A day of random wanderings that started with a simple quest

  So, yesterday, my wanderings started with going to a book exchange and trading in two books (and some money) for two new books; plus, I bought a book that someone else had come to exchange since it was one I was looking for and was significantly cheaper that way. Next I wandered off with the intention of going to Istanbul University and seeing if I could find any advertisements for students needing a roommate there. But it was closed.


In my wanderings trying to find "The Old Book Bazaar", I came across the following items:









This first picture is a set of ancient columns that has had a small perimeter put around them; the second picture is a set of columns lying right beside the first ones but without any care. This country has pieces of history literally lying around that in "normal" places would be the centerpieces of museums. This is particularly evident when you see what's lying around outside museums because they only put the best stuff up inside. :)

After finding the Old Book Bazaar and examining it, I went down to a section of town that I hadn't really seen much of before even though it's only about a 10-15 minute walk from here. It has the Armenian Patriarchate and the Church of the Virgin Mary that were interesting to look at. Also, the area has a particularly high population of immigrants and refugees and seemed like an area with very needy people.

More news with some pictures

So, language school has started, and it was not too bad. There is definitely a lot to learn, and it is both slightly overwhelming and slightly exciting at the same time. But today is a holiday here, so I don't have school today. So, I am trying to work on housing and homework today.
This is Istiklal Caddesi, which is a major walking-street in Taksim, the business heart of Istanbul. My language school is a couple minutes walk off this street.
It is remarkably difficult to get a picture of a mosque with 6 minarets; then again, this is the only place in Turkey where there is such a mosque. (Sultanahmet)

about that column's captial

I agree that the answer is D, but what is the actual answer.
The column is in an archway leading into the Blue Mosque. Maybe somebody should ask Dr. Bennett... or maybe we can all just figure this is an anomaly... or maybe there are random capital-types that just aren't as usual....

Saturday evening

Well, it's time for another update. The last several days have not been particularly exciting, but they haven't been unprofitable. I have continued to explore various parts of the city and become familiar. [The US consulate here is virtually impossible to "find", even with two maps that show it in slightly different locations.]
One nice thing is that I am beginning to be able to find non-tourist places to get my meals, and so I am beginning to be able to save money and also eat with more variety as I go around.
The housing situation that I went and looked at did not work out because of various details; however, I am continuing to pursue other options with a Turkish friend.

Trivia (particularly for those who took World History with Dr. Bennett): As I was walking around last night with Dan, a friend from the hostel, we found this:

WHAT TYPE OF CAPITAL IS ON THIS COLUMN???
A. Doric B. Corinthian C. Ionic D. None of the above

A Fountain in front of the Hagia Sophia

Rainbow in a Fountain in front of the Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia)

Does Death Threaten?: a combination of thoughts and reading

"Death is a threat to the degree that it frustrates your main goals." - John Piper (Don't Waste Your Life)

Does death threaten the things you live for? Do you know the answer to death and its threat?
The answer to death is Life.

Jn. 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Hmm, negligence in posting is bad

So, apparently, it has been about 5 days since I posted; I knew I was behind, but I had no idea it was that bad. That means that you get a sketch of what's happened rather than detailed explanation. :)
Saturday was more Ultimate Frisbee, as well as discussion time on the housing situation. That is a currently developing subject, which I need wisdom to figure out what's best.
Sunday, I tried join an assembly, and it didn't work. The transportation system here is excellent; the problem is that I have not figured out how to do exact timing yet. I turned back at the point where I would have been half-hour late to the one hour service. I ended up doing some personal study and then spent time with some friends. That evening two friends and I decided to go to a hamam, a Turkish bath. It was a worthy decision. It is like a sauna, with a shower, and a social activity all wrapped into one. One of my friends was Dutch and the other was British. Then, we had supper nearby (much cheaper than in our tourist trap), and we decided to walk home.
Well... we walked into a wedding which was apparently a large community affair. Several streets were filled with people playing instruments, eating, and generally having fun. It was quite interesting, and we were glad we saw it.

