A moment of silence....

Today was yet another day of bureacracy, with me getting my residence permit at the police station. I waited a good three hours and finally paid my 135 lira and will pick up the packet tomorrow. Technically they are not supposed to charge people for residence permits (its an international fact), but the way they get around that is charging you 135 for the booklet that your residence permit comes in. Brillant! In any case i arrive back at the dorms a little tired and burnt out of being around people.

I'm sitting on the roof terrace listening to my ipod and playing around on my computer when a young Turkish student comes upstairs. I see him carrying the blind wand with him and he makes his way over towards me. Its deathly silent on the terrace excpet for the shrieking of gulls, the sound of ships horns, and the wind...its part of why i love the terrace. But i dont want to alarm the young man so i type loudly on my computer and clear my throat. He makes his way slowly over to my direction and i ask him if he would like a chair. He fumbles for the words and responds with repeating my word "chair". I jump up and pull one over for him, since the hordes of students passing through the terrace day to day tend to scatter the chairs. Anyway I pull one up for him and he sits in it. I sit across from him and start typing on my computer. He asks my name and i tell him, i ask his name and he replies. (names ommitted to protect the innocent). After a few awkward attempts at conversation we realize that i dont speak enough Turkish to communicate with him and he doesn't speak enough English to communicate with me.

At first i was stuck at this discovery, but it only worsened when i realized that since he was blind i couldn't even motion or use visual aid to him in order to get my point across. Even worse i had no internet access so i couldnt' directly translate on google! I didn't have my turkish english dictionary with me and he had nothing but his blind wand with him. We were suddenly two people stuck in a communication vaccuum.

What commenced was perhaps the best moment i have had in Turkey to date. The young man asked what i was studying and i tried to tell him "international studies" he didn't understand. "politics" he didn't understand. I started listing the European countries, "France, Germany, Spain" He understood "European studies?" I smiled and patted his hand so he could acknowledge my smile. I continued naming countries from around the world "Japan, America, Mexico." He smiled and nodded and patted my hand back, "World studies?" I said yes. I then proceeded to ask him about his studies but couldn't understand what he said other then "law".

He asked my age and i answerd "21". He gestured to himself, "me also." i asked him what year he was in school and he shook his head, not understanding. I drew four lines in his palm and retraced the fourth line, saying "fourth year." then i tapped his knee with two fingers "you?" He nodded and drew one line in my palm, "one year". I understood and let silence drift back over us.

The best connection came when i asked him about music. He immidiately understood what i meant and started listing off hip hop Turkish artists he liked. He lit up like a 100 watt bulb talking about music and how he played the organ and another Turkish instrument that i cannot pronounce. When he asked me what music i liked, he couldn't understand "Country music" so i turned on my itunes and started playing a few songs. We listened in silence for a few minutes and i tapped his hand since that signal had become synonymous with me smiling. He tapped my hand back and we continued to just listen to the music and all the little sounds. I noticed the traffic buzzing by on the busy streets below and the soft barking of dogs in far off neighborhoods, and i even noticed the sound of someone shaking the dust out of a rug on a balcony.

He tapped my leg, "i am leaving now, it was nice to have met you Jessi." Our hands akwardly bumped and he grasped my one in his two pressing our palms together in a friendly gesture. I used one of my few words of Turkish "gurusuruz." It means bye bye.

it was such a simple conversation but such a huge feat. Without technology, or a translator or even the benefit of a simple dictionary we were able to communicate in a language beyond words. There was nothing deep and meaningful said and we didn't discuss politics or come to an agreement on how best to solve the worlds most pressing issues but we communicated. and all without having very much in common at all, at least nothing in common that would help us communicate. I knew how to use sign language but he cannot see, he knew how to type in Turkish but i cannot read it.

Why cannot the world leaders be blindfolded, and others be muted and still others made to be deaf. Then they can be put in a room together and made to appreciate each other for their differences and learn to use those differences to build bridges. When you have to communicate but do not know how, you use your compassion, and you are more willing to compromise to reach the mutual goal. When that goal is something as simple as a conversation the effects still resonant in each individual...when that goal is something like World Hunger imagine the effects that could have!

