Short Post on Sunday

This will be a fairly short post. It will be about my Sunday. Sunday was a good day. I had fun that day. I got out of the house fairly late actually to go to Galata to the other students' apartments (I was supposed to be there around 10, I woke up [I know...but I was running on 3 hours of sleep from the night before] at around 12 but thankfully all was well since the meeting was postponed.

Well, I got to the apartment of the other students, but they weren't there. And the door to the apartment itself was closed. BUT all was well because I decided to just walk up and around Istiklal Caddesi assuming that maybe I would see the guys and meet up and hang out. It was also good exercise, and I was able to test whether or not I really knew how to get to the other people's apartments. And apparently I was :D

Not finding the other students at the apartments, I walked up to Istiklal Caddesi and then I saw that there was an opening into another street behind, or next to Istiklal Caddesi. Being the inquisitive little person I am I immediately decided to check it out, and while walking around, I came upon a semi-museum type thing that was hosting some exhibitions. To spend time doing something cultural, I decided to go in and check it out. The decision was helped by the fact that there was no entrance fee apparently because it was museum week, which made me very happy :D

I went in. It's a five story building, and on the first two floors there was supposed to be exhibitions of Turkish pottery and coins and whatnot, but they were still setting up those exhibitions so I couldn't go in to check it out. However, there were other exhibitions going on: one was on the 4th and 5th floors of some of Miro's sculptures and paintings. The 3rd floor exhibit was of the collages made by Villegle. I don't have too much information on either of the artists but it was obvious that both of them were highly respected people. Here's a photo of the entrance to the collage exhibition...

There were some very impressive collages made by this person. The one I really liked had a lot of blue in it, and it had some surprising contents. Here's a photo of the whole collage itself...

And here's one of the detail...

Here's another interesting collage from the same exhibit...

This one I think is a rather political one, but it looks very interesting and honestly cool so...

Here's one that probably had freedom and peace as its main theme...

After walking through the exhibitions, I went back to the guys' apartment, but the door was still closed, so I decided I'd check out the supermarket they've got to see if maybe they were there, and most happily, they were! So having found them, I hung out with those awesome 9 other people and had a good time. After that, I went home, ate dinner, and slept the night away until the next morning, when our class actually started. A wonderful time.

And this post is probably longer than I intended it to be but that's because of the pictures. The collages were really nice, and I decided not to photograph any of Miro's artwork because then most likely I would've had to explain them and I honestly had no idea what they were about even with their names on cards in front of them. A fun day :D

Busy Saturday

Saturday was definitely one of the busiest days of my life. I walked everywhere. I don't know why I didn't use the tram that was right with me everywhere I went. Public transportation is really very nice in Turkiye, there's the tram, the taxis, the train if you really want to get on there and do that, the buses (which take akbil, which is definitely my favorite and best friend right now), and the ferries. The ferries are definitely my favorite mode of transportation because I get to see almost the entirety of Istanbul in all its splendor. And depending on the time of day that I ride the ferry, I get to see Istanbul at its haziest (in the mornings usually), at its brightest (around midday--this mostly happens if we as a group are going to Asia), and of course, at its most classic view (at night--this is when everything is lit and you see the shadows of the buildings themselves but they're framed by the lights placed artistically around the buildings).

Back to Saturday itself. I woke up really early on Saturday, and I went to Fenerbahce Camii where I saw some very old friends and prayed the morning prayer. Indeed. The forreal morning prayer :D Exactly. The one where you get up at four in the morning and make it to the mosque by five. It was wonderful. No one in the mosque except for the few others who wanted and knew to come. A peaceful mosque; one that hasn't gone through the hassle of having millions of tourists walking through along with the Muslims who actually come to pray. No smell, no sound. Just silence. And then the prayer starts. Moving in sync with the people next to you. Nothing gives a sense of community like the way Muslims pray. No matter that some of them might be doing different motions at different points of the prayer--the basic ones are all the same, and everyone does them at the same time.

So I woke up and went to the mosque and prayed with a group of people including my uncle, who gave me a ride so many thanks are due to him. After the prayer we all went to the house of one of the people who participated in the prayer and had breakfast. After breakfast, I asked my uncle to drop me off at the Uskudar Iskele and from there I went to Karakoy. I walked across the Galata Bridge. Here's a picture of Suleymaniye Mosque as seen from the bridge...

They're doing construction on it right now, but I like how the blue things around the minarets kind of blend into the blue of the sky.

I did a lot of walking around Eminonu on Saturday. I went through the Misir Carsisi to Kapali Carsi, and from there I walked to Suleymaniye Camii itself. I don't have too many pictures of that day, but it was a fun day. After walking around I finally made my way back to SultanAhmet Camii and there I sat down for a while and rested a little. That was when I remembered that Omid Safi, another professor at UNC, had also brought students over here, so I decided to call them. Having called their hotel I learned that they had left for SultanAhmet! So, since I was already there, I went on ahead into the mosque complex itself and lo and behold, there they were! I'm really happy I was able to find them, because Omid took his students to a little mosque called Little Aya Sofia which is exactly as it sounds. Its a little mosque now, but it used to be a church. The mihrab part of the mosque isn't like any of the other mosques--usually there is some type of architectural design that goes with the place, but in this case it was flat with little ornamentation. Also, around the walls of the place, the old writings in Greek or Roman still remained.

The mosque was also interesting because around it was an arts and crafts place where arts such as ebru, calligraphy, and many others were being displayed by the makers. There were some very beautiful things in there which I wish I had enough money to buy. There were also really cute cats around. And there were some kids playing who were really cute.

