consequently, some of the prices were just as--and in some cases, more--expensive than the stores at home. For example, most stores boast huge promotional sales, such as every item in the store being 50-70% off, but when than makes the shirt 75TL, it's not exactly a deal. I did find a couple good deals on shoes and shirts, though, and thus now know of a few good places to get nice clothes cheap. I know that other shopping centers in Turkey have the same stuff for a lot cheaper, so I'm resisting until I find such establishments.

The food court was a mixture of the hilarious and the surreal. Two-thirds of the eateries could be found in American food courts and included places such as McDonald's, Burger King, Sbarro, Pizza Hut, and the like. We also found numerous kiosks that sell "Magic Corn," or "Corn in a Cup," which amounts to yellow corn you buy by the cupful, as the latter name would suggest.

The weird part, though, was seeing the Johnny Rockets diner: a shiny diner complete with American food and oldies music as well as everything in English. That is, except for the wait staff, who dressed for the part but were clearly imitating a culture that is quite alien to them. I think the weirdest part of the whole thing was just having to grasp the concept of something so American being put into the middle of Istanbul, Turkey.

After our shopping trip, I went out with a couple guys to meet up with some Turkish friends of ours for someone's birthday. I knew only a couple of them, but we were all soon very good friends. They all treated us with such hospitality and friendliness that we (the three exchange students) felt as if we were old friends with these people. A couple of them said I looked Turkish and even said I had a really good Turkish accent when I speak. Although I'm sure it was the alcohol talking in most cases, I still appreciated the compliment!

A concept within Turkish culture which I have grown quickly to embrace is closeness between friends. You walk up to a group of people and you generally hug them, and even if meeting for the first time, shake hands and kiss on both cheeks. When everyone is together in a restaurant or a bar, everyone has their arms around their friends at times as a sort of gesture of friendliness. Although some outsiders find this compromised "personal space" uncomfortable and even weird, my friends and I have noticed it is unfortunately and decidedly lacking in American and Canadian cultures.

In the spirit of compromised personal space, our shuttle ride back to the university was packed because it was the last one. We were all standing cramped to avoid having to taxi back to campus. I was talking to all these people around me, some of which I had known before and others I had met previously, and at one point I had this sort of epiphany: three of the guys with whom I was talking were named Can (read: John). Of course, this name is relatively common in Turkey and translates to something meaning roughly "heart," "soul," or "being," but I found it pretty surreal that I was, again, in Turkey, in a conversation with several people who share a phonetically similar name with me.

Sunny Day

Perhaps we're getting a bit too giddy about the presence of sunlight here, but today marks the second day of celebration of sunshine. Our windows are wide open, and, despite the cold, we are all basking in its rays. We've become even more ambitious and have begun planning a possible trip next weekend to somewhere like Bulgaria or elsewhere in Anatolian Turkey. Both are considerable journeys by bus, but this way is the cheapest, most convenient, and most conventional mode of travel in and around portions of Turkey.

Our spring break planning, too, is underway, but we have several options we want to explore before coming to a decision. In all likelihood, we are leaving Turkey and will visit multiple places, but the majority (though not all) of us will be refraining from Iran, Iraq, and Syria as destinations. Stay tuned.

Domino's in Turkey?

Yes, indeed, Domino's delivers to Istanbul. It's not quite the same but a similar version nonetheless: less sauce, the cheese more browned on top, and the pepperoni not quite a pork product. They have the 30-minutes-or-less promise, that is, unless you order more than one pizza. They weren't all that late, but we were shocked when the delivery man showed up with four as opposed to two pizzas. Apparently, Domino's has an automatic buy-one-get-one deal with college students, so we have lunch for tomorrow too!

Is it better than American Domino's? While I understand the eating establishment is not among the most elite eating establishments in our country, I do like my occasional greasy pizza, and--like its American counterpart--this pizza gets the job done. I liked it actually a bit more than the ones at home because the cheese seemed a little more fresh here.

I do believe I like the American Domino's cold the next day better than the Turkish Domino's, although both are acceptable forms of college sustenance.

