At Taps.
And did laundry.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Last-Minute Touring
We journeyed in the morning to Mustafapaşa, an old Greek town. Did some exploring. So much blue. Everything was blue. Stopped in a place called Merkez Pastanesi for a pastry. The only thing without pistachio was rice pudding. It was to die for. Jake and Elliot both, after giving me a lecture about how they hate rice pudding, loved it.
Next we hit up a carpet gallery in Güreme, where we got a tour and learned about how carpets are made, how they're designed, and how they're sold. We also got a first-hand look at how silk is unravelled and rolled, and at some very, very expensive carpets. One 100% silk carpet was selling for $156,000. Another for £700,000. Our tour guide for the shop, a fifth generation carpet man, insisted we walk on all of them barefoot. It was glorious.
Our next stop was Avanos, a small town where we visited a ceramics shop, though it was more of a factory and tourist trap. Unlike the Whirling Dervishes, who only perform for tourists with the hopes of inspiring one of us to join their ranks, and who don't charge for the show, the ceramics shop had making, firing, painting, and especially selling ceramics to tours and tourists down to a science. I myself even bought a small bowl for keys and change, though I got the one on sale for 12TL, not the expensive ones.
We walked over the Red River, which had swollen up in the recent weather. It's the longest river in Turkey. Just had to mention it.
Next we dined at a small cooperative restaurant called Avanos Kadın Girişimciler Kooperatifi, where we had delicious home-cooked food from local women who were kind enough to feed us.
Then to the airport. We said our goodbyes to Sevim (though we'll see her again on our next excursion during Spring Break in April). We weren't delayed long, but managed to fly from Aksaray back to Istanbul with relative speed. It was an hour-long flight, and then another 40 minutes or so in the ban back to the dorm.
We were all exhausted. But Isabelle convinced me to join a small group (Laika, Savannah, Isabelle, and Sean) to find the AC Milan vs. Arsenal game. We didn't find it until after the half, around 10:30, at Taps, the American bar. AC Milan destroyed Arsenal 4-0, so we didn't stay for the whole game.
We cabbed back to the Superdorm and went our separate ways for bed. But I lost my keys. I think they're back at Taps but I'll check tomorrow. Either way, I had to get the security guards to let me into the room.
Asleep by 2.
Next we hit up a carpet gallery in Güreme, where we got a tour and learned about how carpets are made, how they're designed, and how they're sold. We also got a first-hand look at how silk is unravelled and rolled, and at some very, very expensive carpets. One 100% silk carpet was selling for $156,000. Another for £700,000. Our tour guide for the shop, a fifth generation carpet man, insisted we walk on all of them barefoot. It was glorious.
Our next stop was Avanos, a small town where we visited a ceramics shop, though it was more of a factory and tourist trap. Unlike the Whirling Dervishes, who only perform for tourists with the hopes of inspiring one of us to join their ranks, and who don't charge for the show, the ceramics shop had making, firing, painting, and especially selling ceramics to tours and tourists down to a science. I myself even bought a small bowl for keys and change, though I got the one on sale for 12TL, not the expensive ones.
We walked over the Red River, which had swollen up in the recent weather. It's the longest river in Turkey. Just had to mention it.
Next we dined at a small cooperative restaurant called Avanos Kadın Girişimciler Kooperatifi, where we had delicious home-cooked food from local women who were kind enough to feed us.
Then to the airport. We said our goodbyes to Sevim (though we'll see her again on our next excursion during Spring Break in April). We weren't delayed long, but managed to fly from Aksaray back to Istanbul with relative speed. It was an hour-long flight, and then another 40 minutes or so in the ban back to the dorm.
We were all exhausted. But Isabelle convinced me to join a small group (Laika, Savannah, Isabelle, and Sean) to find the AC Milan vs. Arsenal game. We didn't find it until after the half, around 10:30, at Taps, the American bar. AC Milan destroyed Arsenal 4-0, so we didn't stay for the whole game.
We cabbed back to the Superdorm and went our separate ways for bed. But I lost my keys. I think they're back at Taps but I'll check tomorrow. Either way, I had to get the security guards to let me into the room.
Asleep by 2.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Cappadocia in Five Acts
It's been a long day. So I'm presenting it in 5 acts.
Act I: Balloons
We woke up at 5am. Let me repeat. 5am. It was miserable. The sun hadn't even come up yet.
At 5:45 we had loaded into a minibus that took us (just the students, Karanfil and Zaynep) to a pitiful breakfast buffet. But as the sun rose our spirits brightened, because we were being taken to a hot air balloon!
We got a good deal on a hot air balloon ride. What is normally 160€/person we managed to knock down to 70€ each. Cappadocia is now the number one destination for hot air ballooning, and we found out why.
Cappadocia Voyager Balloons took us in a massive basket through valleys, past fairy chimneys, and into the sky over 800m! We passed snow covered hills and barren plateaus, hidden caves and sandy dunes. It was breathtaking. Other balloons joined us, many of them, dotting the sky with all kinds of colors.
I was admittedly timid about the balloon ride. After all, you're standing in a basket - a woven, flammable basket - under a large canvas enclosure, with a pilot (Sadi was his name) firing flames full force into it. If I was so inclined, jumping out (or falling) would be easy. There was no safety lecture. Besides, as Fuat, who met us there and joined us on the ride kept reminding us, the pilot does not control the direction of the balloon, only the height. All these fears were laid to rest when I realized that we were already 40 feet off the ground and I hadn't even felt us taking off.
We came to a gentle landing several miles from the starting point, after about an hour in the air. Some coworkers of our pilot brought a trailer to load the basket into, and our pilot masterfully landed us directly on the trailer.
After we got out, everyone grinning ear-to-ear from the experience, we were given some sort of sparkling champagne substitute, and then we were back on the van to go to the hotel.
Act II: Fairy Chimneys
About 9:30 we took the bus a little ways and hiked over a hill to find a cluster of fairy chimneys. These are the remains of volcanic plateaus that eroded away, leaving pillars whose dense stones on top keep the porous base from eroding. Sevim likened it, in great detail, to a cake with nuts. The icing is the first to go when you pour water on it, but the nuts hold down the cake in part, leaving fairy chimneys.
These were really quite beautiful. A few were carved into, and I crawled up into one, up a few stairs and then through a vertical shaft. Inside I found two caves, suspended above the ground, one on top of the other. They were beautiful and offered another great view of the other fairy chimneys, as well as a look at the kind of life the hermit who used to live there led.
Others came after me into the chimney, and we took some fun photos up there. But all good things must end, and we were ushered after a little while to the next stop. Emily and I even had to forego a camel ride to leave.
Act III: Göreme Açikhava Müzesi
In Göreme, where we were (within the Cappadocia region) there's a series of cave churches in a little clustered complex. Our next stop.
Some of the cave churches dated back as far as the 2nd or 3rd centuries. They had simple red painted walls and ceilings which, if they didn't accompany some more impressive frescos on occasion, I would have thought were drawn by a five year old with a very long lasting red crayon. Others, like the dark church, were detailed and incredibly impressive works of art, with medieval frescos covering every inch of the interior. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I snapped a ton without flash from a hidden position. Some things are too glorious to not capture on film.
Outside Göreme Açikhava Müzesi, we stopped at another cave church. This one was much larger than the others, and had obvious evidence of eons of use. There were exposed parts showing the red crayon drawings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries; there was a large central corridor that boasted frescos of an early medieval period; there was a larger interior on whose walls are depicted countless biblical passages in a mid-to-high medieval style. In short, a very fascinating structure.
Act IV: The Valley of Death
To pass time between the Open Air Museum and the nighttime entertainment, Sevim took us on a hike. Sean opted out, but everyone else went. The bus put us at the start to Meşkendir (or something like that) valley, and picked us up in the town we ended up in. It was not an easy hike for all involved. Snow still on the ground made for icy terrain, water from the slowly melting snow made the ground that wasn't ice into mud, and the inclines did not help the situation.
But it was a fun time regardless. We passed through the valley, uninjured, to the other side.
Some highlights: pigeon holes, carved into the rock by people hundreds of years ago, were used to house pigeons so their feces could be collected and used for fertilizer. This practice only went out of common use about 40 years ago. I found a pigeon hole a little ways up a cliff and climbed inside. It was small, but little indents in the walls made perfect beds for the pigeons.
We stumbled across a small church. Well, it was a fairy chimney church, tucked into a pillar of stone. Only two minor remains of frescos are still on the wall, both of saints, and the room could only hold maybe 8 worshippers, but it was really cool to find along the side of the road and climb up into.
A man was selling drinks on the side of the road. He had clearly had no customers that day but still insisted on quoting me 4TL for a diet coke. I quickly rejected it and brought him to 2, which would still give him a profit margin... I felt bad for him, after all.
Act V: Sarihan Caravan Sarayi
We got back to the hotel and changed overly dirty clothes (though I'm pretty much out of options. Last laundry I did was in Kiev). At 5 we met to go to a show.
Whirling Dervishes is a Sufi tradition of spinning meditation in a trance. Five men, dressed in long white robes, accompanied by five musicians and a leader, performed the act. The musicians were two flautists (well, recorder players), an Oud player, a santur player, and a drummer with two drums.
At 5:45 sharp the 10 men arrived on the small stage one by one. We were seated on one side, and other groups were on the other two sides.
