Hi everyone,
I just wanted to say everything's fine here in Istanbul. The nights have gotten a lot cooler, but the days are still pleasant. My room is cold and the tip of my nose is always cold while I'm reading/watching a movie before going to bed. Things at work are fine, nothing new happening there. It's starting to get busier as the summer and Ramadhan are finished. Things are quiet in my apartment, in fact, no one is here due to various reasons. It used to be overcrowded, now it's empty. My roommate was presenting her thesis in Vienna the last few days and she'll be back today, so it will be good to have someone. Sinan returns today as well, I'm looking forward to seeing him. Anyway, that's about it! Have a good week!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Back to work
Tonight is my last night in Antalya, unfortunately I go back to the real world tomorrow. No more sleeping in late and drinking tea and sitting on the balcony. Not that I mind work, but I must say, life is pretty good down here. I've been ill the last few days so sadly I've missed out on some delicious food, but here's some pictures from breakfast (I ate it but later regretted it):
I actually made this in Istanbul one night for dinner - it's fried potatoes and fried eggplant and peppers with a tomato sauce. It's great with bread.
I had the unusual experience last night of being woken up to an earthquake. It wasn't a bad one, but it just felt like someone was rocking my bed. Like a good girl (my mom taught me this when I was young), I ran for the door frame, then I decided to dart to the door frame of the room where Sinan was and by that point it was over. The only other earthquake I've experienced was in Istanbul last year, again, not a bad one. It's a little scary though, you don't know how long it will last or if it will get worse and if you should panic or not. Maybe some of you are used to them, but it's a new experience for me!
Ok back to Istanbul and work tomorrow, don't be alarmed if I don't update for a while!
I actually made this in Istanbul one night for dinner - it's fried potatoes and fried eggplant and peppers with a tomato sauce. It's great with bread.
I had the unusual experience last night of being woken up to an earthquake. It wasn't a bad one, but it just felt like someone was rocking my bed. Like a good girl (my mom taught me this when I was young), I ran for the door frame, then I decided to dart to the door frame of the room where Sinan was and by that point it was over. The only other earthquake I've experienced was in Istanbul last year, again, not a bad one. It's a little scary though, you don't know how long it will last or if it will get worse and if you should panic or not. Maybe some of you are used to them, but it's a new experience for me!
Ok back to Istanbul and work tomorrow, don't be alarmed if I don't update for a while!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Bayram Day 1
So I survived the first day of the bayram. Sooo many people came to Sinan's family's house to visit. This bayram is like a combination of Halloween and Thanksgiving. Those that you are close to come to visit, and you sit around, drink tea or sometimes coffee, and eat desserts. Children are given little pieces of candy and a little bit of money. It's very casual, people just drop by whenever.
The greeting people thing is really stressful for me and I wanted to hide in my room whenever I heard the doorbell ring (doorbells "chirp chirp" in Turkey, they don't go "ding dong"). Here's what I do:
If it's a man, I shake their hand and say welcome, good bayram. A couple of the men I am closer with, so I'll kiss their cheeks after we shake hands, but it's hard to know who to do that with. I follow their lead.
With women, they usually kiss cheeks but because I hardly knew anyone, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to or not. With many of the women I did, but too many times one of us had the awkward lean-in to go for the cheek kiss and the other one not expecting it (sounds like a first date??) so there were some awkward head bobs. It's also difficult to know which side to go for - I thought there was a normal side to go for but yesterday completely threw that theory. My co worker Gavin has a really funny story about how he was trying to kiss the cheeks with a really old women and they just could NOT do it, both of them kept trying to go to the same side etc., and then she started shaking and that was the end of that. You have to see his impression.
Now, the complicated thing about greeting people in Turkey is that all of the younger people show their respect for the older people by taking the older person's hand and touching it to their chin and then their forehead, then USUALLY kissing the cheeks and sometimes not. This is where I feel rude because I only do this with the really elderly like Sinan's grandparents, and Sinan's parents, but not with aunts, uncles etc. I don't think they mind because I am foreign and we're not too too close, and Sinan says it's okay if I don't, as long as I do it with his grandparents and parents.
Anyway, so this is what goes through my head when someone walks into the door. Again, because I'm foreign I can get away with a lot but I like to try to do things right but it's difficult to know how polite to be or if I'm being too close by kissing cheeks etc. Oh well.
