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."