The show began with one of the flautists singing a prayer, then a long instrumental. The dervishes then rise from their place of kneeling and circled the stage slowly three times, bowing to each other the whole way. After the third rotation they began whirling, with one hand limp above them, pointing to the earth, and the other open above as well, facing the sky. To the music they turned, turned, turned. This lasted for a while, with 5 separate sets of whirling. At the end, the leader read from the Quran and sung a final blessing before they all departed as they had come in, one by one.
I struggled to stay awake and warm, exhausted from the 5am wakeup and the hike, and without a jacket indoors. I didn't account for the cold wind coming from being so close (front row) to the whirling dervishes.
Probably the coolest thing about the show was its location, Sarihan Caravan Sarayi. This was a stop along the silk route, where caravans would stay for free up to three days along their journey. They didn't even touch much on that, but it was really cool.
Our group had a romantic Valentine's Day dinner, wine and all, at a restaurant called Ziggy's after the show, a place that our professor Karanfil found for us. She met the chef years ago after falling in love with his cooking and made sure to bring us to his new place on this trip. We were not disappointed.
We walked back to the hotel, which took a little while, and drank some in some rooms. The guys ended up on the 5th floor watching a soccer game. After Barcelona won, we split up. Bed around midnight.
Act I: Balloons
We woke up at 5am. Let me repeat. 5am. It was miserable. The sun hadn't even come up yet.
At 5:45 we had loaded into a minibus that took us (just the students, Karanfil and Zaynep) to a pitiful breakfast buffet. But as the sun rose our spirits brightened, because we were being taken to a hot air balloon!
We got a good deal on a hot air balloon ride. What is normally 160€/person we managed to knock down to 70€ each. Cappadocia is now the number one destination for hot air ballooning, and we found out why.
Cappadocia Voyager Balloons took us in a massive basket through valleys, past fairy chimneys, and into the sky over 800m! We passed snow covered hills and barren plateaus, hidden caves and sandy dunes. It was breathtaking. Other balloons joined us, many of them, dotting the sky with all kinds of colors.
I was admittedly timid about the balloon ride. After all, you're standing in a basket - a woven, flammable basket - under a large canvas enclosure, with a pilot (Sadi was his name) firing flames full force into it. If I was so inclined, jumping out (or falling) would be easy. There was no safety lecture. Besides, as Fuat, who met us there and joined us on the ride kept reminding us, the pilot does not control the direction of the balloon, only the height. All these fears were laid to rest when I realized that we were already 40 feet off the ground and I hadn't even felt us taking off.
We came to a gentle landing several miles from the starting point, after about an hour in the air. Some coworkers of our pilot brought a trailer to load the basket into, and our pilot masterfully landed us directly on the trailer.
After we got out, everyone grinning ear-to-ear from the experience, we were given some sort of sparkling champagne substitute, and then we were back on the van to go to the hotel.
Act II: Fairy Chimneys
About 9:30 we took the bus a little ways and hiked over a hill to find a cluster of fairy chimneys. These are the remains of volcanic plateaus that eroded away, leaving pillars whose dense stones on top keep the porous base from eroding. Sevim likened it, in great detail, to a cake with nuts. The icing is the first to go when you pour water on it, but the nuts hold down the cake in part, leaving fairy chimneys.
These were really quite beautiful. A few were carved into, and I crawled up into one, up a few stairs and then through a vertical shaft. Inside I found two caves, suspended above the ground, one on top of the other. They were beautiful and offered another great view of the other fairy chimneys, as well as a look at the kind of life the hermit who used to live there led.
Others came after me into the chimney, and we took some fun photos up there. But all good things must end, and we were ushered after a little while to the next stop. Emily and I even had to forego a camel ride to leave.
Act III: Göreme Açikhava Müzesi
In Göreme, where we were (within the Cappadocia region) there's a series of cave churches in a little clustered complex. Our next stop.
Some of the cave churches dated back as far as the 2nd or 3rd centuries. They had simple red painted walls and ceilings which, if they didn't accompany some more impressive frescos on occasion, I would have thought were drawn by a five year old with a very long lasting red crayon. Others, like the dark church, were detailed and incredibly impressive works of art, with medieval frescos covering every inch of the interior. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I snapped a ton without flash from a hidden position. Some things are too glorious to not capture on film.
Outside Göreme Açikhava Müzesi, we stopped at another cave church. This one was much larger than the others, and had obvious evidence of eons of use. There were exposed parts showing the red crayon drawings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries; there was a large central corridor that boasted frescos of an early medieval period; there was a larger interior on whose walls are depicted countless biblical passages in a mid-to-high medieval style. In short, a very fascinating structure.
Act IV: The Valley of Death
To pass time between the Open Air Museum and the nighttime entertainment, Sevim took us on a hike. Sean opted out, but everyone else went. The bus put us at the start to Meşkendir (or something like that) valley, and picked us up in the town we ended up in. It was not an easy hike for all involved. Snow still on the ground made for icy terrain, water from the slowly melting snow made the ground that wasn't ice into mud, and the inclines did not help the situation.
But it was a fun time regardless. We passed through the valley, uninjured, to the other side.
Some highlights: pigeon holes, carved into the rock by people hundreds of years ago, were used to house pigeons so their feces could be collected and used for fertilizer. This practice only went out of common use about 40 years ago. I found a pigeon hole a little ways up a cliff and climbed inside. It was small, but little indents in the walls made perfect beds for the pigeons.
We stumbled across a small church. Well, it was a fairy chimney church, tucked into a pillar of stone. Only two minor remains of frescos are still on the wall, both of saints, and the room could only hold maybe 8 worshippers, but it was really cool to find along the side of the road and climb up into.
A man was selling drinks on the side of the road. He had clearly had no customers that day but still insisted on quoting me 4TL for a diet coke. I quickly rejected it and brought him to 2, which would still give him a profit margin... I felt bad for him, after all.
Act V: Sarihan Caravan Sarayi
We got back to the hotel and changed overly dirty clothes (though I'm pretty much out of options. Last laundry I did was in Kiev). At 5 we met to go to a show.
Whirling Dervishes is a Sufi tradition of spinning meditation in a trance. Five men, dressed in long white robes, accompanied by five musicians and a leader, performed the act. The musicians were two flautists (well, recorder players), an Oud player, a santur player, and a drummer with two drums.
At 5:45 sharp the 10 men arrived on the small stage one by one. We were seated on one side, and other groups were on the other two sides.
The show began with one of the flautists singing a prayer, then a long instrumental. The dervishes then rise from their place of kneeling and circled the stage slowly three times, bowing to each other the whole way. After the third rotation they began whirling, with one hand limp above them, pointing to the earth, and the other open above as well, facing the sky. To the music they turned, turned, turned. This lasted for a while, with 5 separate sets of whirling. At the end, the leader read from the Quran and sung a final blessing before they all departed as they had come in, one by one.
I struggled to stay awake and warm, exhausted from the 5am wakeup and the hike, and without a jacket indoors. I didn't account for the cold wind coming from being so close (front row) to the whirling dervishes.
Probably the coolest thing about the show was its location, Sarihan Caravan Sarayi. This was a stop along the silk route, where caravans would stay for free up to three days along their journey. They didn't even touch much on that, but it was really cool.
Our group had a romantic Valentine's Day dinner, wine and all, at a restaurant called Ziggy's after the show, a place that our professor Karanfil found for us. She met the chef years ago after falling in love with his cooking and made sure to bring us to his new place on this trip. We were not disappointed.
We walked back to the hotel, which took a little while, and drank some in some rooms. The guys ended up on the 5th floor watching a soccer game. After Barcelona won, we split up. Bed around midnight.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Cave Carem
We got an early start from Antioch this morning, and spent most of the day traveling. Theme for the day: Caves and Cars.
In the bus, we drove north past Iskenderun, a port town that supports inland Antioch. We crossed the Taurus mountains through the Gulek straight, an ear-and-eye-popping, snow-topped experience. After a few hours, we stopped at a monastery. In a cave.
The monastery, Eski Gümüşler, was built way way back when it wasn't cool to be Christian. They dug into the soft volcanic rock a large monastery that would be unknown to the world, but for a small opening in the rock in the front. A large courtyard was open to the sky, and burial pits and worshipping rooms were still intact. Again, all carved out of the rock, not built.
Inside were beautiful paintings and frescos of traditional Christian scenes, along with winding passageways and random holes in the ground, either from over zealous digging or age-related wear and tear.
Back in the bus for a while, we drove to our next stop, Kaymakli, a massive underground network of caves that stretches for miles, across a vast area, 18 levels deep. We only explored four of the levels, as they are the only ones open to the public (most of the 18 are as of yet uncovered). It was in underground networks like Kaymakli that settlers would store their food and animals, as well as themselves, when Arab raiders passed through the area. This was apparently a frequent occurrence, and the raids would last for a few hundred years. We wandered to and fro, crouching low and hitting our heads on the low hanging ceilings (well, so was the case for myself and a few of the other tall people).
After Kaymakli, we were back on the road in the bus, arriving at our hotel in the heart of Cappadocia after sunset. A delicious dinner had us ready for bed, though we spent a while all downstairs drinking in the bar. I'm rooming with David for the next two nights.
Oh, did I mention our hotel, Hotel Alfina, is a cave? The entire hotel is carved into the side of a mountain. Our room is a cave. The bar is a cave. Everything is a cave. And we have a jacuzzi bathtub. In the cave bathroom.
Early-ish bedtime, as we have a long day ahead of us.
In the bus, we drove north past Iskenderun, a port town that supports inland Antioch. We crossed the Taurus mountains through the Gulek straight, an ear-and-eye-popping, snow-topped experience. After a few hours, we stopped at a monastery. In a cave.
