I have been here for about two and a half weeks and everyday I gain more knowledge and new experiences that just blow me away. Yesterday, as I did not have class, I wanted to go shopping. I got on the bus but I missed my stop due to the bus jammed full of people as I could not see my bus stop clearly. After I realized I missed my stop, I stayed on the bus all the way to Kadikoy. I decided to just walk by the ferry shore. It just took my breath away. It was a beautiful sunny day and looking out to the water was just amazing. I smiled as I walked and listened to my ipod. It was so peaceful.
I walked up and down the streets looking for places to stop. I have learned that I need to walk confidently and not make eye contact with store owners as they will yell at you to come into their shop as I look like a foreigner. I have seen corn cup stands several times since I have been here and being the Iowa girl I am, I had to try one. It was okay, not nearly as good as Iowa sweet corn, but it was still nice. I also stopped at a bakery for a tasty treat. It is always interesting going into shops by myself. Through pointing and my little Turkish and their little English, we can commutate. I ended up finding a Starbucks and decided to treat myself. I tried using my Starbucks gift card but it unfortunately did not work in Turkey which I figured. After I got my mocha frappuccino, I sat outside and read some homework. I was just so happy to be in Turkey.
That night, I went over to the head of the Sociology Departments house for dinner. I met him once before when he told one of my friends, who is also in Sociology, to see him. I had no idea what he wanted and it turns out, he just wanted to meet me and see how I was. It was so nice knowing that he cared about me. He invited three of students and I to his house. My friend Sasha and I went together. It was quite the journey. We took a bus from the university to Kadikoy and then from there had to take two different mini-buses to finally get to his area. He had given me directions earlier that day so I kind of knew where he lived. After asking several people and calling him, we got to his house. As we walked up the hill to his house, I looked to my right and was just blown away. The view was something that would be on a postcard. It was the Bosphorus Bridge lit up in blue lights and all the buildings on the European side with their lights on. I unfortunately did not have my camera but I will never get that picture out of my head.
It was a wonderful evening eating and chatting together. There were a few other people who work in the department and some spoke some English while some did not at all. We could still communicate and laughed a lot. The generosity of Turkish people is so wonderful. We had soup, salad, rice and fried chicken. And lots of cheese! I was very proud of myself for eating the salad as it had lots of tomatoes in it and I’m not a fan but I wanted to be a polite guest so I ate it all. It was nice eating something familiar like chicken and it was very tasty. I enjoyed the food but I enjoyed sitting around the table talking, laughing and getting to know each other more.
And that is how I fell in love with this amazing place called Turkey.
Enjoying my view at Starbucks
Corn stand. Yes it looks like corn on the cob!
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