soooooooo I've been in Madrid for almost 5 days now and I am still alive!! So that's a pretty big feat for me! I'll try to do a "quick" run-down of what I've been up to...
Well Thursday I got here, met Sol, etc. I think I said that? Didn't do much besides unpack, etc, then get to sleep.
FRIDAY
Woke up and got to our orientation thing at our school, Universidad San Pablo CEU at 9:30. Our metro stop is under construction, so we had to use the bus. Sol accompanied us b/c we had no idea where to go, but she didn't really either b/c she had never used the buses before either so that was great...but we got there really early. aka the first people. Orientation was good, kinda long, but made me VERY excited for this semester! The people seem great and our leader people seem awesome too!!
Then came back home to hang out, then at 8 I went out to tapas with Raquel, a girl getting her doctorates at Duke but is here with us for the semester, and 8 other people from the program. Tapas, if you don't know, are tastly little things like toast with stuff on them or olives or bread with cheese or potatoes. etc...but yummy! we went to two tapa bars. The first one was better to be honest. But the second one we drank tinto de verano, this sangria type drink, with red wine mixed with some other stuff, it was pretty good, kinda like watery sangria? but it was fun!
Then we went to Plaza Mayor to find others from the program (A while later...tapas took a long time! oh, and we only spoke in spanish, yay!) at an Irish pub, of all things. Then we went walking around Madrid in literally a group of 20 which was just not good....just too many Enlgish-speaking people..but it was still fun! We went to a few little bar places and such. Then I went to Kapital, this HUGE, 7-floor club. It was a lot of fun! And we got back around 6. in the morning. Which is very normal. Lots of clubs don't open until like 1 ish....
Slept til nearly 1 (not enough sleep) and decided that my stomach still hated me for going to Turkey, so Sol had me only eat rice, etc. She's such a mom! (although no replacement for you, Suzanne of course, don't get jealous...) Ate dinner at the house which was good. Nothing too too Spanish that we've eaten so far, at least I don't think so. But then I'm used to different food anyways (aka not just spaghetti every night, thanks suz!) Excep for the Spanish tortilla, some type of egg potato thing which is good. Then we went around shopping. We live VERY close to some great shopping, which is very very (as Sol would say) fatal. Including el Corte Ingles, THE HUGEST STORE YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE. Picture: Super Walmart, including a massive, huge, super market; Perfumes from a department store; a whole department store; a shoe store; a bed bath and beyond; a purse store; another department store in itself; more kitchet wear; a pharmacy; children's clothes...the lsit goes on. IT IS HUGE. like, GET LOST HUGE. so I bought shampoo and stuff that I of course forgot to pack. Yay! but anyways with the stores...we'll see what will happen...Then we went out again Saturday night to another club, it was fun. We got back at 4 this time, and Sol said 'you got back so early last night!!" haha it was pretty funny.
SUNDAY
Slept in late. like 2. Bascially I'm worthless. Then Laura and I met up with some others and went to el Parque del Buen Retiro, which is basically their Central Park. It was so pretty! and HUGE!! We seriously just walked around for like 3 hours which was fun but very tiring. Then there was this big drum circle thing at some huge statue and it was really interesting. Made me think of Ashville. Also, it's kind of like a mini Disney world...definitely saw Mickey, Mini, Whinney the Poo . Actually lots of Mickeys. I have a really good pic of him, I'll put it up later haha. But it was a fun time :)
Went to bed early...walking, etc, makes one very sleepy. And we had to wake up early for...
MONDAY
"Class." We had to be there at 10 and we got there at 10:15, the VERY last ones, which was not that cool...but oh well. Then we talked about the program's policies and our trip this week to ANDALUCIA! it's a region in southern spain. When you think of it, a lot of things should come to mind (aka i had nothing to say about Andalucia in the slightest and we were supposed to help contribute to a list about Andalucia....so that was a lovely first start. I honestly thought it was a city itself, not an area, if that gives you an idea of what i knew) but especially flamenco, the torros and sol, ole! (torros=bulls, sol=sun of course). So basically it's gunna be super hot. and humid. YESSSSSSSS. But really, I am exciting. Then we got some other stuff done. This was all this morning but I really can't remember. Whoops. OH WAIT i remember it was really hot aka air conditioning didn't work. cool. (but it was eventually fixed....except we have to walk up 4 flights of stairs to our class...no elevator...every. day. AND it's on the 4th floor, but since this is europe, the first floor is 0, so it is literally 4 flights. YAY!)
