And So It Begins

After an extremely heartfelt and touching goodbye from my family, my amazing man hopped on the flight with me to Dallas to start the journey off right. It was more emotional than my last goodbye to Germany one year ago this week. What a crazy adventure I am starting…..but as many of us know, the farther you fly from the nest, the stronger your wings get!

                          The Bon Voyage crew: Steve, Thomas, Mother, and Grandmother in front

Just before my feet left American soil, I got a kiss from my darling, a passport check, a ticket scan, and turned back long enough to blow a last kiss. I turned forward, dried my misty eyes and set my self forward. Once I reached the door to the largest airplane I have ever flown on (a double decker!), a beautifully dressed man greeted me in an exotic British accent and asked for my ticket. With an incredible amount of grace he directed me through the maze of seats to my place for the next nine hours. When I started navigating through the British Airways plane, my face lit up into a HUGE smile as the classical music on the PA system escorted me to my seat. I was beaming. I love this. I reached my row; met my two seat mates; and snuggled up to the window in no time. Once we got airborne, the flight attendant came by with a beverage service. She looked at me, gestured at the cart, and asked “What would you like to drink madam?” Madam. I could seriously get used to this whole British thing! I got up once before bed time for a stretch. I peaked into the galley and asked one of the flight attendants for a bottle of water. She replied by saying, “Wa’er? I don’t have a bot’l but grab a cup, love.” Love. Again, I could really get used to this talk!

The flight to Istanbul was good. Fatigue was starting to get to me, but I made it none the less. *****Another thing I want to say before I forget. When any of you fly to Istanbul, get a seat on the left side of the airplane (ABC side).......you get a view of the city on your approach… the right side is all water. ***** 

 Me with tickets and passport in hand

Once we parked at the gate, the Turkish started. I got off the plane and headed to passport control. Before I even got that far, a mass of people were crowded in the terminal. THAT is where the line started for passport control. It was mad house. Sooooooooo many people and no real line….more like a giant blob of people crowing and prodding and cutting big groups. I finally pushed my way into the roped off line area that gave a bit more control. That part took an hour to get through to the actual policeman with a stamp. In this length of time I made friends with the man in front of me. I didn't talk to anyone until he said under his breath “des ist a Wahnsinn”….this is insanity (in German). I immediately said “stimmt” and we spent the other 45 minutes talking. He is originally from Turkey with his parents living an hour outside Istanbul and he has been a German citizen for many years having studied both in Germany and Turkey when younger. He taught me a few Turkish wrods and phrases; gave me some pointers; offered translations; and complimented my “perfect” German every 10 minutes. He and I got our bags, walked through customs and met my Turkish contact, Alper, holding my name plate up!!! I greeted Alper then they exchanged a few words in Turkish. The man and I exchanged a few words in German, and he left.  Then Alper and I spoke English….it was a fun language moment. Alper was in high spirits and extremely welcoming…. He took me to the Starbucks near by where Helen (another girl going to this university) was waiting with her luggage.

She and I got to know each other while Alper started getting ready for another male student to arrive. This Starbucks is the first one in history not to have WiFi. No joke. Anyway, it gave us time to talk and get to know each other. By the time all three of us were there, and we got into the Taxi (no lines there either….just walk into the street and wait till a taxi stops instead of running you over.) It was rush hour. We didn’t care because the views were spectacular. We drove along the waterfront with tree lined parks everywhere. We drove through the old wall of Constantinople and under Roman aqueducts. We saw our university, Kadir Has, lit up in all it’s glory by the water as we were crossing the bridge north to the apartment. We got in and the apartment four of us will share (two males; two females) is really big. Lots of space. 2 toilet rooms for 4 people (yay!). I bath and shower. No AC…….just open windows… it will take some adjustment for me. I took a cold shower last night to help me cool off.

