June 24, 25, 26
I apologize for not blogging the last two days it has been very tiring; regardless, it has been very exciting. So starting from June 24th I had my first day of class. It was very interesting to say the least, but I did not get very much sleep the night before. My eyes were glazed over half the time the teacher was talking. It turns out she is a very well know professor here in Turkey because she published a famous book called Islam and Secularism in Turkey. Her name is Umut Azak, and she studies International Relations in Turkey. She is very well educated, but it has been hard for me to agree with her on some controversial topics because I am a student of Serdar Poyraz at my university. While she has hinted at Marxist ideals I am more of a supporter of Republican idealism like my professor. It was a very itneresting class, we defined what modernity means in the context of Turkey. Enough of the educational lesson; what was strange was when I went to the bathroom. Side bar, within Turkey there are many wild dogs and cats on the streets everywhere. It is not uncommon to see them just roaming around hanging around cafes and such. This is not neccessairly a bad thing because apparently they get neutered and shots for rabies. Anyways, as I was going to go use the bathroom there was a cat in there. No, not just in the bathroom but on the freaking toilet. It was one of the weirdest things since I have been here. I mean I thought I was just really tired and I was just seeing things but no, this cat was on the toilet. I closed the door and opened it again. Nope, still on the toilet just staring at me. I took a picture and left. Afterwards, Michele and I (Michele is one of the members in my program) went to the military history museum here in Istanbul. This place was one of the biggest museums I have ever been to. They had everything from the Byzantines, to the Sejuk Turks, to the Ottomans, to the Turkish Republic. It was absolutely incredible. I thought the Turkish cannons were insane along with all the famous battles they took part in. The story of the Turkish War of Independence was one that blew my mind. What was just funny was when I went to look at some 19th century guns they used. I looked at one rifle that looked oddly familiar. It was a Henry Repeating Rifle. Apparently, the Ottomans started buying from the United States in the late 1800's. I got my dad an awesome present from this museum and mysself as well. After Michele and I left I came back to the dorms and did some homework. Still an amazing day.
June 25th
Okay so this was a pretty good day because my group got to take a ride along the Bosphorous Strait in a boat. It was one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. They even went past the city so we could see the actualy landscape before Istanbul became a city. I now understand why people inhabited this area; also, it seems like the Ottomans really loved all their palaces along the Bosphorous. Some civilians of Istanbul even built their houses along the strait. These houses were in semi-circles and a pool would be in the center of it. Then to top it off they would have a yacht in their backyard so they could travel along the Bosphorous (talk about a dream home). It was pretty cool and very interesting. We saw Ataturk's private yacht along the way which was insane because it can still be used even today. So some more quick history for all of you; Istanbul was besieged ant conquered by the Ottomans in 1453. It was conquered by a guy named Mehmed the Conqueror (hence the name). The way he decided to besiege this city was by building a castle next to it (the Rumeli Castle). This castle is still here today and we got to see it. By the way, he was 21 when conquered Istanbul, what are you doing with your life? I digress, after this I had to run back to the military museum because I had left my backpack there from the other day. I was so hungry I ate at this nice restaurant and had a chicken wrap. It was absolutely delicious, but I noticed on the t.v. they were playing Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" music video wich I thought was so funny that Taylor Swift is now in Turkey. They proceeded to play some rock music, which was pretty good. Finally, I went back to my dorm and did some more homework and go to sleep.
June 26th (today)
Okay, wow, a lot of typing. Koray took my group on a walking tour of the Besiktas district. It is know to be a part of the working-class area. They are generally huge supporters of the opposition parties and do not get along with the police well. What was so inspiring about this trip well was he told us he took part in the Gezi protest of 2013. He took us to Gezi Park and showed us what the government wanted to do to the park. Instead of trying to keep it a green area they wanted to put in a historical military barracks, a shopping mall, a hotel, another road, and cut down 100 year old trees to use for the roads. 3 million people came to Taksim square to protest. For 15 days the people stood their ground there and defended it against the very violent riot police. The riot police eventualy came in and shot tear gas at the them and burned their tents. The police then held the ground for 14 days. Throughout the 14 days the protesteres came with gas masks and tried to besiege the area without much luck. Eventually, the police retreated out of the area. They protesters were successful in stopping the government from doing any of the planned projects. Not without sacrifice however, 13 protesters were killed by the tear gas cannisters that were shot at them. One thirteen year old boy was shot while just buying some groceries and died while in a coma at 15. All of their faces are hung around the neighborhood of Besiktas with quotes saying, "I want my killers found and brought to justice". It is a very heart-wrenching story, but very hopeful of their future. After Koray took us around my group travlled to the Asian side (I was in Asia, yes). We found a nice cafe there and just drank and had tea. It was very comfortable and relaxing. I enjoyed myself, and eventually came back to do what? Homework. Anyways off to bed! I will tell you about the Sultanmehet district tomorrow!