Then in the afternoon we had "class" a TWO AND A HALF HOUR LECTURE on Andalucia. It was kind of horrible. I mean, informative, but exhausting. And you have to actually PROACTIVELY listen b/c it's in Spanish....so yep. I know a lot now about the area, like what it looks like on a map and stuff. So i'm excited! We're going to Granada and Sevilla with the group. Then I opted to stay the weekend, so I'm going to Cadiz, this really cool looking beach town place. Exciting! But stressful - we have to figure out all of our lodging, etc, for the weekends ourselves. Soooo we'll see if this hotel actually exists??
So I won't be bringing my computer though, so I'll probably have internet cafe type deals....it's just a warning that I won't be updating this until at least Sunday and I didn't want anyone to sit at their computers refreshing this page for more information about my life in Spain. Which I am very, very sure you all do. (understandably)
Also, random note....so i opened my closet and this BAD smell just hit me..it smelled like black licorice (anise seed type stuff EWWWWWW) and i was like WHAT/?? well Sol put these thingys in my closets to make them smell "good." Well, the smell has been stuck in my nose ALL day and i just feel like something crawled up on my clothes and died....So this afternoon I asked her what it was and that I did NOT like it and couldn't have my clothes smell like that for a semester (not in so many words...or so many English words either). It was supposed to be lavender?? Uh maybe flowers smell bad here or something I don't know. But it was bad.
Also, Sol cleans my room...even though I've been keeping it really clean and stuff! She comes in and organizes stuff. She puts my random hair things for example in a little box or puts my rigns in a little can. Which is very nice. The only weird thing is, I made my bed (surprising right??? i NEVER do that....but I figured I'd be polite?) and she RE-MADE it for me. I must have done a very poor job. But she's only done that twice so far, and today I guess she deemed my bed-making decent enough. Ohh Sol. :)
Well like I said, i"m off to the south! miss and love you all!!!!!!!! xoxooxox
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Bienvenidos a Espana!
Hola! I'm in Madrid!!!!!! Just got here today, and I love it so far!! My senora, Sol, is SO sweet and a great cook. Also, we are already pretty spoiled it seems...Both my roommate, Laura, and I (so I'm Laura 2, she's Laura 1) have our own rooms which is awesome! Also, Sol provided hair dryers and STRAIGHTENERS for us because ours would burn up (she's under the impression that the special one i brought would burn up too, so I guess I'll just use hers...even though I'm pretty sure it would work here). But how adorable is that? And we both have desks all set up and there are Spanish reference books and travel books all around! So I'm pretty excited :)
It was sad to leave Turkey though :( Here's a quick (ha, I'll try my best to be brief) run-down of what we did...
SUNDAY
I'm pretty sure we slept in really, really late...Then we went out to dinner on this amazing island thingy on the Bosphorus. It was completely open to the air, and there was a nice swimming pool and everything. And cool little music playing. Ege's family and me and Sarp all went. To give you an idea, a famous retired soccer player was there, and when we were leaving a model had just arrived. Ballinnnn!
Then we went to an outdoor club (with Ege's parents too, b/c her dad knows the manager! aka freeeee) that faced the Bosphorus and was SO beautiful! Barely anyone was there, but the view of the bridge lit up and just the club itself were AMAZING.
MONDAY
Ege, Sarp and I went to Sultan Ahtmed, an area where all of the historic stuff is. But some (a lot) is closed on Mondays, so we went to Topkapi Palace. I can't really remember all of the info about it...but I'm sure there's a great Wikipedia website if you're interested...But it's old. And very pretty! And we saw a HUGE diamond, I think the largest cut diamond ? maybe? And lots of jewelry, etc from the sultans. Them sultans had it made. seriously.
Then we ate these meatball things that are famous in that area. They were good actually! But it was a lot of meat...I dunno how it made me feel...but I was hungry at the time so I ate it...ahh so much meat!
Then we went to the Grand Bazaar which was awesome but overwhelming. There was too much stuff, too many people...lots of things being sold. But it is really old, which is cool! and HUGE, I think it covers a kilometer at least.
I can't really remember what we did Monday night...I think we just went to sleep or something. I was really tired that day.
TUESDAY
We went back to Sultan Ahmet to finish the old stuff. We went to Hagia Sofia, a now museumesque mosque that used to be a church. It's so interesting, there are little paintings of Mary and Jesus and of Gabriel, but then there is a little door that points to Mecca and a place for the imam to go up and a lot of other very islamic things. Yay Ottoman conquerings!