I can see the tops of the minarets on the Blue Mosque and the tops of the Galata tower from my window. Good closet space. We have heard 2 ‘calls to prayer’ so far: one at last night and one at 5:30 this morning. We are far enough away for it not to be too loud but still very pretty. This morning I woke up at 2am, 4am, 5:30am, 6:30am and finally up at 7am! Not bad for get lag. Once we were all up and dressed, we walked down to the bakery just around the corner. I walked in and started looking at the cases. Everything looked pretty good and I said in the best Turkish I could “I would like one, please” (pronounced ‘isteedolrum bier, luetfen’). It worked and I got what I asked for! Then I went to the check out and just gave him a 5 Lira and he gave me 2.50 back. So now I know how much it is! :D They ordered too then Ean went back to the apartment. Helen and I walked down almost to the water winding through the streets. It was spectacular. Winding steps with beautiful views of the Bosphorus, the straight that separates Europe from Asia. We walked right into a giant mosque and gazed high above at the towering minarets.

Tiled seen of neighborhood we walked in (north of the bridge)

By the end of the walk we were hot, sweating and out of breath….looks like someone is going to have buns of steal before this semester is over!

We will go to Kadir Has today for registration, tour, etc. We are also going to some local grocery stores for shopping and getting to know our neighborhood. Also getting our public transportation cards for the buses and metros too. Oh! And the truth comes out…..we don’t drink the tap water here. It’s all bottles.

Later in the day.

We went to the university. The walk to the bus is full of fascinating sites and major hustle and bustle. SO much is going on all the time. Think New York City. We reached the bus just as it was pulling away and then Alper just starts waving his arms and running by the bus. The bus stops abruptly, flings the door open and we jump on just before he started driving again as we swiped our cards and found a seat. Apparently road rage is a national activity here….or at least in Istanbul. Aggressive and choppy driving is the norm. People and cars share the road…which explains why it's the highest mortality cause in Turkey: car accidents involving a car and a person. You have to be totally aware of all surroundings when walking. Sidewalks are wide enough for single file lines…so most people end up walking on the street to avoid bottlenecks. But the streets are narrow too and barely allow two cars to pass each other without skimming the side mirrors which provides little place for people and cars on one street in harmony at a busy time of day. But this is all a blessing in disguise…because it forces you to find alternative smaller streets that are so picturesque and extraordinarily exotic.

The front of Kadir Has University

We got to the university and familiarized ourselves with the lay of the land. It is on the water with incredible views from all windows. More on the Uni later though. We explored the neighborhood around the campus and it is very different from our apartment neighborhood. We live in a hip, “bohemian” artistic area with a melting pot of cultures and religions (although I only ever see Turks and hear Turkish…no other languages spotted yet) and the Uni neighborhood is very old, traditional, ancient, conservative and so Muslim there is a mosque every three blocks. It was amazing. We ate lunch at a local “working man’s” restaurant, and it was delicious.

On our way back to the apartment, we got off the bus a couple stops early and walked the back streets which lead us to one of the most famous streets in Istanbul…the MAJOR shopping boulevard, pedestrian only. It’s less than 15 minutes from our apartment.

I walk EVERYWHERE. So much walking. I’m hot, sweaty, and loving it…really.

After we got back to the apartment and cooled off, we ventured to the grocery store. It was quite an adventure. It took us a long time on the shampoo isle to figure out what was shampoo or conditioner or moisturizer. All the bottles looked the same, very few pictures to explain what it was and of course no clue of the words. It was so much fun!

After our 4^th student arrived this afternoon, Alper took us out to welcome dinner at a restaurant across the street. He ordered without a menu and they started bringing out all of these little colorful dishes of so many unidentifiable things. Well, some things I did recognize like mini fried fish (eyeballs and bones included) and octopus were a few of our delicacies tonight. We had so many traditional Turkish dish samplers at our finger tips including a traditional (and very strange but yummy) dessert and, of course, tea (the national drink). All the food is so foreign. The only thing I recognize is the Dönner Kebabs…thanks to Austria and Germany.

Once we got back from dinner, Ean wanted to do the first load of laundry. This consisted of him sitting on the bathroom (where the small front loading machine is located) floor, spelling out every word on the washer as I typed them into Google translate in the hallway. It was time consuming but very effective! Now we are fully educated on laundry vocabulary!  No dryer.  It will all be drip drying. Including bedding.  Yes.

 Ean with the washer...

After that laundry lesson, we talked for a while and went to bed before another day in Istanbul. More to come!