People Wear the Strangest Things..

Just chillin' in my head scarf in front of the Blue Mosque..

So the past three days have been filled with some great things... but the hardest thing to get used to while in Turkey has definitely been the dress code. I thought Turkey was a secular country (according to my knowledge), but its still pretty conservative in the way you have to dress - or in the way I have been having to dress. Now as we all know, I love my running shorts and flipflops. I have only been able to whip those out on one occasion - underneath my 'mosque' skirt. It was actually a stupendous outfit changing process. 

Saturday we went to the Blue Mosque, which was beautiful, but that also meant "mosque attire". I completely respect the culture, but its also unbelievable to see these women walking around, fulfilling their daily errands in 95 degree weather in trench coats and full head-scarves, etc. So instead of roughing it like the rest of my group, I was the American; pulling on a long skirt and taking it off after getting out of the mosque areas. Besides the whole covering thing, the Blue mosque was absolutely beautiful. It is massive, first of all, and the details were unbelievable. Everything was covered in mosaics or tiles, down to the smallest objects. The Sultan used to worship here, but now it is open to the public for worship - except men are usually the only ones that go to the mosque (women pray elsewhere...)

Wouldn't you like to wake up to this view every morning?

After the Blue Mosque, we moseyed over to the Topkapi Palace right near by. Unlike Buckingham or Versailles, this palace was spread out over many different buildings. I must say though, the Sultans had some sweet swag. An 86 carat diamond ring, surrounded by other smaller diamonds, for one, was in his collection. This diamond was found by a beggar in a garbage dump and was later purchased by the Sultan. We weren't allowed to take pictures, or I'd share this gem of an object (see what i did there.?) The view from the Palace was breathtaking; you could see across the Bosphorus and had an amazing view of the city.

Lunch came and went. Shocker, we had lamb again, but then we visited the “palace” and church of the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church. Now, having visited the Vatican, I imagined the head of the Greek Orthodox church would have some sweet digs. He did, but not what I imagined. The church over which he presides is quite small, but nevertheless beautiful. It is covered in mosaics and gold, with chandeliers dangling from every part of the ceiling. As beautiful as everything was, I’d still be quite jealous of the pope…

Dinner was at the same place we’ve eaten lunch/dinner nights before, but then the real fun began. We went out in Istanbul for the first time. A few of us went over to Taksim Square, a bustling modern neighborhood which made me feel as if I was in an entirely different city. Music was playing everywhere, lights flashing, and so many people were wandering around. We were the only Americans in one of the rooftop terraces, but still tore up the dance floor – while everyone stared. No matter, not like I’ll see them again… Plus, in Turkey, instead of Tuscany’s pizza, the late-night food got to be chicken kabobs and bread. Yum.

Chris casually getting his shoes shined
outside a mosque ... the man wouldn't leave

Sunday, Kahraman (our Turkish professor), pulled some strings and got us a private tour of the Suleymaniye library, a very prominent library in Turkey. Its youngest volume is hundreds of years older than the United States (Sorry Amurrika). The head of the library gave us a tour, which was quite a privilege. People from all over the world come to research in this library and to use the documents that have been collected for hundreds of years.

Circumcision outfit.. ouch

After the Suleymaniye library, we tried our luck at the mosque, but because of their reconstruction project, we were unable to get in, but still saw the tomb of the Sultan who had commissioned this project (again, the head scarf was necessary). We were finally allowed free of the complex and went to lunch at a famous restaurant that was apparently converted from the Sultan’s guesthouse into a restaurant. The food was wonderful, and after a much needed break from the sun/heat, we were back on the bus on our way to a religious site that was not very touristy – but instead was packed with many Muslims who visited this place during Ramadan. I saw some boys in costumes that resembled the one that Aladdin wore after he wished to be wealthy (yes, I just referenced Disney), and apparently the boys have to wear them and visit religious sites days before they are to be circumcised (ouch). We got out of the crowds and stopped for chai, overheard a woman shouting about her husbands lack of ‘ethical code’ (according to a translation), which provided for some amusement during our break.

Back on the bus, we headed to the Panoramic Museum, a $17 million project that was supposed to focus on the conquest of the city of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans. Basically, it was one large dome with paintings all over the walls… It was interesting, but all of us agreed that it wasn’t $17 million interesting.

The best part of the day was towards the end – we got to see a documentary being filmed in one of the Ottoman castles that was supposedly used as a dungeon for Western ambassadors and dignitaries after the Ottomans would decide to declare war on their home countries. We saw a man dressed in a huge turban/hat and a large fur coat, followed by his bodyguards, emerging from the fog of a dark dungeon entrance. We asked if we could be extras – but apparently we didn’t look Turkish enough.