Then we went to the Blue Mosque, which is SO beautiful, built after Hagia Sofia, and intentionally beautiful and massive, but it was prayer time and so we couldn't enter. I recorded the imam singing to let people know it was prayer time, which is pretty cool, I'll see if I can post it. All of the mosques had that guy singing, it sounded like they were responding to one another. So then we headed to the Basilica Cistern - SO COOL. Literally and just awesome. It's underground and still has water in it. And lots of fish, some of them were HUGE. And since it's underground it was a very cool temperature, which was nice. It has a great history too - once the Ottomans conquered Istanbul (I think it was then, anywyas) the cistern stopped being used and was literally forgotten. Then a man had come to Istanbul to research and learned from the locals that they could get water from their basements sometimes, and even fish! He did some investigations and was able to get into the cistern through some one's basement! But between then, it had been used for a trash dump basically, even for corpses, which is really gross. Also there are 2 Medusa head columns. One is upside down and the other is side ways, and no one knows why they are different, other than the fact that they are. They were pretty cool.
Then we had lunch (I think this lunch made me feel sick because it's the only thing that Ege and I didn't eat the same food and I still am not feeling too great....blechh) and these little cats were so adorable but begging for food...as in paws on my chair.
Back to the Blue Mosque. Ege and I brough scarves to cover our heads, but Ege had forgotten that you need to cover your shoulders too (well, women anyway). Before we went in, there were an old man and woman making sure everyone was dressed appropriately. When the woman fixed Ege's scarf and mine, the man asked where we were from. Ege told him America. He then told her she looked French! But it was funny because she was too embarrassed to tell him she was Turkish because she didn't know to cover her shoulders and she is Muslim herself!! Pretty funny. Anyway, the inside isn't as pretty as the outside, but still very gorgeous. And people were really praying and stuff inside. But some women had taken off their head scarves and everything, which I thought was pretty disrespectful. I mean, it doesn't have to be your religion, but respect it.
Then we met up with Sarp and his friend (and roommate to be) Omer. I said his name like Omar, which is apparently wrong, and no Americans can really say his name right (the O has a little dot dot thingy over it..like a sideways : but i forget what it's called) (ALTHOUGH I have picked up on a lot of Turkish words and can say them quite well...Ege's mom said I have a gift for languages! so take that!). We went to some famous little place where you go and drink Raki, this gross gross alcohol that tastes like black licorice. But it's cool, it's clear, and then you mix it with water and it turns cloudy. But I didn't drink any because it is just gross. But the place is well known, you sit and drink Raki (prounounced like...ruh-kuh) and there are gypsies with violins and stuff and come to your table and sing (for a few Lira, of course). An accordian guy sang to us! but he wasn't a gypsy so it wasn't as cool. But he was funny. He sang a song about how Istanbul welcomes Charlotte, but he said it SO hilariously...And he also sang a song about some girl and we had to sing the little chorus. It was cute. Also, their friend Omer was really nice, so I had a good time!
WEDNESDAY
We did nothing. literally. Sat on the couch. Watched TV, like Tyra Banks. Yep. Great last day in Istanbul. ;) actually I did have fun! But I was feeling SO SICK so I am glad we didn't leave. We had wanted to go to the Turksih baths but Ege's mom basically was like, no, they are too dirty. Oh well...I will defintitely go to one when I come back (?!) to Turkey - athlete's foot or not!
Then my lovely flight left at 6:40, so we left Ege's house at 4:45. IN THE MORNING. Cool. Oh, and when I was in the airport in Turkey I was able to use my few Turkish words (meaning thank you and hello). I told the immigration guy thank you in Turkish and it seriously made his day I think, although that may sound a bit cocky, seeing as it was only 5:30 in the morning...But he knows that no one actually learns Turkish...it's just not as useful as a different language to have as your 2nd language for example, so I'm sure he was super excited! It was funny.
But I really had such a good time! I think (hope) Ege and Sarp are giong to visit me here in Madrid!!! So it's not really goodbye yet :)
ok so now I'm here, all unpacked and moved in. Using my INTERNET! wireless baby! Very exciting.
Tomorrow we're off to see the Duke part of our Madrid stay, and a tour of the city!! yay!
love/miss you all!!
buenas noches!
It was sad to leave Turkey though :( Here's a quick (ha, I'll try my best to be brief) run-down of what we did...
SUNDAY
I'm pretty sure we slept in really, really late...Then we went out to dinner on this amazing island thingy on the Bosphorus. It was completely open to the air, and there was a nice swimming pool and everything. And cool little music playing. Ege's family and me and Sarp all went. To give you an idea, a famous retired soccer player was there, and when we were leaving a model had just arrived. Ballinnnn!
Then we went to an outdoor club (with Ege's parents too, b/c her dad knows the manager! aka freeeee) that faced the Bosphorus and was SO beautiful! Barely anyone was there, but the view of the bridge lit up and just the club itself were AMAZING.
