7 days

Is it really true that a mere 7 days from now I will be on my way to the airport, leaving this country,and  these memories forever?

I sometimes think about what it felt like 7 days into this trip, the newness, the excitement, the ability to drink at a real bar ha. All of these things seem so strange now. My everyday routine now, was mysterious and different then. Now I know the faces of the cashiers at Shopping World, and have gotten used to the workers at Börekçi laughing at my American Turkish accent. Everything has become regular, familiar, comfortable. 

It’s scary to think that I have to go home. Having to relearn a new culture. What will it be like to drive a car? What will it be like to be in my own bed, thousands of miles from my small room in Superdorm that has become my home away from home? I've gained so much here, and it's even more frightening to think about loosing that when I return home. 

What will people ask me? How will I respond?  How do you explain the suffocating smell of fish on the  Galata bridge? How do you mimic the cat calls of “Charlies Angels”, or “Excuse me beautiful” that overwhelm you at The Grand Bazaar? I cannot explain the cold shock, and slippery rocks of the Mediterranean ocean, the taste of potato pide, the calmness of drinking tea for hours, the sound of children speaking Turkish, the sound of anyone speaking Turkish. I cannot explain how I have grown to love the taste of Efes and bad wine, or the smell of the Saturday market, or the feeling of comfortability in a totally uncomfortable situation.  

Then I begin to think, do I want to explain these things? They are my treasures, my secrets. It’s the little things I am scared most of loosing. The things that seem so regular now, that I will struggle to recall in a years time. 

I’m sure I will be asked the question “do you feel different?” This seems so silly to even begin to answer. Of course I have changed, we all change and grow. Every new day brings a new piece of yourself into being. So yes, I have changed, but I am not different.  A part of me has been reborn on the streets of this city. I have gained patience, trust, knowledge, grace, and outlook on a whole new culture, language, and country. Something that many people go their whole lives without. 

I don’t think I was ready for it, honestly. I don’t think I understood what study abroad really meant. I have never been alone in my whole life, and being thrust into such a new environment forced up some pretty scary feelings of loneliness. It was so easy for me to succumb to these feelings and not live to the best of my abilities. But that's the cheap way out. Despite my stubbornness it was for the best. I hope to look back on this experience and see the good, and not the bad. But even if I do remember those feelings, I will remember them for how they helped me grow as a person. 

So when that day comes, when I step on a plane and leave this ground forever, I will be leaving a piece of my heart. Istanbul has become home to be. I am being uprooted from my home, to return again to my home. I leave this place to continue my journey of growing as a person. 

A special pocket of my heart is reserved for Istanbul, and I will leave with that pocket full to the brim. 

Life abroad

Let me start by apologizing for my lack of updates.

My time here is winding down, and I just can't seem to believe it. I am in my last week of classes, with my first final in 2 days, and the rest following shortly after.

I've been spending the my time recently working on revision, and memorization for all of my courses. Which is quite the drag if I do say so myself. It has reached that time of the year where I would much rather just enjoying my time here, than focusing on classes. But oh well, nose to the grind stone.

The weather has changed drastically in the last few weeks. Now it is hot hot hot, and sunny. Much like how you would dream Istanbul would always be. But I must say I love this city no matter what the weather. The new weather has brought out more outdoor tables at restaurants, dresses and skirts, and best of all, ICE CREAM. I will admit to having a love affair with the desserts here because they are just so much better. My favorite I have found so far is the Obama. Literally, it is a ball of chocolate filled with a chocolate chip filling. Now, pretending this is not entirely too racist, it is actually quite funny. The shop keepers even like to joke about it when you mention the connection.

Knowing that I am becoming a "local" pretty much started the moment I started hating places such as The Grand Bazaar, and The Spice Bazaar. My disdain for these places has grown so great, that I have been putting off souvenir shopping until I find it absolutely necessary. When this occurs I usually spend an entire day at these places, and leave with full bags and in not the best of moods.

I am growing quite sentimental about leaving. I find it a bit unfair almost, to be uprooted again right when I have become so used to this place.

Anyways, enough of that. I know you are all only here to see pictures. So here you go.

Me and Carrie at our fancy schmancy resort for spring break in Antalya, Turkey. 

Enjoying the perks of food and drink being all inclusive. 

Toes so close to the Mediterranean! 

Posing in Antalya by the Mediterranean! 

The water was much colder than anticipated. In Olympos, Turkey. 

Hiking through Roman Ruins in Olympos, Turkey. 

