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).