MONDAY
Ege, Sarp and I went to Sultan Ahtmed, an area where all of the historic stuff is. But some (a lot) is closed on Mondays, so we went to Topkapi Palace. I can't really remember all of the info about it...but I'm sure there's a great Wikipedia website if you're interested...But it's old. And very pretty! And we saw a HUGE diamond, I think the largest cut diamond ? maybe? And lots of jewelry, etc from the sultans. Them sultans had it made. seriously.
Then we ate these meatball things that are famous in that area. They were good actually! But it was a lot of meat...I dunno how it made me feel...but I was hungry at the time so I ate it...ahh so much meat!
Then we went to the Grand Bazaar which was awesome but overwhelming. There was too much stuff, too many people...lots of things being sold. But it is really old, which is cool! and HUGE, I think it covers a kilometer at least.
I can't really remember what we did Monday night...I think we just went to sleep or something. I was really tired that day.
TUESDAY
We went back to Sultan Ahmet to finish the old stuff. We went to Hagia Sofia, a now museumesque mosque that used to be a church. It's so interesting, there are little paintings of Mary and Jesus and of Gabriel, but then there is a little door that points to Mecca and a place for the imam to go up and a lot of other very islamic things. Yay Ottoman conquerings!
Then we went to the Blue Mosque, which is SO beautiful, built after Hagia Sofia, and intentionally beautiful and massive, but it was prayer time and so we couldn't enter. I recorded the imam singing to let people know it was prayer time, which is pretty cool, I'll see if I can post it. All of the mosques had that guy singing, it sounded like they were responding to one another. So then we headed to the Basilica Cistern - SO COOL. Literally and just awesome. It's underground and still has water in it. And lots of fish, some of them were HUGE. And since it's underground it was a very cool temperature, which was nice. It has a great history too - once the Ottomans conquered Istanbul (I think it was then, anywyas) the cistern stopped being used and was literally forgotten. Then a man had come to Istanbul to research and learned from the locals that they could get water from their basements sometimes, and even fish! He did some investigations and was able to get into the cistern through some one's basement! But between then, it had been used for a trash dump basically, even for corpses, which is really gross. Also there are 2 Medusa head columns. One is upside down and the other is side ways, and no one knows why they are different, other than the fact that they are. They were pretty cool.
Then we had lunch (I think this lunch made me feel sick because it's the only thing that Ege and I didn't eat the same food and I still am not feeling too great....blechh) and these little cats were so adorable but begging for food...as in paws on my chair.
Back to the Blue Mosque. Ege and I brough scarves to cover our heads, but Ege had forgotten that you need to cover your shoulders too (well, women anyway). Before we went in, there were an old man and woman making sure everyone was dressed appropriately. When the woman fixed Ege's scarf and mine, the man asked where we were from. Ege told him America. He then told her she looked French! But it was funny because she was too embarrassed to tell him she was Turkish because she didn't know to cover her shoulders and she is Muslim herself!! Pretty funny. Anyway, the inside isn't as pretty as the outside, but still very gorgeous. And people were really praying and stuff inside. But some women had taken off their head scarves and everything, which I thought was pretty disrespectful. I mean, it doesn't have to be your religion, but respect it.
Then we met up with Sarp and his friend (and roommate to be) Omer. I said his name like Omar, which is apparently wrong, and no Americans can really say his name right (the O has a little dot dot thingy over it..like a sideways : but i forget what it's called) (ALTHOUGH I have picked up on a lot of Turkish words and can say them quite well...Ege's mom said I have a gift for languages! so take that!). We went to some famous little place where you go and drink Raki, this gross gross alcohol that tastes like black licorice. But it's cool, it's clear, and then you mix it with water and it turns cloudy. But I didn't drink any because it is just gross. But the place is well known, you sit and drink Raki (prounounced like...ruh-kuh) and there are gypsies with violins and stuff and come to your table and sing (for a few Lira, of course). An accordian guy sang to us! but he wasn't a gypsy so it wasn't as cool. But he was funny. He sang a song about how Istanbul welcomes Charlotte, but he said it SO hilariously...And he also sang a song about some girl and we had to sing the little chorus. It was cute. Also, their friend Omer was really nice, so I had a good time!
WEDNESDAY
We did nothing. literally. Sat on the couch. Watched TV, like Tyra Banks. Yep. Great last day in Istanbul. ;) actually I did have fun! But I was feeling SO SICK so I am glad we didn't leave. We had wanted to go to the Turksih baths but Ege's mom basically was like, no, they are too dirty. Oh well...I will defintitely go to one when I come back (?!) to Turkey - athlete's foot or not!
Then my lovely flight left at 6:40, so we left Ege's house at 4:45. IN THE MORNING. Cool. Oh, and when I was in the airport in Turkey I was able to use my few Turkish words (meaning thank you and hello). I told the immigration guy thank you in Turkish and it seriously made his day I think, although that may sound a bit cocky, seeing as it was only 5:30 in the morning...But he knows that no one actually learns Turkish...it's just not as useful as a different language to have as your 2nd language for example, so I'm sure he was super excited! It was funny.