Dinner was all on our own last night. A few of us went to get pita sandwiches (the Turkish name slips my mind) but then the GREATEST part of the evening was the purchase of my Aladdin pants. Because there had been ‘subtle’ hints that I needed to stop wearing skirts to mosques (apparently knee length is only appropriate for SICP, not for Turkey), I decided that I would buy some pants. We went down by the Aya Sofya where we had seen these glorious pants before, and I found the most amazing piece of clothing in the entire country. Tie-dye, Red/White/Blue Aladdin pants (that apparently can also be worn as a jumper – I’ll stick to the pants for now). But it just screams Amurrika. So now, I can represent my country AND be modest. A win for everyone. 

View of Bursa from the mountainside. 

So today, we had to get up and be out of the hotel by 6:45 to  catch the morning ferry to Bursa. I do not do well with early wake-up times, so at 6:45 when we were supposed to be ready and leaving, I was awoken by my roommate frantically, and got ready in two seconds and had to run down the stairs ... strike 3 for tardiness? Thank GOD I knew what I was wearing...and YES, everyone loved my pants. Well that's what I'm going to say, despite my inability to translate the phrases that Turkish people were obviously whispering (or more like snickering) as I walked past them to get to our seats on the ferry. Oh, and our bus got to come on the ferry with us, so this was a legit ferry. like from the movies...

View of a mosque in Bursa

After the ferry ride, we got on the bus and apparently went to go pick up our official Bursa tour guide, but I passed out right after getting on the bus, so missed all of this, but woke up for the first stop on our tour - the tomb of a Sultan. Unlike the tons of tombs that we have already seen, this one was really modest. Again, we had to cover up, but this time I was totally prepared. We went to a few different tombs and a few mosques while we were in the town as well, and they were all very interesting, but (not to be rude), they all seemed to blend together. The cool thing about tombs, though, is that they had the Sultan's turban at the top of the sarcophagi - probably not the actual turbans seeing that they would be hundreds of years old, but its nice to think about. One thing I hadn't seen was a countdown clock to show the times of prayer - it was quite high-tech for such a low-key mosque. Oh technology...

The prayer counter. 

We stopped for lunch and got to taste some dish that Bursa was known for - we were starving so that may have made the food taste better. Apparently, candied chestnuts are also a delicacy of the region - Mom, I promise I tried it, but I may just have discretely disposed of it in my napkin. We got to walk around the bazaar for a while and explored; lots of gold for sale in Bursa, as well as silk. Many a scarf was purchased today by the chicas in the group - most likely to add to our collection of head coverings. 

Puppet Show

The greatest part of the day was the shadow puppet show. We went through the bazaar into this tiny shop; all 17 of us managed to fit into quite a small space and we got to watch the shop-keeper put on this shadow puppet show telling a folk tale. His many voices were quite amusing and he had different puppets representing ethnic minorities in the country. My favorite was the belly dancer - complete with movement - but unfortunately my camera died and I was unable to get a pic. 


We drove around the city more in our faithful bus with air conditioning and stopped for a quick bite at a Turkish mall in the middle of nowhere before heading back on the ferry. I got a hamburger and fries and couldn't have been happier. Don't get me wrong, I love lamb, but it was so nice to see some food that I recognized. I was recently informed that the meat patty could possibly have been comprised of lamb - I was upset - but I still stand by my original statement that it was indeed beef. I'm sure you're all quite interested to know this (all 4 of you now? i feel so popular). 

Sydney, my roommate, is now modeling all the different ways one can wear a head scarf. Maybe we'll try them out tomorrow. Get pumped for modesty!


Gule gule!

turkish wedding dress. hot. 

Sexy Asian tourist sweater - had a house
on the back of it - the windows
opened. mind. blown. 

Asian Tourists wearing total jumpsuits
to protect them from the Sun... 

Eurasian nights with Eurasian Knights

First - I would like to give credit to this amazeballs name to the one and only, Julia Elise Molo. This is for her... (and she is most likely one of two people who actually read this thing)

The train station, complete with bust of Ataturk

So the past two days have been quite a tiring process. Yesterday morning, after sleeping through breakfast (quelle surprise), and was one of the last down to the lobby - missing out on the free phones that the program would provide to the lucky 9 of us who got there early. So we made our way to get new phones - most of them i believe have been stolen, and are legitimately the size of the phones that we had in middle school; I doubt I will use it frequently but i guess its for shnitzels and giggles. After the phones, we stopped inside the train station; built by the Germans, which apparently was the final stop on the Orient Express (this was the last stop, so instead of Eurasia, now we are in the orient).

sorry i'm a creep, but
it was hilarious. 

After the phone ordeals and getting even more passport photos taken (why, i will never know), we stopped for lunch and then made our way back towards the hotel by the old Imperial city. We saw pillars taken from egypt and the grounds where the old hipodrom is... but because it was hot and we were told that we had to dress 'modestly' because we were supposed to go to the Blue Mosque, i preferred the shade and to get inside the Aya Sofya (Hagia Sofia) asnap. So basically, this church turned mosque turned museum has been around for 1500 years, and has survived the numerous earthquakes that have hit Istanbul (if you're ever about to be in an earthquake in the city, go here, according to Gunhan our tour guide). The emperor who commissioned it decided to be of the mentality "Go big (read bro) or go home" so everything is mosaic and gold and marble. EVERYTHING. but it was gorgeous and the mosaics were unbelievable. One of the most amusing parts though, was this little girl who decided to lay down on the marble floor and then her sister proceeded to climb all over her...awkhawk.