The monastery, Eski Gümüşler, was built way way back when it wasn't cool to be Christian. They dug into the soft volcanic rock a large monastery that would be unknown to the world, but for a small opening in the rock in the front. A large courtyard was open to the sky, and burial pits and worshipping rooms were still intact. Again, all carved out of the rock, not built.
Inside were beautiful paintings and frescos of traditional Christian scenes, along with winding passageways and random holes in the ground, either from over zealous digging or age-related wear and tear.
Back in the bus for a while, we drove to our next stop, Kaymakli, a massive underground network of caves that stretches for miles, across a vast area, 18 levels deep. We only explored four of the levels, as they are the only ones open to the public (most of the 18 are as of yet uncovered). It was in underground networks like Kaymakli that settlers would store their food and animals, as well as themselves, when Arab raiders passed through the area. This was apparently a frequent occurrence, and the raids would last for a few hundred years. We wandered to and fro, crouching low and hitting our heads on the low hanging ceilings (well, so was the case for myself and a few of the other tall people).
After Kaymakli, we were back on the road in the bus, arriving at our hotel in the heart of Cappadocia after sunset. A delicious dinner had us ready for bed, though we spent a while all downstairs drinking in the bar. I'm rooming with David for the next two nights.
Oh, did I mention our hotel, Hotel Alfina, is a cave? The entire hotel is carved into the side of a mountain. Our room is a cave. The bar is a cave. Everything is a cave. And we have a jacuzzi bathtub. In the cave bathroom.
Early-ish bedtime, as we have a long day ahead of us.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
"Yes of course! The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch! 'Tis one of the sacred relics Brother Maynard carries with him!" - Monty Python's Holy Grail
We woke up on this second day in Antioch, way to early. At 8. We left at 9. Big day ahead of us.
Our first stop was a synagogue. The building itself is small and unimpressive, tucked away in a little courtyard. Inside, there is seating for maybe 50, with a small raised platform for the women on one side. All seats are bench style, circling around a central Bimah. The ark is a walk-in arc, with no less than seven torahs, the youngest dating back 300 years. Each are presented in a more middle eastern style, encased in a cylindrical wood box, from which it is not removed, instead of keeping them in satin or cloth coverings.
Two men came to show us the synagogue. An older man gave a presentation about the building and the Jewish community as a whole. The former has been around since the 1870s, converted from a home for about 6 Palestinian Lira (no exaggeration). The latter has inhabited Antioch for more than 2,000 years continuously. Today, there are approximately 30 Jewish men left in town, the second youngest of which is no younger than 50. The youngest, Samuel Kohen, was the second man present. He's probably in his mid-twenties, and is about to bring his fiancée to Antioch in two months for the first Jewish wedding the city has seen in 25 years.
The Jewish community is dying out here, but not in the same way as in Europe. The Nazis never made it into Turkey to deport the Jews. Nor were there particularly anti-Jewish laws enacted in Turkey that were designed to get rid of Jews. In fact, both men kept insisting that Antioch has some of the most tolerant history of any place on earth, and that the people who live here are more accepting of each other than ever. It was mostly economic hardship, much of which had a wider circle of influence than just Jews, that drove most out. The older man, in his younger years, remembers a community of over 500 Jews. But that's just no longer the case, in this ancient city of Judaism.
I said Mazel Tov to Samuel on his wedding and we were on our way. Next stop, a catholic church.
We wound through street after street, down countless alleyways. Jean Pierre Carcar, our local guide and resident crazy, took us on twists and turns through the city. I think we were biding our time.
The church was in an alleyway off a main road. Jean Pierre or, as I began calling him at lunch to his delight, JP, brought us into a little courtyard. We walked up the steps to see the bell and look out over the roofs of the city. But finally we gathered in the chapel, greeted by familiar catholic imagery and an unfamiliar amount of iconography. Then in came Father Domenico Bertogli.
The Father is Italian, but has been in Antioch since 1996. He heard years ago that the catholic community in Antakya needed a priest, and he was happy to oblige. In fact, it was here in Antioch that the disciples and followers of Jesus were first called Christians. Father Bertogli would know -- he co-authored the book on it. We all got a copy. I got it signed.
Next to the church was an adjoining kitchen. Our lunch was there, which was prepared by JP's mother, an adorable babushka with impeccable cooking skills. Never been so happy to have an all-vegetarian lunch.
We did a little mosque exploration after the catholic church. But the real jewel was what happened after that.
A short drive in our bus took us to the side of a mountain, where we found ourselves in the first church. Ever.
Founded by St. Peter, God knows how many years ago (he probably does know), the church is actually a cave, which at a time was plastered and fixed up. Several hundred years ago, someone had a stone façade installed in the mouth of the cave. Inside, a modest stone altar and an even more modest stone seat for the preacher stood at the back wall. To the left behind it, a tiny opening led to what was once an escape tunnel, but has since closed off in a minor collapse. We could only crawl up so far into it. It was apparently used in case of a raid by the local soldiery.
This place was simple, but amazing. A church founded by Saint Peter, in the city in which the Disciples were first called Christians. "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my church."
We hit up a mosaic museum next, which was the biggest in the world until the Zeugma museum... Impressive, but not THAT impressive.
When we got back to the hotel, we fell asleep. Well, Jake, Sean and I did. We passed out. For an epic three hours. We missed the catholic mass that several people went to, which I heard was ok, as it felt to a lot of people like they were converting the Jews who went. But the Jews also insisted that the services were more like reform Jewish services than Catholic mass.
Dinner at 7 in the hotel. JP was there.
JP Carcar is 18 years old, barely. He's incredibly tall and very religious. He was extremely to spend time with we Americans and was an endless source of hilarity. He found out before lunch my name was Marshall, and started chanting "We Are Marshall, We Are Marshall!" as the movie of the same name did. Eventually that wasn't good enough, so he began to take away our right to be Marshall and started some other chants. "We are Isabelle! We are David! We are Kate!" All in good fun, some people got a little annoyed, but I enjoyed it.
JP, Isabelle, David, Rhys and I went out around 9:30 and picked up a bunch of Tuborg Special and Efes Xtra for 4TL each, relatively cheap for Turkey. They also bought a bottle of wine for 15TL, which I did not partake in.
We went back to Rhys and David's room and drank for a few hours, getting pretty rowdy while having surprisingly deep conversation.
Just before midnight we all broke up. As we separated, I had an epiphany. We are in Antioch! The site of the home of the world famous Holy Hand Grenade! I couldn't believe it, and resolved to watch the YouTube video from the Monty Python movie ASAP.
Rhys and I walked JP across the bridge towards his home, about halfway. It was a fun little 5-minute walk, and we took some nighttime photos on the way back.
Jake and Sean and I watched some Monty Python YouTube videos and I read a bit aloud from one of my Simon Rich books, Free-Range Chickens. Bed at 2.
We woke up on this second day in Antioch, way to early. At 8. We left at 9. Big day ahead of us.
Our first stop was a synagogue. The building itself is small and unimpressive, tucked away in a little courtyard. Inside, there is seating for maybe 50, with a small raised platform for the women on one side. All seats are bench style, circling around a central Bimah. The ark is a walk-in arc, with no less than seven torahs, the youngest dating back 300 years. Each are presented in a more middle eastern style, encased in a cylindrical wood box, from which it is not removed, instead of keeping them in satin or cloth coverings.
Two men came to show us the synagogue. An older man gave a presentation about the building and the Jewish community as a whole. The former has been around since the 1870s, converted from a home for about 6 Palestinian Lira (no exaggeration). The latter has inhabited Antioch for more than 2,000 years continuously. Today, there are approximately 30 Jewish men left in town, the second youngest of which is no younger than 50. The youngest, Samuel Kohen, was the second man present. He's probably in his mid-twenties, and is about to bring his fiancée to Antioch in two months for the first Jewish wedding the city has seen in 25 years.
The Jewish community is dying out here, but not in the same way as in Europe. The Nazis never made it into Turkey to deport the Jews. Nor were there particularly anti-Jewish laws enacted in Turkey that were designed to get rid of Jews. In fact, both men kept insisting that Antioch has some of the most tolerant history of any place on earth, and that the people who live here are more accepting of each other than ever. It was mostly economic hardship, much of which had a wider circle of influence than just Jews, that drove most out. The older man, in his younger years, remembers a community of over 500 Jews. But that's just no longer the case, in this ancient city of Judaism.
I said Mazel Tov to Samuel on his wedding and we were on our way. Next stop, a catholic church.
We wound through street after street, down countless alleyways. Jean Pierre Carcar, our local guide and resident crazy, took us on twists and turns through the city. I think we were biding our time.
The church was in an alleyway off a main road. Jean Pierre or, as I began calling him at lunch to his delight, JP, brought us into a little courtyard. We walked up the steps to see the bell and look out over the roofs of the city. But finally we gathered in the chapel, greeted by familiar catholic imagery and an unfamiliar amount of iconography. Then in came Father Domenico Bertogli.
The Father is Italian, but has been in Antioch since 1996. He heard years ago that the catholic community in Antakya needed a priest, and he was happy to oblige. In fact, it was here in Antioch that the disciples and followers of Jesus were first called Christians. Father Bertogli would know -- he co-authored the book on it. We all got a copy. I got it signed.
Next to the church was an adjoining kitchen. Our lunch was there, which was prepared by JP's mother, an adorable babushka with impeccable cooking skills. Never been so happy to have an all-vegetarian lunch.
We did a little mosque exploration after the catholic church. But the real jewel was what happened after that.
