It's so, so hard for me to believe that I haven't even been here for one full week. I figure it's a good thing that each day feels so long and full of interesting things, since that probably means I'm using the days well. And yes, there's been an inordinate amount of reading assigned already, but I honestly feel no inclination to finish all of it, so I'm not terribly bothered. I would rather explore and get at least decent sleep.
Speaking of exploring: on Monday after class and a quick campus tour of Yıldız, Megan walked us down to Beşiktaş, which has this packed market of winding streets and countless little stalls and shops, rows and rows of buses and shared taxis, and public ferries to cross to the Asian side of the city. (This city spans two continents. Just...what.) We split up and wandered the market for a while before making the 45-minute trek back from Beşiktaş to Ortaköy. (Megan claimed it was about 25 minutes. Lies. All lies.)
Yesterday included our first Turkish classes--as well as a country-wide blackout, which is one of the most bizarre things I've experienced in my life. The Republika and the campus both have generators, so it wasn't noticeable for us for the most part. But then we stepped out onto the main roads, and nearly every single store or restaurant was dark, their owners perched on stools or chairs outside, seemingly killing time until someone figured out the cause of the blackout and fixed it.
The power came back at some point in the evening, so that by the time we stepped out for dinner, the main road in Ortaköy was buzzing again. Skylar, Naila, and I made our way down to the same place Skylar and I had been to a few days prior, where we bumbled our way through ordering gözleme with the help of two other American students who happened to be eating there at the time as well. This time, we came armed with more Turkish phrases--enough to learn the incredibly friendly waiter's name was Harun, and to introduce ourselves. (Admittedly very, very poorly, but hell, we tried.)
Right as we're waiting to order, the power blows again. We sit for a few minutes in the dark upstairs seating area before deciding we should probably just leave--and then one of the other waiters sees us leaving, and tries to get us to sit back down: "Food? Sure, yes!"
He proceeds to hoist a table and four chairs outside for us, where the sun had almost set, but we could easily see. We then see Harun jogging back to the restaurant, two packs of candles in hand. In a minute, he's back outside with a lit candle for our table.
I died more than a little bit. We all did. This man is by far one of the sweetest people I have ever encountered, and I am so, so glad that Skylar and I walked into that restaurant when we did.
Today on the way home, we passed Harun again, and he greeted us both with a massive smile and a kiss on each cheek. Pretty sure that means we're friends now.
On that note, Skylar and I ventured to Kadıköy right after class today, where we killed another few hours wandering another open-air market--though the whole neighborhood seemed much newer than Ortaköy in general. We got a late lunch at this fantastic, super vegetarian-friendly restaurant called Çiya. According to Megan, the owner has his own farm to grow the specific vegetables he needs for the endangered Anatolian dishes he serves. One of the younger waiters spoke excellent English, and he put together a full plate of vegetarian dishes for us to try. (Truly, there is no shortage of pleasant, helpful people in Istanbul.) Everything was delicious, from the self-serve meze bar, to the Nowrüz drink (with mint and dill and spinach and lemon and sugar? I think), to the sugar-and-vanilla-soaked eggplant dessert served with clotted cream. Definitely a spot to remember.
One thing I noticed about Kadıköy: tons more tourists than in the area around the Republika, or in Beşiktaş. More tourists also means more English-speaking locals, which made our way a little easier. Something tells me other areas of Istanbul are similar in that respect. I can now politely greet people, say please and thank you, and order things using numbers--but I still can't understand a word anybody else says. Everyone speaks so damn fast, and my brain is nowhere near capable of processing Turkish at that speed--not even the most basic of words. Still, I try, and hopefully look a little less foolish every day.
The rest of Kadıköy is best explained with photos, which I swear I will actually upload after I finish today's reading.
Speaking of exploring: on Monday after class and a quick campus tour of Yıldız, Megan walked us down to Beşiktaş, which has this packed market of winding streets and countless little stalls and shops, rows and rows of buses and shared taxis, and public ferries to cross to the Asian side of the city. (This city spans two continents. Just...what.) We split up and wandered the market for a while before making the 45-minute trek back from Beşiktaş to Ortaköy. (Megan claimed it was about 25 minutes. Lies. All lies.)
Yesterday included our first Turkish classes--as well as a country-wide blackout, which is one of the most bizarre things I've experienced in my life. The Republika and the campus both have generators, so it wasn't noticeable for us for the most part. But then we stepped out onto the main roads, and nearly every single store or restaurant was dark, their owners perched on stools or chairs outside, seemingly killing time until someone figured out the cause of the blackout and fixed it.
The power came back at some point in the evening, so that by the time we stepped out for dinner, the main road in Ortaköy was buzzing again. Skylar, Naila, and I made our way down to the same place Skylar and I had been to a few days prior, where we bumbled our way through ordering gözleme with the help of two other American students who happened to be eating there at the time as well. This time, we came armed with more Turkish phrases--enough to learn the incredibly friendly waiter's name was Harun, and to introduce ourselves. (Admittedly very, very poorly, but hell, we tried.)
Right as we're waiting to order, the power blows again. We sit for a few minutes in the dark upstairs seating area before deciding we should probably just leave--and then one of the other waiters sees us leaving, and tries to get us to sit back down: "Food? Sure, yes!"
He proceeds to hoist a table and four chairs outside for us, where the sun had almost set, but we could easily see. We then see Harun jogging back to the restaurant, two packs of candles in hand. In a minute, he's back outside with a lit candle for our table.
I died more than a little bit. We all did. This man is by far one of the sweetest people I have ever encountered, and I am so, so glad that Skylar and I walked into that restaurant when we did.
Today on the way home, we passed Harun again, and he greeted us both with a massive smile and a kiss on each cheek. Pretty sure that means we're friends now.
On that note, Skylar and I ventured to Kadıköy right after class today, where we killed another few hours wandering another open-air market--though the whole neighborhood seemed much newer than Ortaköy in general. We got a late lunch at this fantastic, super vegetarian-friendly restaurant called Çiya. According to Megan, the owner has his own farm to grow the specific vegetables he needs for the endangered Anatolian dishes he serves. One of the younger waiters spoke excellent English, and he put together a full plate of vegetarian dishes for us to try. (Truly, there is no shortage of pleasant, helpful people in Istanbul.) Everything was delicious, from the self-serve meze bar, to the Nowrüz drink (with mint and dill and spinach and lemon and sugar? I think), to the sugar-and-vanilla-soaked eggplant dessert served with clotted cream. Definitely a spot to remember.
One thing I noticed about Kadıköy: tons more tourists than in the area around the Republika, or in Beşiktaş. More tourists also means more English-speaking locals, which made our way a little easier. Something tells me other areas of Istanbul are similar in that respect. I can now politely greet people, say please and thank you, and order things using numbers--but I still can't understand a word anybody else says. Everyone speaks so damn fast, and my brain is nowhere near capable of processing Turkish at that speed--not even the most basic of words. Still, I try, and hopefully look a little less foolish every day.
The rest of Kadıköy is best explained with photos, which I swear I will actually upload after I finish today's reading.
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