Oh, before going to the Little Aya Sofia, we saw Kaiser Wilhelm's fountain. It looked very nice and pretty and shiny, so here's a photo.

I don't have a holistic picture of the fountain, but its very pretty.

After walking around for that long I went home and shwoomped onto my bed. And that was basically the end of that day. A long day, but a fun one. :D

Beginning Days in Istanbul

After coming to Turkiye, I got picked up by my uncle and after that followed a storm of phone calls to everyone that I could remember to call that I had arrived safely. My SIM card worked, but I didn't have any minutes on it, so I couldn't call anyone. My mom could call me though, and things worked out after that since she got my uncle to call me and I got to tell him that I was just waiting for my luggage to come. So I came, and I got minutes on my phone, and then I was off. I didn't do too much my first half day here, so let's start with my second day here.

So. May 15. That day my uncle took me out and around Istanbul and showed me the way to the ferries and whatnot from my grandmother's house. I'm on the Asian side of Istanbul, and I have to go to the European side for my class. But, I'm liking it, because it's serious exercise, and besides which, I get a full view of Istanbul with the calm sea every time I get on the ferry.

After getting to the other side of Istanbul (the European side) my uncle took me to Istiklal Caddesi so I could walk around and see Galata Kulesi and the places around it. While walking on Istiklal Caddesi we went to the Galata Mevlevihanesi, and there I met Mercan Dede. Cool guy. Here's a photo of him talking with my uncle...

They talked for a while, and then we went our own ways. My uncle had a concert that night, so we went to that concert. It was fun. They sang some really nice songs that I probably would've enjoyed more if I hadn't been so sleepy and about to fall asleep. There was however, one song that I really liked that was played (instrumental) by a viola and a kanun. They played one of Cinucen Tanrikorur's compositions, and it was really wonderful. It also showed me just how powerful an instrument the ud is because even with the combination of the viola and the kanun they couldn't really give me the feeling that the ud does whenever I hear it.

That's just a part of the whole song. It was very beautiful and I can honestly say that that was probably my most favorite part of the whole concert.

That was pretty much my Thursday. Friday I didn't do too much...I went to the other side of Istanbul again and met with Professor Shields to see the apartments and everything. After that, I met up with my uncle and then we went home.

The Flights, the waits, the calls, and finally, the one and only: arrival

So to save money, I flew from RDU to Boston. The flight was fine and we definitely had one of the smoothest landings I remember ever being in. The airport at Boston, however, was a very interesting experience. I have experience with JFK and New York, but Boston I don't remember ever going to, or going through, so that was totally new. But, I figured out where I had to go and how I had to go (terminal E for which I took bus 66. 11 would also have worked)

The flight from Boston to London was okay too. I was at one of those seats that begin the rows of seats, so I had space to stretch out my legs which was great and the people next to me where pretty cool as well. A tiny incident happened when the hostess noticed that I hadn't placed my backpack in one of the bin things so I had to haul butt and get that up in one of the bins. I'd been covering my legs with a blanket and everything so...well anyways. I've gotten where I intended to go safe and sound.

When I got to London, I got on one of the buses that would take me to Terminal 5. And yeah. They do drive on the opposite side of the road. And I wasn't really paying attention to it until I noticed that we were going in the lane of the car that was coming at us from the right...and then I remembered: "Waaaiiit a minute...I'm in England nooww!!!" and everything was fine.

They have a Starbucks in the middle of Terminal 5. Its everywhere. I don't really know what spreads faster, Starbucks or mosquitoes. Well, I got to London, and then to Terminal 5, and I went and ate breakfast because I was hungry. Why else would one eat breakfast? I mean you never know :D I had three pancakes--one with blueberries, one with bananas, and one with Canadian maple sauce. Goood, filling stuff. And I drank tea obviously. After that wonderful breakfast, I went and walked around the terminal for a while to occupy myself. When it got near the time for my flight I went and bought a Starbucks latte and a scone so that I wouldn't fall asleep. Nice flight and afterwards I was finally in ISTANBUL!!!

First Post---still in America

Welcome and hello.
This'll be my first post on my blog--I'm still in America right now; my plane is tomorrow afternoon. I'll be flying from RDU to Boston, to London/Heathrow, and then finally arrive in that most beautiful of cities, Istanbul. (take off from America May 13, but because we're going over a whole ocean and time difference, I'll get there May 14.)

I am excited. The Turkish word for it probably gives a better sense, so I'll put heyecanli instead. Its not just that this is going to be the longest trip to Turkiye I've ever taken, or the fact that its comprised both of a study abroad program and then a month-long, much-needed vacation, but the fact that I'm going alone. I have never gone to Turkiye on my own before. I've come back to America alone, but I've never gone alone. Nor have I ever stayed at my grandparents' house by myself without my mom or dad near me. It will be a completely unique experience. Some might say, "Duh" to that, and I would agree, so let me rephrase and say this: this will be an unprecedented experience.

I'm packed. I have my ticket. I have two hand luggage and two normal biiiig luggage that will hopefully (inshaallah) arrive in Turkiye at the same time as me. My trusty computer and awesome camera are coming with me. All that's left is getting through security and then boarding the plane. Oh, another reason why this flight is unprecedented: it's my first flight ever on British Airways. That's right. I'm flying with British Airways. Not Turkish Airlines. We'll see how that goes.

May all those who are traveling arrive where they're going safely. May all those remaining stay safe and be well. And may all those reading this who are grammar and spelling and vocabulary people forgive me my errors. Good night to everyone!!