That might be a little heavy, and a little bit of a dreamers perspective...but you have to start somewhere~

Ciao

Jessi

The Godfather

Hagia Sophia is a church turned mosque turned Museum, and when we stepped outside this morning that was our destination. We have gotten fairly effecient at getting on the tram, and getting off at the right location so that part of the day went on without a hitch. But as Bilbo Baggins once said, "it's dangerous buisness walking out your front door, You step onto the road and if you dont keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to"...but more on that later.
Hagia Sophia is in one word...enormous. Its nuts to think that they were able to build something so massive and so beautiful with its perfectly arched ceilings and marble stone floors, doors and walls. everything you see and touch feels ancient, unlike the archaelogy museum where everything in it is old, this whole place is old, every brick, every stone has hundreds of years worth of stories inside it.
I must have gone crazy with the pictures but i couldn't help it, there were murals of Mary and Jesus that looked like they had been painted yesterday and were still glittery. Some of the marble floors were so worn with wear that they were indented or bowed in. I must say my favorite part was the sultans box. Similar to a press box the sultan had a seperate box built above the masses where he could participate without touching the rabble below i guess. Our next stop was the Blue Mosque it was incredible, we took off our shoes and wrapped ourselves in shawls out of respect and entered the mosque. Once you get past the initial smell of feet and look up you will be amazed. Once again the high ceilings and the arches and the humbling sheer magnitude of this place just blew me away. I took a few pictures and spent a quiet 30 seconds and then we left. This is where it gets interesting. I was getting tired and hungry and grumpy and Sara mentioned that she wanted to go to some tea place and talk to someone about something.
Anyone who knows me knows that i'm easy going when traveling...if you want to do something fine, as long as i get to do my thing too, i'll go along with anything. So i just nod and follow her. She leads us to the tea cafe and asks for the boss. the waiter leads us to the carpet shop next door where the man takes us inside tells us to make oursleves at home and offers us tea. He says the man we are looking for is out praying and he will be back. As soon as he leaves Sara explains a little more about our situation. She is looking for a Tekke and the boss who is currently praying knows where to go. So we wait...and we wait...and we chat...and we wait...and i get grumpier and less social...and start to zone out and dream about ice cream. And an hour and a half goes by without any word on where this boss guys is. Prayer is long over and my stomach is not getting any less hungry. Just as we are devising a plan of escape (every time we try to leave they tell us to wait and offer us tea).
Two of the carpet workers bring in an older gentleman...the best way to describe him is as the godfather. he is wearing a navy blue pinstripe suit with shiny black shoes, his shirt has a starched white collar and he has silver rings on 4 of his fingers and the sweetest pair of shades i've seen in years. He walks up and starts talking to us slowly and cautiously. He asks us where we are from, comments on our friendship and explains the meaning of the Ottoman Symbol and he asks Sara "how many eyes do we have"and went on to explain we have 4 eyes, the two we see with then one on the forehead and one in the heart. This was starting to seem like an Indiana Jones movie combined with The Departed. Once he called for more tea i half expected him to introduce us to his sons and nephews and make us kiss his hand to show respect. But he kept talkin in his slow particular way and then told us about his car...i'll upload the picture
this is a 1937 car mind you in mint condition and smokin hot....he waves us outside to take a picture of it and i do. At this point i wish i could explain better how this went down but it was the most random awesome thing ever...because somehow he decided he likes us and makes us an offer we cannot refuse.
He drives us back to Taksim in his car, and i couldn't be more excited about this whole experiece and suddenly my stomach isn't so important.
The important thing to take away from this whole story...is that it is imperative that you listen to people. Everyone has a story to tell and everyone has something to say. This older gentleman we met has so much to say and i wanted to talk to him more about everything....there is so much i could glean from him just hearing him talk about anything he wants to while we drink tea. But that goes for alot of situations while you are abroad.
It is so much fun to tour the country with your friends and take pictures of the beautiful scenery, but once you find people and listen to what they have to say they can bring out a beauty in that culture that you can't see with your eyes no matter where you look.