A short drive in our bus took us to the side of a mountain, where we found ourselves in the first church. Ever.
Founded by St. Peter, God knows how many years ago (he probably does know), the church is actually a cave, which at a time was plastered and fixed up. Several hundred years ago, someone had a stone façade installed in the mouth of the cave. Inside, a modest stone altar and an even more modest stone seat for the preacher stood at the back wall. To the left behind it, a tiny opening led to what was once an escape tunnel, but has since closed off in a minor collapse. We could only crawl up so far into it. It was apparently used in case of a raid by the local soldiery.
This place was simple, but amazing. A church founded by Saint Peter, in the city in which the Disciples were first called Christians. "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my church."
We hit up a mosaic museum next, which was the biggest in the world until the Zeugma museum... Impressive, but not THAT impressive.
When we got back to the hotel, we fell asleep. Well, Jake, Sean and I did. We passed out. For an epic three hours. We missed the catholic mass that several people went to, which I heard was ok, as it felt to a lot of people like they were converting the Jews who went. But the Jews also insisted that the services were more like reform Jewish services than Catholic mass.
Dinner at 7 in the hotel. JP was there.
JP Carcar is 18 years old, barely. He's incredibly tall and very religious. He was extremely to spend time with we Americans and was an endless source of hilarity. He found out before lunch my name was Marshall, and started chanting "We Are Marshall, We Are Marshall!" as the movie of the same name did. Eventually that wasn't good enough, so he began to take away our right to be Marshall and started some other chants. "We are Isabelle! We are David! We are Kate!" All in good fun, some people got a little annoyed, but I enjoyed it.
JP, Isabelle, David, Rhys and I went out around 9:30 and picked up a bunch of Tuborg Special and Efes Xtra for 4TL each, relatively cheap for Turkey. They also bought a bottle of wine for 15TL, which I did not partake in.
We went back to Rhys and David's room and drank for a few hours, getting pretty rowdy while having surprisingly deep conversation.
Just before midnight we all broke up. As we separated, I had an epiphany. We are in Antioch! The site of the home of the world famous Holy Hand Grenade! I couldn't believe it, and resolved to watch the YouTube video from the Monty Python movie ASAP.
Rhys and I walked JP across the bridge towards his home, about halfway. It was a fun little 5-minute walk, and we took some nighttime photos on the way back.
Jake and Sean and I watched some Monty Python YouTube videos and I read a bit aloud from one of my Simon Rich books, Free-Range Chickens. Bed at 2.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Zeugma
I woke up after 10 solid hours of sleep. Burning up, because the temperature in the room was set to 80°F.
At ten to eight we were on the bus and drove to a nearby museum, the largest mosaic museum in the world, with mosaics exceeding 1,700 square meters.
All of the mosaics come from an ancient city called Zeugma, built on the banks of the Euphrates by one of Alexander the Great's generals (the city was named after him, but became Zeugma under the Roman Empire's control). At its height, Zeugma housed about 80,000 people, and had to import mosaic artists to make enough mosaics to satisfy local patrons. The city flourished until the 3rd century, when Rome lost control of the region, it was burned down and the main Euphrates crossing point was moved to elsewhere along the banks.
The museum was breathtaking. Housed inside a very modern building is a series of mosaics and frescos, organized to recreate how they fit into a Roman household, that almost defy description. Some depicted legendary figures of mythology, like Perseus and Andromeda, or Daedalus and Icarus. Others were more symbolic, depicted wheels of fortune and other beautiful patterns.
The centerpieces of the exhibit were two-fold: a bronze statue of Mars, almost completely undamaged (though we found out later it was a recasting, and the original is in a warehouse somewhere), shows a very angry man teeming with rage holding an olive branch of peace; a small mosaic of a girl with large earrings and a headdress known now as the Gypsy Girl. Both were incredible.
We got back in the bus and drove for 3 or 4 hours to Antakya, otherwise known as Antioch. The third largest city in the Roman Empire and a major stopover and pillaging site of the crusades, Antioch has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years. As such, there is no real old town, because the city has built upon itself for the entirety of that time.
We stopped for lunch somewhere, which was delicious. At ten to four we regrouped outside the restaurant and walked the epic distance of about 8m to our next stop, an orthodox church. We had a look around and had a brief talk (with translations provided) with the priest, who gives his services in Arabic (we're right by the Syrian border, so Arabic is very prominent here).
At 5 we were checked into our hotel and had a brief siesta until 7:30. My roommates tonight and tomorrow are Jake and Sean.
Dinner was in the hotel restaurant at 7:30. That was the only evening plan.
After dinner I finished a novel I've been reading on the iPad kindle app. I started it on the bus ride today. It's called Elliot Allagash by Simon Rich. Incredible book, and fantastically written.
Around 10 a bunch of us gathered in Ellen and Kate's room (sans Kate) and had a few beers while laughing (which occasionally produced tears) at Turkey's Got Talent.
1am bedtime, after story time.
At ten to eight we were on the bus and drove to a nearby museum, the largest mosaic museum in the world, with mosaics exceeding 1,700 square meters.
All of the mosaics come from an ancient city called Zeugma, built on the banks of the Euphrates by one of Alexander the Great's generals (the city was named after him, but became Zeugma under the Roman Empire's control). At its height, Zeugma housed about 80,000 people, and had to import mosaic artists to make enough mosaics to satisfy local patrons. The city flourished until the 3rd century, when Rome lost control of the region, it was burned down and the main Euphrates crossing point was moved to elsewhere along the banks.
The museum was breathtaking. Housed inside a very modern building is a series of mosaics and frescos, organized to recreate how they fit into a Roman household, that almost defy description. Some depicted legendary figures of mythology, like Perseus and Andromeda, or Daedalus and Icarus. Others were more symbolic, depicted wheels of fortune and other beautiful patterns.
The centerpieces of the exhibit were two-fold: a bronze statue of Mars, almost completely undamaged (though we found out later it was a recasting, and the original is in a warehouse somewhere), shows a very angry man teeming with rage holding an olive branch of peace; a small mosaic of a girl with large earrings and a headdress known now as the Gypsy Girl. Both were incredible.
We got back in the bus and drove for 3 or 4 hours to Antakya, otherwise known as Antioch. The third largest city in the Roman Empire and a major stopover and pillaging site of the crusades, Antioch has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years. As such, there is no real old town, because the city has built upon itself for the entirety of that time.
We stopped for lunch somewhere, which was delicious. At ten to four we regrouped outside the restaurant and walked the epic distance of about 8m to our next stop, an orthodox church. We had a look around and had a brief talk (with translations provided) with the priest, who gives his services in Arabic (we're right by the Syrian border, so Arabic is very prominent here).
At 5 we were checked into our hotel and had a brief siesta until 7:30. My roommates tonight and tomorrow are Jake and Sean.
Dinner was in the hotel restaurant at 7:30. That was the only evening plan.
After dinner I finished a novel I've been reading on the iPad kindle app. I started it on the bus ride today. It's called Elliot Allagash by Simon Rich. Incredible book, and fantastically written.
Around 10 a bunch of us gathered in Ellen and Kate's room (sans Kate) and had a few beers while laughing (which occasionally produced tears) at Turkey's Got Talent.
1am bedtime, after story time.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Pistachios...
We woke up at 7, and were downstairs for breakfast at 7:30. The group left at 8.
Sevim and her husband, Fuad, took us to Harran, the location of the oldest known mosque, called the Grand Mosque of Harran, a creation dating back to the 8th century. All that remains is a large section of wall, an arch, a pool for water in the center, and a 33m tall square-shaped brick minaret. It's a beautiful sight.
We got tea at a small commercial establishment near the mosque. The building is built in the traditional style of the area; each room is small and rectangular, with little arches between them. The roofs are conical structures made of 12th or 13th century stone stolen from the excavations nearby and packed with mud. There's a cone over each room. The tops are open to allow air and smoke ventilation.
Near this we went to an old castle dating back several centuries. It was in shambles, but we climbed into it and wandered around. I found several very cool (and probably very dangerous) passageways and lookout points.
Back on the bus, we drove back to Şanlı Urfa, to a museum that houses the oldest known life-size statue of a human, from approximately 9,000BC.
I've been feeling under the weather for several days, since I arrived in Istanbul and, so I believe, started drinking the tap water. Sevim was kind enough to call her doctor and describe my symptoms. He thinks I have a parasite, and recommended some OTC meds I could get at a pharmacy.
We returned to the hotel and made a short trek to an outdoor display of mosaics from an archeological dig of a house (probably Roman) just down the street. The mosaics were incomplete, but beautiful, and almost full sized, labelled, and complete figures existed for Achilles and Odysseus, which I enjoyed immensely.
We returned to the hotel around 1, and had lunch. I wasn't hungry, as with breakfast, when I ate a couple of apricots for the meal. But when I had a bite my appetite sort of returned.
I avoided the şış we were served and opted for a simpler food, the vegetarian option, a pita/cheese item.
We took a walk through the city next. The highlight was the cave.
According to legend, in this cave in Şanlı Urfa, Abraham was born. His mother went to the cave to give birth because the idol-worshipping king was having all the sons at the time killed to avoid the prophecy that what eventually came to pass would pass.
Abraham lived in the cave for years and eventually made his way out and became acquainted with the ruler. Then he declared war on the idols, and smashed them all. He was arrested and was to be executed. From the top of the nearby castle (which we saw) there were two tall pillars (still there) from which he was slingshot into a pit of fire below. But God changed the fire to water and the wood to carp and saved Abraham.
All true.