Here Comes the Sun (do do do do)

As I have noted in my earlier blogs, the weather here has been positively bizarre. Although the first few days saw sun and warm temperatures, the rest since then have been cold, dreary, and rainy. I had not seen the sun in nearly two weeks, and I we had all grown quite tired of having damp clothing at day's end.

Last night, though, we left our nightly movie watching ritual (in a stadium seating lecture hall) to see our campus under a blanket of white, fluffy snow! It had been cold, but we did not expect to see snow at all, much less the 2+ inches that had fallen in the previous hour and a half. We played in it for a few hours, building the requisite snowman and having very sophisticated snowball fights; by that I mean the campus is full of retaining walls, barriers, hidden corners and such, making a simple snowball fight into a strategic exercise. It was a pleasant and unexpected surprise that made up for the previous weeks of undesirable weather.

Although 90% of the snow had melted by this morning, the sun finally did show its face from behind the clouds for nearly an hour. It kissed our pale faces for that brief moment, and although it went away shortly thereafter, its mere existence seemed to...well, brighten our day (no pun intended). I am reminded of the Ray Bradbury short story "All Summer in a Day." It is about a group of people living on a planet that only gets sun once every seven years; you never realize how much you appreciate the sun until you don't see it for a long time!

Valentine's Weekend and Such

The end of the first week of classes ended somewhat uneventfully, but I was ready for the weekend after our fun and excitement at the police station.

I went on Friday to the doctor, and I was very impressed with how efficient my free appointment was. After walking in, the receptionist directed me to the exam room, so I didn't even sit in the waiting room. Within one minute, the doctor came in, looked me over, told me what was wrong with me, and wrote me four (?!?) prescriptions. I was out within five minutes, and I went back a couple hours later to pick up my prescriptions. Altogether, the four drugs cost 47TL, a mere $28.50 or so, which is far less than I would co-pay for even two drugs at home. Already, I'm feeling a lot better, but I did wake up on Saturday with a nasty case of pinkeye brought on by the cold. Within a day, though, it started clearing up, and today is the first day I've woken up feeling healthy, even though I still have a bit of a cough.
I moved in finally and prefer this new room over the last. There is far more space, a bit of a better view, a nicer desk, and I am closer to the classroom buildings. And, my roommate is a good friend of mine, so I'm quite happy with the switch. The room is a little messy as we haven't unpacked fully, and we have two of these chairs, but only one fits in the room well, thus explaining the second floating in the middle by my bed, as I was using my mattress as an ottoman (an ottoman in Turkey--ha!).

A group of friends and I went out to eat and then a few bars in Taksim last night (Valentine's Day) and had a really good time. One thing I find kid of curious is how most of the music in these places are American singers/bands, and oftentimes the DJs (even on the radio) speak impeccable English.

On this lazy Sunday, I plan on doing a bit of reading, so nothing too incredibly exciting. It has rained or been misting non-stop all week and will continue to do so next week. We've been joking about how we haven't seen the sun in a week in a half, and we're kinda bummed by the whole thing, especially with it being between 38-45 degrees all the time. We might see a peek of sun on Tuesday, and maybe Thursday, but the weather forecast is rather monotonous otherwise.

Thought of the Day

Relatively speaking, the Department of Motor Vehicles in America is an efficient, well-oiled machine.

I left at six this morning and it is now eleven, and I just got back. And, I get to go next week!

I did, however, get to see a little more of Istanbul with its beautiful mosques just nestled in the hills. I can't believe that you could be going down the street and just stumble across a beautiful, centuries-old mosque. Or sections of the Wall of Constantinople. The city is rife with such rich history it is almost unfathomable.

Now, off to health center and then I think I start my big (and hopefully last) move!

End of workweek

My one and only class tomorrow has officially been canceled, but worry not; I will still be waking up at 5:45 so I can get on my mini-bus to go to the police station. Having left at 6:15, the group that went today got back at 10:45, which is actually not as bad as I would have thought, considering it takes a while to get down to the police station. The purpose of my visit is to acquire my Turkish residency permit card and to get my passport back.