But I really had such a good time! I think (hope) Ege and Sarp are giong to visit me here in Madrid!!! So it's not really goodbye yet :)
ok so now I'm here, all unpacked and moved in. Using my INTERNET! wireless baby! Very exciting.
Tomorrow we're off to see the Duke part of our Madrid stay, and a tour of the city!! yay!
love/miss you all!!
buenas noches!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
more picturess
inside of Hagia Sofia
Inside Hagia Sofia, the door that points to Mecca that is off center
Blue Mosque
Hagia Sofia
Topkapi palace
we had dinner here....it was an island type place thingy. soooo cool
outdoor mall thingy
outdoor club facing the Bosphorus we went to
hellooo
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Merhaba!
That means hello! Im learnıng!!
So I arrıved Thursday nıght at 2 pm Turkey time. After catchiıng up, etc, i went to sleep only to be woken up by constructıon on Eges apartment buildıng. it literally sounded like they were about to break in the door. But it ended up beiıng fine and İ fell back asleep. Thursday we were goıng to go to Sultan Ahtmet where a lot of the cool ancient stuff is until we found out that a lot of the mosques and things are closed on Thursdays!! So it was a really good thing that we looked!
The Fırst we went to was Eges unıversıty whıch is SO pretty! ıt overlooks the Bosphorus Sea!
Then we went to Taksim, a huge huge huge street with tons of people and shopping, and had wine at this awesome place that was up 6 floors and overlooked the Bosphorus and Istanbul!! SO PRETTY. Then we went home and ate dınner and went to sleep early because I was so tıred. I also forgot to bring my camera so I dont have any pictures...whoops...
FRIDAY
nothıng says good mornıng lıke hammers!! Eges building is having construction done on it, and they start at the lovely hour of 830, which is awesome when your body is ever so confused about the time....but it was okay :)
We went to Dolmabaçe, a palace built in the 1840s where a sultan and his many wives and harem used to live. The palace was incredible! We werent allowed to take pictures inside but the pictures from the grounds should be a good indication of the elaborate decor inside. There were so many huge crystal chandeliers and grand staircases and gold decorations and ceilings! It was truly magnifıcent. It ıs hard to believe it was built so recently. Also, Ataturk, who freed Turkey as a country, died there, which is a big deal.
Right before entering Dolmabaçe we saw a HUGE amount of people with cameras and everything. All of the sudden these official looking cars drove off with the Turkish version of CIA agents lıterally runnıng and jumping into the moving cars. So guess who I was lucky enough to see?? ( or actually not see because of the crowd and CIA men) The president of Turkey!! So that was cool.
Then Ege and I walked around in some other area I forget the name of (EDIT - Nasantasi but it's pronounced like Nashantashi), but it was pretty ritzy wıth Armani stores and Mercedes lining the streets. We were hungry so we ate at this place called Tike (i think?) which was a kebap (kabob in english?) restaurant. We had great appetizers and then I had a lamb kebap (the first time ive eaten lamb by the way, and I had to sing Mary had a liıttle lamb...it was kind of sad...but all kebap is made from lamb) ın a yogurt sauce with grılled bread under it. It was really, really good actually. Mary raised that little lamb right!
Next we met up with Naz, Eges older sister, who I hadnt actually seen yet because she works really early. We walked over to her work place where she works wıth graphic design. Her office has an amazing view of the city and the Bosphorus Sea. Naz is really cool, I liked her a lot, but our time was short because she was on her way to Bodrum, a beach town south of here, for vacation and I wont get to see her again.
Then Ege and I went to Taksim to meet up with Sarp, Eges boyfriend. Its the same street that we went to the day before. It ıs a huge street that seems to be constantly crowded with not only Turks but people from around the world. Its really, really cool. We got there and there was a huge protest going on!! Hundreds of people chanting with signs and stuff because some woman is in jail with cancer and they want her out. Not sure of the background story, but it was really cool. There was also a brigade type deal of police officers just in case the crowd got violent (Scary!). Ege asked one polıceman what they were protesting and he literally replıed, I dont f****** know, they protest something every day. Well at least he was honest...So anyway, then I finally met the infamous Sarp in person! He seems like a nice guy. Also, I am so freakin lucky that everyone here speaks English. Or at least enough to say hello and what not. My Turkish consists of Hello and Thank you. But i still find that pretty impressive...