Sinan's mother made a dessert to serve to the people who came by. It's too sweet for me but I took pictures of the process because it's pretty neat, I've never seen any of the Turkish desserts being made. It's called kadayif.
First you separate this stuff that's like dried spaghetti but thinner and flexible. It's hard to describe!
Once it's separated, you pour melted butter all over it and use your hands to coat it.
Then you put it in buttered pans.
After the first layer you sprinkle crushed walnuts, then add another layer and smush it down.
After it's baked, you put the syrup over it, which is something like sugar and water boiled together. Sinan's mother put a lot, and this syrup-y stuff it what really characterizes Turkish desserts I think, and to me it's a little too sweet.
Here you are!
And of course, some baklava. This was bought from a store, but Sinan's mother used to make it.
Breakfast this morning was chunks of meat with onion, peppers, and tomato. Awesome. There were also cookies but I knew I couldn't handle those as well.
Ok that's it for now! I'll hopefully update again in the next couple of days!
The greeting people thing is really stressful for me and I wanted to hide in my room whenever I heard the doorbell ring (doorbells "chirp chirp" in Turkey, they don't go "ding dong"). Here's what I do:
If it's a man, I shake their hand and say welcome, good bayram. A couple of the men I am closer with, so I'll kiss their cheeks after we shake hands, but it's hard to know who to do that with. I follow their lead.
With women, they usually kiss cheeks but because I hardly knew anyone, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to or not. With many of the women I did, but too many times one of us had the awkward lean-in to go for the cheek kiss and the other one not expecting it (sounds like a first date??) so there were some awkward head bobs. It's also difficult to know which side to go for - I thought there was a normal side to go for but yesterday completely threw that theory. My co worker Gavin has a really funny story about how he was trying to kiss the cheeks with a really old women and they just could NOT do it, both of them kept trying to go to the same side etc., and then she started shaking and that was the end of that. You have to see his impression.
Now, the complicated thing about greeting people in Turkey is that all of the younger people show their respect for the older people by taking the older person's hand and touching it to their chin and then their forehead, then USUALLY kissing the cheeks and sometimes not. This is where I feel rude because I only do this with the really elderly like Sinan's grandparents, and Sinan's parents, but not with aunts, uncles etc. I don't think they mind because I am foreign and we're not too too close, and Sinan says it's okay if I don't, as long as I do it with his grandparents and parents.
Anyway, so this is what goes through my head when someone walks into the door. Again, because I'm foreign I can get away with a lot but I like to try to do things right but it's difficult to know how polite to be or if I'm being too close by kissing cheeks etc. Oh well.
Sinan's mother made a dessert to serve to the people who came by. It's too sweet for me but I took pictures of the process because it's pretty neat, I've never seen any of the Turkish desserts being made. It's called kadayif.
First you separate this stuff that's like dried spaghetti but thinner and flexible. It's hard to describe!
Once it's separated, you pour melted butter all over it and use your hands to coat it.
Then you put it in buttered pans.
After the first layer you sprinkle crushed walnuts, then add another layer and smush it down.
After it's baked, you put the syrup over it, which is something like sugar and water boiled together. Sinan's mother put a lot, and this syrup-y stuff it what really characterizes Turkish desserts I think, and to me it's a little too sweet.
Here you are!
And of course, some baklava. This was bought from a store, but Sinan's mother used to make it.
Breakfast this morning was chunks of meat with onion, peppers, and tomato. Awesome. There were also cookies but I knew I couldn't handle those as well.
Ok that's it for now! I'll hopefully update again in the next couple of days!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Antalya, again!
Today is the last day of Ramazan, and tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday there is a bayram, or a holiday, which is a time for families to visit each other. There are two bayrams during the year, and this one is a sugar bayram. I think when you go visit people (usually the younger people visit the older people) they serve desserts and give candy (like Halloween??). As times are changing, people aren't visiting families so much as going on holiday, because work is closed for at least 3 days. Two weeks ago I tried to find bus tickets and everything was booked already. Luckily I found a plane ticket at midnight to Antalya, which worked out well because Sinan was here so I get to see him and his family and not have to pay for an overpriced hotel and food.
Today we went to visit the graves of his father's uncles and aunts and father. The area was really pretty, here are a bunch of pictures:
No day can start without a delicious breakfast!
