For me, the biggest downfall of studying abroad has been my classes. From the start, it was frustrating--from choosing classes, being satisfied, and now attending classes. I've always been skeptical of people who complain about professors...those people who seem the world sucks because they are getting screwed over by their professors, taking on the "whoa is me" attitude. Well...I guess that is because I've been fortune (until now) to have great professors in addition to being an over-achiever, study-crazy, GPA obsesses student. The other problem is I don't know how to study for anything but an A....it's annoying. I have 3/4 midterm grades back and I got a 90 or above on all of them. I didn't even stress though...so its weird...

Most of the professors here...well I am not a fan of them and they are not a fan of me.Talking about my academics here will probably bore you to death reading this. So I've try to give a brief overview.

Mythology and Religion: The only American professor, she is the most timid insecure teacher ever! She does not project a feeling of authority over us...Turkish students are known for talking in class and she quietly will mumble "shhhh" to them....almost inaudible to me in the front row! She likes to describe myths, architecture, and art as "weird." When someone asks a question to further explain a topic, her normal response is "we don't need to know that. It isn't important." Enough said...right? 

International Migration: This is a 400 level class. I have never taken an International Relations/Political Science course in my life. Perhaps this is one of my most difficult classes but I am interested in it. Migration affects every part of the world, but we tend to talk about the Turkish situation a lot...it's a really interesting topic of discussion. However the teacher is the most scatterbrained, unenthusiastic, unorganized professor. She assigned everyone partners for a move review assignment (20% of our total grade)...after more than half of the groups complained about not being able to find the designated movie, she said "Okay...well since the movie cannot be found...find your own movie, send me a description of how it relates and then I will decide if it is acceptable. Once you find your own movie, you can start the assignment." It probably doesn't sound that bad....but when the topic is limited to Turkish migration movies...there are only so many that work. Anyway--I finally found one: Kebab Connection. It's interesting. I have it on my computer if you ever want to watch it! :-D

Introduction to Turkish: No complaints except that the language is difficult. The professor is great!

Social Change: No major complaints. It's the only class with quizzes and the one day I have skipped was a quiz that that sort of sucked. We tend to focus of the Turkish situation as well. I am writing my final paper now (due Jan 7, 2011) and I am almost finished. My topic is the "missing girls" in India. It's interesting to learn about and extremely upsetting. Basically, women should outnumber men because biologically women are hardier. However, millions of girls go missing though the practices of female infanticide, feticide  thought sex-selective abortion, and nutritional and health care neglect in childhood. 

Intro to Dance: For those of you who know me well...you know I can't dance..AT ALL! So intro to dance sounded great..as I might LEARN something. Well turns out its modern dance so it's very different from what I expected. There is a lot of rolling around on the ground and jumping. We are suppose to close our eyes and "feel the water all around us." We crawl around and run around. At times it is ridiculous. So...whatever. I do as best I can. I don't know anyone in the class. The professor speaks in Turkish and then will tell me what to do in English. I don't really feel like a part of the class. A few times, I had to read the worksheets she brings because "I speak good English"..go figure! Anyway recently she has given us a weekly assignment to choreograph a dance using 9 shapes/movements. Its horrible. Last week though, I was the only one who did it. So the professor made me show everyone what I did...then gave us all 30 minutes to work on it...indeed I had to redo mine because "You didn't have this movement and you only used a little bit of space and blah blah blah." Okay. whatever. I worked on it again. Then there was only 20 minutes left in class and we were all suppose to perform. It was taking a long time for each person so after 3 people, there was only 10 minutes left. I figured since I had already gone once in front of everyone that I wouldn't need to go again. Ha. Right. She called my name and I had to do it again. Seriously....For me it's torture! 

I am 98% sure that have a medical condition--endometriosis. I don't complain about it all the time because what good is complaining gonna do. Well recently, and most unfortunately...my back pain has increased so much. It's so bad that it makes me nauseous and makes it really difficult to do anything. The other day, I tried to lift a book off my bed and I felt paralyzed for my lower back up. I get shooting pains down my legs. Yea its messed up and I know I need to get it taken car of when I get back to the states. I told my professor about my issue and thankfully she is willing to work with me. Seriously though...I don't complain about pain. I have a high tolerance until I just can't do it. It sucks because this rolling and jumping, hooting and hollering crap is NOT helping my issue. 