My classes today were pretty uneventful, and I really think I'm going to like my Turkish politics class as well as my Ottoman history class. My others, maybe not so much... They involve the same American professor, and she has a tendency to talk to us as though we are in elementary school. Correlative though should be an easy pass in her classes.

My Ottoman history course provides a great framework for the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, giving great context to this already fascinating city. The factors behind what worked--and did not work--in the early days of Ottoman history have residual effects in modern-day Turkey. This juxtaposition of eras in history is incredible to examine; they are alike in some ways, but the way Mustafa Kemal Ataturk transformed Turkey is mind-boggling. Struggles exist today in many areas, but the foundations that Ataturk had laid out in 1923 remain the fundamental and driving forces behind how the Turkish Republic functions today.

It's kind of a lot to wrap your head around for one paragraph, but I am sure that I am going to go on these semi-intelligent rants from time to time as the semester progresses. Beware/stay tuned!

Have a great Thursday everyone! Nap time for me---wish me luck on getting my voice back!

Such is life...

I've lost my voice. My sickness has made it to my throat and lungs, so I am coughing and am rendered virtually unable to speak. My throat is sore and raw from my coughing in the night. I'm noticing as I progress, my writings become less structured with fewer sentence variations and a diction that leaves a lot to be desired. My apologies. These, however, are the least of my worries.

Note: Be prepared, as the following is more of a narrative rant and less of a joyous description....it's been a long day.

My friend and I were both assigned to different rooms, then my roommate was assigned to my room, which in theory makes us roommates. Sweet, right? Well, to quote the title of my last post, "Nothing's ever easy." The exchange office confirmed that we were indeed roommates, but when we moved all of our stuff down to our new room, there were two people living there still. One of the roommates said they were both in the process of moving out, but the other one was home sick and would move out tomorrow. This guy cleared off both beds, though, allowing us to at least have a place to put our things and sleep for the night.

Jonny--my friend and new roommate, if I haven't referred to him by name previously-- went to pick up his key from the housing office and got it without any problems.
Aside: I happen to be best buds with Murphy, of Murphy's Law fame.
When I went to get my key, someone translated to me that he needed to follow me to my room to inspect it. Upon arrival, I first got the "this is a no-smoking room" lecture, part and parcel of any officials' entry into rooms, which oftentimes wreak of stale tobacco smoke. Second, he said that I couldn't move in because the previous people had not yet moved out completely. Jonny had gotten his key, so I wasn't going to rat him out, but I had no clue where I was supposed to go.

The man said he would return in twenty minutes, and when he did, he had the key to my old room and said that I had to move back for one night. Imagine: four months worth of clothes, schoolbooks, my bed linens and pillow and blankets, diabetes supplies galore, etc. Jonny had gone out with other exchange students (I stayed home because I was ill), so I was on my own to move everything. The guy told me I could leave stuff I don't need for the night, so I did so happily. I had to surrender my new room key for my old room key, so I basically had one shot to get everything I needed out. If you have met me, you know I forget things like it's my job. I converted my fitted sheet into a Santa sack full of linens, clothes for tomorrow, etc. I lugged that and my bookbag to my old room.

Lo and behold, I forget my towel and my converter, which I need to use my laptop (I had scheduled a Skype conversation with Mom and Dad to occur ten minutes from when I discovered my lack of towel).

I went to the housing office again and asked to borrow my new key so I could grab the stuff. After having my whole fiasco translated (as no one speaks English on campus), a man said he would take me to my room. When we got there, he watched as I shuffled through all of my haphazardly packed belongings to find these two crucial belongings. After signing a form saying I entered the room (registered to me now, mind you), I left.

I am told that things will get better, and indeed I believe that. At the risk of sounding like Debbie Downer, things can't get much worse from here. Of course, I'm not 100% sure I can stay in this new room because exchange students shouldn't technically be living together as per Koc regulation, but I'm not going to jump off that bridge until (unless) I get there.