Village woman! I needed some long pants to visit the graves and I decided to play dress up.
Some mountain pictures
Sinan and his brother collecting the fruit from cactus (or cacti?) - his brother is wearing a tea bag to grab the fruit.
Today we went to visit the graves of his father's uncles and aunts and father. The area was really pretty, here are a bunch of pictures:
No day can start without a delicious breakfast!
Village woman! I needed some long pants to visit the graves and I decided to play dress up.
Some mountain pictures
Sinan and his brother collecting the fruit from cactus (or cacti?) - his brother is wearing a tea bag to grab the fruit.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
My garden
Oops! I didn't realize it had been so long since I updated - sorry! Sinan and his roommates have been moving their apartment so I've been helping out with that, I haven't gone on any adventures lately. In case you are wondering, the floods that you may be reading about are far away from me. It really is quite sad but maybe it will be a wake-up call for the atrocious amount of cement this city has. Unfortunately it takes bad events like this for cities to realize where their weaknesses are.
Anyway, I decided to start a little garden in my room. I'm definitely not known for having a green thumb, but I decided to give it a shot. It's too bad I decided to start NOW, in September when things are getting cool and there is less sunlight but it's been fun. So far the nasturtiums, parsley, lettuce, spinach, and the basil are growing - I'm still waiting on the peppers and pansies.
My room looks so messy! Eek!
Anyway, I decided to start a little garden in my room. I'm definitely not known for having a green thumb, but I decided to give it a shot. It's too bad I decided to start NOW, in September when things are getting cool and there is less sunlight but it's been fun. So far the nasturtiums, parsley, lettuce, spinach, and the basil are growing - I'm still waiting on the peppers and pansies.
My room looks so messy! Eek!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Campus, Istanbul Modern, and "Fish Bread"
I snapped a few pictures of Bogazici University, or Bosphorus University as I'd recommend calling it. It's a really pretty campus, dating from the mid 1800s. During the school year, on nice days, the grass is covered with people (and cats). It's a nice place to hang out.
Last year Sinan lived in the dorm which is the building in the middle.
While I attended Bosphorus University for all of one month last year, I had a history class on the top floor of this building which had a great view of the Bosphorus Strait, which is behind my back in this picture, and down a hill.
There are these benches at the edge of the hill that also have a view of the Bosphorus. They are always crowded with students drinking tea, reading the paper, talking, sleeping - anything. You can see on the left side of the picture the castle, which is a really fun (but slightly dangerous) place to romp around - no limitations, you can climb over everything. I'll try to visit it sometime soon and get some pictures.
I also visited the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. I'm really really really not a fan of modern art, but I wanted to try the museum, especially since it is free on Thursdays. It's in a cool building - it used to be a warehouse, and it has a nice view of the Bosphorus, but still, I just don't like modern art. The gift shop is pretty good.
The sculpture garden and entrance with an mosque just behind them - old vs. new?
A pretty building walking to the museum from the tram stop.
Pretty!
The other night Sinan and I finally broke out of our normal routine and we went to a different part of Istanbul - gasp! Underneath of the Galata Bridge, the bridge that crosses the Golden Horn that has all the fishermen on it, there are tons of overpriced restaurants. He wanted balik ekmek which means, Fish bread, and I wanted to try it but not really loving fish I didn't want to get my own. First we had a normal dinner - an overpriced meal with not enough food (but the view was nice, as was the people watching and change-of-location), and because that wasn't enough, Sinan went and got the balik ekmek to actually fill up.
The balik ekmek is actually only 4 lira, like 3 dollars, so after Sinan and I had our unfullfilling (but fun) dinner, he went and got this.
Last year Sinan lived in the dorm which is the building in the middle.
While I attended Bosphorus University for all of one month last year, I had a history class on the top floor of this building which had a great view of the Bosphorus Strait, which is behind my back in this picture, and down a hill.
There are these benches at the edge of the hill that also have a view of the Bosphorus. They are always crowded with students drinking tea, reading the paper, talking, sleeping - anything. You can see on the left side of the picture the castle, which is a really fun (but slightly dangerous) place to romp around - no limitations, you can climb over everything. I'll try to visit it sometime soon and get some pictures.