Ciao!
Jessi

I'm sleeping in a Sarcophogus before i die

The Archaelogy Museum....Today was about Topkapi Palace and how badly i wanted to explore it...but as you will see dear reader, a pattern in my life here in Istanbul is that nothing goes according to plan and often I end up better off for it.
Sara, my partner in crime, set off at mid day (because i'm a sleepaholic) to see topkapi palace. Of course once we get off at the tram and walk to the location we learn it is closed on Tuesdays...Of course it is, why wouldnt' we know such an obvious peice of information! Nevermind my frustration we wander into the Archaeology museum after revealing ourselves as the American's we are by fumbling through the entrance kiosk and not realizing that all we must do to enter is swipe our freshly purchased museum "karts".
What follows once we enter is 4 hours of wandering further and further back in time (with a small hiccup at the 1970s with a staircase ) with Alexander the great, Constantine, Troy and bits and peices of Temples, and ship wrecks. History is alive through Archaelogy, that much is completely clear. I actually got to rest my eyes on Alexander's Sarcophogus...which interestingly enough is not thought to be the final resting place of Alexander the Great but is still called that. I refuse to believe the experts on this and have fallen in love with the Ornate Marble creation and during a small break Sara and i take to recuperate and breath the fresh air outside i mention that i would like to sleep in Alexander's Sarcophogus....which of course might sound creepy to some, but this is why i enjoy Sara so very much...she never seems suprised at the many ridiculous things that i tend to say.
A delightful addition to the day was when i picked up a new word...wee...not referring to the new video game control system...but as in the scottish term used in Braveheart. Sara is bringing it back with a vengence and i have jumped on board. We wander more through the museum looking at the artifacts in awe...at least on my part, because it seems so historically contemporary. and i now what a contradictory oxymoron that is, but this is why i was so fascinated. There were plates and dishes and (what Sara and i thought could be crack pipes) pots and pans, and toys for the kids. It was as if they lived two weeks ago. The things that last throughout the ages are the things that people used every day. Except of course for the sarcophogi, and the giant statues of Gods.
I find a stroll through the Archaeology museum turned into a stoll through history itself, and i can imagine having a conversation with Alexander the great right next to the bust of his head and he would be all bashful and tell me how it wasn't a great likeness and pretend false modesty. then he would show me around to the great stone carved pictures of his battles and regale me with bloody stories with pride and excitement. That is how it feels to be in the Museum in Istanbul. there are not a lot of glass walls and security guards seperating you from history. Its right in your face and you can touch it (though you aren't supposed to).
Incredible in one word...and exhausting in another...my day ended in a raging headache and me in bed by 9.
Hopefully history wont give me such a hangover next time
xox
Jessi

He restores my soul...

