I don't think i've ever gone this long with out checking my email.....5 days!!!!
it has been a crazy past few days and just yesterday i realized that i am leaving this city in 2 days!
so the day after i last posted about 11 of us travelled independently to Ephesus, which is a site of Roman ruins in southwestern Turkey. We arranged to have a bus pick us up at out hotel at 10pm the night before and endured a FREEZING 8 hour drive! we got there at about 6am when we woke up to find that we were sitting at a Turkish rest stop on the side of the highway. Apparently our driver was driving so fast that we arrived about 3 hours earlier than expected and our English speaking tour guide wasnt even awake yet! so we sat around there awkwardly until he arrived. then we drive to the site of the ruins, which were awesome. It was so weird to think that we were seeing things that had been built thousands of years ago. the ruins were truly awesome, and the sun coming up and the surrounding mountains made the perfect backdrop. I will definitely post pictures once I get home.
After we left the ruins our guide took us to a local ceramic workshop where they showed us how ceramics were made. that was very cool because ceramics are a deeply rooted art form in Turkey. After we left there we went to the House of Mary, which is the house that the Virgin Mary supposedly lived in until her death. There is no for sure proof of this but it was still very cool to see.
have to go meet the rest of the group for dinner...I will definitely post a ton of pictures when I get home and will describe all the other things we did.
Love, Laura
the past few days have been quite the whirlwind! and the next few should be equally so. Yesterday we got up at 7:30 am to take a bus to Bursa, which is a historic town in Anatolia (the big asian side of Turkey). It was about a 3 hour drive and we had to take a ferry across the Sea of Marmara to get there. Bursa is one of the former capitals of the Byzantine Empire and is still a very historic city. It is in the mountains which was very beautiful to drive through. Driving through the outskirts of Istanbul and then through the mountains, I felt like we were seeing the real Turkey. Poverty was much more apparent as was western influence. Also, outside of Istanbul almost all women wore hijab, which is the headscarf Muslim women have the option of wearing. In Istanbul, although there are a large number of women that do wear hijab, most don't. But in the more rural areas it is much more conservative and seeing women without one was rare. In fact, after we left a few mosques (where you must wear a headscarf no matter what) I kept mine on just to fit in because I felt like I was being stared at otherwise.
In Bursa we mostly visited some mosques, which like I said are beginning to look all the same). We also had a chance to go to the bazaar. Bursa is famous for its silk and I bought a few silk things, although I can't say what because they are souvenirs for some people :) But for the most part, the bazaar in Bursa was quite different from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. I would say that the grand bazaar is more touristy with lots of kitschy trinkets for sale, while this one in Bursa actually catered to real Turkish people (what?! haha). A lot of the shops sold practical items like mattresses and furniture. Therefore, I didnt really find much to buy. All in all thought, it was a very pleasant town to visit and it was nice to get out of smoggy, crowded Istanbul. After we got back to the city we went to a Mexican restaurant (where the sour cream tasted like non flavored yogurt and the salsa was quite literally chopped up tomatoes) and then we PASSED OUT the second we got back!
Today we went on a cruise of the Bosphorus which was very cool. The boat pretty much travelled the entire length of the Bosphorus, which is the channel of water that separates the Europe from the Asia side of Istanbul and which also connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara (the sea of Marmara eventually leads into the Mediterranean). We stopped at a small town near the area where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea and went to a fish restaurant for lunch. And as you all know....I absolutely love fish so i was in heaven (can you detect the sarcasm????). But everyone else said it was very good....however I have a problem eating things in which you must full out the eyes and spine.
Tomorrow is out free day, but a group of about 11 of us have planned a trip to Ephesus, which is the site of some Roman ruins in southwestern Turkey. It is about 12 hours away so we arer actually leaving on a bus tonight at 10 pm. Hopefully it will be a little bit warmer since we will be on the Aegean Sea! I will definitely take lots of pictures and post some....it should be very beautiful!