Ok then....enough of the boring update. I only have 25 days left in Turkey. For 8 of the days, I will be away...Germany for Christmas and Bulgaria for New Years....life is good. I'm going to miss Istanbul...a lot!

I'M A BIG GIRL NOW...

THIS PAST WEEKEND, I DECIDED TO VENTURE INTO THE CITY ALL BY MY SELF. ITS NOT THAT BEFORE I WAS AFRAID; RATHER, USUALLY PEOPLE WANTED TO COME SO WE MADE A DAY OF IT. SOME OF MY FRIENDS WERE AWAY THIS WEEKEND SO I DECIDED I WANTED TO GO PLACES ON MY OWN—AND DO A LOT OF GIFT SHOPPING! WELL I CERTAINLY SUCCEEDED. I WOKE UP EARLY, CAUGHT THE DOLMUS TO SARIYER. FROM THERE I TOOK WHATEVER BUS CAME FIRST, WHICH HAPPENED TO BE THE SEA BUS, SO IT TOOK A WHILE BUT I DIDN’T MIND. I HAD NOT CONCRETE TIMEFRAME FOR MY DAYS ADVENTURES. I WITNESSED A TIFF BETWEEN TWO ELDERLY LADIES. WE WERE SITTING ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER, IN A PLACE WITH FOUR PASSENGERS. ONE LADY DID NOT WANT TO WINDOW OPEN BECAUSE IT WAS TOO COLD ON HER EARS [ IT WAS SO HOT, WE WERE ALL SWEATING] SO EVENTUALLY THE OTHER LADY OPENED THE WINDOW AND THEY WENT AT IT. IT ENDED WITH ME BEING TOLD TO OPEN THE WINDOW, I DID SO ON THE REQUEST OF THE LADY SITTING NEXT TO ME. I GUESS I PROBABLY WAS HESITANT BECAUSE I WASN’T SURE WHAT SHE WAS ASKING ME AS WELL AS I KNEW IT MIGHT CAUSE PROBLEMS. ANYWAY, THE LADY THEN ASKED IF I WAS TURKISH, I SAID NO AND WE HAD A GOOD CONVERSATION IN ENGLISH! 

I GOT OFF AT KABATAS AND CAUGHT THE TRAM TO SULTANAHMET. FROM THERE, I WALKED TO THE TURKISH AND ISLAMIC ART MUSEUM. I SAW SOME REALLY HUGE, OLD CARPETS FROM THE 15^TH CENTURY. THERE WAS A LOT OF ARTIFACTS CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE PROPHET ISSAC, ABRAHAM, AND MOSES. THE MOST INTERESTING PART WAS THE VARIOUS QUR’AN BOOKS THAT WERE SO DETAILED AND COLORFUL AND THE HUGE CARPETS. THE LAY OUT OF THE MUSEUM WAS GREAT, AS THERE WERE ROOMS OF JUST HANGING CARPETS. BEFORE TURKEY, CARPETS NEVER EQUALED A WORK OF ART--THAT HAS DEFINITELY CHANGED! THERE WAS AN ENTIRE EXHIBIT ON THE BOOKS OF QUR’AN. IT WAS FASCINATING AND GORGEOUS WORKS OF ART!

DETAIL OF A QUR'AN

ONE OF MANY ROOMS OF CARPETS

AFTER THE MUSEUM, I WALKED A LITTLE, CHECKED OUT TOURISTY SHOPS, BOUGHT A SIMIT [PRETZEL LIKE STREET FOOD] AND WALKED TO TOPKAPI PALACE.  IT IS KNOWN FOR ITS LOCATION, OVERLOOKING THE BOSPORUS YET INCORPORATED BY THE TERRAIN OF THE AREA. THE TILE WORK WAS JUST OVERWHELMING. [I RUN OUT OF WORDS TO DESCRIBE SOME OF THE ARCHITECTURAL MASTERPIECES HERE IN ISTANBUL, BUT REALLY ‘AMAZING’ AND ‘WONDERFUL.’] THE STABLE ROOMS WHO FULL OF JEWELS, CLOTHING, AND JEWELED SWORDS, ETC. I HAD NEVER SEEN SO MUCH JEWELED THINGS IN ONE PLACE AT ONE TIME. TO BE FRANK, IT WAS A BIT RIDICULOUS. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY SO MUCH WEALTH NEEDS TO EVER BEEN CONCENTRATED WITHIN A SINGLE SULTAN'S POSSESSIONS. 