On the plus side, I had a delicious meal today in the cafeteria. Not really sure what it was, but it was basically chicken and vegetables in a sort of stew with rice. And the oranges here are absolutely delectable, the best I've ever had. Juicy, sweet, and oh so delicious.

Nothing's ever easy

Just after this money fiasco, I woke up feeling pretty good about myself. I got a nice shower, went and had a nice cup of tea with some friends, and then headed over to our Turkish class, starting at 9:30. When the professor hadn't shown up by 10:00, we all decided to go get breakfast together.

Oddly enough, the cafeteria had no breakfast at 10:00, appearing as though it was the end of the breakfast shift. We ended up grabbing breakfast at another eatery on campus, and I learned that jambon, which translates literally to ham, is usually not ham and just a generic type of a lunch meat: bologna, chicken, turkey, and sometimes ham. In fact, chicken cold cuts are called tavuk jambonlu (chicken ham).

Walking into the abroad office with the associate director saying, "Jon, I just sent you an email! We need to talk," is never a good sign. Apparently, they placed me in a room that is more expensive than other rooms on campus, and they are asking that I pay 2000 TL or move to another room. Now, I already paid 2250 TL for this room, so doubling the cost is not exactly worth it. Worse is, despite my checking with the comptroller the other day to confirm my payment, the housing office had no record of payment.

The icing on the cake? Jonny, who had paid and had record of it, was in the same type room as I had, and he had not been red-flagged. He mentioned it to them too because he feared they were going to force him to pay money he didn't have. So now I'm moving.

And then, I got to wait in line for an hour for registration, which amounted to me handing a paper to a woman, her looking it over and saying thank you. One hour for less than fifteen seconds.

Off to the gym to work off stress over ridiculousness.

Basking in the Glory

A brief yet wholly important aside for today:
-I bask in the glory that are my classes (I think)
-I bask at my not-yet-returned roommate, who is apparently skipping first week of classes.
-But most of all, I bask at the genius of my dad, who has found an easy fix to solve instantly my financial woes.

Day One of Classes

I've stacked my schedule so that I take four of my five classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and one on Wednesday and Friday mornings so I can travel on my four-day weekends. Generally, Koc doesn't have classes on Friday, but they only offer Turkish at those times. Of my four classes taken today, only one sounds remotely difficult. When professors spend half of a class explaining what a character is or what plot and setting mean, a comprehensive explanation of mythology and religion seem mere afterthought. She takes up our notes every class so she can grade us on our English comprehension, so I'm hoping I can pass muster. I happen to take this professor for this class as well as Introduction to Archaeology, a class that I had to skip to meet with my advisor but was told is even more ridiculous. The third class--a 400-level Turkish politics class, mind you--has the professor saying things like "I know most of you don't do the readings, so I'll do my best to summarize them during class because I don't want this to be difficult for you."

My fourth course might be reasonably difficult. Entitled "The Ottoman State, 1299-1566," the professor has remarked repeatedly how she likes to make the course as challenging as possible. I was one of two non-Turks in the class, and she actually started speaking in Turkish but then switched when she noticed our deer-in-the-headlights looks. She was talking about this being a supplement or challenge to all that we learned in high school about the Ottoman Empire. Me? I think there may have been a lecture or two on it during my world history class freshman year. After class, however, this professor told my friend and me that the course might actually not be so difficult because many high schools here offer very rudimentary or even somewhat inaccurate information, so this class will challenge their previous (mis)understandings of the Ottoman Empire. In retrospect, even in the States, our high school courses are generally disputed or even discounted when we take their college counterpart courses. Anyhow, she said that as long as we do readings and study we should do fine. I think I might have this class translate back to AU as a pass/fail option instead of the A-F. Furthermore, I learned that the Koc A-F scale is quite steep, with a 97% being the lowest grade for an A.

