Alpha Omega...Cay

For those of you with a few minutes to burn, here are some fun facts about my life in Turkiye:

1.Cay, or Turkish tea, is becoming an integral part of my life. I love the uniquely-shaped glass cups and the sugar cubes almost as much as the drink itself. Also, even more amazing, although not authentically Turkish- “elma cay”, or apple tea. This drink is purely touristy and sometimes incorrectly made red with a mere tea bag, but at one kebab restaurant the elma cay was the perfect chemical lab lime-green and it was deliciously sweet and hot. I strongly recommend it.

2.Turkish coffee (kahve) should not be confused with American coffee, nor drank in the same way. It comes in a small round teacup and although slightly earthy-tasting is actually pretty good. However, the bottom third is pure silt-you may think you can get one more sip of coffee without the thick sludge at the bottom, but don't do it! However, the sludge is good for getting your fortune told. Apparently, every Turkish mother knows how to do this. (Instructions at bottom for those interested)

3.Koc University. Unlike a few exchange students, I do like Koc University, although I wish it were closer to downtown Istanbul, or even less than 15 minutes by bus to the nearest town. It usually takes little over an hour, sometimes two during bad traffic, to get to Taksim, the center of Istanbul. The trip isn't too bad if you go with friends, but it's not overly enjoyable if you are in a hot, crowded dolmus (mini-bus), especially if you have bags and are forced to stand. To boil it down, my main three problems with Koc are:
1.Location
2.Quality of the classes
3.The food gets a little blah after awhile and generally isn't the healthiest.
4.The campus is very Americanized, which is good in some senses, but I feel like I might have missed out on aspects of Turkish culture.

4.When taking a dolmus down to Sariyer, the nearest town, we get to experience another side of Turkey. Between packs of dogs and cows wandering without constraint in the nearby brush and sometimes on the road in front of the dolmus, it's always interesting. Since we are going down a mountain/hill (what is the difference between those two?), we also get a lovely view of the Bosphorus and the ships on it, offset by the city-covered and mosque-dotted hills in the background.

Halfway down our hill, we make several stops in the insanely large apartment district. This area could be a town itself and probably houses thousands. There are maybe ten districts, each with many tall apartment complexes. The apartment district contains everything from a dry-cleaner to a hookah restaurant to a school to a farmer's market (pazar). Although there are a few Koc students there, I am very curious about where the rest of the people work because I can't imagine that Sariyer is big enough to employ all of them.

5.The ferry is my favorite form of transportation in Turkey. Each trip the ferry is followed by a large flock of seagulls, and by large I mean a hundred or so, that eagerly wait for scraps to be thrown off the back and sometimes catch the food in their mouths. Last time the majority of the birds suddenly disappeared and we have a theory that they have large nets at the front of the ferry and then make kebabs out of them. ;)

6.I have become a hitchhiker. (Keep reading before you get too worried, parents) Because the dolmus takes so long too leave and to make its way down the mountain, we sometimes hitch rides from Koc down to Sariyer. It's safe because they are all Koc students and it's a good way to meet people and practice my Turkish, as well as get a quick and free ride. Also, I can now say I have hitchhiked, although I don't think I'll ever reach the level of hitchhiking as one student I heard about who hitched his way from Romania to Turkey in a Snickers truck!