INTERIOR OF BAGHDAD PAVILION

I WENT INTO THE HAREM WHICH LET ME SEE THE BEDROOM, BATHES, LIVING QUARTERS, AND CONCUBINES’ AREA OF THE SULTAN. IT WAS PRETTY NEAT. HOWEVER, I LIKED THE GENERAL AREA MORE. THE VIEW OVER THE CITY WAS AMAZING. I HAD LEARNED SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE BAGHDAD PAVILION AND THE CIRCUMCISION ROOMS. THE CHAPEL-LIKE AREAS WERE SO ORNATE AND DETAIL ORIENTATED.

BELOW ARE SOME PICTURES TO SHOW THE AMOUNT OF DETAIL EACH ASPECT OF THIS PALACE INCORPORATED... DIFFERENT DESIGNS ARE JUXTAPOSED TOGETHER AND SOMEHOW THE PRESENTATION IS STILL A GORGEOUS SIGHT.

COURTYARD IN THE HAREM QUARTERS

HALLWAY IN THE HAREM

DIFFERENT TILE PATTERNS

I LOVED TOPKAPI PALACE. AFTER LEAVING THE PALACE, I WAS PRETTY EXHAUSTED. I DID A LITTLE MORE GIFT-SHOPPING. I WENT TO TAKSIM AND THEN CAUGHT A BUS BACK TO SARIYER. ONCE I GOT BACK TO KOC UNIVERSITY, I FELL RIGHT ASLEEP.   

ON SATURDAY, I VENTURED BACK INTO THE CITY WITH A FRIEND TO MEET UP WITH SOME PEOPLE MY PARENTS AND ANDA MET WHILE HERE. THE LADY SHOWED US ALL AROUND THE GRAND BAZAAR...TO "TANIA'S PLACE" THAT GIVE US THE BEST DEAL. IT WAS FUN TO HAVE A GOOD TOUR OF THE PLACE. I SAW HOW CARPETS ARE SOLD...AND FOUND A LOT OF CUTE SHOPS THAT I WOULD HAVE NEVER FOUND ON MY OWN.  WE GRAND BAZAAR'ED ALL DAY. BELOW ARE PICTURES. IT WAS OVERWHELMING AT TIMES, EXHAUSTING, YET FUN! 

 

ITS WAS ALL CRAZY. BAZAAR. I LOVED IT THOUGH. I DIDN'T BUY MUCH BECAUSE LIKE I'VE SAID BEFORE, IT IS A TOURIST TRAP BUT ITS UNFORGETTABLE PLACE.

London Bridges falling down....

"London Bridges falling down... falling down... falling down... London bridges falling down. ..my fair lady!"

Our one week of travel for the Kumran Bayram Holiday was much needed. I went to visit Mikita in London. I arrived late on Thursday, November 11. I got a little lost but hey…it didn’t matter because I could ask people for directions IN ENGLISH! It was a good feeling. 

Anyway, I made it to her apartment and her roommate Amy let me in. Mikita didn’t arrive until Friday evening. So I fell asleep after an exhausting day. In the morning, I ventured out into the city and went to the National Portrait Gallery. It is such a good museum—I saw all these masterpieces that I learned about in Art History. I stood there, in front of them, marveling at how amazing they are. I remembered learning about the artist, the symbolism, the controversies….ah!

 

I walked down a street mindlessly, and ran into Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. The “Poppy Appeal” was going on, so infront of Westminster Abbey, displays of poppy crosses were everywhere. It was really neat! 

 

When I walked back to the Tube stop near the National Portrait Gallery, I saw a man standing in the fountains fishing out something, because someone had dumped thousands of paper poppy flowers. I took a handful for keepsake! It was pretty early in the day so I decided I would walk a little instead of hopping back on the Tube. I walked to Piccadilly Circus and saw the Eros statue. Then I walked through the theatre district and Soho. I kept on walking, according to the Tube map…later I found out that that was a mistake. Anyway, after hours of walking, I arrived back to Mikita’s apparent. I did a little homework (because unfortunately I had midterms on the days following the holiday). When Mikita arrived, we caught up on life and travels—then we cooked dinner. We had the agreement that she would cook and I would set up/clean up the kitchen! We went out for CIDER that evening. I love it. Such a good drink!