A German, A Swede, A Scot, and An American go for a walk one crisp September morning....
The story that follows is proof positive that all you need to have an adventure is an open mind, an open spirit, and 3TL (Turkish Lira).
Maja (Swedish) Sophie (Scottish) Max (German) and I (American in case you didnt' know) decided to go to the Prince's Island off the coast of Istanbul. So we hop on a ferry and get our butts in motion. Its 9 in the morning and thanks to mosquitoes we all are suffering from a lack of sleep, but we pull it together and try to find our way around. A kind man helps us find the Ferry station and we thank him in our new found Turkish. We all are in the same Turkish 101 class together so combined we are the Turkish Lnguage equivalent of a two year old, possibly an advanced 1 year old.
We get on the ferry and embark on a 45 minute journey to the islands. Every moment is picturesqe, from the soft lapping of the waves against the ferry to the sea gulls gliding at eye level with wings spreak wide. The coastal region of Turkey is nothing but buildings and hills with tall towers in the distance. I cannot wait to explore the Asian side of turkey.
We arrive at Island nunmber 1 but do not get off because at this point we are relying completely on instinct which is a good percentage of adventurism as i'm beginning to learn. You have to just go with the flow otherwise you will stress yourself into a pool of fear on the floor, and everyone will step on you. At Island number 2 we get a strangely peaceful vibe and we jump off and stroll onto the shore. At this point we are obviously in tune with each other because no one complains or stalls we all just look at each other and make decisions.
We stop at a cafe and get coffee and food to warm up as it has started drizzling a little. Once it lets up we begin to explore. We set off down a road not knowing where it leads or what we will do when we find any destination. We just walk, and talk and enjoy the magnificent scenery. If you have ever seen something that makes you stop breathing all together...this was that experience. The water was deep blue and the shore was rocky and steep in most places, but there were beaches with sea shells.
We finally hike down an incredibly steep path to get to a beach where we stop talking and just sit, and soak in the moments. There is not another person in sight of us as we sit on the beach, picking sea shells and listening to the tide rolling up at our feet. It's what i would imagine nirvana to be like, if nirvana was something i believed in at all. Maja and i agree that the peace is what we have been missing in Istanbul where quiet is never an option.
Here there are no cars, unless you are in a casket then they take you to the graveyard in one. Only horses with buggies exist, and bikes. It seems to be set in a different time. The pace is slow, the people all know each other and smile kindly as you walk past. They dont bother you because the understand that quiet is unexplainably essential to those who come to this particular island.
Maja then begins talking about her home in Sweden and how she doesn't think she will live there for any extended period of time. Sophie says she doesn't know where she will live though she would like to spend an extended stay in the Middle East.
I, feeling particularly silly, decided to be honest and mention that i have every desire to travel the world and experience it all, but not a whole lot of enthusiasm for the idea of living abroad for any extreme length of time. Let me be perfectly clear- Its not because i'm fearful or Zenophobic. Au contraire...I love international studies and living abroad is probably the most exhilirating and alive i've felt in awhile. I love Istanbul, i probably wont want to leave when the time comes, i'm already dreading the plane ride back home...but i I love America, and not in a red neck conservative nationalist way. I simply love it, just because of all that it is, all that it isn't, and all that it has the potential to be. It's mine.
anyways coming back to our little story. We explore longer and ask ourselves the deep questions in life such as "what is one thing you would change about the world?" and "who in history would you want to spend a few hours talking and getting to know" and "what kind of animal would you be?" We pondered the meaning of evangelicalism while waiting for our return ferry. I wouldn't say we mingled with the Turkish culture so much today, we still explored it as outsiders looking in, but in the process we found peace...inner and outer peace. Isn't it odd how when you go out not looking for anything at all...you find what you most need?
In Istanbul you find a collective chaos that gives energy but at the end of the day if you aren't used to it, it can drain you. On the islands we found replenishment in the slow easy way the Turks lived their lives there surrounded by beauty and stillness. truly he leadeth me beside still waters!

Bye Bye!

Friends!

How do i explain this in away all my dear readers can understand....? First, let me compliment everyone who is willing to accept the challenge of studying abroad and branch out into the international scene! Now into todays topic- After a particularly uneventful day, i walk back to my dorm to cook the only meal i know how..pasta. I get my supplies and head to the communal kitchen. there are 5 girls in there cooking and talking amongst each other. At first i try to join in but they ignore me and continue on. So i put my pasta together (water, salt...add pasta) and get my book to wait for it to cook. Then some nice girls in the corner offer me food and tell me to sit with them. My first Turkish invite. they are really nice and end up teaching me a little turkish and asking me about my home. the first thing they tell me is "we think you are so brave, coming all the way over here and not knowing the language and not having any friends or family.
In Turkey that is the most important thing to us, we would never leave it." And i smile because it is so nice to be acknoweldged like that. anyways they are my second turkish friends, my first is one guy who on my first day offered me fruit that he was eating, peaches and pears. I think it's probably a peace thing, offering food to someone you dont know in order to invite them in. I've discovered that not everyone in Istanbul is nice, lots of people are just trying to make a living and could care less about you, but there are the people who want to befriend you and help you, just because they can. Its a different environment that i cannot explain, its a community of chaos, where families and friends are valued above everything else and if you have neither, then you have nothing at all. I still feel like an outsider, because in reality i am, i can communicate only simple words and at the end of the day i am so tired from the strain of constantly trying to understand and use my turkish that i'm too exhausted to even think. But also there comes the satisfaction for me that at least i'm trying and at least i'm putting myself out there.
As for other evaluations, i'm holding off on purpose, i have 4 months here and i've been here 2 weeks so if i seem light on passing judgement it is because i dont want to judge, i want to observe all aspects, participate when possible and understand things. I can't do that if i'm nit picking every aspect. You must follow my blogs closely if you want to gain a concrete opinion of Turkey from me, overall i'm still here and i'm living every minute, enjoying some and not so much others....but such is life!

gorusuruz!
Jessi

Two church services....better then one?