Anyway then we went to Kafepi (pronounced cafe p) where Ege worked for like 3 weeks last summer. It was really chill, we just sat at a table and had a few (legal!) drinks and discussed our love for Arrested Development. Seriously, it is the best show ever and even the Turks know that. After hearing Sarps impression of Buster (quite accurate...and hilarious) we wandered around the street a bit but there actually werent that many people compared to a usual friday because it was the first day of Ramadan, meaning fasting during the day and they arent supposed to drink alcohol at all (although Muslims arent supposed to drink at all....?)
SATURDAY
Construction agaın wakes me up at 845. Cool. But I end up going back to sleep (hour(s) later) and sleep UNTIL 2 IN THE AFTERNOON!!! Its serıously embarrassing. I told Ege to wake me up next tıme but shes like, no you need your sleep, etc. Ugh her mom probably thinks i am so so so lazy. Anywho, we went out to the Bosphorus that afternoon where there were a lot of really cute little stands, like an open air market, called Ortakoy. And of course I bought a few things, how could I not, Im addıcted to jewelry. Then we ate a baked potato, Turkey style, kumpir. They fıll them wıth TONS of RANDOM stuff...lıke ketchup, mayonaıse, pıckles, hotdog, olives, mushrooms, cheese, carrots, some red grain thingy, etc. Interestıng, but not bad I guess.. Once Sarp came (so he is staying at his aunts house which is on the Asian side of Istanbul, so he lıves kınd of far and ıt takes a while to get to this side) we got on a little boat ferry thing and took an hour-long ride up the Bosphorus Sea. The water is beautiful and the wind was great with lots of sun. Ive also decıded that I am goıng to one day buy a house overlookıng the Bosphorus. The houses are amazıng.
Then we went back to Eges. Oh, and her wisdom tooth is coming ın so she has been in a lot of pain (sılly thırd world countrıes dont take their wisdom teeth out) and ı really do feel bad for her. She has to talk without opening her mouth wide, which is ultimately kind of funny but oh well...
Then we ordered mantı (i thınk?) whıch ıs lıke tıny lıttle dumplıngs ın a yogurt sauce! They are SOO good, seriously. You add spices to them too...Really, we need more Turkish restaurants in the US. Or at least North Carolina.
THEN we went to the Asian side of Turkey!! HELLO ASIA! That was exciting for me. We walked around the one big street in Asian İstanbul but ı forget what ıt ıs called (edit - Bagdat street). But basıcally people come there to show off their nice cars (BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, ı swear we saw a ferrari) etc and look cute. We got some deserts at a little place (after Sarp got some strange Turkısh fast food, including a 'wet burger''...yuck much?) that was very tasty. Then we went to Sarps aunt,s house to watch Arrested Development...yay fun Saturday nights!!
So yes, Ive essentially been third wheel for about 2 days now. Super duper.
Also, sorry for the lack of apostrophes and awkward ı (an i wıthout a dot). Im typıng on a Turkısh keyboard and the i ıs in a weird place and i cant find the apostrophe. Whoops.
Anyway, here I am, stıll ın Asıa. I woke up thıs mornıng wıth my eye swollen and I dont know why. Just my left eye. Its not too too bad but ıt hurts when ı touch ıt so ıve put some ıce on ıt...probaby from eating Marys lıttle lamb... :(
ok well ıf youve read all of thıs so far and arent thoroughly bored or extremely ready for me to hush, you are very ımpressıve and such a loyal fan (do ı have loyal fans? hmm) but I am sad to say that my blabbing has thus ended. Except to say that I trıpped about a total of 9 times so far. yesssss.
Hugs and kısses. I mıss you all! And normal keyboards....
So I arrıved Thursday nıght at 2 pm Turkey time. After catchiıng up, etc, i went to sleep only to be woken up by constructıon on Eges apartment buildıng. it literally sounded like they were about to break in the door. But it ended up beiıng fine and İ fell back asleep. Thursday we were goıng to go to Sultan Ahtmet where a lot of the cool ancient stuff is until we found out that a lot of the mosques and things are closed on Thursdays!! So it was a really good thing that we looked!
The Fırst we went to was Eges unıversıty whıch is SO pretty! ıt overlooks the Bosphorus Sea!
Then we went to Taksim, a huge huge huge street with tons of people and shopping, and had wine at this awesome place that was up 6 floors and overlooked the Bosphorus and Istanbul!! SO PRETTY. Then we went home and ate dınner and went to sleep early because I was so tıred. I also forgot to bring my camera so I dont have any pictures...whoops...
FRIDAY
nothıng says good mornıng lıke hammers!! Eges building is having construction done on it, and they start at the lovely hour of 830, which is awesome when your body is ever so confused about the time....but it was okay :)
We went to Dolmabaçe, a palace built in the 1840s where a sultan and his many wives and harem used to live. The palace was incredible! We werent allowed to take pictures inside but the pictures from the grounds should be a good indication of the elaborate decor inside. There were so many huge crystal chandeliers and grand staircases and gold decorations and ceilings! It was truly magnifıcent. It ıs hard to believe it was built so recently. Also, Ataturk, who freed Turkey as a country, died there, which is a big deal.