The cave was beautiful, and had a mosque built around it. We paid our respects.
Next we wandered the marketplace, stopping only for pistachio coffee (a deadly combination for me, given my distaste for coffee and anaphylactic allergy to pistachio). We were in a rush though, so we headed back soon and got on the bus to the next stop.
We drove for two hours to Gaziantep, the pistachio capital of the world. Really great place for me to be. Along the way we crossed the Euphrates.
In Gaziantep, we checked into Tugcan, our hotel, and had a half hour break. I'm rooming with Ben and Rhys tonight.
At 6:45 we went out to dinner. My stomach wasn't feeling so good, so I avoided the feast and stuck with Pide. It's a good thing, anyway. This city puts pistachio on everything. The name for pistachio in Turkish is Antep Fıstığı, a word derived from Gaziantep!
Back at the hotel at 8 and a bit. I went to the room to relax and sleep. I did just that. Took my parasite pills that Sevim had bought for me.
Everyone else went out for a bit.
Sevim and her husband, Fuad, took us to Harran, the location of the oldest known mosque, called the Grand Mosque of Harran, a creation dating back to the 8th century. All that remains is a large section of wall, an arch, a pool for water in the center, and a 33m tall square-shaped brick minaret. It's a beautiful sight.
We got tea at a small commercial establishment near the mosque. The building is built in the traditional style of the area; each room is small and rectangular, with little arches between them. The roofs are conical structures made of 12th or 13th century stone stolen from the excavations nearby and packed with mud. There's a cone over each room. The tops are open to allow air and smoke ventilation.
Near this we went to an old castle dating back several centuries. It was in shambles, but we climbed into it and wandered around. I found several very cool (and probably very dangerous) passageways and lookout points.
Back on the bus, we drove back to Şanlı Urfa, to a museum that houses the oldest known life-size statue of a human, from approximately 9,000BC.
I've been feeling under the weather for several days, since I arrived in Istanbul and, so I believe, started drinking the tap water. Sevim was kind enough to call her doctor and describe my symptoms. He thinks I have a parasite, and recommended some OTC meds I could get at a pharmacy.
We returned to the hotel and made a short trek to an outdoor display of mosaics from an archeological dig of a house (probably Roman) just down the street. The mosaics were incomplete, but beautiful, and almost full sized, labelled, and complete figures existed for Achilles and Odysseus, which I enjoyed immensely.
We returned to the hotel around 1, and had lunch. I wasn't hungry, as with breakfast, when I ate a couple of apricots for the meal. But when I had a bite my appetite sort of returned.
I avoided the şış we were served and opted for a simpler food, the vegetarian option, a pita/cheese item.
We took a walk through the city next. The highlight was the cave.
According to legend, in this cave in Şanlı Urfa, Abraham was born. His mother went to the cave to give birth because the idol-worshipping king was having all the sons at the time killed to avoid the prophecy that what eventually came to pass would pass.
Abraham lived in the cave for years and eventually made his way out and became acquainted with the ruler. Then he declared war on the idols, and smashed them all. He was arrested and was to be executed. From the top of the nearby castle (which we saw) there were two tall pillars (still there) from which he was slingshot into a pit of fire below. But God changed the fire to water and the wood to carp and saved Abraham.
All true.
The cave was beautiful, and had a mosque built around it. We paid our respects.
Next we wandered the marketplace, stopping only for pistachio coffee (a deadly combination for me, given my distaste for coffee and anaphylactic allergy to pistachio). We were in a rush though, so we headed back soon and got on the bus to the next stop.
We drove for two hours to Gaziantep, the pistachio capital of the world. Really great place for me to be. Along the way we crossed the Euphrates.
In Gaziantep, we checked into Tugcan, our hotel, and had a half hour break. I'm rooming with Ben and Rhys tonight.
At 6:45 we went out to dinner. My stomach wasn't feeling so good, so I avoided the feast and stuck with Pide. It's a good thing, anyway. This city puts pistachio on everything. The name for pistachio in Turkish is Antep Fıstığı, a word derived from Gaziantep!
Back at the hotel at 8 and a bit. I went to the room to relax and sleep. I did just that. Took my parasite pills that Sevim had bought for me.
Everyone else went out for a bit.
15 Hours with Ataturk
We had a 7:25 flight, so I was up by 4 and we were on the road just after 5.
Our first stop was Şanlı Urfa, a city of 1.5 million by the Syrian border.
We never made it off the tarmac the first time around. We sat for about an hour and a half in the plane before they let us off again. The weather at our destination was too terrible.
We ended up spending 15 hours at the Ataturk airport. I would make some jokes about it or go into more detail but it was pretty excruciating so I think I'll not do that.
We got an 8:50pm or so plane and landed around 10:30. The plane was rife with screaming babies.
Our guide met us at the other side. Sevim is a funny middle-aged woman who has been a tour guide for the Duke program for years. She brought us on a brand new Mercedes bus (it's got that new bus smell!) to a restaurant for dinner.
We ate in style, though not much at all, as we'd been eating all day at the airport. We sat on pillows on the floor and were served by a small army of waiters.
Our hotel, Hotel El-Ruha, is beautiful. But we got to it just after midnight and didn't have time to enjoy it. We were split into rooms (I was with Elliot and Ladd) and we all went to sleep.
Tomorrow we need to make up for lost time, so 7am wake up call.
Our first stop was Şanlı Urfa, a city of 1.5 million by the Syrian border.
We never made it off the tarmac the first time around. We sat for about an hour and a half in the plane before they let us off again. The weather at our destination was too terrible.
We ended up spending 15 hours at the Ataturk airport. I would make some jokes about it or go into more detail but it was pretty excruciating so I think I'll not do that.
We got an 8:50pm or so plane and landed around 10:30. The plane was rife with screaming babies.
Our guide met us at the other side. Sevim is a funny middle-aged woman who has been a tour guide for the Duke program for years. She brought us on a brand new Mercedes bus (it's got that new bus smell!) to a restaurant for dinner.
We ate in style, though not much at all, as we'd been eating all day at the airport. We sat on pillows on the floor and were served by a small army of waiters.
Our hotel, Hotel El-Ruha, is beautiful. But we got to it just after midnight and didn't have time to enjoy it. We were split into rooms (I was with Elliot and Ladd) and we all went to sleep.
Tomorrow we need to make up for lost time, so 7am wake up call.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Start of Duke in Istanbul - 3 days
It's been a hectic couple days, so I've fallen behind on this thing. I'm going to catch up three days as quickly as possible, attempting a tad of brevity.
February 6:
Sarah and David and I awoke in the apartment at 9:30. They packed up their stuff and we went out for breakfast. We found a little tiny shop run by a couple of old ladies. Their food was cheap, it was simple, and it was delicious. I got an omelette with cheese, the other two got an assortment of things. All wonderful.
We next hit up Galatas tower, built in 528 by Byzantine emperor Anastasius Oilozus as a lighthouse, and reconstructed in 1348 by the Genoese. It is the worlds oldest tower that still allows visitors inside.
The view from the top was incredible. Views of Sultenahmet, the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus, and Asia were stunning. Worth the 12 lira entrance fee. We made at least three laps of the balcony before heading back down.
David and Sarah got their things together and took a cab to Kabataş. I left before them and went to Taksim to get a pass for all of us on the bus. I met them at Kabataş.
We got on the bus and headed up to the Superdorm. At the Superdorm we were met by some of the women who work with us on the program, including our professor for the class the whole program takes together. I didn't get names down yet, because they're Turkish names and thus unfamiliar.
We were given sheets, a comforter, and an Ethernet cable. We were even given a little stove burner and some pots and pans for our kitchenette. I brought everything up to my room.
There was a lot of get-to-know-yous going around, with everyone finally meeting each other. We had some time to kill until 6:30, so a few of us decided to wander campus.
It was David, Sarah, and some new people: Genevieve, Ellen, and Ben (from Weston, CT). We wandered forever through campus, then down an incredibly steep hill by a cemetery to the Bosphorus. We walked along the Bosphorus for a while to Bebek, a wealthy neighborhood on the water. There we got a small snack before heading back to the dorm.
The walk up the hill back to the dorm was a 30-minute cardio stairmaster exercise routine. It's absurd how steep and lengthy the hill is. David and I are only half-jokingly considering using a daily walk up the hill as an exercise plan.
At 6:30 the group met in the lobby and headed out for dinner. We went to a place up the street, where we were served mantı, a Turkish specialty. Basically it's ravioli in yoghurt, but so much more than that. I also tried Ayran, a salty diluted yoghurt drink. I enjoyed it, the other two people who tried it did not.
After dinner several of us went to get our passports and met Sarah, our program director, who brought us to her brother-in-law's cell phone shop, where we purchased cell phones at reduced rates. However, due to a recent 100% tax on phones, my crappy Samsung cost 180TL ($100). Good thing A) I can sell it back at the end of the semester, and B) it's super cheap to pay for service on the phone.
Those of us still at the phone store later went with another Sarah (this one is the girlfriend of the brother-in-law) and her boyfriend and his friend to a hookah bar, where we smoked for a while and played Backgammon, a favorite in Turkey.
Early start the next morning had us going to bed a little after midnight.
February 7:
9:30 we all met downstairs. There are 19 people on our program.
We were all led down to the University for pre-registration. I was the first person to sit at the desk to pre-register. I didn't have an information sheet (no one did), so I got one and filled it out. Then I didn't have a copy of my passport yet (they had collected our passports to make copies earlier that morning). When they gave us that, I didn't have a copy of my visa. So I had to run to the copy center and get one. Then I didn't have all 6 passport photos I needed (5 left over from Kiev, since I needed two for the Superdorm housing contract and I gave one to Jonas). So I had to run back to the copy center for that as well.
