"I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money." Armed with an ipod playlist consisting of anything from the Grateful Dead to MGMT and Jay-Z, I am off to study aboard in Istanbul,Turkey, where I don't know the language or a soul. It should be fun. I'll be sending updates and pics this way. I hope you'll all enjoy the ride with me.
Between Konya and Spring Break, there were classes, midterms, an excursion to the Asian side and basic everyday life. This where you two choices - start to settle into life in Istanbul or decide you want to go home now. For me I settled into life. Don't get me wrong I love and miss miss miss my friends and family (the best birthday present would be to just have a night with my sisters), but I also have routine here that really works for me.
I have decided what foods I like, where I like to drink, what stand to buy my chips at. No longer are the crowded buses something that could get me completely lost and swallow me whole; now they are just crowded buses on the way to friend's apartment or night out. It's working out well. There are no real surprises anymore. I'm just comfortable here, which has led me to ponder some things. Should I be thinking about living abroad after school? What about grad school? and all those other questions that pop with those decisions.
I have come to the conclusion that I do want to have some time to explore things before I head to grad school. I'm pretty sure that I want to study international relations in some type of form. I do not know in what concentration yet. Perhaps I'll come back and work for NGO or go somewhere else. I don't know but I know none of these decisions need to be made now. I just know that this experience has given me more options and more confidence... both are good things.
I promise I'll post about my spring break in the next few days. I'm thinking one post on each country - Syria, Jordan, Egypt. For those of you that don't know, I and friends backpacked from Istanbul to Cairo and back in about 11 days. Originally, we had plans to go to Syria, Jordan, Israel and Cyprus, but two days into the trip we got word that boat ride from Israel to Cyprus would be too expensive so we went with our back up idea and loved it!!!! so check back soon
When it came time to leave Cappadocia, Arielle and I were headed in different directions. With a midterm on Monday, Arielle took the night bus back to Istanbul and I headed to Konya.
Konya is known as a very conservative and religious city in Turkey. Some consider it to be the most conservative city* So I had some preconceived notions before I arrived. Some were right and some were wrong.
First, I went to the Whirling Dervishes museum. The Whirling Dervishes (Mawlawi Order) are a sect of Sufi order of Islam. The order started in Konya in the 13th century. They are known for their elaborate dances, which are in remembrance of God. The museum is pretty cool. You have to treat it like a Mosque. You must take off your shoes and wear a headscarf a well. Many people go to the Museum to pray at the tomb of the founder of the order. Konya is the type of place that attracts Turkish tourists rather then international tourist.
Then I got lost. The guidebook makes things look so easy sometimes and sometimes they just aren't. I was looking for a certain street that had many of the other tourıst attractions on it, but I was failing miserably. I tried to ask two police officers where the street was. They understood what İ was askıng but didn't know how to give directions that I would understand. Eventually this led to these two people who barely spoke english taking me to the street I was looking. In fact they called another friend spoke a little bit more English and spent the rest of the day showing me Konya.
They became my Konya tour guides making sure I eat the things ( aka meatbread) Konya was famous. They took me to all the parks in the city. It was awesome. We were able have to conversations about Turkey, America and family. They showed me all the cities I should visit and the places I should see around Turkey. Sometimes people are so nice especially in Turkey!
I have come to love traveling because of moments like that. I was lost, asked for directions, and out of nowhere I made friends. I got a taste of Konya that I wouldn't have otherwise. I had a not met my new friends I would gone to some museums and left Konya no problems. Instead I got to see the city for what it really is, rather then just saying yea its a conservative city in Turkey. Of course it is an religious center and you can see that upon your arrival, but it also filled with beautiful parks, great food and wicked cool people.
I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last posted! I just got back from backpacking through Syrıa and Jordan to Ciaro. I will post about that and life in Istanbul over the next few days...Stay Tuned!
What a weekend! Once again, I left Istanbul to travel through Turkey. This time I travel to Cappadocia in central Turkey. With caves, incredible geology, and an interesting history, Cappadocia is a beautiful region. First, the location of region (between two techtonic plates) has left it vulnerable to volcano eruptions in the past. The left over ash combined with caves, mountains, and dry weather have created incredible rock formations. Check out these pictures.