The only other course I have yet to take is my Turkish, which I have tomorrow at 9:30. Interestingly, I have to go to the police station in Sariyer at 6:15 am on Friday to get a lecture and then my Turkish residence permit (and my passport back, which is always a good thing). I hope I can get back in time for my 9:30 class, but if I don't, I'm in the same boat as half the other exchange students that comprise my Turkish class!

Overall, a surprisingly anti-climactic first day. I have a lot of my friends in my classes, which is quite comforting.

In other news, I think my financial crisis has found its end, as I discovered the glories of Western Union, "the fastest way to send money worldwide."

Crash and Burn

A series of several bizarre happenings has made this for the worst day yet. I started out waking up with a bit of a sore throat, but I thought little of it, as several of my friends have the same issue. I played squash for the first time, which I liked a lot, but I felt a nap was needed afterwards. I slept for an hour, and my friend woke me up because we were going to run some errands together.

My ATM card was eaten by the machine several days ago, so I had to call Dad to cancel the card and re-issue one to me. There is generally a delay in these re-issuances, so I needed a secondary form of income, particularly with me having just 100 TL cash to spend. I thought it was brilliant to write my parents a check so they could deposit it into my account for which I had a card in my possession here. I sent this check rather inconspicuously today to them, but I wanted to make sure this ATM card I had would work. Alas, I tried on two ATM's, and both rejected my card. So now, I have no real way of getting my money and am getting a tad anxious because I have little left. Yesterday, when I went to get my cell phone here (which is a bit of a necessity), the store's machines rejected my credit card, too!

I think I am going to try to open an account here at Yapi Kredi. If they accept personal checks from the United States, I'm golden, but if they don't, I think my parents may have to wire money to it, which is a bit complicated. I have a feeling this financial nightmare isn't quite over yet.

On top of this, I was feeling worse than I was this morning, so I went back to bed and slept for three hours. I woke up with a massive headache, chills, achiness, and in a cold sweat. I was sure I had fever (my forehead felt hot even to me), so I just went back to bed and took several Aleve. When I woke up just recently, my fever had broken, but I still feel pretty terrible. I want to sleep through the night so I am refreshed for classes tomorrow, but I'm having trouble going back to sleep. I despise the flu, but I think we are becoming friends relatively quickly.

Collage of Hagia Sofia/ Blue Mosque/ Grand Bazaar

Rain, Rain, Go Away

So I woke up today to my friend knocking on my door because we were going shopping for a cell phone. It is cold today and VERY rainy. My friend, who happens to be from Northern Ireland, said he hates it because it reminds him too much of home. I countered with the famous North Carolina rains that last a grand total of ten minutes then leave the humidity as such that you can cut it with a knife. It is absolutely nasty out today, but I did manage to get a cell phone and 100 units of talk time for 87 YTL (~$53). Unfortunately, my credit card didn't work for some reason at this place, so I had to pay cash.

I had a nice lunch and then went to the gym for an hour or so. It is really quite spacious, with basketball courts, a HUGE weight room, a HUGE exercise machine room, squash courts, an indoor track, etc. CNN plays on the plasma screens while you work out, which is quite nice.

I chuckle when I think how Americanized this school is at times. For example, did you know that we have an American football team? Ironically, my home school--the AMERICAN University-- does not have such a team. And better, me, the oh-so-athletic Jon Weakley, is explaining American football rules and basketball rules to many of my friends who aren't familiar with them in their home countries. One of my friends said even remarked that I was good at basketball. Yeah, I know; stop laughing.

I'm waiting anxiously for the arrival of my roommate. My friend came home from the gym to two generations of his roommate's family in his dorm room, this after not being convinced he was actually going to get a roommate because there was nothing in his room. Mine, however, has his stuff on his desk, so I at least know he exists.

First Day of Independence (sort of)

It is approximately 3:15 in the afternoon here with a little bit of drizzle outside. Remarkably, I still find the campus beautiful, even with the grayness of the skies. The temperature remains a cool yet manageable 50 degrees or so.

