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Day…well I guess its been a while.
As I have grown accustomed to life in Istanbul, learned a few more Turkish phrases and how to get to Old Town I have come to truly love it here. I wouldn't be able to live here, but it is safe to say that the Turkish way of life has grown on me. They have this laid back mindset, everything will get done in due time for now lets just enjoy some cay tea. It is very frustrating when the bureaucracy takes this approach and one is attempting to gain his/her residence permit, but in other areas of life it is very relaxing.
As many of you know I am on the Bogazici Universitesi American football team. I can't express how shocked I was when I first stumbled upon the team practicing in full pads. I immediately joined. My "tryout" involved 2 questions, first, "are you American?" and second, "can you catch the ball?" After answering yes to both I was officially a member of the Sultans. My shoulder pads are about 2 sizes too big and my helmet almost fits well, but my leg pads are, well, interesting. The team equipment manager, Cankos, simply cut out my hip and butt pads out of grey foam and my belt is a piece of red nylon. But I'm not complaining, I'm playing full pads football, something I never thought I would ever do again, especially in Turkey. Our first two games were a bit frustrating for me, the coaches didn't want to play me much after discovering that I would be leaving in January (the middle of their season) so I spent much of the time watching. However, in the third game the top receiver had been injured and the coach told me that it would be mine game. I never left the field on offense ending the game with more catches and yards than I had my entire senior year of high school, not that that says very much. In sum, it was a very fun game for me, so what if I was incredibly sore and had a splitting headache, I had gotten another chance to play the greatest game on earth and I loved it. Plus, its always nice to be on an undefeated team; so far we are 3-0. Hanging out my my new teammates has been an interesting experience, I pretty much only see them during practice or at games as we never hang out off the field. However, they are very fun to talk to and are all very passionate about football, they even have a fantasy football league!
So besides football I have been up to quite a bit. I have seen most of the major touristy sites in Istanbul and I went to Cappadocia. Cappadocia was an absolutely amazing trip. I went with a great group and the landscape was one of a kind. The first thing we saw were about a hundred hot air balloons floating in the sky over a valley (my favorite picture so far). We stayed in the small town of Goreme at the Rock Valley Pension. After a first day consumed with an all day tour of Rose Valley, a kick-wheel pottery demonstration, and an underground city tour, plus lunch, we pretty much just got back to the hostel and passed out. Day two we rented scooters all day, SOOOOO FUN! Man those things really fly around and with almost no traffic we felt safe enough to really test them (don't worry mom I still remembered to look before I leapt). That night we went to a Turkish dinner where we saw whirling dirvishies, some traditional belly dancing (thank you Andrew) and enjoyed an excellent Turkish dinner. The third and final day was very relaxing and included a trip to the Open Air museum and wandering around Goreme. Besides the 9+ hour bus ride each way this was a dream trip.
My classes are also going pretty good. I am really pleased with both of my psychology classes, Personality and Clinical, and my Balkan history and Turkish literature courses both provide good insight into Turkish culture. I am also taking a Turkish language course, its nice to learn how to say more than hello and my name is… My weekly life includes several trips to Besiktas and/or old town Istanbul, eating out once or twice, football practice Tuesdays and Thursday and class Monday through Friday. About half of my free time I spend reading or doing homework and the rest is spent eating (something that you can never do enough of), exploring, and hanging out with the other international students. One quick thing to say about international students, Americans are the only people who aren't fluent in like 4 languages. Its boarder line embarrassing that I only know English. I have been absolutely blown away with how well Europeans and Turkish people speak English, some can read it just as well as their native languages!
As for the future, I am going to go to Edirne this weekend and to Sofia, Bulgaria and the surrounding area (hopefully Serbia) the following weekend during a holiday break. Both trips should be very fun, I am especially excited to visit Sofia as I have been learning quite a bit about the area in my Balkan history class. The other future events of major interest are a weekend trip to Cairo and Miran coming to visit. Miran is going to arrive December 28th and leaves January 7th.I can't wait to show her around Istanbul and share this incredible experience with her!!!
Well I think that I have said enough for now, hopefully the pictures have given you a good idea of my experiences here.
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