I'm Here

Good first impressions are always important. Counting the time spent on my flight to Istanbul, I’ve now spent about 24 hours in Turkey.  I include the flight time because the minute you board a Turkish Air flight, you feel like you’re already in Turkey. Everything about the flight, from the music they played, the Turkish delight and Turkish coffee they served before takeoff, and especially the meals they served (which unlike stereotypical airline food, was delicious) made it impossible to forget your final destination.

 All I have seen of Istanbul so far is the airport and the sights along the roads leading up the mountain to the University, but tomorrow and Friday we make our first trips into the heart of the city. I've learned a few general things about Turkey, though:

• ·         Don’t watch the flow of traffic around you while in a bus or cab. The amount of times you will narrowly avoid being blindsided or rear-ended is extremely high, since traffic rules are non-existent here.
• ·         Turks aren’t big on Air Conditioning and instead prefer to open a window to coax in a breeze (side note, my coaxing skills evidently need practice because it is hot in my dorm). 
• ·         The Turkish food I’ve had so far has been delicious. We went to a local restaurant today on the edge of the Black Sea for a 6 or 7 course breakfast spread out over 2.5 hours. Good Stuff.

• ·         Turkish is a confusing language to pick-up. Hopefully my southern ears will start adjusting quickly.
• ·         There are stray dogs and cats everywhere. But surprisingly they all look pretty friendly and generally well cared for.

All in all, a pretty good start to the summer. I’ll post again after our Istanbul trips later this week