Monday, I decided that I needed to pinpoint the actual location of the school where I am supposed to be studying Turkish (starting next Wed.) I had tentative directions, and so I decided to just spend the morning exploring that section of town and trying to find the spot while exploring. It is the heart of Istanbul's commercial districts, or so I'm told.
After about an hour and a half, I found the school. Then I had lunch, and decide to continue exploring. So, after seeing Taksim Square which is an important landmark, I headed down to Beshiktash by bus to take care of a very minor point of business. There I ended up talking to a Turkish soldier for about an hour and a half. So, my Turkish vocabulary gained some words as we tried to communicate. Then, I walked home, enjoying seeing the city from a different perspective and learning about various aspects of it that I hadn't known.
Yesterday was spent doing very minor things, reading, catching up on some sleep, playing ultimate frisbee, and a little more exploring. Today I need to do some more running around and exploring, plus I am supposed to meet a prospective landlord at 6:30. I have other vague possibilities as well, so I'm going to have a lot of sorting through to do to make the right decision.

update... 15-17/8/07

Well, as I told a friend, I am basically using the blog as my journal. As it is, the days flow together without the picture documentary. So, here goes again. Picking up where we left off with Wednesday:
Wednesday, Trevor and I got a late start and saw the Suleiman Mosque. It was quite nice, not too elaborate, but very impressive. (I can't get vertical pics to upload right, so bear with the less impressive horizontal ones.)
Other than that the day was very random with one last experience of Istanbul's high life that evening at a nice restaurant. Now, I am back to being a very happily average person.

Thursday: explorations near the post office area of town (the most incredible post office I've ever seen, complete with domes, columns, and stained glass). While there I made sure of various post-office related things as well as found out the details for receiving mail.

Thursday evening: Ultimate Frisbee... with pictures this time (for those who griped, even internally).

Today was the Istanbul Archeology Museum, which had some fascinating relics.
The best one was probably the Alexander Sarcophagus which was quite impressive. (Alexander the Great is depicted on it, not buried in it.)
There are actually three museums in the complex. You can see them all for about $4; we saw probably half the stuff in them.

That's about it for now. We've done a lot of smaller stuff, had good cultural meals, and continued learning.
If you play find Matthew in the picture, you might have a challenge, but I am there.

Yesterday, and a bit of today - from an email

I think I almost just witnessed a shooting. Two guys went running down our street, and like 15-20 seconds later another guy came tearing after them; it might have been innocent, but he had something black that looked like a gun in his hand. The guy that works here, looked at him funny too. But they rounded the corner, and he put whatever was in his hand away. So... we'll never know.

Now, I'm having breakfast with/by an Australian couple, and we are having sporadic conversation.

OK, about yesterday.

My new friend "T" from Boston and I spent the day together. We saw this Egyptian Obelisk that Theodosius (Byzantine emperor) brought over; it had been built around 1500 BC by Thutmose III. Anyways, it is in really good shape and was quite impressive.
Then, we had lunch of Turkish meatballs and a desert, which was really good. After which, we walked by the Basilica Cistern which they were charging about $8 for; that sounded really expensive and it was going to be skipped till we read a bit about it. It's incredible! Very well worth the $8 and the time spent.


After that we met a friend of T's, who decided to show us all of Istanbul in day.





We first were whisked off to Dolmabahce Palace where a number of the sultans had their residence and where Ataturk delivered a major speech to the nation.



Anyways, that was a good tour, some nice pictures, and a better understanding of what it means to live like a king.








After that, we went to several different "fashionable" parts of Istanbul. They were fun, interesting, and expensive, but our guide insisted on paying for much of; thus, my budget afforded it, barely.

Finally, I will leave you with what was billed to us as "the perfect view", and it really was about as close as you can get. We are standing on the roof of a hotel on a hill in Istanbul, looking out over the city, the foreground is the main city; the background is the Golden Horn, and you can see the Hagia Sofia on the left-center and the Blue Mosque on the right center. (The view was incredible; the picture is ok.)

Most recent move

Here's a few pictures from my most recent move.

