Rainy Days...

The last couple of days have been extremely rainy. Today (Feb. 11) has been the only day since I last posted that it has been sunny and nice. However, today I have been stuck running errands and registering for classes. Now I am awaiting approval for a couple of classes that they should have known that I was planning on taking. This university does not have the a very reliable bureaucracy.

Sunday was a day of rest and relaxation for me. It was a very rainy day anyway and I figured that I could just get some stuff figured out for registration, orientation, updating the blog, and getting groceries. It's nice not seeing a Walmart or a Meijer around. You have to get your groceries at smaller and more local grocery stores. The major problem with this is that they don't offer a great variety or selection, and the price for many products is a little higher (still lower in Turkey but that is due to the exchange rate). I also used the day to talk to my family and friends over Skype. I feel so distant now from them, and I am pretty sure they feel the same. I am experiencing new things everyday, and living in an environment that is alien to all of those back at home. It's now getting hard to even relate what I'm going through with them at times. But that is something small, and I still love to hear from them on occasion.

Saturday I went to the Grand Bazaar. It was an interesting place with shops everywhere. However I tried not to make eye contact with the store owners because they would constantly harrass me for business. Primarily though it was like a mall and I figured out one very important truth: all malls are catered to females! I got a little bored, and this was greatly due to the fact that I was the only male in the group that I went with. Fun fact: out of all the the exchange, eramus, and special students that at the Superdorm the girls outnumber the guys by a ratio of 4 to 1. It's kind of nice though. I have no real complaints about the girls that have come here because they are all interesting, social, friendly, outgoing, and fun to be around. The exception however is shopping. Back to the grand bazaar though. The main area of the bazaar primarily focused on carpets, jewelry, leather products (leather is big in Turkey), and antiques. The coolest thing I got to see however was the spice market. It made so hungry, and it made me feel like cooking. The only problem with that is that the kitchen in my, suite and in all suites, does not have a stove, oven, or even a microwave. Basically all I have stored in the kitchen is stuff for making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and fruits. The spice market had everything one could think of when it came to spice. This was chefs paradise. Outside of the fish market was the water front where I enoyed a deliciously fried fish sandwich. I haven't had fish since that one night in Bebek, so I was overdue. The only thing I bought at the Grand Bazaar wa a decent size Turkish flag. This is the start of a collection really...

We then walked back up to Taksim and got on busses and headed back. That night, I was determined to get better using Turkish so I did something somewhat childish. I posted notes on every appliace I had with its name in Turkish. Then I also followed up with some Rosetta Stone.

The next day, Monday, I decided to put my Turkish to the test and went out for Lunch. I spoke entirely in Turkish and I was able to order a meal, ask for my check, ask for more water, and say thank you and goodbye. I felt accomplished even though the task was extremely small. Later in the afternoon, we had orientation which was actually very fun. After all the informative stuff, we got a tour of the campus and then went out to eat at a very nice retuarant. The meal consisted of soup, salad, Pachenga Borengi (something I will learn to cook when I get back to the states), and a very nicely cooked stuffed chicken dinner. Dinner was a little pricy though. I got to meet a lot of Turks though at dinner. Many of them have studied in America before so we started comparing key differences between America and Turkey. The one thing that we fist came to notice was the difference in drinks. America loves its pop/soda filled with fructose corn syrup, but fructose corn syrup is banned in Turkey and most of Europe. I have tried both Pepsi and Coke, and they both lack the sweetness that I am used to. Turkey is big on tea. In fact, a guy by the name of Hanid who studied in Michigan had a very interesting story about how he went to try and get some tea at a local store and the person working just stated that "This is America. We don't drink tea!" Poor guy. I also met a Kurd who lived close to the Turkish-Iraqi border. I talked to him about the region and about the touchy subject of Kurds in Turkey. That conversation was extremely educational. He told me how Turkish nationalism is focused more around an ethnicity rather then nationality which has caused many Kurds to be discriminated again. However, he was no supporter of the PKK. He stated that they would turn on their own people and do political killings in south east Turkey against other Kurds who would typically not support their aims. He also stated the economic discrimination that has been taking place in that area. Much of Turkey is developed, except for that area since the political power that Kurds have is very week. Therefore, the infastructure of that region is terrible, which forces the Kurds to have to fend for themselves. I also met a girl by the name of Suvye along with his Boyfriend who I already forgot how to pronounce and spell his name. She studied Electrical Engineering, was a very beautiful Turk, and was for some reason extremely curious about me. She asked me questions like "Why did you want to come here of all places?" and "Do you like soccer?" and she went gaga over the fact that I was studying math, from Illinois, and that I had a sense of humor about the states. The boyfriend asked me why the world economy was so bad. I responded that the world wide recession is a consequence of what happens when america stops spending and refuses to invest (ie. flow of money stops). He was interesting, but he poked fun at me for liking Tennis and football/soccer not as much. They were both cool though. After dinner, we went to a Hooka bar and I got to try it for the first time in my life. I personally however will never do it again because it did nothing for me (and yes I was breathing in the smoke), it was expensive, and it damages lungs. But now I can say that I atleast tried it. I also played some Backgammon which is surprisingly a very simple yet very fun game to play. If I ever go back to the grand bazaar i will need to barter for one. After hooka we decided to go back to the Superdorm and then head out to a bar to hangout.

It was an interesting night where we sang American songs that were famous in the nineties. It is interesting how so much of American culture is now worldwide. Everywhere I go I constantly hear American music from many different eras and genres. Rap and R&B music is everywhere, and a lot of pop music as well.