I also visited the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. I'm really really really not a fan of modern art, but I wanted to try the museum, especially since it is free on Thursdays. It's in a cool building - it used to be a warehouse, and it has a nice view of the Bosphorus, but still, I just don't like modern art. The gift shop is pretty good.
The sculpture garden and entrance with an mosque just behind them - old vs. new?
A pretty building walking to the museum from the tram stop.
Pretty!
The other night Sinan and I finally broke out of our normal routine and we went to a different part of Istanbul - gasp! Underneath of the Galata Bridge, the bridge that crosses the Golden Horn that has all the fishermen on it, there are tons of overpriced restaurants. He wanted balik ekmek which means, Fish bread, and I wanted to try it but not really loving fish I didn't want to get my own. First we had a normal dinner - an overpriced meal with not enough food (but the view was nice, as was the people watching and change-of-location), and because that wasn't enough, Sinan went and got the balik ekmek to actually fill up.
The balik ekmek is actually only 4 lira, like 3 dollars, so after Sinan and I had our unfullfilling (but fun) dinner, he went and got this.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Drums and Dolmabahce Palace
I had a cool experience this morning - I feel asleep at Sinan's house, which looks out onto a road, so there are a lot of different noises compared to my garden view. Ramadhan started last Thursday or Friday, which is when people fast during the day (obviously there is more to Ramadhan but that's all I'll go into here), so people need to wake up pretty early to eat a meal, before the day starts. They start fasting at about 5, and they can break the fast at about 8pm. Anyway, most people wake up, eat, then go back to sleep. This morning, I heard someone walking through the streets beating a drum at about 4am! I just finished this book about Turkey, and I remember reading about someone doing this to wake people up so they will eat before the fasting started. I read about it happening in central Turkey, I didn't imagine it would happen in the cosmopolitan Istanbul, but sure enough, someone was beating away at this drum. I was too groggy to remember if it sounded good, but I think it did.
I'd say only about 1/3 of my students are fasting, but that figure is no where near scientifically based. The sort of people who come to Wall Street are more forward-thinking and liberal, but I know in other parts of Istanbul and definitely Turkey many more people are fasting etc. I really don't notice much of a difference while walking around, but again, the places I live and work are not as traditional as other parts.
I decided to be a tourist today on my day off and I went to Dolmabahce Palace. It was built in the mid-1800s (quite new compared to other things in Istanbul) and it was used by sultans (they abandoned residing in Topkapi palace to live here) and Ataturk also used it until he died there in 1938. It it is so opulent, magnificent, and over-the-top - it's worth visiting, but I probably wouldn't go again for another time. If I was shown a picture of the interior, I never would guess it was a palace in Istanbul, it has so many European architectural influences. The major giveaway were the numerous hamams throughout the palace. I got a deal with the ticket- for most people it's about $17 but I showed the ticket salesperson my residence permit and I told him in Turkish I'm an English teacher (ok, I actually said mine English teacher but oh well) and I got in for about $.60! Excellent. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside but I snapped a few outside.
View of the palace off in the distance. It's MUCH bigger than what you see in the picture.
They have a cafe with a nice view.
The gate you enter through.
The gardens before entering the actual palace.
I'd say only about 1/3 of my students are fasting, but that figure is no where near scientifically based. The sort of people who come to Wall Street are more forward-thinking and liberal, but I know in other parts of Istanbul and definitely Turkey many more people are fasting etc. I really don't notice much of a difference while walking around, but again, the places I live and work are not as traditional as other parts.
I decided to be a tourist today on my day off and I went to Dolmabahce Palace. It was built in the mid-1800s (quite new compared to other things in Istanbul) and it was used by sultans (they abandoned residing in Topkapi palace to live here) and Ataturk also used it until he died there in 1938. It it is so opulent, magnificent, and over-the-top - it's worth visiting, but I probably wouldn't go again for another time. If I was shown a picture of the interior, I never would guess it was a palace in Istanbul, it has so many European architectural influences. The major giveaway were the numerous hamams throughout the palace. I got a deal with the ticket- for most people it's about $17 but I showed the ticket salesperson my residence permit and I told him in Turkish I'm an English teacher (ok, I actually said mine English teacher but oh well) and I got in for about $.60! Excellent. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside but I snapped a few outside.
View of the palace off in the distance. It's MUCH bigger than what you see in the picture.
They have a cafe with a nice view.
The gate you enter through.
The gardens before entering the actual palace.
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