Right before entering Dolmabaçe we saw a HUGE amount of people with cameras and everything. All of the sudden these official looking cars drove off with the Turkish version of CIA agents lıterally runnıng and jumping into the moving cars. So guess who I was lucky enough to see?? ( or actually not see because of the crowd and CIA men) The president of Turkey!! So that was cool.
Then Ege and I walked around in some other area I forget the name of (EDIT - Nasantasi but it's pronounced like Nashantashi), but it was pretty ritzy wıth Armani stores and Mercedes lining the streets. We were hungry so we ate at this place called Tike (i think?) which was a kebap (kabob in english?) restaurant. We had great appetizers and then I had a lamb kebap (the first time ive eaten lamb by the way, and I had to sing Mary had a liıttle lamb...it was kind of sad...but all kebap is made from lamb) ın a yogurt sauce with grılled bread under it. It was really, really good actually. Mary raised that little lamb right!
Next we met up with Naz, Eges older sister, who I hadnt actually seen yet because she works really early. We walked over to her work place where she works wıth graphic design. Her office has an amazing view of the city and the Bosphorus Sea. Naz is really cool, I liked her a lot, but our time was short because she was on her way to Bodrum, a beach town south of here, for vacation and I wont get to see her again.
Then Ege and I went to Taksim to meet up with Sarp, Eges boyfriend. Its the same street that we went to the day before. It ıs a huge street that seems to be constantly crowded with not only Turks but people from around the world. Its really, really cool. We got there and there was a huge protest going on!! Hundreds of people chanting with signs and stuff because some woman is in jail with cancer and they want her out. Not sure of the background story, but it was really cool. There was also a brigade type deal of police officers just in case the crowd got violent (Scary!). Ege asked one polıceman what they were protesting and he literally replıed, I dont f****** know, they protest something every day. Well at least he was honest...So anyway, then I finally met the infamous Sarp in person! He seems like a nice guy. Also, I am so freakin lucky that everyone here speaks English. Or at least enough to say hello and what not. My Turkish consists of Hello and Thank you. But i still find that pretty impressive...
Anyway then we went to Kafepi (pronounced cafe p) where Ege worked for like 3 weeks last summer. It was really chill, we just sat at a table and had a few (legal!) drinks and discussed our love for Arrested Development. Seriously, it is the best show ever and even the Turks know that. After hearing Sarps impression of Buster (quite accurate...and hilarious) we wandered around the street a bit but there actually werent that many people compared to a usual friday because it was the first day of Ramadan, meaning fasting during the day and they arent supposed to drink alcohol at all (although Muslims arent supposed to drink at all....?)
SATURDAY
Construction agaın wakes me up at 845. Cool. But I end up going back to sleep (hour(s) later) and sleep UNTIL 2 IN THE AFTERNOON!!! Its serıously embarrassing. I told Ege to wake me up next tıme but shes like, no you need your sleep, etc. Ugh her mom probably thinks i am so so so lazy. Anywho, we went out to the Bosphorus that afternoon where there were a lot of really cute little stands, like an open air market, called Ortakoy. And of course I bought a few things, how could I not, Im addıcted to jewelry. Then we ate a baked potato, Turkey style, kumpir. They fıll them wıth TONS of RANDOM stuff...lıke ketchup, mayonaıse, pıckles, hotdog, olives, mushrooms, cheese, carrots, some red grain thingy, etc. Interestıng, but not bad I guess.. Once Sarp came (so he is staying at his aunts house which is on the Asian side of Istanbul, so he lıves kınd of far and ıt takes a while to get to this side) we got on a little boat ferry thing and took an hour-long ride up the Bosphorus Sea. The water is beautiful and the wind was great with lots of sun. Ive also decıded that I am goıng to one day buy a house overlookıng the Bosphorus. The houses are amazıng.
Then we went back to Eges. Oh, and her wisdom tooth is coming ın so she has been in a lot of pain (sılly thırd world countrıes dont take their wisdom teeth out) and ı really do feel bad for her. She has to talk without opening her mouth wide, which is ultimately kind of funny but oh well...
Then we ordered mantı (i thınk?) whıch ıs lıke tıny lıttle dumplıngs ın a yogurt sauce! They are SOO good, seriously. You add spices to them too...Really, we need more Turkish restaurants in the US. Or at least North Carolina.
