Wandering Istanbul: Studying Istanbul

Dear reader,

In many ways, student life in Istanbul is not all that different than back at home.

Instead of books, we mostly get copies.
Long wait, but much less expensive!

My two classes are very intriguing. Although I still know only a little Turkish, I’m far better off than I was thanks to the language course. For instance, making purchases at shops is much less time-consuming now that I know how to ask for the price and understand the amount they offer. My political class is essentially a critical survey of political issues in Turkey. Nearly half the class are American exchange students and almost everyone else is Turkish, which makes for an interesting clash of perspectives when the United States enters discussion...

Totally kidding. There is definitely some resentment over American policies, but it does not translate into any sort of distaste toward Americans in general.   As interesting and helpful as my classes are, they are intensive and each meet for two hours. When classes were done on Thursday, I was more than ready to start exploring the city some more.   Not having quite mastered public transportation in Istanbul on Friday, I pretty much just took a bus that I knew was heading south and got off wherever it took me. Şişli seemed like a pretty cool place, so I stopped there and walked around. I didn’t actually do too much other than walk around and look at the city. I grabbed a döner sandwich and did some window shopping. It was kind of like walking down Michigan Ave in Chicago; there were more expensive shops and malls in this area.

I made my way south over to Taksim, which is the largest plaza in the northern part of Istanbul. Here everything was significantly less expensive and a little more authentic (for lack of a better word). Many of the shops, like back near campus, were halfway into the ground, so I had to really watch my step. I bought three used books from a small store to read later. It was especially easy to get lost in deserted areas, as by now it was past 17:00 (military time is used in Turkey). That said, I easily found the most beautiful views of the Golden Horn from there.

Not my photo. My camera couldn't capture what I saw. Just imagine sunset and being closer to the ground.

I eventually started walking back north. Having tired of walking, I stopped by Tophane for a little nargile (hookah). I read Ottoman history for a good two hours and and, having had enough history and nargile, I found the next bus and made my way back to the dorm. Somehow, my feet were only a little sore, as I had been on the move for a good nine hours.

I got a slightly earlier start the next day, because I wanted to visit Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia / Aya Sofia. I didn’t get around to Topkapi though, because I spent a very long time at Aya Sofia. I had dreams of being here since when I was ten, and it was very fulfilling just being there. For those of you that don't know, Aya Sofia is an 1.800 year old mosque. In its long history, it has also been both a Orthodox and Catholic cathedral. It was built near the end of the Roman Empire as a church. Under Justinian II of the East Roman/Byzantine Empire, the church was burnt down and was rebuilt as the largest cathedral in the world. It held that distinction for approximately 1.000 years, until 1520. Muslims worshiped here as recently as the 1920s, when Aya Sofia was converted into a museum as a part of secularizing project undertaken at the time. As you will see, it probably remains among the world's largest. I posted some of the photos below.

After having hummus and Iskender for supper, I walked around some more to see some of the smaller shops in Beyazit. I'll share them when I visit there at a much earlier part of the day. I ended up visiting a few of the smaller mosques in the middle of the Golden Horn and walked through the peninsula. When I found the nearest bus stop, I got back to my place and slept for a good eleven hours. 

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