Every gal in Constantinople lives in Istanbul

While writing this blog entry this time, I am not on a bus or on a bus on a ferry or anything of that sort of level of excitement. No, I am in fact in my dorm room in Istanbul, attempting to recover from my first week of class.

The week started out well (as I do not have classes on Mondays/Fridays...it's a hard knock life). Unfortunately, my schedule did need a lot of add/drop work and I ended up sitting in on several random classes. Tuesday began as I sat in on Ottoman Cultural History which I was later able to add. It covers a huge range of topics in both Ottoman culture and Ottoman history which are things that I haven't even thought about/had the opportunity to learn about before. Next I went to my Turkish for foreigners class where she began to speak in Turkish on the first day. I had been excited to learn Turkish but expecting us to speak Turkish back to her when we have no idea what's going on seems like a little bit too high of an expectation. I'm probably going to end up dropping the class in favor of something a little more exciting. After a nice lunch break with some friends from the great state of Kansas, I headed to a history course on the legacy of Alexander the Great, which proves to be very interesting considering my current geographical location. The professor seems very nice as well and some of my friends are in the class which is always nice.

Wednesday I decided to sit in on a politics class regarding the issues in Turkish foreign policy. I got accepted into the class (teachers here must give consent for some classes based on quota or department restrictions) and will probably add it although it is entirely presentation-based. I sat in on an afternoon class about Museums and Cultural Heritage which is taught by the woman who runs CAMOC (or something to that effect-an international body that governs UNESCO museums). She also worked on Istanbul 2010 and really has just a very interesting career. I will hopefully be able to get into that class to learn about the museums here and go on some fun field trips.

Thursday I had the Ottoman cultural history course again, Turkish, and an afternoon seminar on the History of Philanthropy. I am one of 5 students in the class, and the only one whose first language is English. The rest of the students are Turkish and most are graduate level. The professor is one of the preeminent scholars on the history of philanthropy and is very interesting. The class is also participation-based which puts me a little ahead of the pack. It's definitely a class to keep.

Friday, three friends (2 friends from UNC and a friend of theirs) came to visit from their study abroad in Spain. The weather for their weekend was awful-rainy and cold, which is really unfortunate. This is the first week that I've been in Istanbul that it hasn't been gorgeous and sunny all the time. Regardless, we took them around to our favorite places to eat (including waffles) and other delicious Turkish foods. Really, we just made sure they were well-fed and mildly interested in what they saw. Food is really the most important, though.

Throughout the week, I've been attending practices for the women's varsity futsal team here. Futsal is like indoor soccer except the ball is a little smaller and heavier, and you can't use the walls. I suppose you can now say that I'm playing a varsity sport in college. Hopefully, I will travel with the team to Antalya in two weekends for a tournament. Antalya is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey that is well-known for being a resort town. It would be a free trip and I really love free travel so keep your fingers crossed!



This week has made me realize a few things about my study abroad experience:

1. I am not actually studying abroad. I'm really abroad, studying. There's a huge difference. I place a high value and priority on my studies but this experience is really about learning about a new culture, not at a different school that happens to be in a different country.
2. I have a love/hate relationship with Turkish time. I love that we randomly take breaks in the middle of my 2+ hour long courses that last for half an hour at times. It's nice to have professors that aren't obsessed with teaching for every single minute that they have class. On the other hand, Turkish time means that people are never in any rush to do anything here (however important those things are). We've been waiting for our student IDs here since we got here and they probably won't be done for another two weeks. Those IDs would get us discounted travel within the city, free museums around Turkey, and also within Istanbul. We haven't seen a lot of the important museums and attractions here as we're waiting on those IDs. Can you tell I really just want my ID?
3. Turkey is nothing like I imagined. I told people I was coming to Istanbul for a myriad of reasons and there are a myriad of reasons why I could live in Istanbul for the rest of my life. People here are some of the most hospitable that I've ever met and will stop whatever they're doing just to help you. Most people in America would never do that for people. We're too engrossed in our Crackberrys and iPhone4000s to look up and see the world around us. It's kind of sad and despicable.

I suppose this is a really random blog with no fun pictures to accompany it, but I mean..this whole school things for 3 days a week is really getting to me and tiring me out. I hope you guys can sympathize and forgive me. I'm just exhausted from the amount of homework I have to do during my agonizingly short four day weekends. Really, I'm inches from passing out due to exhaustion. Keep your fingers crossed that I can make it through.

..anyways, I hope everyone at home is doing well and are actually enjoying reading my somewhat nonsensical ramblings. I think this may put an end to my idea of being a journalist as a career...oops.

Have a good week!