When all was said and done, I was pre-registered. Which only allows me to register for classes at a later date. But I am now a fully enrolled Boğaziçi student.
A few of us went to deal with minor problems with our new Turkish cell phones, then we stopped a few stores over for lunch, at a place called Orfan, I think. David and I got the Lahmacun, a Turkish delicacy. It was delicate, and delicious. And amazingly cheap. A fair amount of food, filling, for 2 TL ($1).
At 2 we had to be at a crash course in survival Turkish, which lasted until 5. Ceyna, our teacher, was incredibly helpful, answering any and all random ridiculous questions we had.
After the class, most people stuck around the area. Isabelle, one of the girls on the trip, and I, ventured downtown to Sultanahmet for dinner.
It took an hour in the bus due to traffic to get to Kabataş, and another 20 minutes for Sultanahmet. Then we wandered for a while and finally settled on familiar ground, at least for me.
We ate at Home Made, the restaurant those Canadians took me to maybe a week ago. It was a delicious dinner. I tried köfte, Turkish meatballs. I'll definitely be having those again.
We got back to the Superdorm around 10:30, and I crashed. Sleepy time.
February 8:
10am several people met downstairs. Emily (a Bridgeport, CT native) organized it. We went to a little bakery/cafe in a mob for breakfast. The food was, again, wonderful and cheap. Everyone was satisfied.
11am was our second Turkish class, another 3 hours. Also helpful.
3pm was a two hour excruciating orientation presentation. Good God, it was terrible.
5:30 was an international students dinner. It was 25TL for a ticket, but I didn't pay and slipped through and fed off of friends plates.
Back to the dorm, relaxing.
9pm several of us met in the lobby to go to an international student welcome party at Taps, an American-owned microbrewery (one of 2 in Turkey apparently) in Bebek. It started at nine, but as one of the girls said, "we gotta show up fashionably late to show everyone how cool the Duke program really is."
We walked down the hill to Bebek, and found Taps in about 20 minutes. It was crowded, loud, and massively overpriced. My beer was 13 TL, a cocktail was 27 TL. I got a beer, and after about an hour, Isabelle and I were fed up with everything and left. We got a cab home for 5.29 TL. Got home around 10:30
I fell asleep after 11:30. Had to pack for tomorrow's trip. We're off to foreign (Turkish) lands tomorrow with the Duke program.
February 6:
Sarah and David and I awoke in the apartment at 9:30. They packed up their stuff and we went out for breakfast. We found a little tiny shop run by a couple of old ladies. Their food was cheap, it was simple, and it was delicious. I got an omelette with cheese, the other two got an assortment of things. All wonderful.
We next hit up Galatas tower, built in 528 by Byzantine emperor Anastasius Oilozus as a lighthouse, and reconstructed in 1348 by the Genoese. It is the worlds oldest tower that still allows visitors inside.
The view from the top was incredible. Views of Sultenahmet, the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus, and Asia were stunning. Worth the 12 lira entrance fee. We made at least three laps of the balcony before heading back down.
David and Sarah got their things together and took a cab to Kabataş. I left before them and went to Taksim to get a pass for all of us on the bus. I met them at Kabataş.
We got on the bus and headed up to the Superdorm. At the Superdorm we were met by some of the women who work with us on the program, including our professor for the class the whole program takes together. I didn't get names down yet, because they're Turkish names and thus unfamiliar.
We were given sheets, a comforter, and an Ethernet cable. We were even given a little stove burner and some pots and pans for our kitchenette. I brought everything up to my room.
There was a lot of get-to-know-yous going around, with everyone finally meeting each other. We had some time to kill until 6:30, so a few of us decided to wander campus.
It was David, Sarah, and some new people: Genevieve, Ellen, and Ben (from Weston, CT). We wandered forever through campus, then down an incredibly steep hill by a cemetery to the Bosphorus. We walked along the Bosphorus for a while to Bebek, a wealthy neighborhood on the water. There we got a small snack before heading back to the dorm.
The walk up the hill back to the dorm was a 30-minute cardio stairmaster exercise routine. It's absurd how steep and lengthy the hill is. David and I are only half-jokingly considering using a daily walk up the hill as an exercise plan.
At 6:30 the group met in the lobby and headed out for dinner. We went to a place up the street, where we were served mantı, a Turkish specialty. Basically it's ravioli in yoghurt, but so much more than that. I also tried Ayran, a salty diluted yoghurt drink. I enjoyed it, the other two people who tried it did not.
After dinner several of us went to get our passports and met Sarah, our program director, who brought us to her brother-in-law's cell phone shop, where we purchased cell phones at reduced rates. However, due to a recent 100% tax on phones, my crappy Samsung cost 180TL ($100). Good thing A) I can sell it back at the end of the semester, and B) it's super cheap to pay for service on the phone.
Those of us still at the phone store later went with another Sarah (this one is the girlfriend of the brother-in-law) and her boyfriend and his friend to a hookah bar, where we smoked for a while and played Backgammon, a favorite in Turkey.
Early start the next morning had us going to bed a little after midnight.
February 7:
9:30 we all met downstairs. There are 19 people on our program.
We were all led down to the University for pre-registration. I was the first person to sit at the desk to pre-register. I didn't have an information sheet (no one did), so I got one and filled it out. Then I didn't have a copy of my passport yet (they had collected our passports to make copies earlier that morning). When they gave us that, I didn't have a copy of my visa. So I had to run to the copy center and get one. Then I didn't have all 6 passport photos I needed (5 left over from Kiev, since I needed two for the Superdorm housing contract and I gave one to Jonas). So I had to run back to the copy center for that as well.
When all was said and done, I was pre-registered. Which only allows me to register for classes at a later date. But I am now a fully enrolled Boğaziçi student.
A few of us went to deal with minor problems with our new Turkish cell phones, then we stopped a few stores over for lunch, at a place called Orfan, I think. David and I got the Lahmacun, a Turkish delicacy. It was delicate, and delicious. And amazingly cheap. A fair amount of food, filling, for 2 TL ($1).
At 2 we had to be at a crash course in survival Turkish, which lasted until 5. Ceyna, our teacher, was incredibly helpful, answering any and all random ridiculous questions we had.
After the class, most people stuck around the area. Isabelle, one of the girls on the trip, and I, ventured downtown to Sultanahmet for dinner.
It took an hour in the bus due to traffic to get to Kabataş, and another 20 minutes for Sultanahmet. Then we wandered for a while and finally settled on familiar ground, at least for me.
We ate at Home Made, the restaurant those Canadians took me to maybe a week ago. It was a delicious dinner. I tried köfte, Turkish meatballs. I'll definitely be having those again.
We got back to the Superdorm around 10:30, and I crashed. Sleepy time.
February 8:
10am several people met downstairs. Emily (a Bridgeport, CT native) organized it. We went to a little bakery/cafe in a mob for breakfast. The food was, again, wonderful and cheap. Everyone was satisfied.
11am was our second Turkish class, another 3 hours. Also helpful.
3pm was a two hour excruciating orientation presentation. Good God, it was terrible.
5:30 was an international students dinner. It was 25TL for a ticket, but I didn't pay and slipped through and fed off of friends plates.
Back to the dorm, relaxing.
9pm several of us met in the lobby to go to an international student welcome party at Taps, an American-owned microbrewery (one of 2 in Turkey apparently) in Bebek. It started at nine, but as one of the girls said, "we gotta show up fashionably late to show everyone how cool the Duke program really is."
We walked down the hill to Bebek, and found Taps in about 20 minutes. It was crowded, loud, and massively overpriced. My beer was 13 TL, a cocktail was 27 TL. I got a beer, and after about an hour, Isabelle and I were fed up with everything and left. We got a cab home for 5.29 TL. Got home around 10:30
I fell asleep after 11:30. Had to pack for tomorrow's trip. We're off to foreign (Turkish) lands tomorrow with the Duke program.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Taksim Area
I sat at the bus stop at 12:30 to go downtown. The weather today was gorgeous. Unbelievably so, considering the last week of snow. The sun beating down on my neck was a wondrous counterbalance to my atrophied legs after 38 hours of not leaving my room and my growling stomach 42.5 hours of fasting.
We got to Kabataş at 1, and I broke my then-43 hour fast with what I want to describe as a personal Turkish challah. It's shaped like a bagel, tastes like challah, but has some spices on the outside to give it a little flavor. And it's only 1 Lira.
A couple weeks ago I got an email from a girl named Sarah, who's on my program here, asking if I and one other student arriving to Istanbul early wanted to crash at an apartment she rented for the nights preceding the start of the program (which starts tomorrow). The two recipients of this invitation, David and myself, both accepted. I was on my way today to meet her at her place.
With a little food in my stomach I wended my way to Taksim, then on a metro only one stop to Şişhane, near Galatas tower, where Sarah's apartment is.
I found the road with little difficulty, and then the apartment too. Sarah was on the first floor, and promptly answered the door.
The apartment is a small, two room place, with one bed in the living/kitchen area and one in the bedroom. Everything inside comes from Ikea and it is very clean and warm. Very nice place.
Sarah and I got to know each other a little, then headed out so I could get some more food to supplement my meager intake thus far. We got some kebap (surprise surprise).
Back at the apartment we waited for David, who was being dropped off by family friends of his around 3. He arrived almost perfectly on time.