Historically, the region was actually Christian and Greek. Between the 6th and 12th century, the town of Grome (where I stayed) was home to a cave dwelling order of monks. Now you may think that sounds like no fun, but I assure you it was much cooler then Fraggle Rock. They actually had caves that were churches with domes that housed mosaics and paintings. Some of this has been recovered and can viewed at the open air- museum.
Today, the region is both beautiful and corny. The formations take your breathe away, while it is clear that tourism is the region's only source of income. We stayed in cave hotel called Bedrock. Cave hotels are everywhere. Ours was actually a hostel, but it was pretty sweet, and we had our own bathroom and shower. Our hosts were very accomdaating, they sat us down with a map and gave us a full explanation of the area. What cave cities were worth seeing and which weren’t, what attractions we would enjoy. They understood that we had a short time there and helped us make the most of it. After an 11 hour over night bus trip, it was a relief to have the information right in front of us.
We headed to the open air museum in which we could see the remenants of the monks. It was pretty cool, surely impressive. On the walk over there, we ran into a guy offering camel rides, as this was one of my goal, how could I say no? So I got to ride a camel along a mountain path. Once on the camel, I couldn’t believe how high up I was or how bumpy the ride was. All in all, it was great time.
Next we opted for an atv tour of the scenery. I think this was the highlight of trip for me (other then my camel ride). For the tour, we were able to ride an ATV through the sand and mountains seeing views no hotel could offer. We were able to stop and take pictures whenever we wanted. As a part of it, we were allowed to see a cave home. Literally, this family lived in cave with a living room, kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms. The rooms were small, the floors, ceilings, and sometimes walls were all rock. The appeal is they're warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Many of them have been in their families for generations.
Touring from sight to sight meant riding through Grome, which was very interesting. It definitely was a poorer area that only knew tourism as a source of income. It played up the caves, traditional Turkish this and that even the town bar was called the Flinstone cave. Some parts were abandoned or very run down. It was sad to see the steep comparison between overpriced hotel and rundown/ abandon home.
Later that night, we attended a traditional Turkish dinner in a cave. It had traditional folk dancers, belly dancers, and whirling dervishes. It was definitely a super tourist thing to attend but it was really, really fun.
The next morning we successly navigated our way from Grome to an underground city by way of minibuses and then to Nevshir to some museums. The underground city was cool, but for someone of my height it was not very fun and quickly I was over it. After that, we spent day museum hopping. At the end of the afternoon, we had to catch our bus to the next destination.... more to follow on Konya tomorrow.
Another week in Istanbul, another set of stories. I seem to be checking things off the Must See in Istanbul List pretty quickly. This week I went to the The Underground Cistern. It was built in the 6th century. It is support by some 300 columns and it's nine miles long. Its dark, dingy and it smells. But then I looked again and thought, these columns have been here seen the 6th CENTURY? Really? There have been many devasting earthquakes throughout Istanbul even as recently as 1992. Many of these historic symbols have been alter by them, but not the Cistern. I find that to be quite amazing. Think about it's underground, it was probably shaken the most. Yet 300 hundred columns have lasted. Pretty Cool.
I also successfully haggled at the Grand Bazaar this week. I decided it's time to start thinking about gifts and souvenirs. It seems the Grand bazaar is the place for me as I was able to get some Turkish flutes, slippers, and elma cay for under 20 lira.
The big trip this weekend was the bus trip to Edirne. Edirne is a well known city right on the border of Greece. I honestly I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't really know why we're going to Edirne, but it sounded fun so off I went. We went to bus station by school bought our bus tickets, hopped on a service bus that went to the largest bus stop I had ever seen and from there hopped on the bus that would take us to Edirne. Three hours later, we were there.
Edirne is known for three things - soaped shaped like fruits, Mosques, and liver. The soaps were pretty corny. As always the Mosques were beautiful. There was one in particular, one really cool one. We had walked rather far from the city and were in a not so great area. There was a little Mosque that I thought we should walk into. It was a little after 6, so I wasn't sure if I could enter so I asked the man outside. The little old man couldn't have been more excited. "Are you american?" "Evet (yes)" I answered. He showed us the Mosque, took us into the woman's section, gave a history of the Mosque and the town, and gave us a tour of the garden, which had tomb's of Sultan's children. It was another wonderful moment once again displaying how nice Turkish people can be.