I had my first trip to the cafeteria today, and the food was quite good. I had a sort of soup with carrots and onions and a tomatoey sauce, spaghetti bolognese (or spageti boloneze, as they say), and pfeferneuse-sized cakes that have absorbed a sweet liquid. It was delicious, but the jury is still out on it with the soggy cake texture -- far more so than Dad's tres leches cakes.

We're going out today to shop, we think, around 4. We don't have any planned activities today, but we are planning on picking up a soccer game tonight or maybe tomorrow with a few of us. I'm sure the Europeans have brought their soccerballs...

As for classes, we start technically on Monday, but we are making our schedules to be from Tuesday to Friday morning so we can take weekend trips and have perpetual four-day weekends. I will be taking "Mythology and Religion," "Contemporary Issues in Turkish Politics," "Introduction to Dance," (I DON'T actually have to dance, thank God), "The Ottoman Empire: 1299-1566," and finally, "Basic Turkish I." The dance class is hopefully going to be a fluff course, but if not, I will take another history course or something. I have 4 75-minute classes on Tuesday and Thursday and my one Turkish class on Wednesday and Friday mornings at 9:30. I may be tired after my long-haul days, but I will be able to rest afterwards.

I went to the Turkish ATM today and my card worked, but I was a little surprised that they give you several denominations. For example, you can enter any amount and it will dispense that money. I wanted to get 50 TL, thinking it would give me five tens or two twenties and a ten or something, but instead it just gave me a 50 TL bill, something that people hate to accept. Oops. I will use it toward the purchase of my paygo phone.

The Crossroads of the World

Istanbul is immensely beautiful, unlike any city I've ever visited. It far surpasses any photo, video, or book and cannot be understood well unless you actually see it, hear it, smell it, feel it, and yes, taste it as well.

I arrived at 3:30 in the afternoon and met some of the exchange mentors at the airport, along with two other classmates. We took the winding and narrow roads through Istanbul proper, Sarıyer, and then up the mountain to Koç. It reminds me a bit of Lima, Peru, with its winding and seemingly nonsensical road patterns, but its position on the Bosphorus and rich green forests offer breathtaking views.

This semester there are approximately 40 other exchange students in a school of about 3000. I've made a slew of friends from places like Canada, N. Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Singapore, Germany, Spain, Russia, and even Turkey! My dorm room has its own bathroom and free laundry (or you can pay someone to do it for you, but I think I can manage). We are all having a blast while looking like tourists with deer-in-the-headlights sort of way.

To reach the shops and restaurants in neighborhoods in Istanbul, you must utilize multiple forms of transportation. First, we take dolmuşes (mini-buses, read: DOLE-muhsh) from the campus to the bottom of the hill, then a bus or another dolmuş, then possibly the metro or a taxi. It often costs close to 5 TL (~$3) to take all these things, and more if in a taxi. The city is teeming with taxis, which take any route necessary, be it a road or a sidewalk. The key is negotiating a good price on these taxis.

The food is amazing-- meat, bread, cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Walking down the streets of Taksim of Beyoğlu (read: bay-oh-LOO) is a mix of smells of roasting chestnuts, kebabs, corn, hamburgers, and bread. Even after a meal, your mouth waters for more food. My second night, I ate a place called the Bambi cafe, named for our beloved animated fawn. Disturbing, however, is that this place is famous for its Bambi Burger. It has amazing food though and is relatively famous in the area.

Our first night was spent eating a delicious, five-hour meal in Taksim. First, there was a mezze, which is a collection of appetizers ranging from a garlicky and dill-seasoned yoghurt, several types of salad, bread, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, cheese, fish, and the list goes on. These dishes are usually accompanied by rakı, a liquor made from grapes, but it tastes of licorice. You generally put it in a narrow glass and fill it one-quarter to one-half of the way, fill the rest with water, and then watch this clear liquid turn a milky white. Then, you add one or two ice cubes, and drink slowly while you eat. Because this first part takes about two hours, you can drink three or so, as long as you keep eating and drinking water. Boy, is it interesting stuff! It is comparable to the Greek ouzo. The second course was köfte, which essentially amounts to grilled meatball-like tenders, and they are really mouth-watering.