The next day we ventured to different parts of London. We ran into two problems. The tube shuts down for construction purposes on the weekend, so we walked a lot. Also, since it was around their equivalent to Veterans Day, there were a lot of Parades…we rather enjoyed stopping and watching. Plus, streets were shut down so we could walk in the middle of the road! We found Platform 9 and ¾ from the Harry Potter series! It was great! Ha. We walked back to Big Ben and Parliament. The most

common photograph of London, the Parliament building with Big Ben in the background? Yes, we took many pictures! Mikita took me to the area where she works; I also saw the huge Court House of London. Later in the evening, we met up with Kevin, a friend from Berea who is now living in London. It was a fun, relaxing evening. Like all evenings, we were exhausted when we returned.

On Sunday, we did more walking and exploring. In the morning, we went to Camden Market which basically was a London version of the Grand Bazaar, except a lot of it wasn’t covered. Anyway it was fun! We bought a few things, had great Polish food and acted like tourists! Among other things, we walked across the pedestrian Millennium Bridge, found St. Paul’s Cathedral, and went to the British Museum. At the British Museum, we focused on going to a few key exhibits….we saw the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon. A lot of the sculpture and reliefs from the temple are now in the museum. This too, I remember learning so much about. It’s a great feeling being able to see in person such magnificent, ancient, art! We also saw the Rosetta Stone and a lot of Egyptian sculptures and tombs.

On Monday, I did a tour bus to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bathe. It was so cold and so foggy in the morning that Windsor Castle was not visible until half way through the time allotted at the castle. Anyway, we left early because Prince William was there so we were not able to tour the main part of the castle. It was a bummer! Anyway, I saw the creepy doll collection of one of the Queens and went into St. Georges Chapel. It was so beautiful inside. There was a lot of stain glass and so much intricate wood and stone work. I was amazed. I really wish I could have taken pictures. The outside, however, is just as amazing (see picture below).

St. George's Cathedral

Stonehenge was also quite a feat! Mikita had warned me that it wasn’t as fascinating as she thought it would be. So I had forewarning but I loved it! I recommend anyone who wants to travel around London/England to go in November. My tourguide said we were lucky because it is the end of tourist season so not many people are going to the sites. I was able to take pictures of Stonehenge without anyone else being in them! Maybe a totally of 100 people were there, but usually its thousands! It turned into a beautiful, with a blue sky. Indeed it was still freezing but bearable. 

We traveled to the Roman city of Bathe afterwards. Apparently, when the Romans lived here, they built a vast complex that was centered around the hot water springs. When the English kicked them out, no one thought to learn how to maintain the structure. It was left to ruins. Years later, people rediscovered the hot spring and the monarch/king wanted to have a new complex built. Thus, the tour of the building including parts of the ancient and newer complex. The town of Bathe is a very quaint town with lots of cute shops and restaurants. We had a lot of time here (because we left Windsor early). 

I enjoyed the trip immensely. Unfortunately, I slept on the bus and missed the informative chatter from our tourguide. I got back around 9. We had dinner and then slept!

For my last day, I went to school with Mikita. While she was in class, I walked to the Victoria and Albert Musuem. It was alright…not my favorite but still worth seeing. We hung out between classes, did homework, went to Harrod’s. What a ridiculous department store! However, it felt like Christmas [actually, all of London was already decorated] and it was nice to experience that, because Turkey will not be celebrating [Go figure!]. We walked around some of the floors, especially the Christmas department and the food areas! We briefly walked through a clothing part to check the price of belts….any guesses? Okay…I’ll just tell you how much a stupid belt cost: 725 POUNDS…so that’s more than $1,000. The pastry shop was the only place I could afford something, so we bought lunch here!

We went to a pub before Mikita’s last class. After her class, we went to another pub so I could have Fish & Chips. I met her boyfriend, Ali. We all hung out for a while but then it was time to go back to the apartment, pack up and sleep. I had to leave at 6 in the morning. My flight went well. I got back to Istanbul around 5pm. I was sadder than I thought. In fact, I sort of freaked out. I had such a wonderful time hearing ENGLISH and the moment I stepped outside of the airport, I was surrounded by the confusing, frustrating Turkish language. I had trouble catching a bus back to Sariyer, and the driver definitely ripped me off. I know it sounds pathetic, but I just cried. I was having one of those moments that I desperately wanted to come home. [Thankfully, my family came the next day and gave me a new burst of energy and encouragement!]