I tried the liver for dinner, but I'm still not feeling. Even though it is prepared differently, it just not my thing. Edirne had a really cool archeology museum with artifacts from Turkey and Greece. Also the many of Mosques had Arabic writing something not seen in Istanbul. It was interesting. The bus ride back was again three hours, but Turkish bus rides are pretty epic. They are super cheap and really nice. They give you cay (tea), water or soda, cookies or crackers, and on the bus back we each had an individual screen and choices of movies. If the bus ride from VT to Boston was like that, I might actual take it every once in a while. all in all great day trip.
I'm off to Cappadocia this weekend, the next post should be interesting.
Well I promised another post about last week because it was quite interesting one. It was Newroz. It the celebration of the Kurdish new year celebrated. In reality, it is to celebrate support for the Kurdish cause. All week long there were events on campus. I must point out that the university I attend is Turkey's most liberal university, very few nationalist attend and the cause of the Kurdish people is generally recognized as just. On Monday, some of my friends attended one of the events that including dancing and fire jumping, however due a hefty amount to Turkish translations I could not (there is studying in study abroad. In any regard I was excited for the week. Finally on Thursday, I was able to attend an event. It was a Kurdish concert (videos will be posted). After three hours of drums, flutes and songs, everyone gathered outside a sign was light and a bonfire started. With the bonfire came the jumping and dancing I had heard so much about. It was crazy, very awesome to watch. I like that I have been to witness so much of the traditional culture while being here. When I first came to Istanbul, I was unsure of much traditional culture there would be in such a large, modern city. But they have a balance that is wonderful to be apart.
Before Thursday's Kurdish event, came Wednesday's Irish Holiday. I had no idea what to expect. Does anyone really expect much when they hear St. Patrick's Day in Istanbul? I think not, but Ronan and Steve (both from Ireland) insisted that we all go out. So Arielle, Jen, and I headed to bar called James Joyce. We had a full Irish breakfast for dinner complete with actual BACON! When we ordered beers, they were Green! It was awesome and rather funny that my first green beer on St. Paddy's day was in Istanbul of the places. The bar was filled with probably every American student in Istanbul but it was a good start. Next was our adventure for the night. Ronan and Steve were determine to find a pub called Belfast. Of course it was on the Asian side of Istanbul and of course we were going with our German Wolf. So we left the crowded James Joyce and took a dolmus (small taxi/large bus) to the ferry. On the ferry, we had our tea and we made friends with some other Germans that were heading to the same bar. None of us knew how to get here but our quest to find a beer on tap other then efes (Turkey's only beer?) would not be stopped. We stumbled off the ferry and around Kadikoy until finally some Turks took pity on us and directed us to our pub. It was crowded but not as corny as James Joyce was and it had a full Irish band playing. There were some funny moments such as a Turk asking Ronan if all of the UK celebrated the holiday or just the Irish part? Or Wolf attempting to sing Dannyboy. All in all Istanbul provided us with a pretty good St. Paddy's.
On Saturday, we had another Lexia excursion. We started at Constantine's column headed through the Grand Bazaar and Book Bazaar, to Istanbul University. It was there that we learn about how turbulent universities in Turkey can be. You can not enter the campus unless you are student, because protest are too violent. Istanbul University has 80,000 students so its understandable that there is going to be varying degrees of political and religious thought, often clashing. Our guide told us that often times the cafeteria won't open when large protest are expected. For example, last semester there were IMF meetings held in Istanbul. I had heard about banks windows being shattered in Taksim from friends who here last semester, but I did not know that Istanbul University shut down its student hang outs, cafeteria and many professors canceled their classes.
After that we went three Mosques and the Chora (cos we love it!). I have come to the point in my trip where I can start ranking the Mosque in order of my preference. My top four are as follows
1) Şehzadebaşı Mosque with its white tiles, large dome and "elephant feet"
holding the dome up, it is the most welcoming Mosque and one of the largest that we have visited. Plus it has largest garden surrounding it.
