Sally in Istanbul: Another outing

Today I went out and about again, and thankfully the weather stayed clear the whole time. Most of the morning and early afternoon there was blue sky! Unbelievable.

I wanted to check out western Istanbul, where it is more conservative and less touristy, and to just kind of wander around. I visited some mosques, walked through some neighborhoods, and just tried not to get lost. I visited an area that was known for its wooden houses up until the 1970s, when they began to be replaced by newer (and safer) apartment complexes. I do wish I lived here 100 years ago so I could have seen all of the wooden houses along the Bosphorus and even in other parts, but now, it is full of apartment complexes. Anyway, this neighborhood, Zeyrek, did have some still. I clearly was the foreigner, but it was nice to be in a new area and see "everyday life" - children playing, women talking, men cutting or delivering things. I see a lot of that where I live but it is refreshing to be somewhere new. Walking to Zeyrek there was a neat street with lots of cheese shops, hanging pig carcusses, honey combs, and bags of spices and nuts. I wish I had gotten a picture but I felt uncomfortable and out of place. The final stop was the Fatih mosque, an area really known for being conservative and the covered women. I went today because there is a huge bazaar. Unfortunatly by the time I arrived I was almost dizzy with exhaustion and being in a bazaar was the last thing I wanted, so I turned back home (which was going to be quite a hike). I took some videos, I have been having problems with uploading videos but I'm at Sinan's and he has this magic aura with computers where they work when they are around him. I'll put some photos up at least.

Oh yeah a job update. I interview at 2 places on Monday and both are actually hiring. The first place I have read and heard bad things about, and I just got an uneasy and uncomfortable feeling there, so I clearly didn't accept or tell the lady yes or no. The next place I knew I would like more because I like their method. It is Wall Street Institute, an English language school worldwide. Instead of a teacher presenting the lessons, it is by computer which is nice so students can complete it in their own time (if they work a lot, have a family etc), AND it's good because people work at different paces, and this way students can go as slow or as fast as they need to. So students complete the lesson online/on the computer, and they also have a tutor person to talk to to ask questions. Then I come in. Once they finish that, we review the material and practice it. SO I DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE TO PRESENT THE MATERIAL!! I still need to know my stuff, but still, it's a good way for me to dip my toes into teaching ESL. In addition, the average class size is 3 people and they are all at the same level. That does mean I will see new people everytime so things are inconsistent, but it's better than having a class of 16 people for 2 months where they can be ALL levels (language schools are notorious for passing people when they aren't ready and so forth and everyone learns at different paces) and it is so hard to keep the quick ones from answering all the questions blah blah, so the Wall Street Method sounds pretty good to me. So here's the not so great stuff: I will probably work 6 days a week, I am paid on a salary so I might get screwed over with my hours (language schools are also notorious for overworking their teachers), my salary is definately liveable but when converted to US dollars it's just over $1,000 a month!!, and the center where I will probably work is FARRRR away. The guy says there will be an opening there within 10 days so he'll call me then. Hopefully I can change to a center nearby but I'm not getting my hopes up. Ok, that was a long explaination of that - sorry! Now for some pictures!

Flowers at the bus stop

Inside of Beyazit Mosque

Beyazit Mosque

Graveyard outside of Suleymaniye Mosque. My cousin told me something about how the tops of the gravestones have different types of hats to show the rank of the person (back in the Ottomon era)