THEN we went to the Asian side of Turkey!! HELLO ASIA! That was exciting for me. We walked around the one big street in Asian İstanbul but ı forget what ıt ıs called (edit - Bagdat street). But basıcally people come there to show off their nice cars (BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, ı swear we saw a ferrari) etc and look cute. We got some deserts at a little place (after Sarp got some strange Turkısh fast food, including a 'wet burger''...yuck much?) that was very tasty. Then we went to Sarps aunt,s house to watch Arrested Development...yay fun Saturday nights!!
So yes, Ive essentially been third wheel for about 2 days now. Super duper.
Also, sorry for the lack of apostrophes and awkward ı (an i wıthout a dot). Im typıng on a Turkısh keyboard and the i ıs in a weird place and i cant find the apostrophe. Whoops.
Anyway, here I am, stıll ın Asıa. I woke up thıs mornıng wıth my eye swollen and I dont know why. Just my left eye. Its not too too bad but ıt hurts when ı touch ıt so ıve put some ıce on ıt...probaby from eating Marys lıttle lamb... :(
ok well ıf youve read all of thıs so far and arent thoroughly bored or extremely ready for me to hush, you are very ımpressıve and such a loyal fan (do ı have loyal fans? hmm) but I am sad to say that my blabbing has thus ended. Except to say that I trıpped about a total of 9 times so far. yesssss.
Hugs and kısses. I mıss you all! And normal keyboards....
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Airports arent as cool after being there for 6 hours.
I'm in TURKEY!!
After 31 hours of traveling and sitting in airports I finally arrived to Ege waiting for me in the airport! Which I was scared about in the first place because I honestly didn't think that she would show up and then I would be stuck in the airport all alone and crying. Haha. But that didn't happen!
Some notable things during my travel....
Right after sadly saying my goodbyes to Jim and Suz, I started walking towards my gate in Charlotte only to hear some one saying "diarrhea! diarrhea!" Yep. What a great welcoming. A little girl was yelling it, to the dismay of her parents and her older sister, who was trying to hush her by putting her hand over her mouth. It was actually really funny.
I flew from Charlotte to Philedalphia and then from Philly to Madrid. I sat next to an older woman with arthritis and diabetes (she told me) requiring her to get up and walk around the plane a lot. She loves plane pillows (she had at least 3) and plane blankets. But when I was kind of cold she was very sweet and motherly and asked the airline attendent for an extra blanket for me and socks. Yes blanket, no socks. But it's okay, I survived. She was on her way to see her daughter who lives in Spain, and they are actually going to take a weeklong trip to Turkey too! So we had a lot to discuss. Did I mention she only spoke Spanish? Yep. So that was just a little taste of what is to come....and it wasn't as good as I had hoped, but we'll see....Also, she sang out lout while listening to her iPod and elbowed me everytime the couple in front of us kissed (which was frequent). Oh, she was a lovely traveling buddy. We even exchanged emails! :)
In Frankfurt I made a little friend too, a boy who would come up to me and set his teddy bear down in the seat next to me where at the gate. It was ADORABLE. Im not sure what language he was speaking though...but very cute!
Ill write more about Turkey itself soon! love/miss you all!!
After 31 hours of traveling and sitting in airports I finally arrived to Ege waiting for me in the airport! Which I was scared about in the first place because I honestly didn't think that she would show up and then I would be stuck in the airport all alone and crying. Haha. But that didn't happen!
Some notable things during my travel....
Right after sadly saying my goodbyes to Jim and Suz, I started walking towards my gate in Charlotte only to hear some one saying "diarrhea! diarrhea!" Yep. What a great welcoming. A little girl was yelling it, to the dismay of her parents and her older sister, who was trying to hush her by putting her hand over her mouth. It was actually really funny.
I flew from Charlotte to Philedalphia and then from Philly to Madrid. I sat next to an older woman with arthritis and diabetes (she told me) requiring her to get up and walk around the plane a lot. She loves plane pillows (she had at least 3) and plane blankets. But when I was kind of cold she was very sweet and motherly and asked the airline attendent for an extra blanket for me and socks. Yes blanket, no socks. But it's okay, I survived. She was on her way to see her daughter who lives in Spain, and they are actually going to take a weeklong trip to Turkey too! So we had a lot to discuss. Did I mention she only spoke Spanish? Yep. So that was just a little taste of what is to come....and it wasn't as good as I had hoped, but we'll see....Also, she sang out lout while listening to her iPod and elbowed me everytime the couple in front of us kissed (which was frequent). Oh, she was a lovely traveling buddy. We even exchanged emails! :)
In Frankfurt I made a little friend too, a boy who would come up to me and set his teddy bear down in the seat next to me where at the gate. It was ADORABLE. Im not sure what language he was speaking though...but very cute!
Ill write more about Turkey itself soon! love/miss you all!!
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