2) Laleli Mosque - a smaller Mosque with no complex around it. It sits on a brick platform that offers grand views of Istanbul especially in the Sun. It has the best stain glass window with pastel colors lighting the whole inside up and it's light blue carpet is just more then other Mosques. It offers peace in a very hectic part of Istanbul.
3) Kalenderhane Mosque - It is a hidden gem among gaints. It it is not famous for its dome, architect or minarets. It is not noticable from the skyline. It is small, hidden and wonderful. It has pink walls and little circle windows. The ornaments are silver rather then gold. It is just so cute.
4) The Blue Mosque - clearly the most famous on the list. The Blue Mosque is the largest in Turkey. I love blue so its cool with me.
Of all the places, though, my favorite is the Chora. I can not rave about it enough. It is astounishing that such old mosaics can be recovered and seen in today in such fantastic shape. If there was one place I would recommend visitors of Istanbul to attend that be would it. When I ever go there, I wish so badly that my Aunt Anna could visit me. I cannot help but think how much she would love love love Istanbul- it's history, it's architecture, it's respect for religion and culture. She would take in every sight and be able to offer insights on all of it. I just know that Chora would be her favorite as well as.
I think what I love about Istanbul the most is how well it has preserved its' history. Through fires and earthquakes, many of these monuments have held up. If they haven't, they have been rebuilt to perfection. How many cultures do that? A profound sense of the importance of history and culture is the best part of Istanbul!
Since flickr limits the amount of pictures one can post (LAME), I have changed the picture website to http://picasaweb.google.com/aregan3343 .... it is taking some time to get all the pics up with descriptions and such but I'm working on it and it's being organized better as well. I'm looking to post some videos there too. sooo here's to another week Istanbul!
Both this weekend and last have been filled with tours around Istanbul. Today actually marks my fifth week in Istanbul and still I have not seen it all and, I sure you all, a significant effort as been made. Last weekend, we started Friday with a lunch trip the Galata Tower. It offers the some of the best views of Istanbul as well as serving as night club and restaurant. Arielle and I ventured to the top, snapped some photos, stood in awe of it all - the view, the size, Istanbul - and headed off to a wonderful lunch just down the street. The view was incredible and we have plans to go back for the nightclub part as the weather gets nicer.
On Saturday, we hopped on a tour provided by the school. We saw the Chora, the AyaSofya, Fatih Mosque, and Şehzadebaşı Mosque. The day was long but wonderful. The Chora is simplest the most amazing place I ever seen. The former christian church was turned into a Mosque like almost all former churches in Istanbul. Now it is a museum that houses some of the world's best Christian mosaics. They were the first of its kind for the area and the time. Many of them have been recovered and restored including the death of virgin Mary and the the dome that houses the ancestry of Jesus. The Ayasofya was pretty incredible as well. The size of the Dome never ceases to amaze. It is a wonder how they built it with out any major columns.
On Sunday, we headed to Topkapi Palace. The entire tour lasted the whole day, but it was worth it. The garden leads into the gate and the first buildings house some of the worlds' finest jewels collected by the Ottoman Empire. The back buildings and garden have views of the Golden Horn, the Bosophorus River, and the Galata Tower as well as remains of the city walls and the sky scape of the old city. One part of the palace that I did not know was going to be there was building filled with religious artifacts. It has videos, explanations, comparisons between religions. It was a real interesting part of the Palace, one I spent hours in.
Later that night, we had a traditional Turkish dinner with our Turkish friends to celebrate our first month in Istanbul. It started with a tomato and yogurt soup. The second course consisted of a pickle dip, a salsa, a meatball situation, and a bread treat that had cheese and Turkish bacon inside. For our main course, we had liver (not so good) and rice wrapped in grape leaves. Dessert was pumpkin and ice cream with Ginger water and Turkish coffee. Afterward, we played cards for hours it was a grand evening.
Well I'll posting a lot more about the week a little later tonight, for now I have Turkish homework to attend to.
I have come to the conclusion that I do want to have some time to explore things before I head to grad school. I'm pretty sure that I want to study international relations in some type of form. I do not know in what concentration yet. Perhaps I'll come back and work for NGO or go somewhere else. I don't know but I know none of these decisions need to be made now. I just know that this experience has given me more options and more confidence... both are good things.