We all chatted for a while, then David took a nap to deal with his jetlag (had just got in from a connection in Frankfurt from Logan)
3 hours later, Sarah and I had watched 3 episodes of Archer and woke David up. We all went out to dinner, around 9.
Dinner was at a place Sarah had found in a book called Istanbul Eats, which has been her foodie bible since arrival. It did not disappoint (except the price). I had a lamb steak meal which was incredible.
After dinner we wandered for a while searching for a hookah bar. When we passed a dark alleyway that looked creepy, I gave David a look and he agreed, and we walked in.
Just a little ways into the passage we found Grand Boulevard, a restaurant that served hookah as well. We got tea and coffee and sat on the balcony smoking for a few hours.
Come 12:30 we ventured to a nearby Irish pub that was to show the Super Bowl if enough people showed up to watch (they normally close at 2 and kickoff was at 1:29). They didn't show it because only we showed up.
We made it back to the apartment around 1, and desperately tried to find a place to stream it live. Could not get it to buffer fast enough on nfl.com with the VPN we had to use to get it to work in the first place, so we switched to radio. That didn't work out too hot either, so we just kept refreshing an updates page.
Around 3:30 or 4 we passed out, with a 9:30 alarm set.
We got to Kabataş at 1, and I broke my then-43 hour fast with what I want to describe as a personal Turkish challah. It's shaped like a bagel, tastes like challah, but has some spices on the outside to give it a little flavor. And it's only 1 Lira.
A couple weeks ago I got an email from a girl named Sarah, who's on my program here, asking if I and one other student arriving to Istanbul early wanted to crash at an apartment she rented for the nights preceding the start of the program (which starts tomorrow). The two recipients of this invitation, David and myself, both accepted. I was on my way today to meet her at her place.
With a little food in my stomach I wended my way to Taksim, then on a metro only one stop to Şişhane, near Galatas tower, where Sarah's apartment is.
I found the road with little difficulty, and then the apartment too. Sarah was on the first floor, and promptly answered the door.
The apartment is a small, two room place, with one bed in the living/kitchen area and one in the bedroom. Everything inside comes from Ikea and it is very clean and warm. Very nice place.
Sarah and I got to know each other a little, then headed out so I could get some more food to supplement my meager intake thus far. We got some kebap (surprise surprise).
Back at the apartment we waited for David, who was being dropped off by family friends of his around 3. He arrived almost perfectly on time.
We all chatted for a while, then David took a nap to deal with his jetlag (had just got in from a connection in Frankfurt from Logan)
3 hours later, Sarah and I had watched 3 episodes of Archer and woke David up. We all went out to dinner, around 9.
Dinner was at a place Sarah had found in a book called Istanbul Eats, which has been her foodie bible since arrival. It did not disappoint (except the price). I had a lamb steak meal which was incredible.
After dinner we wandered for a while searching for a hookah bar. When we passed a dark alleyway that looked creepy, I gave David a look and he agreed, and we walked in.
Just a little ways into the passage we found Grand Boulevard, a restaurant that served hookah as well. We got tea and coffee and sat on the balcony smoking for a few hours.
Come 12:30 we ventured to a nearby Irish pub that was to show the Super Bowl if enough people showed up to watch (they normally close at 2 and kickoff was at 1:29). They didn't show it because only we showed up.
We made it back to the apartment around 1, and desperately tried to find a place to stream it live. Could not get it to buffer fast enough on nfl.com with the VPN we had to use to get it to work in the first place, so we switched to radio. That didn't work out too hot either, so we just kept refreshing an updates page.
Around 3:30 or 4 we passed out, with a 9:30 alarm set.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Nothing
I did nothing today. I didn't leave my suite. I didn't eat. I drank a liter of water. I sat in my room and watched movies and the State of the Union. Needed the rest -- travel can be exhausting!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Settling In
I got up around 10:30, packed, and checked out of the hostel at 11. Jonas left early (waking up before me, for once) and joined Saray for a visit to the Basilica Cistern while I took all my crap to Boğaziçi.
I took my gigantic backpack and got on the T1 to Kabataş, then grabbed the 43R bus to the school, as I've done too many times already. The ride is approximately 22 minutes (well, without traffic), but it took us over an hour to get to the school.
I walked through the doors of the Superdorm, and was greeted by a Turkish man, who asked me my name. He found my information in the office and asked me to follow him.
We took the elevator up to the third floor, and turned right down a dark and impersonal hallway. Around a corner to the left we found y room, VK 303. I'm not totally sure yet what VK is.
I'm the third room, so I'm technically VK 303-3. I have a set of three keys; one to my suite, one for my room, and one for a drawer inside my room that I can store valuables in.
My room is about 7' by 10', but that's probably an exaggeration. There's a desk with no drawers, a bulletin board with no tacks, and a light strip above that. I have a room phone, but I don't know the number, and I have a bed, but no sheets (they gave me a cover sheet for it, but that's it). The door itself has two openings for ventilation, I assume, one just above eye level and one larger opening by the ankles. My window opens, and there's no screen. I have a view of the rest of the Superdorm, but nothing else. Oh, and there are shelves. So many shelves. They take up almost all of the walls, leaving me maybe a 6' by 3' space for posters, if I had any.
I pulled all the crap from my backpack and stowed the thing above the top cupboards. I took a quick breather and headed back to Sultanahmet to meet up with Jonas before he left. I found Jonas just after 3, in the lobby of the hostel, and we sat for a while there.
Around 5:30 we went to Taksim and grabbed dinner at a place directly adjacent to where his bus was leaving from. It was a little restaurant/cafe called, as best I could tell, Restaurant & Café. The food was good, and I managed to get a gigantic salad and a decent pasta dish for 22TL. Not terrible. The drinks are where they get you, but I refrained due to a pained stomach still learning to cope with Turkish street food.
Jonas and I had a tearful (but not so much) goodbye outside the Havatas bus to SAW airport. It was an awesome few weeks. As I told Jonas, hopefully this'll happen again, either in the US or Kiev...
I returned to the dorm, and slept on top of my empty bed without any blankets, and only my tiny little travel pillow. Good thing this place is properly heated.
I took my gigantic backpack and got on the T1 to Kabataş, then grabbed the 43R bus to the school, as I've done too many times already. The ride is approximately 22 minutes (well, without traffic), but it took us over an hour to get to the school.
I walked through the doors of the Superdorm, and was greeted by a Turkish man, who asked me my name. He found my information in the office and asked me to follow him.
We took the elevator up to the third floor, and turned right down a dark and impersonal hallway. Around a corner to the left we found y room, VK 303. I'm not totally sure yet what VK is.
I'm the third room, so I'm technically VK 303-3. I have a set of three keys; one to my suite, one for my room, and one for a drawer inside my room that I can store valuables in.
My room is about 7' by 10', but that's probably an exaggeration. There's a desk with no drawers, a bulletin board with no tacks, and a light strip above that. I have a room phone, but I don't know the number, and I have a bed, but no sheets (they gave me a cover sheet for it, but that's it). The door itself has two openings for ventilation, I assume, one just above eye level and one larger opening by the ankles. My window opens, and there's no screen. I have a view of the rest of the Superdorm, but nothing else. Oh, and there are shelves. So many shelves. They take up almost all of the walls, leaving me maybe a 6' by 3' space for posters, if I had any.
I pulled all the crap from my backpack and stowed the thing above the top cupboards. I took a quick breather and headed back to Sultanahmet to meet up with Jonas before he left. I found Jonas just after 3, in the lobby of the hostel, and we sat for a while there.
Around 5:30 we went to Taksim and grabbed dinner at a place directly adjacent to where his bus was leaving from. It was a little restaurant/cafe called, as best I could tell, Restaurant & Café. The food was good, and I managed to get a gigantic salad and a decent pasta dish for 22TL. Not terrible. The drinks are where they get you, but I refrained due to a pained stomach still learning to cope with Turkish street food.
Jonas and I had a tearful (but not so much) goodbye outside the Havatas bus to SAW airport. It was an awesome few weeks. As I told Jonas, hopefully this'll happen again, either in the US or Kiev...
I returned to the dorm, and slept on top of my empty bed without any blankets, and only my tiny little travel pillow. Good thing this place is properly heated.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Haircut and Araf
I got a haircut today. It took 1.5 hours.
I've been meaning to get my hair cut for some times. A few days ago, Nina and Amelia and I were going to go get haircuts in Kiev, but that never happened. I never got my hair cut before I left on this little adventure, so my head has been quite unruly for quite some time. But enough is enough.
Jonas noticed a barbershop just a few doors down from the hostel. I stopped by around 1. The barber didn't speak much English, but I had brought a picture of myself from last summer that was a good estimation of what I wanted him to do.
This guy was not a barber, or a stylist, he was an artist. He took one look at the picture, one look at me, and went to work.
It started with a straight razor shave. My first straight razor shave, actually. It was glorious and curious. And he did it twice, just in case he missed anything. That took about 15 minutes or so -- the length of a normal haircut I would get in the States.
Next he went to town on my sideburns, shortening, thinning, fixing, I don't even know what else.
He never actually cut my hair. He buzzed the sides, but used one of those thinning scissors to get the rest of my hair down to size. Once I asked him to go a little bit shorter, but that was it. He knew what he was doing.
It was a good haircut, but the real fun began when he finished the actual cutting. First he blow dried my head, then took a glob of wax (I think it was wax) and put it on the end of some tweezers. He lit the wax on fire, and started whacking it into my ears. I don't know why, but it felt strangely enjoyable.