The Cistern had over 400 columns *i think*
(i could be making this up...) 

After the Aya Sofya, we went to one of the oldest/largest cisterns in the world (for those of you who don't know what a cistern is, it collects rain water ... ). I'd never been to a cistern before, but this one was pretty sveet. it used all the old columns from ruined buildings and had mood lighting and total yoga music playing while you were down there. and they had fish swimming around in the water - which apparently was to kill off the algae but I was skeeved out by them - turkish fish looked weird. I guess i'd look pretty funky too if I never saw the light of day and had to deal with meditative music and soft lighting for my entire life..

We were allowed to roam freely after dinner so most of us headed down towards the water; The moon was orange - I don't know why, but it was stunning. Walking over the bridge again at night gave the city a whole different feel, but because I am now a toddler and feel tired at 9pm.

My future home?

Today, slept through breakfast again...and then we were on our way to the port for our tour of the Bosphorus. I was so excited for this because my grandmother had said she fell in love with the city because of the Bos. After looking at all the palaces on the water, the fortresses and the bridges, and especially the yalis, I have made the decision that I am moving to Istanbul. If anyone has an extra $56 million dollars in their wallets, I would love a donation to purchase my yali. You can even have a room in the house. The Asian side is obviously the better side to live - just fyi - but I'd be willing to take a yali anywhere, anyside on the Bosphorus.

Charles decided to share his fish with the
stray cats. They liked him. 

After we took the 2 hour tour down the Bosphorus, we made it almost to the mouth of the Black Sea, passing by all these oil tankers, and docked in this small neighborhood to have lunch. But first, we had to climb to the top of this massive hill to see a castle. Being the ever-prepared student I am, I wore sandals...the walk was difficult, but we passed the time by learning the colors in Turkish and collecting stray cats and dogs along the way. We also learned the chant for the Turkish 'football' team, and then I decided to start the chant with the Turkish boys that were selling water along the way - they remembered me on the way down and started the chant again... I felt special. At lunch, we ate right along the water and our food was delivered to us in a way that I was not expected. The fish was whole; head, eyes, tail, everything. It was good, but I was much more fond of Kafkas Waffle World. Yes, they have Waffle World in Turkey, I was so delighted.

This might beat out my astronaut costume
and be used as my halloween costume now. 

Lunch ended, and we got back on the boat and headed back towards our part of Istanbul. After a crazy tram ride in which I was sandwiched between a few Turkish men, and then at our exit, had to squeeze past a large man's belly to the door, we ate dinner and then walked down towards the Ramadan festival. They were breaking fast and we heard that they were giving out free food (turned out to be a lie), but it was interesting to see anyway. They had music playing and crazy blow-up Sultans and clowns. Obviously we had to take pictures... and cut in line in front of the children. Oops.

All around an eventful two days, lots of new Turkish words - most of which I have already forgotten and will have to relearn tomorrow. Oh well, I'm sure there are many turkish men that would be glad to help me learn their language...and "help me to spend my money" (how about buy me stuff and let me save money?)

if i'm boring all 2 of my readers... just tell me to stfu.

gule gule!

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

view of the main street in our neighborhood in Istanbul

Merhaba biddies!

Cats roam free - and make good
companions for old men..

my future halloween costume

2 flights, too much bad airplane food, a tram ride, 4 hour layover, and only one crying baby later, I have FINALLY arrived in Istanbul. After a tumultuous bus ride, i made it to our Hotel Noah's Ark, a "modern" hotel conveniently located right by the Aya Sofia, that seems to still be in the midst of construction in some places ... but the owners were very nice and even managed to lug my two completely appropriately sized duffle bags up to my room.  (of course, i overpacked and immediately realized that I would be THAT girl). but alas, thanks to Mary, i will be able to provide medical care - maybe just the supplies - to the entire town of Alanya for the semester. Istanbul is so massive and different from any other place I've been. Right after dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we got a quick orientation and then were off roaming the streets. Two of the girls on my trip, Anahi and Sydney, decided to walk down towards the water. You are also able to find anything and everything you would ever need on the Turkish streets - phones, shoes, hair products, and more unusual things such as new faucets for the kitchen sink, or my favorite, an Astronaut suit.   I will be going back to that vendor and purchasing it as my halloween costume. I've already found husbands; while we walked down the streets, Sydney was identified as Lady Gaga, and then later, we were asked if we were Charlie's Angels, and if we needed a replacement for Charlie. (bonus points for creativity). The best part of the excursion was getting to walk  the bridge from Europe to Asia (letting me use my favorite term "eurasia"). After a dinner of Turkish pizza, called pid'e (?), and a cup of chai later, we were finally let free of obligations; codeword: you can finally go back to the hotel and pass out because you've been up for 24+ hours...

güle güle!