Ortaköy

Today I finally walked over to the lovely neighborhood of Ortaköy, recommended to me by coworkers. It's a beautiful, trendy little place on the water, full of jewelry and pashmina shops. Needless to say, it was my kind of place. On a related note, I have a pashmina addiction. They're just...so...pretty. And affordable! As far as vices go, at least.

I spent a while feeling terribly artsy and writing in my notebook at a cafe with this view:

My lunch, profiterol and tea:

I love this so much. A typical sight on an Istanbul street:

On a completely random note, spray deodorant is very popular here. This one will surely give you SO MANY BABIES FOUR HUNDRED BABIES:

Tourist Day

I finally adventured out into the old city/Sultanahmet area, where everyone goes when they come to Istanbul. It was exhausting! I'm glad I waited until the temperature went down and the tourist season waned a little bit, because it's very crowded and hectic down there. Also, being a female seeing the sights alone makes me very vulnerable to men talking to me and trying to give me impromptu tours. I just can't bring myself to say "Please stop talking to me" when a man starts chatting with me and walking alongside me. Most of the time these men are working in nearby shops, hoping to lure travelers in by being friendly. It's fairly harmless, I suppose, but very irritating.

I started my day by heading over to Kahvedan in Cihangir, a place frequented by foreigners like me and run by a lady from San Francisco. I got a delicious American breakfast of apple pancakes and some Turkish coffee. From there I walked all the way down to the Sultanahmet. I intended to go to some museums first, but one of the aforementioned salesmen convinced me to see the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque) first, since it would be closing for a prayer service soon. He gave me a pretty thorough informational guided tour of the mosque, and in exchange I shopped in his store afterward. It was filled with really beautiful things that were way out of my price range, but I felt kinda awkward leaving without buying anything. I found a really nice pashmina, which he claimed he usually sells over 100TL but would give to me for a special student price of 50TL. I told him that I could never pay that much and asked if I could have it for 20TL instead. He agreed immediately, which probably means I should have shot a little bit lower, but it's a really nice pashmina and the tour had actually been helpful, so I didn't mind.

Afterward he tried to sell me some Turkish carpets, but I was not interested, which I'm sure was disappointing. As my boyfriend (who has experienced the Turkish rug salesman before) put it, these carpet salesmen do long-form sales pitches; they will chat you up for a couple hours and walk you around the city in the hopes that they can get a carpet sale out of you, which is worth it when these things can sell for thousands of dollars.

Pretty pictures! The Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia), as seen from the Blue Mosque:

The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque), from the Aya Sofya:

The inside of the Blue Mosque (those black lines are cables to hanging lamps):

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Next, I decided to pop into the temporary 1001 Inventions exhibit, which explores the contributions of Islamic scientists, engineers, and mathematicians during the Dark Ages. It was very interesting, and featured the ever-amazing Ben Kingsley telling you how much you suck at history:

My next stop was the Yerebatan Sarnıcı, or Basilica Cistern, which is a very large underground water reservoir from the 6th century. It's also called the Sunken Palace, and it's easy to see why:

I ended the day with a nice stroll through Gülhane Park, which was surprisingly calm and relaxing despite being surrounded by tourist areas. Now I'm back home and completely exhausted from yet another day of endless walking.

Island Adventure

Awesome day! I decided to take a ferry over to the nearby Princes' Islands (specifically Büyükada) and spend the day relaxing away from the city. The initial intention was to meet up with my boss out there, but due to failed communication she ended up on the mainland just as I got to the islands. I actually think being alone made the experience better. The islands are a place where tourists and Turks alike go to get out of the ridiculously crowded city. Of course, this makes the islands ridiculously crowded as well, but Büyükada has enough rural areas to escape to even on a popular day like this.

There are no motorized vehicles (besides police and ambulances) allowed on the islands, which makes everything more peaceful even in the presence of lots of people. The preferred method of transportation is horse-drawn carriage, which I intended to use until seeing the prices. The island is full of horses, both grazing in nature and pulling people around:

I opted for the cheap mode of transportation and rented a bike for the day. I stupidly set out on my 15km trek with very little food in my stomach and didn't make it far before feeling weak. Fortunately, I was able to pull over to a local farm and eat some locally grown apples while chatting with the owner- entirely in Turkish! He was very impressed with my Turkish abilities, and I was, too; you don't realize how much you've learned until you're forced to have a discussion with no English. I set out again and had an awesome time biking around the coast, taking in the spectacular views. Pictures don't really do it justice, but here are some:

Afterwards, I returned to the bustling port area of the island for some food and relaxation. As much as I love traveling solo, it does mean that the only way I can be in photos (without bothering a stranger) is by taking awkward myspace-style pictures of myself. Here's an exhausted and sunburned Sam on the beach:

I ended the day the best way possible:

I don't know why milkshakes are so expensive in Turkey, but boy am I glad I finally splurged and got one. The day was truly awesome, and I hope I get to go back to the islands again. My boss feels horrible for ditching me and promises that she'll take the lab out to Büyükada at some point this fall to make up for it. You're welcome, labmates.