Next came the hair washing, which turned into a face washing as well as face massage. Then a neck massage.
He topped it off with a careful drying of my hair, and cleaning out of my ears with cotton. Incredible.
And it only cost 35 Lira, just shy of $20. I gave him a 5 Lira tip (how could I not?) and bid him adieu.
Later tonight we went out with Lily, her French boyfriend Thomas, and his two friends and a Spanish girl named Saray. We kicked off the night around 9 with some drinking in our room (the hostel doesn't let us drink in common areas), then around 11:30 headed towards Taksim and Galata tower for a Balkan band at a place called Araf.
The walk from Karaköy was steep and long, but worth it. Araf itself was about 5 or 6 floors up, on the top floor of an apartment building. There was a band playing Balkan music at full volume. Really an exciting scene.
The 7 of us (and a few of Lily's friends from Istanbul) danced the night away for a while. I ended up being a party pooper, though, because my stomach decided to give me serious pangs all night, and around 2:30 I couldn't take it anymore and got a cab home.
The cab ride was 20TL. I asked him to take me to Kabataş, for which he asked for 10. I figured it was a more than fair price, but that was until I realized I need to go to Çemberlitaş, not Kabataş. Same thing, but Çemberlitaş is on the other side of a bridge and much farther. He asked for 25 for that trip, but I managed with little effort to get him down to 20. Should have shot for less.
Packed for a bit (Jonas leaves tomorrow so I think I'm going to go to my dorm tomorrow too) then slept around 3.
I've been meaning to get my hair cut for some times. A few days ago, Nina and Amelia and I were going to go get haircuts in Kiev, but that never happened. I never got my hair cut before I left on this little adventure, so my head has been quite unruly for quite some time. But enough is enough.
Jonas noticed a barbershop just a few doors down from the hostel. I stopped by around 1. The barber didn't speak much English, but I had brought a picture of myself from last summer that was a good estimation of what I wanted him to do.
This guy was not a barber, or a stylist, he was an artist. He took one look at the picture, one look at me, and went to work.
It started with a straight razor shave. My first straight razor shave, actually. It was glorious and curious. And he did it twice, just in case he missed anything. That took about 15 minutes or so -- the length of a normal haircut I would get in the States.
Next he went to town on my sideburns, shortening, thinning, fixing, I don't even know what else.
He never actually cut my hair. He buzzed the sides, but used one of those thinning scissors to get the rest of my hair down to size. Once I asked him to go a little bit shorter, but that was it. He knew what he was doing.
It was a good haircut, but the real fun began when he finished the actual cutting. First he blow dried my head, then took a glob of wax (I think it was wax) and put it on the end of some tweezers. He lit the wax on fire, and started whacking it into my ears. I don't know why, but it felt strangely enjoyable.
Next came the hair washing, which turned into a face washing as well as face massage. Then a neck massage.
He topped it off with a careful drying of my hair, and cleaning out of my ears with cotton. Incredible.
And it only cost 35 Lira, just shy of $20. I gave him a 5 Lira tip (how could I not?) and bid him adieu.
Later tonight we went out with Lily, her French boyfriend Thomas, and his two friends and a Spanish girl named Saray. We kicked off the night around 9 with some drinking in our room (the hostel doesn't let us drink in common areas), then around 11:30 headed towards Taksim and Galata tower for a Balkan band at a place called Araf.
The walk from Karaköy was steep and long, but worth it. Araf itself was about 5 or 6 floors up, on the top floor of an apartment building. There was a band playing Balkan music at full volume. Really an exciting scene.
The 7 of us (and a few of Lily's friends from Istanbul) danced the night away for a while. I ended up being a party pooper, though, because my stomach decided to give me serious pangs all night, and around 2:30 I couldn't take it anymore and got a cab home.
The cab ride was 20TL. I asked him to take me to Kabataş, for which he asked for 10. I figured it was a more than fair price, but that was until I realized I need to go to Çemberlitaş, not Kabataş. Same thing, but Çemberlitaş is on the other side of a bridge and much farther. He asked for 25 for that trip, but I managed with little effort to get him down to 20. Should have shot for less.
Packed for a bit (Jonas leaves tomorrow so I think I'm going to go to my dorm tomorrow too) then slept around 3.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Finding the Superdorm
It took me all morning to try and figure out how to get to Boğaziçi University, and I left the hostel at noon to find it. Jonas was still sleeping.
Apparently I was to have filled out and signed some housing contract months ago, and Duke was to send them to the school. Of course, I didn't give them the contract, so I received an email in Belarus with the contract attached. I told Duke I would mail it from Kiev, but didn't (whoops!) so now that I'm in Istanbul in person, I decided to go drop it off.
I took the T1 Tramvay to Kabataş and asked around for which bus would take me to Boğaziçi. Finding no English speakers, I had to just repeat the name of the university over and over until I found bus 43R. I did not know how to pay for the bus, so the driver had me sit in front and pay in cash to someone who swiped their card a second time for me. Only 1.75 Turkish Lira.
I got to the university stop at 1. I didn't find the Superdorm (where I'll be living soon) until 2:30. I foolishly assumed the dorm would be on the grounds of the university class buildings and all the other dorms. I was sorely mistaken.
After wandering the main grounds, amongst the stray (but tame) dogs and cats for a while, I found an unlocked wifi network and discovered that the Superdorm was far from me. I left the main campus and walked down a road for several minutes.
Having found what I assumed was the Superdorm, I had to find my way in. The entire building is fenced in, with barbed wire topping the whole thing. I circled the building completely, and came up empty. Oh, by the way, it was snowing this whole time.
I finally found the entrance, which was through the main gate to the Boğaziçi sports field and tucked behind another building. So much for sitting right on top of the Bosporus (though main campus does, and the view was breathtaking!).
I got bus 43R back to Kabataş, then the T1 again to Çemberlitaş. Walked through the doors of the hostel just before 3:30, after 3.5 hours of cold exposure. It was time for some hot chocolate.
At 5:30, Jonas and I ventured outside for some breakfast. We bumped into some Canadians on our way out, a guy and his girlfriend Holly and their friend Rochelle. They were headed for food as well, so we went with them to a place called Home Made, which we found just following the T1 tracks from Çhemberlitaş towards Hagia Sofia, past it and on the right.
The food was delicious, as were the desserts. I had a little gooey cake thing that was topped with pistachio dust.. But without the pistachios. It had chewing gum in it... So cool. Also had a lamb stew. A bit pricey, but we got free fig desserts, free tea, and free hummus and pita, so I think we got our money's worth.
We walked back after a leisurely meal and arrived back around 8:30. Jonas relaxed, and the three Canadians and I headed to a hookah bar at 9. We turned left at Çemberlitaş and walked along the tracks until we found a little passageway on the right filled with Turks smoking.
We got peach hookah for 13TL, about $6.5. The Canadians head out in the morning, early, so they paid to get rid of their extra cash.
We smoked for a long time, and headed back into the cold around 11:30.
Exhausted. Sleep.
Apparently I was to have filled out and signed some housing contract months ago, and Duke was to send them to the school. Of course, I didn't give them the contract, so I received an email in Belarus with the contract attached. I told Duke I would mail it from Kiev, but didn't (whoops!) so now that I'm in Istanbul in person, I decided to go drop it off.
I took the T1 Tramvay to Kabataş and asked around for which bus would take me to Boğaziçi. Finding no English speakers, I had to just repeat the name of the university over and over until I found bus 43R. I did not know how to pay for the bus, so the driver had me sit in front and pay in cash to someone who swiped their card a second time for me. Only 1.75 Turkish Lira.
I got to the university stop at 1. I didn't find the Superdorm (where I'll be living soon) until 2:30. I foolishly assumed the dorm would be on the grounds of the university class buildings and all the other dorms. I was sorely mistaken.
After wandering the main grounds, amongst the stray (but tame) dogs and cats for a while, I found an unlocked wifi network and discovered that the Superdorm was far from me. I left the main campus and walked down a road for several minutes.
Having found what I assumed was the Superdorm, I had to find my way in. The entire building is fenced in, with barbed wire topping the whole thing. I circled the building completely, and came up empty. Oh, by the way, it was snowing this whole time.
I finally found the entrance, which was through the main gate to the Boğaziçi sports field and tucked behind another building. So much for sitting right on top of the Bosporus (though main campus does, and the view was breathtaking!).
I got bus 43R back to Kabataş, then the T1 again to Çemberlitaş. Walked through the doors of the hostel just before 3:30, after 3.5 hours of cold exposure. It was time for some hot chocolate.
At 5:30, Jonas and I ventured outside for some breakfast. We bumped into some Canadians on our way out, a guy and his girlfriend Holly and their friend Rochelle. They were headed for food as well, so we went with them to a place called Home Made, which we found just following the T1 tracks from Çhemberlitaş towards Hagia Sofia, past it and on the right.
The food was delicious, as were the desserts. I had a little gooey cake thing that was topped with pistachio dust.. But without the pistachios. It had chewing gum in it... So cool. Also had a lamb stew. A bit pricey, but we got free fig desserts, free tea, and free hummus and pita, so I think we got our money's worth.
We walked back after a leisurely meal and arrived back around 8:30. Jonas relaxed, and the three Canadians and I headed to a hookah bar at 9. We turned left at Çemberlitaş and walked along the tracks until we found a little passageway on the right filled with Turks smoking.
We got peach hookah for 13TL, about $6.5. The Canadians head out in the morning, early, so they paid to get rid of their extra cash.
We smoked for a long time, and headed back into the cold around 11:30.
Exhausted. Sleep.
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