much too much

My mom's worst nightmare may be coming true. She was scared that I would never leave Istanbul. It's quite, quite possible. I've only been here for a little over a day and there is already much to much to tell.

After what turned into a 26 hour traveling ordeal thanks to the lovely people at O'hare, including 4 airplane meals, 10 euros spent on airport internet access, and an adorable elderly Italian gentleman dropping two suitcases on my head while trying to lift them into the over(my)head bin with his less-than-toned arms, I arrived in Istanbul at 11pm on Sunday. I went straight to the dorm (which is bigger than my apartment in Michigan, minus the single bedroom that is made in a cruise ship fashion). Here are some updates in the best way that I can organize my thoughts right now:

1) My roommates are great. I have three total. One Turkish girl I have yet to meet. One Turkish girl from the Netherlands. And one American girl from Hawaii/WashU/my Duke program.

2) My sheets are not so great. They provided us with sheets that can only be described as straight up tarp. Like, the kind you lay on the ground before you put your sleeping bag down when camping. The bag says 'cotton' but it's discouraging when I can hear my roommate turn over in her bed in the next room because of the 'swishing' sounds. And when my bedspread repeatedly slides off onto the floor during the night in one swift motion do to its incredibly waxy surface. Nonetheless, things are good in the dorm.

3) Amongst the important things I remembered to bring (a bathing suit, a lint roller, goldfish) I forgot my contact case and solution. The food here is cheap and incredible (8 or 9 lira for a kabob with rice and salad and pita/naan like bread with about 1.5 lira to 1 dollar, plus the chai and bottled water are complementary), but everything else is expensive. Therefore, my contact solution was near 20 U.S. dollars... not ideal. And last night, at a club, a bartender tried to sell us a bottle of Absolut for 200 lira...HA! This is what it would cost to live in an Istanbul apartment for a month, to put things into perspective.

4) Ataturk is everywhere. Statues everywhere.

5) The walk to the university is UNREAL. Overlooking the Bosphorus. And it was sunny and warm here during the day so I didn't even have to wear a jacket. (pictures below)

6) Stray animals everywhere, and they flock to our group. Stray cats chill in classes with you and the teachers don't care. I named one dog Mr. Bojangles and another Norbit (Melissa - he is a white version of Jersey, aka his legs are shorter than the length of his head).

7) I'm walking so much my ass might actually be falling off (not the worst thing that could happen, I can't lie). Yesterday we walked to Bebek, the area down the hill from Bogazici's campus by the water with nice shops, hookah bars, bakeries, etc. The roads were so steep we had to lean back as we walked down and the way back up was quite the shlep. We were all sweating, had taken our coats off, and were panting heavily as we attempted to make our way to the top of the hill (not without stopping a few times to rest of course). Needless to say we burned off the pistachio baklava we had just purchased. Tourists typically take cabs up the hill, but some said they saw old men with canes and mother's pushing their children in strollers up the hill faster than them, so it's obviously something the locals master.

8) I almost died last night in a cab ride. It was like Fast and Furious (if Vin Diesel had been 75 years old). This man had NO FEAR people. No. Fear. We went over a city speed bump at 70 mph and literally all flew off of our seats. Apparently this is normal behavior.

9) We have been doing a lot of wandering aimlessly. I can't wait until we know our way around, or know enough Turkish to find our way anywhere. That's another thing, many people in the city don't speak english well. And they only seem more confused when we butcher simple conversational phrases as to why we would attempt Turkish. The people seem wonderful though. They come off kind of harsh, as all Eastern Europeans can if you ask me, but mostly they just don't want to be embarrassed if they speak english poorly, which is only all the more adorable. Besides that though some people definitely just think we're obnoxious, as they should. As they should.

10) Never say never. Youtube works here. My month of what I assumed to be justified video streaming was laid to waste.

11) I HEARD THE BELGIAN SONG that I posted at a Turkish club. Everyone on my program thought I was strange for knowing it.


Here are a few pictures I shot quickly on my way to and from campus today. Not the best but I just wanted to upload something so you could get the general idea!

Sorry if this was boring, I love and miss everyone back home. Soon I will tell you about today's orientation, which was unlike anything I've ever seen... Also, if anyone knows how to make a slideshow on blogs so I can stop looking like an idiot please let me know!