Wait a minute... We have to go to CLASS here???

With my absence, one might assume that I just fell off the face of the earth... Not quite, and I apologize for my laziness in keeping this updated. My excuse is that I am off experiencing Turkey, instead of just writing about it!

Here's a rundown of the last couple days...

Friday (Sightseeing in Istanbul)

The exchange student mentors took all of us for a day of historical sightseeing in Istanbul. As they said, the things that everyone needs to see at least once! The day began at the Blue Mosque, otherwise known as Sultanahmed. The mosque is famous for having the largest domes and most impressive architecture for its time period. This stop was by far, my favorite part of the day. We walked around the outside of the mosque before proceeding inside to see the high ceilings, unbelievable stained glass, religious symbolism and modern-day lighting and sound systems. This mosque is still in use, and we arrived shortly before the noon-time prayer was to begin. After removing our shoes, we all gathered in the inside, and had a chance to experience the beauty. Below are some pictures, but truly, there are no words... The mosque carries so much history, meaning and significance that you really have to be there to best understand it. We had to leave shortly before prayer began, to make room for the hundreds who had already begun to assemble.
The main gate

Inside, a view of the prayer floor, stained glass and lights

Above the exit door

From there, we headed literally across the street, to Hagia Sophia. Originally, it was a Christian cathedral, but was converted to a mosque in 1453 by the Ottoman Empire. It is now a museum, and no longer used for religious services. This is also truly unbelievable, as almost the entire thing is constructed of huge slabs of marble. Over time, the marble has been worn down, so it is smoothed, and the doorways are indented due to all the visitors footsteps. Unfortunately, there is some refurbishing being done currently, so some of the ceilings and floor were covered when we got there.

This was taken from the courtyard of the Blue Mosque... Look at how close it is!!!

From there, we went to the most famous kebab place in Istanbul... While I couldn't try any of the meat, I had a fantastic soup! I also tried aryan, which is a traditional yogurt drink that tastes just like Iranian doogh. It was FANTASTIC, and reminded me of home!

Next was the underground basilica, which was the most incredible underground structure I've ever seen... It was filled with spring water and large goldfish, and was lit to accentuate the ceilings and stone carvings.

From there, we headed to the grand bazaar... I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I plan on going back... It's even more exciting than you can imagine! I got a chance to practice my bartering skills, and hopefully they will get even better by the next time I go.

After leaving, we headed to a nargilah (hookah) place, where we all hung out, grabbed traditional turkish food from street cars, and enjoyed the company. After that, we all decided to head home early, as we were totally exhausted from our day of running around the city.

Saturday and Sunday (Calm before the storm)
The majority of the weekend was spent preparing for the week ahead. On Saturday, I had to move to my permanent room, which was across campus. After a key disaster that took an hour to fix, I finally began the moving process. It was sad to leave my fabulous Italian roommate, but she was moving to a new building also. After unpacking all of my things, I met up with the rest of the exchange students and our mentors. We headed to the Metro City mall to purchase SIM cards for cellphones, and to get dinner. Then, about half of us headed to Taxim again. We started at a pub, where we practically took over an entire floor (the 4th, to be exact). From there, we went to a dance club. We coincidently ran into the exchange coordinator, which was very awkward, but very funny! She left rather quickly after seeing us! One girl was not feeling well, so Micol, my Italian friend, and I left with her. Together, we navigated our way home from downtown WITHOUT the help of a Turkish friend! I was very proud...

Sunday morning I slept in, then got lunch with a couple exchange friends. After I went grocery shopping, and hung out before all of us met for dinner. We went to the cafeteria, and watched the Istanbul Derby football (soccer) match on tv. After dinner I met my new roommate, and prepared for the week ahead...

Monday (Day 1!!!!)
I'm going to post later in the week with some formal observations I've made since classes started here at Koc, but here's a rough outline.... I went to 4!!! classes on Monday, and thank god some let out early... If not, I would have been in class from 11-5pm! After that exhaustion, and some confusion with my academic advisor, I met the exchange kids for dinner. We then decided to organize a movie night, so we watched Thank You for Smoking. (Despite Brittany lending me the movie for 3 months last semester, I still had never seen it!) Its a fantastic movie, especially for someone who is interested in pr! After that, I came home and met 6 of my roommates friends, and then headed to bed...

I'm off today to buy a cell phone (FINALLY) and grab dinner with the gang in the city... Check back later in the week for an update on classes, and all the funny little things that are different here!

Gule Gule!!!! (Goodbye in Turkish!)