Sunday was mass day. I woke up, put on my Sunday best, which was a pair of capris and Phillips Patagonia jacket...and set off in the rain for church. As i was waiting for my partner in crime Sara to show up, the rain started pouring and a nice gentleman selling umbrellas finally coerced me into buying one. Everyone entering the church stopped and pleaded with me to go in and save my mortal soul...(they didn't say it like that but the way they kindly took my hand and advised me to go to church with them said it all)
Finally i gave up on Sarah, and walked into Mass. She eventually showed and up and i enjoyed teh service, i always like how Priests give shorter sermons. The service was 1 hour long, and their were a majority of africans, from Nigeria and elsewhere in attendance. Most of the Turks were observers only and stood in the back like tourists. We left that church and went to see another church. it was a nondenominational Dutch chruch and we had planned on sitting through this service too, but right about then i started jonesin' for a cup of coffee and we had to get my fix at the starbucks across the way. Overall the day turned out to be nondescript, except we met some friends at a cafe for beers and chatted about a range of subjects, from the problem with religion to the new disney princess movie coming to theatres in december.
I have a confession about the food. Here i am living in the land of meat for every meal except maybe breakfast, and i can't eat another bite of meat. Part of it is probably because Sara calls it "charred flesh" which always brings up WWII Pearl Harbor images for me, but the other part is the fact that i dont like lamb as much as i once thought. It was such a glamorous food to me and now, the very smell makes me gag a little. So now i eat breads, and pastas, and yougurts, and plenty of carbs, not to mention i have a jar of nutella in my dorm room for no reason whatsoever.
No one should ever worry about me not getting enough to eat, because i do, i'll have plenty of fat stored up for the winter by the time i get home.
Back to the Church services, i enjoyed them, plus there is something so calming about the church environment, its one place where you dont have to constantly have your guard up and you can just talk to God. And the Building is so beautiful and ancient i can almost picture Latin Mass services taking place in the time of Constantine. The stained glass windows depict every aspect of Jesus's life and i must say, in this area of the world, where Paul actually traversed in his day...makes me feel that much closer not only to the words in the Bible, but closer to Religion all together....but more on that later, for now... the Nutella
catch ya later!

Cotton Candy and a scary moment

Today was the day....the day we were going to venture to the asian side of Istanbul and try our luck! However the second we step outside, the rain begins, and as we walk toward the ferry, it only gets worse and worse. I'm not afraid of rain, i'm not afraid of the weather, i'm afraid of people i cannot trust. So even though it was raining i was more then game to go exploring. However the Brits wanted to find a quiet pub, have a beer and watch the football match on tv instead. We came to an agreement that we would take the tram to a new part of the city and find a nice shopping mall. Well the stop we get off on is in the middle of a neighborhood community, there are absolutely no tourists and almost no one speaks english. So we wander around a bit, looking at the map every 50 meters and try to find our way. Several times we stop and ask people if they can guide us to the Olivium shopping center. Finally, down one particularly ominous looking street where children are running around with toy guns, a large family jumps to our rescue, a kind man offers to take us there in the back of his van, but being the wise students we are, we politely refuse and ask him to point us in the direction. Meanwhile the entire family including grandmother and uncle and aunt are all giving in put and trying to help us. The man ends up telling his son to lead us to the mall. His son speaks no english so i never learn his name, but he led us through the neighborhood to the mall. What we did at the mall is so typical i wont even go into it. I was so scared for a while walking in the neighborhoods but looking back now, it was like walking around apartment complexes in the states, mothers were sitting on their porches watching their children, yelling at them to stay out of the streets, old men were playing backgammon, and young men were helping their fathers unload trucks of supplies for their stores. It was evveryday life, and they took a break from their busy day to help us find our way. It kind of made me wonder, how often do we stop and take breaks? How often are we willing to walk a mile out of our way to help someone get to where they need to be. We didn't trust them, but they trusted us, enough to let one of their children lead us to our destination. It was humbling and endearing. I know it doesn't happen all the time, everywhere, but the fact that it happened at all is touching.
That is all for now...except, that at the mall, we couldn't help but buy some cotton candy, which the Brits call Candy Floss...and took pictures looking like little kids at a carnival
its definatly the little things that matter!
Adios!