Breakfast the next morning involved us overlooking the Bosphorus and the city from the bottom of our mountain. We ate delicious foods once again: three types of cheeses, olives, bread, cucumber, tomato, this sort of hot tomatoey casserole, FRESH juices, tea, etc. Though not something to which I am accustomed, this meal is typical of a full Turkish breakfast, and oh was it delicious.

The second night, we were taken to a bar downtown, and then we went to this nightclub for a concert by a salsa band. There is nothing more surreal than hearing a room full of Turkish people dancing and singing in Spanish. It was quite enjoyable.
Our only qualms were that many of us are functioning still on our old times, and we generally do not get back to campus until 1 or 2 am with a 9 am meeting time.
Today, we visited downtown Istanbul and visited three of the most famous sites in the city. First, we went to the Grand Bazaar, which is the hundreds-of-years-old shopping complex that somewhat resembles what we know as a flea market. This place has individual booths where you can buy clothes, artwork, knick-knacks, hookah pipes (nargile here), jewelry, food, whatever. It has both souvenir-like goods as well as high end things like purses and leather jackets. This site perfectly illustrates the mixing of the old and the new, with these designer jeans being sold in a building with ancient archways and beautiful paintings on the ceilings.

Next, we visited the Hagia Sofia, which has a very complex yet fascinating history. Words cannot describe its sheer size, elegance, and architecture. The extraordinary details of its designs essentially leave you breathless. The age of this building enhances its amazingness, and you can tell by the way that part of the marble floors have been worn down by footsteps. I bet I snapped 100 pictures of this place.


Then, we visited the Sultanahmet Camii, also known as the Blue Mosque. Directly across the street from the Hagia Sofia, the mosque was built to upstage its neighbor. According to legend, Sultan Ahment directed the architect to make the minarets with silver, but in Turkish silver sounds a lot like six, so he built six minarets. Sultan Ahmet was deeply criticized for this supposed mishap because only the Ka'aba in Mecca had six minarets. He supposedly fixed this by paying for an another minaret in Mecca. While we were in it courtyard, the call to prayer reverberated between the marble walls and marble floor. To hear such beautiful words ring through such a historical place gave me chills and was truly humbling. We removed our shoes and entered this functioning mosque to see this beautiful bit of architecture. Undeniably gorgeous.




Finally, we walked over to another neighborhood by way of a park that was a bird sanctuary. We ate dinner that night, and for the first time, we were having issues with a waiter who insisted on charging an additional "service fee" for our food. Our mentor attempted to negotiate but alas, we threw in a few extra TL and left. I feel as though I am stuck in this perpetual dream; reality at this juncture is simply unfathomable to me. I am overwhelmed by this remarkable city, and I can't wait to go out to continue my explorations.

I am home early tonight, as many of us wanted to get some rest for the first time in nearly a week. I haven't met my roommate yet but am told he will likely arrive on Sunday. Classes start back up on Monday, and at this time, we will speak to our advisors about out potential class lists (which is quite tentative still). After a nice rest, we will have fewer structured activities tomorrow, although there is a Fenerbahçe soccer match tomorrow. I am going to hold out to go to a game where the Galatasaray team is playing (these two teams are mortal rivals, and I have been told explicitly that I should be supporting one team or the other).

Day Three and Four

Before I got through security at approximately 5:45, I had one more kink to work out: when I had initially checked (last night) to see if I could go through to the terminal, a woman scanned my boarding pass but said I couldn’t progress because my flight wasn’t going to leave that day. When I went to go the correct day, I was told that I was already on the other side, so I needed to get my name cleared from the system before they could let me through. I got back in a small line and was re-issued a boarding pass. Upon a second failure, the woman walked over with me to another desk to try to figure out what was going on. It remains a mystery, but three was a charm and I proceeded to security.