The place I'm staying is a well known guesthouse; I am on the rooftop with about 25 other people. It is crowded, but at least it is relatively quiet from about midnight-6 (so far), and for those who survive the 6-7 getting up rush, you can then sleep as late as you like. It looks like I may go exploring some of the famous spots today with a new friend who's also staying here; he's from Boston.










Here's the evening and morning view from my balcony; that's the
Aya Sofia (Hagia Sophia, to many).

Reasons to play (or not play) ultimate frisbee

Positive reasons
1. Make new friends!
2. Get leads on possible places to stay!
3. Have tons of fun!
4. Find new good places to eat!
5. Exercise

Negative reasons
1. Get sunburned, on top of yesterday's!
2. Get dirty!
3. Chance getting cut by glass (even when you don't)
4. Show your lack of superior ultimate frisbee ability

:) That's all for now, folks.

Major events of day 3

So, I've had an eventful day. Here are some of the details.
I was expecting to try to get my language school stuff arranged today. But, the cleaning lady came before I had a good chance to call and find out how to get to the training place, so I decided to just take the bus to Taksim and try to see if I could find it that way. I was planning to spend the day getting more familiar with the city anyways, so what could it hurt? But I couldn't find it. So, I wandered around Taksim for a bit, until I wondered down to Kabatas, which is where I met a friend yesterday. Now the Metro (that goes to the tourist area) and the bus lines and the boat docks all come together in Kabatash. So, I decided to try out the boats since I hadn't before. My goal was to cross the Bosphorus and get to Kadikoy on the Asian side.
What I didn't know was that not all of the boats were really going to Kadikoy; the one I got on was going to stop very briefly in Kadikoy but was actually headed for the islands out in the Sea of Marmara. So, I ended up going out there on a "short" pleasure cruise... standing all the way since things were very crowded. (Warning: personal space is not even a concept here.) On one side I had a young Italian couple. Anyways, I eventually found out from the lady on the other side of me (who had initially informed the confused me that we were going to the islands, not Kadikoy) that the first island was good for swimming and the other three were good for walking on. So, I decided to stay on the boat, particularly since I really had no clue what I was doing out there to start with. (I looked up the islands in my guide book and became a little more familiar with what was going on, but not enough to go do any exploring of the "historic sites.")


I finally disembarked for a bit at the last island because everybody had to, but I got back on and headed back on the same boat I came on. On the return trip I was comfortably seated in the shade with a really nice breeze coming in, and I decided to start "Don't Waste Your Life" again which I happened to have along; that was profitable, as far as I got. This time I had Turks on one side and a Jordanian man with a Dutch woman on the other; the various conversations and activities on the way back created much merriment for all of us. But I won't bother putting all that down here.


Incidentally, I saw dolphins and jellyfish today; I think the first time for both. The jellyfish are in this picture, but I was too slow to get a picture of the dolphins.





Finally about 4 hours after I originally got on the boat I got off again, right back where I started. It was a good little trip with some humorous moments, but nothing particular to say "this was profitable"... it just let me get more familiar with the city/area. After that I wandered back, get something to eat and came back to the house.



Throughout the day I'd been messing with the cellphone trying to get it set up, and it finally is. The display is in English finally, and the phone is activated. Now, I just need to add minutes if I plan to use it much. More expenses, but this is a relatively necessary one in this country. EVERYONE has a cellphone, and I'm beginning to understand why.

Trip to Turkey

Well, as of last night, I've arrived in Turkey. Here's some pictures from the trip.

The flight went well and was basically uneventful. The most exciting part of the flight was probably when I woke up from a nap as we took off from London and realized that something was moving down the aisle quite quickly... it was somebody's cell phone that apparently had jumped out of their pocket. So, I grabbed it and gave it to the stewardess later.

I think I could spend a lot of time in London; even just looking at it from the air, I was fascinated. Nothing like seeing where your ancestors lived. :)








And now, I am in Turkey and have a lot of details that need to be figured out about life in the next several days. Things are going very well; I still need to finish recovering from jet lag, but definitely happy to be here.