6 buses+ 2 passport photos= ?

Today was registration day! Thank god American bureacracy taught me patience...clearly not enough. After the night of mosquitoes and no sleep i wake up this morning all ready to get my student i.d. and become an official University of Bilgi student. So i wake up extra early and get my things ready and walk downstairs. A gathering of Turkish students all looking stylish and cool are huddled around the exit to the dorms. When the bus pulls up there is a mad dash and much shoving and i end up not getting on the bus because it is too full. The other 30 Turkish students who also miss the bus walk back across the street to wait. Francesco -my Italian lover (well he doesn't know it yet, but the accent makes me weak) comes downstairs and we decide to walk to a different bus stop. 25 minutes later we have hiked up the huge Taksim square hill and are waiting for a bus, that comes 10 minutes later. We hop on and are riding comfortably from the main campus Dolapdere, to Santralistanbul when the bus gets a flat tire...we are hurried off and wait for another bus to come...keep in mind we are in the middle of nowhere and dont speak Turkish (seen this in a horror flick?) We get on another bus that takes us to Santral where i bid farewell to Francesco (sigh*) and i get on a bus supposedly going to Kustepe, my destination. The bus doesn't go back to Kustepe, in fact it goes back to where i've started at Taksim, where i learn i must go back to my dorms and get 2 passport photos to register. I get the photos, and meet a great girl named Stephanie from Holland. We end up taking 2 more buses and finally getting to kustepe, where we have to speak to a lady, get a registration number, go register online, come back to the lady to get more instructions and go get out pictures taken. (So whatfore are the passport photos?) once we are done with that, it is onto another bus where we go back to Dolapdere campus and talk to an advisor about registering for classes, i end up talking to maybe 3 professors who are all amazingly great people and then learning i cannot even register for classes until tomorrow!!! The day ended there, Stephanie and i got food, sat at a cafe with my fellow DU mate, Sara and chatted while drinking tea. For all the Americans reading this...thank a DMV worker...this long trial took from 9-5 and it was only to register for school. Think of trying to get a drivers liscence! but overall i must admit Istanbul has a sense of charm that is starting to get hold of me, it's like a little child with a smirk, you wonder what it has to hide, but secretly are enjoying finding out; yet hoping the suprise isn't overwhelming and unmanegable. I dont know how much sense that made, but to me it was a perfect description
Istanbul has a feel about it, something really indescribible for now, but in time i'm sure i'll put the puzzle together. More and more people are starting to smile at me on the street, and give head nods that are polite instead of cat calls and gawking stares. All this and i dont even know 4 words of Turkish!
I dont even know how to say goodbye yet...which is why i will stick to...
ciao!

mosquitos.

So i haven't had a good nights sleep since i left home....so instead of going out and partying tonight with the international club i wanted to go and catch some much needed sleep. Now i should explain that i have kept the windows closed in my dorm since day one because the day i got here the first girl i met told me how she got 40 mosquito bites at night and could hear them buzzing all night. So of course tonight i get back to my room to find out one of my roomates opened up the bloody window. I closed it hoping that nothing had found its way in. The minute my tired head hits the pillow i can hear the darn things buzzing around my head and feel them biting me, so instead of sleeping or partying, here i am blogging, all because of the stupid mosquitos. One thing i can say about Bilgi university is that it certainly is safe, i visited the Dolapadere campus today and its built behind a large gray wall in the sketchy part of town. They do a lot of research and outreach which i guess makes it a prime location but honestly one of the things i like best about Istanbul is the fact that everything isn't seperated by class, in fact many of the rich people live among the poor people and homeless are begging on every street corner, not just certain ones in certain areas. Of course this sometimes gives certain parts of the city a trashy feel but i think that is my American perspective, people in all corridors are friendly and during the day i feel completely safe....well that is all i can say for now...i gotta do some extermination now if i ever want to sleep again...