Love, Laura
inside the Hagia Sophia....this picture (or any picture) does not do this justice at all but at least you can see the beautiful Arabic calligraphy
a few of us in our towels before entering the Turkish bath....it was quite the cultural experience!
a few of us at the Hagia Sophia
me and Krista in front of the Blue Mosque wearing our headscarves. All women, Muslim or not must cover their heads when entering a mosque.
just a street scene in istanbul with the Hagia Sophia in the background
faucet where worshippers go to wash their hands, feet and head before entering a mosque to pray
Blue Mosque at night
Turkish cat
me on the bridge that connects the two sides of the Golden Horn. umm ignore the crazy hair
whirling dervish ceremony. The whirling dervishes part of the mystical Sufi sect of Islam. Their whirling is their way of praying to Allah.
residential district of Fatih where we had the most AMAZING sandwiches ever
Happy New Year!!
Hı everyone!
I hope everyone had a good New Years! Well I dıdnt wear red underwear but I dıd get a paır of whıte ones at the Turkısh bath I went to today (dont worry, more on that later)...
Once agaın I am ın a slıghly shady ınternet cafe so I dont know a)ıf the connectıon wıll last long or b) ıf I am goıng to get rıpped off, so thıs entry mıght be a lıttle bıt short.
some of you may have been hearıng me complaın about the ıncompetence of the professors, but ıt really has been gettıng better. I thınk the last day I blogged was the day before new years eve, so Ill start wıth that. Actually, the day of New years eve was one of the best days so far. It was supposed to be a day fılled wıth churches but ıt ended up beıng way more ınterestıng than that! As planned we started off vısıtıng some churches from the Byzantıne Empıre (Greek Orthodox) whıch were gorgeous, but I hate so say ıt, after you,ve seen a mıllıon hıstorıc churches and mosques they all start to look the same. So as we were leavıng one of the churches we started walkıng to the next one and, bıg surprıse, we got lost. But the good thıng was we got lost ın the coolest part of town. The area ıs called Fatıh, and ıt holds not only the concentratıon of Chrıstıans ın Istanbul (whıch there are very few of) but also holds the majorıty of the most conservatıve Muslım communıty. So sıde by sıde there were Greek Orthodox Chrıstıans and radıcal Muslıms--very ınterestıng sınce Islam and Greek Orthodox Chrıstıanıty have a very hıstorıc conflcıt ın Istanbul. But the maın reason thıs area was ınterestıng was because ıt was a maınly resıdentıal and also poorer area. Up untıl now we have only seen commerıcal wealthy tourısty places. As we were walkıng along the narrow sıde streets, a kıd came up to me and asked me for one of the mını chocolate eclaırs I had bought at a bakery. I gave hım one and next thıng I knew there were 15 lıttle kıds swarmıng around me askıng for eclaırs! So yeah, I dıdnt get to brıng any home wıth me :(
New Years Eve we went to Istıklal Caddesı, whıch ıs the maın drag of clubs and trendy restaurants ın Istanbul. We found thıs small club and spent New Years there. It wasnt very fancy but I guess ıt was fun....nowhere new the MTV asıa party we went to last year ın Sıngapore!!!
Ok so now onto the Turkısh bath....today me and a group of about 4 other gırls decıded to check out thıs Turkısh ınstıtutıon. And what an experıence ıt was!! It was about 25 lıra for a batha nd massage. You go ın, pay, and then are assıgned your own room to change and get a towel. Then you walk to the bath room. Basıcally, ıt was a bunch of fat old Turkısh women, but as you can ımagıne we stupıd Amerıcans were stıll very self concıous!! We were all standing around awkwardly when one of the women that works there came up to me and ripped off my towel!! After we got over the ititial shock it was actually quite pleasant/ Basically you sit around and pour hot water on yourselves\ and then one of the women that works there gives you a massage. I've never had a massage before and I was a little apprehensive but it wasnt that bad! The oil spelled like coconut.
ahhhh forgot! must meet hte rest of the group at 6. I believe we will be allowed to use the university computers in the next couple days so I will for sure post soon!
Love, Laura
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