View from The Galata Bridge leading to the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar. 

Saturdays are spent flying kites at Bogazici University. 

Turkish flags in Sultanahmet 

Topkapi Palace! 

Posing on one of the balconies of the beautiful Topkapi Palace. 

Because Turkish babies are just the cutest. 

View to the Asian side of Turkey on a blustery day at Topkapi Palace. 

Paige and I at a local gallery opening. It was quite posh and fancy. 

Istanbul Archeological Museum

This past weekend I took a trip to the Istanbul Archeological Museum with my Art of the Middle Ages class. It was such a beautiful museum, with so much to see. Here are a few pictures of my favorite artworks.

Catching up.

Well I realize I have been doing a horrible job up keeping up with this blog. I could say that it's because of my massive homework load, or the fact that I have 2 days to finish an entire Richter Grant proposal, but it's really most likely because I'm just having too much fun.

In the past few weeks so much has happen. The most important of which is my birthday ha. I found it rather strange making birthday plans when I am so far away from home, and the people that I normally spend my birthday with. However it was still a wonderful birthday. I was surprised by Carrie and Jessica, who had decorated Carries entire living room with balloons and such. We then proceeded to make macaroni and cheese (which was a failure), and order some pizza. Overall a pretty American evening.

Last weekend I got to feel like an actual tourist for the first time since I have arrived. We went to Hagia Sofia, and the Blue Mosque, and then The Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar afterwards. It was so amazing to see monuments that I have studied in my Art History classes in real life. I could talk about how beautiful they all were, but I'll just give you some photos so you can see for yourself.

Hagia Sofia 

Being a tourist

And again

Blue Mosque

Inside of the Blue Mosque

Inside of the Hagia Sofia

Inside of the Hagia Sofia 

Being surprised on my birthday!

Family photo after going to the market on my birthday.

Yummy desserts 

The sneaky decorators 

Cappadocia!

To make up for my lack of posts recently, I decided to appease you with some stories of my adventures in Cappadocia this past weekend. For those of you that don't know what Cappadocia is... Wiki it. Simply put, it is known for its awesome rock houses, and other cool lookin' rocks. Here's a picture to give you a clue: 

We took one of those extra uncomfortable buses for 10 hrs in order to get to Cappadocia. Sleeping on a bus is definitely on my list of things to never do again. On our first day we went to an open air museum (as seen in the picture above) and looked at many different churches inside of the rocks. Considering this whole day was a blur of exhaustion and the overwhelming desire to shower, I can't recall exact details of what we did, or in what order. I only remember the DELICIOUS vegetarian dinner that we had. Probably had dreams about those turkish mashed potatoes. 

The next day we all decided to rent motor bikes and ride them around the town. I had to drive one. For those of you that know me well enough, you can probably infer how that experience went. But it was fun. Now I'm even more motivated to buy a motorcycle. 

After that we drove to see some of the most famous outlooks in Cappadocia. Some of the rocks had questionable shapes, but others were so beautiful they would take your breath away. 

In the evening, we went to our first traditional Turkish night. This basically consisted of unlimited alcohol, and a show. I will admit that the alcohol definitely helped with the bizarre things that happened during the show. It consisted of whirling dervishes, belly dancers, and other random dancers doing strange things. 

We ended the trip with a trip to an underground city. It was highly claustrophobic, and resembled something out of The Decent. Especially the "grave" room. Afterwards, Patrick attempted to play ball with some of the local kids..unfortunately, he started a brawl instead. All because one of the kids took the other kids ball. They ran away whenever I tried to take pictures, so I couldn't document the punch-fest.  

To wrap it up, this trip was definitely something I will never ever forget. I got to travel somewhere I never would have been able to go on my own. It was pretty magical. 

Not to mention I met some pretty awesome people.... but this guy was definitely the coolest. 

http://www.istanbulizle.com/

^^ The link above will show you some awesome live feeds of places around Istanbul. Pay close attention to the first 2 links, because that is where I spend a lot of my free time. Also, Doga Tepe is a view from a part of Bogazici's campus!

End of the Week

I've done it! I have made it through my first week of classes! This, of course, means that I have no friday classes. That's a first for me and I couldn't be more excited.

 Oh yeah, I saw St. Vincent in concert this week. It was brilliant.

One of my classes was in Turkish, so I have to hurry and switch into another class. Otherwise, everything is just dandy. 

Maybe it's the weather today, but I am just falling more in love with everything Istanbul has to offer.

Hoşçakalın!