50 cent's girlfriend

Yesterday we visited the Blue mosque....only the outside to take pictures and be touristy. We stopped at a restaurant to have a beer after our fishbread sandwiches that we ate at the bosphorus sea. Our waiter was super friendly and talked to each of us individually...of course he wanted to take a picture with me and called me 50 cents girlfriend. you can imagine how happy i felt to be associated with 50 cent of all things American to be proud of....clearly 50 cent is in the top 10. (please sense the sarcasm). The day started off utterly confusing, a group of us had emailed each other through the summer and wanted to get together for a nice hoorah before orientation. In the end there was Cesar from Spain, Francesco from Italy, Aneta from Poland, Julie from Germany, Michelle from Holland, Ivar from Sweden, Chi from UK, Alex from UK, Ahmed from Austria-Hungary, Mathieu from France, and Rasmus from Denmark there were a few more but i confess i cannot remember their names, but they represent Poland and Denmark. All together we speak 10 differnt languages...but everyone speaks english...fluently. I felt all kinds of bad that we had to communicate in my language, but secretly proud that everyone had a hard time understanding British english but complemented my American English.
The funny part of the night was when we went to a restaurant for dinner, it had a variety of choices, at least one entree from each nation in the world. I wasn't hungry so i had a white russian....but everyone else ordered a dish from their own nation. Understandable since we have 5 months to eat Turkish food but nevertheless it made me smile. Cesar had a spanish burger, Francesco had spaghetti and meatballs, Mathieu had crepes, and so on...highlight of my night.
Today i am taking a break from the group and meeting a friend from America and having Starbucks. Not that Turkish cuisine and coffee isn't amazingly good and meaty....but its always nice to have a good, weak cup of coffee.
chao!

Day 1

i hope i can think of more interesting titles as time goes on.....okay so i arrive in Turkey and the weather= amazing. its like perfection with a slight breeze to cool the air but the temp had to be mid 80s i didn't do much except get to know some other international students and 1 Turkish student who just turned 22! we went to Taksim and ate good tasting but still healthy food and starbucks....which yet again proves no matter where you go... there you are. i can always get my typical caffeine fix. good ole corporate america! but sitting on the side of the raod watching a protest in the heart of the city was surreal....i felt like i should be in a documentary about vacation spots. the lights and the action was what you see on travel channel .but today was fun.....in a very real down to earth way. i ate croissants in a cafe with cappucino; and i went to a german bookstore and found some really interesting turkish myths. i took a ferry ride all over the bosphorus and saw a major smog cloud. it felt like everyday life, i even got to talk to a little girl whose name was sophia and the only english words she knew were...what is your name. and i knew even less turkish...so the conversation was mostly hand gestures and genuine smiles. there is so much i want to say but i want to have time and put effort into diagnosing this culture here and adapting is essential before i make any statements regarding it....on that note i realize this was a fairly useless blog but i just wanted to make a point: i am in turkey!

Before i go

I'm sitting on my sofa, trying not to sleep because i've got a flight in the morning. I'll confess i dont know how long the flight is, i've done minimal research for this entire trip. To be honest i dont want to know a whole lot going in to it. I want everything to be brand new that way every day will be a brand new adventure. From the food i'm going to eat, to the people i'm going to meet and i swear i didn't mean for that to rhyme. I'm kind of scared right now, new things are always scary but i'm also really excited because this is my chance. the other day my friend Matt told me that this is my oppurtunity to shine. I'm taking that to heart and making every moment of this trip abroad all about growth and experience, and following my heart. Over-dramatic? yes i just might be, but i feel like i'm on the cusp of something really big, ive never been outside of America before so this is huge! so this is the start of my journey, and i can't wait to get started!