The other side of the terminal is an entirely new world. An ostentatious two-story Duty Free shop, Harrod’s, SonyLCD, Cartier, and a slew of other high-end shops line the walls. Even a sweet Porsche was on showcase in the middle of a floor. (For £20 you could get a chance to win it). But most importantly: I had breakfast, and oh was it glorious. As promised, I stopped at Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food restaurant and ordered tea, Eggs Norweigian, and toast. And, Mom and Dad, the toast was served in a silver toast tray, much like what they tried to pass off as a prize in that golf tourney I was in years ago.

I bought some toiletries in the drug store to freshen up a bit, but a shower is something I would kill for now. I have about one hour before I can finally board for Istanbul (and they know I am coming today). I kind of wish I had more time to explore this end of Terminal 5, but it will be here upon my return. This two-day fiasco has had a very happy ending, and I actually enjoyed the time spent with my new friends. I was “queuing” with one (from Australia), and the other was a girl who was from the same town as him (yet they were complete strangers). He left at 6:25, but that poor girl doesn’t leave until 6:45 tonight. I have no idea if I could stand another twelve hours of this.

Terminal 5 is actually a beautiful place from the inside. And now, with the sun coming above the horizon and causing the clouds to glow beautifully around the edges, my morale has been restored, and I am ready to see this journey to its end.

And my day has just begun. It’s only 8:00 in the morning, and I have yet to reach my final destination.

Thirty minutes later: They cancelled my flight again. I was sent back out into arrivals (the ugly part) and was forced to pull out my bags from checking, which were among the 100 or so cancelled flights-worth of luggage on two conveyor belts. It was great fun.

I waited in line--the really long one--to get another ticket. This wait was only two hours, thank God. In hindsight, it is sad to give two hours in line and "only" status. I was booked for the following day at 9:30. I asked for a hotel room, and BA said they didn't do that, which is wholly untrue as I met people at the airport who had gotten a room from BA. Anyhow, I waited in another line with the hotel booker, and the guy said the cheapest I would be able to get was the Park Inn, which is sort of a knock off of Holiday Inn. The kicker: 218 pounds (to be fair, the going rate was 297, so I actually snagged a deal). After I was promised that that was the cheapest rate, I hesitantly handed over the credit card and hopped on the shuttle. I showered, which felt awesome, and then I walked around outside a bit, stopping at a pub for some fish and chips and mushy peas.

The next morning at 5, I woke up, showered, and hopped on the shuttle to return to my home of the past three days. A little delay indeed occurred, but I was able to leave London finally.

Day One...and Two

What has started out swimmingly has evolved into an extraordinarily typical Helmke experience. The flight to JFK went without a hitch; the trip TO London Heathrow was great as well.
And yet, the descent into London started it all. "A little bit of snow," I recall the captain saying. We landed in the 6 or so inches of it, and because we could't get into a terminal, we were going to trudge across the tarmac to a shuttle to take us to Terminal 5. The stairs we were to use were frozen, so we had to pilfer those of another plane. Once on the shuttle, we waited approximately two hours, as a minor fender bender in the convoy of buses brought us to a standstill.

And then I got into the terminal. Terminal 5 has a placard talking about how it is 4000 meters long, and a 'queue' had formed that had cut back a grand total of five times...you do the math. Nine hours later, 800 cancellations later, I got a flight reservation for 945 the following morning. I could not pass through to departures and was thus limited to the cafe barstools and wooden chairs of the outside. They did provide us with water, sandwiches, and foam sleeping mats free of charge, but I also took part in the many sandwich options offered by the various eateries (including a grocery store). My new favorite sandwich: cheese and onion.

I slept a bit on the plane to LHR, but I only got two hours off and on in the airport. My friend travelling to Vienna just checked in (330 GMT), so there is hope that I will in fact reach my destination before the cows come home.

I'm actually having a really good time considering the extenuating circumstances of my journey, but I am ready to get to Istanbul. When my parents said I should overnight to see London a bit, I assume that this is not what they meant. I wouldn't have been able to get down there anyway, as the Tube, buses, and taxis all suspended service. The worst snow London saw in 18 years hs brought the entire country to a crippling halt. Oh well.....as Mom aptly puts it, "It's an adventure."