Friday, June 26, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Day 1 (Political Animals)
June 23, 2015
Didn't get much sleep. I went to bed at 9:00pm, and I woke at 2am without falling back asleep until 6am. However, I was able to gather some energy for the day because we travelled to Taksim Square again. We had to walk all the way to Kebatas where our classrom is. It is apparently behind some older buildings where they are doing renovation. This building is like an office building with couches and chairs; we will be in a very small room with a white board. We will be studying the Modernization of Turkey, and the professor is coming from Koc University here in Istanbul. We will be talking about the Turkish identity as well as the Kurdish identity here. Afterwards we went on a walk around that neighborhood and saw Galata Tower (don't know if I am spelling that right). It was built by the Genoese because it was an area where a lot of non-Muslims lived. Most of Istanbul has unfortunately washed out most other religions and races. We did eat at some amazing cafes; there was one in particular run by an Aremenian family that made Turkish pizzas. It was delicious. This pizza was made with pita bread, and it had a different kind of cheese put on it (it was saltier than regular cheese). I had some tea and coffee; after I had my coffee one of the girls in my program read my future within this coffee. I guess I think too much, and I love power or am a strong-willed person because she saw a lion (I doubt that anyone can read the future, but it was still interesting). Two of the girls in my group and I went out to dinner at a French cafe, and we talked about the politics of Turkey. We talked a lot about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the founder of Turkey). He stopped the British, Greeks, French, and Americans from splitting up Turkey and being colonized in the Turkish War of Independence. He became the first president and established an authoritative liberal country. This term can be confusing because he did abolish the caliphate, stop burkas from being worn in public places, started a Roman alphabet, established women's rights, and bring stability to a new nation. In the process, however, he did hurt Kurdish rights by focusing too much on nationalism, and people became confused of the word "Kemalism". Everyone interprets this differently. My friends and I agreed that Ataturk was a needed leader in the 1930's and took great strides to modernize the country, but the country still needed to be reformed following his death in 1938. Everyone was so addicted to his legacy that they forgot to make the needed reforms which has followed them to the 21st century. On a brighter side though Ataturk's political party has made good reforms in recent years to become a more democractic liberal party. While on the other side is the HDP that represents the Kurdish minority within Turkey and together they are working on a peace process after the opposition took office on June 7. Moving forward, we went to the Sultanmehet district of Istanbul that has the Topkapi Palace and old mosques. It is absolutely beautiful there, and I cannot wait to go back to see the Grand Baazar. I will be going to class tomorrow, and then I willing be going to the Military History Museum of Turkey. Hoscakalin!
Didn't get much sleep. I went to bed at 9:00pm, and I woke at 2am without falling back asleep until 6am. However, I was able to gather some energy for the day because we travelled to Taksim Square again. We had to walk all the way to Kebatas where our classrom is. It is apparently behind some older buildings where they are doing renovation. This building is like an office building with couches and chairs; we will be in a very small room with a white board. We will be studying the Modernization of Turkey, and the professor is coming from Koc University here in Istanbul. We will be talking about the Turkish identity as well as the Kurdish identity here. Afterwards we went on a walk around that neighborhood and saw Galata Tower (don't know if I am spelling that right). It was built by the Genoese because it was an area where a lot of non-Muslims lived. Most of Istanbul has unfortunately washed out most other religions and races. We did eat at some amazing cafes; there was one in particular run by an Aremenian family that made Turkish pizzas. It was delicious. This pizza was made with pita bread, and it had a different kind of cheese put on it (it was saltier than regular cheese). I had some tea and coffee; after I had my coffee one of the girls in my program read my future within this coffee. I guess I think too much, and I love power or am a strong-willed person because she saw a lion (I doubt that anyone can read the future, but it was still interesting). Two of the girls in my group and I went out to dinner at a French cafe, and we talked about the politics of Turkey. We talked a lot about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the founder of Turkey). He stopped the British, Greeks, French, and Americans from splitting up Turkey and being colonized in the Turkish War of Independence. He became the first president and established an authoritative liberal country. This term can be confusing because he did abolish the caliphate, stop burkas from being worn in public places, started a Roman alphabet, established women's rights, and bring stability to a new nation. In the process, however, he did hurt Kurdish rights by focusing too much on nationalism, and people became confused of the word "Kemalism". Everyone interprets this differently. My friends and I agreed that Ataturk was a needed leader in the 1930's and took great strides to modernize the country, but the country still needed to be reformed following his death in 1938. Everyone was so addicted to his legacy that they forgot to make the needed reforms which has followed them to the 21st century. On a brighter side though Ataturk's political party has made good reforms in recent years to become a more democractic liberal party. While on the other side is the HDP that represents the Kurdish minority within Turkey and together they are working on a peace process after the opposition took office on June 7. Moving forward, we went to the Sultanmehet district of Istanbul that has the Topkapi Palace and old mosques. It is absolutely beautiful there, and I cannot wait to go back to see the Grand Baazar. I will be going to class tomorrow, and then I willing be going to the Military History Museum of Turkey. Hoscakalin!
Monday, June 22, 2015
Arrival
I arrived in Istanbul today, and it is absolutely gorgeous. I understand why this city attracts so many people. I've already eaten some of the food and it is delicious! I'm still a little whigged out over the fact that my family is so far away from me, but hopefully it gets better. It has also been tough talking to people here in my dorm because no one speaks English. I'm just excited to explore the city and have dinner with my group tonight. Anyways I am not going to post anything long because I am exhausted from my 13 hours journey. I'll be sure to write more tomorrow.
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