Rant

I want to take a moment to express how disgusted I am with the wave of anti-Islamic rhetoric sweeping through America. Don't get me wrong- I dislike religion as much as the next godless commie liberal, but the level of stupidity and hatred is just getting nauseating. For those of you who haven't been paying attention to the news, idiots all across the country are worked up into a frenzy over the supposed "invasion" of Islam. Last week there was a case of arson and vandalism against the building site of a mosque in Tennessee, plans to have a Qu'ran burning on 9-11, and of course the ongoing ignorance regarding the controversial "Ground-Zero" "Mosque" (it's not a mosque and it's not at Ground Zero, but I'm sure you know that already). The funny (not really) thing is, it isn't the atheists who are speaking out against the "inherent violence" of Islam- it's the members of another equally violent religion, with an equally (or more!) violent history.

Yes, there are aspects of Islam that are very upsetting. If every statement in the Qur'an was followed to the letter, the world would be a terrifying place. But have you ever flipped through a Bible? Not only is it filled with all sorts of crazy antiquated laws that almost no one follows (no working on Sundays, no associating with menstruating women, no clothing made of more than one material, etc.), but there are also passages that decree that non-believers should be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 17, for example). Of course, most reasonable Christians do not heed those outdated biblical laws (except for the mentions of homosexuality- that's serious business!), and instead choose to focus on the positive teachings of the Bible. Likewise, the vast majority of Muslims choose to focus on the peaceful messages rather than the violent ones. I'm not saying that this kind of pick-and-choose approach to religion makes sense, just that it is what is being practiced throughout most of the world.

The hypocritical Christians are quick to point at acts of terrorism committed by Muslims as proof of the religion's inherent violence. Those people were performing a religious jihad, so clearly that means that Islam encourages and rewards acts of violence. They seem to forget the disturbingly violent history of their own religion. Any one who passed a high school history class knows that millions of lives (Christian, Jewish, and Muslim) were lost at the hands of the crusading Christians between the 11th and 13th centuries. When confronted with those facts, Christians wave them away, claiming that historic events don't count- times were different then!

But how about modern issues? In the past 30 years in America, there have been at least 8 murders, 17 attempted murders, 383 death threats, 153 cases of assault, 41 bombings, 173 cases of arson, and 619 bomb threats against abortion clinics and the workers within them. And guess what- those are acts of terrorism! Just because they're white men rather than people with strange head-wear and a darker skin color does not mean that they are not terrorists. Once again, these facts will be shrugged off. Those are crazy people committing those acts- they don't represent the religion as a whole! Exactly. So why are you spouting this nonsense about those nutjobs hijacking planes being representative of Islam as a whole?

I know I'm preaching (lol) to the choir here, since most of my readers are reasonable, educated people who know all of these things already. But please take a moment and try to improve the lives of Muslims in America in some way. Wish them a happy Eid ul-Fitr this weekend, as it's a very big religious holiday for them. Next time you hear some idiot spouting off some anti-Islamic nonsense, take a stand and throw some facts in their face. It probably won't change their mind, since facts mean nothing to these kinds of people, but we need to make it known that Muslims are as welcome in the US as any other follower of a crazy religion is. Some of my friends here are becoming scared of studying in the US. Is this really the image we want to project to the world?

For a more lulzy yet to-the-point statement on the issue, please check out this Onion article.

Stop the hate! You're making this kitten cry.

One Month

I've been in Istanbul for a whole month now. Crazy! Things overall have been pretty great. I absolutely love my new place. I essentially have a host family now, and they're awesome. I get a delicious home-cooked meal every day (and dessert- mm, Güllaç). In exchange, I'm tutoring their 17-year old son in English, which has gone pretty well so far. Interestingly, the father is Christian while his wife and son are atheist (woo!). Pretty remarkable in a 98% Muslim country. I went to church with him this morning and met some Americans One family was from Wheaton! Small, small world.

It's been raining all day, unfortunately. I HATE rain. I think it's very popular these days to claim to love rain because it's all poetic and crap, but man does rain suck. I hate the wet shoes, the damp jeans, the rivers in the streets, the canceled baseball games and concerts, and the general gloom of the clouds. I much prefer hot, sunny days, which I guess means that I chose an excellent grad school location. Sadly, Istanbul will only get more rain as my time here continues, since late fall/early winter is a pretty rainy time. We have a long weekend starting on Wednesday, so hopefully the weather is nice enough for me to make some excursions.

Alright, picture time. My new place is near so many things, including the giant Dolmabahce Palace. Here are some ornate, oft-photographed gates:

In adorable cat news, there's a litter of tiny kittens at the university now!

People stop by to take care of them all the time, bringing milk, water, and food, so they love people. Especially feet.

I visit the kittens every day, and unfortunately I've had to watch as they each get the same icky eye infection. I have some Tobradex, which apparently can be used on kittens, so I'm kind of tempted to try to medicate them. I feel like it would be pointless, though, since they would probably just catch it again if it did manage to cure it. Hopefully with all the random strangers pitching in these kittens can survive, though I've made sure not to count them in an attempt to stop myself from knowing how many don't make it. Poor little guys :(

Sex, Religion, and Politics

The three things we're not supposed to talk about at the dinner table happen to be three of the most interesting things to discuss when in a new country. People have asked me what I've found to be different here with respect to the US, and honestly I've been surprised at the number of similarities. I particularly thought sexual attitudes would be different here, or at least spoken about differently. But no, just as in the US, young people date who they want, have premarital sex, have access to several birth control methods, and can get an abortion if a mistake happens. That last one surprised me the most. The women I've spoken to viewed this as a very normal thing; this is a right that is guaranteed to women and not controversial at all. When I told them that this has been a contested issue in the US for as long as I could remember, they were shocked. Surely such a progressive country would respect a woman's right to choose! Of course, this is exactly what the religious right would want to hear. Not only are Muslims blowing up buildings, they're killing unborn children, too.

This country is technically about 98% Muslim. I expected this difference in religion to be a pretty prominent part of life. Five times a day, the thousands of mosques throughout the city broadcast the prayer songs. However, I've never once seen anyone stop and pray at these times. We're in the midst of the month-long major Islamic holiday of Ramadan, and yet I've only met one person who is actually fasting. I must say, I feel safer being an atheist here than in the US. Thanks to Atatürk, the national hero and founder of "modern" Turkey, public displays of religion are highly discouraged, so no one is going to get up in your face (*cough* evangelicals) about not being religious. In fact, those full Islamic veils are actually illegal here, though the rule is not strongly enforced. Religion is not supposed to play a role in politics at all around here, and any politician with a perceived "Islamist agenda" is fiercely criticized, or even imprisoned.

Politics are still a huge mystery to me here. Turkey has a prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. I haven't actually met anyone who likes him. This is partly due to his general conservativism and partly due to that perceived Islamist agenda thing. He was imprisoned for a few months a while back, after saying some things that seemed to threaten the separation of religion and politics that is so beloved here. I probably don't have a very neutral view of the political sentiment in Turkey, considering I work and live near a university, and as in the US, universities tend to have pretty progressive views. In a few weeks there will be an election on some constitutional referendum. I don't know the details, and it seems like they are less important than the fact that Erdogan's party (AKP) supports it and the opposing major party (CHP) opposes it. Throughout the city there are banners saying "Evet!" or "Hayır!" ("yes" or "no"). The university area is decidedly a "Hayır!" dominated place.

That's enough serious talk for now. Oh, hey- remember when I posted about that district in Istanbul that I loved? Well, I moved there today, and it's everything I wanted, plus more. I'd be glad to share the details about the reasons for my move in a less public medium, so shoot me an email or IM if you're curious.  I'll definitely miss the old place, but I'll be back up there for work everyday anyway. I'll especially miss little Maya, even if she did poop in my shower all the time.

Weekend Excursions

This weekend brought a much-needed drop in temperature, thanks to some very strong winds from the North. Of course, I chose to celebrate by sleeping most of Saturday. I did manage to get over to the our local bazaar, where I bought some clothing and shoes. I've noticed something interesting: there is a threshold of money under which I think I am physically incapable of turning down something I want. I think it's generally around 5TL ($3.30), though it varies per item. So when I find a comfy, nice-looking pair of shoes for 5TL (a strangely common occurrence), I basically have to buy them. I hate being the type of girl who loves shoe shopping, but I totally love shoe shopping now, thanks to these prices. Here's the local bazaar, which is like a block from my house:

On Sunday I decided I should actually take advantage of the nice weather and headed down to Taksim for a day of shopping and tourist-ing. I think everyone else had the same idea, because it was ridiculously crowded everywhere I went. I had a great time walking along Istiklal Caddesi again, basically following the same route Ferda took me on, but with many stops to check out stores and take pictures. I considered going up in the Galata Tower this time, but the line was crazy long. I walked across the Golden Horn to the old city area, where I impulsively decided to hop on a boat tour of the Bosphorus. The cruise was very nice, especially as the sun was setting. It was also shockingly cold out on the water. Pretty picture time!

Taksim and Galata Tower, from the water:

The clouds were not nearly as imposing as they seem in these photos. Here's Yeni Mosque (New Mosque):

Topkapı Palace:

After the cruise I decided to try some balık ekmek (literally "fish bread"), which are cheap fish sandwiches from freshly caught and cooked fish. They cook them right on the boats:

I bit into my sandwich and got a mouth full of bones. Not just a couple small ones, as I had been warned about, but a full spine and all. I looked around and didn't see anyone else having as much trouble eating their sandwich, so I think I was just unlucky or totally inept. The non-bones part of the sandwich was totally delicious, though.

I tried to take some pictures of the area at night, since it was quite pretty, but I'm still really bad at using my camera in night mode. So far "night mode" has actually meant "colorful squigglies" mode. I took the tram back toward Istiklal Caddesi and explored the nightly Ramadan celebration at the square, featuring some more Turkish bands. I took the bus back to my place afterwards and promptly collapsed. All of this walking is good for me, though, and will hopefully combat the three-times-a-week Burger King (you'd do it to if it was cheap and delivered to your door!).