i meant for this blog to be my travel blog, but since i am constantly feeling a bit like a misafir, i think i will just keep writing in this blog. because i am tired of livejournal. and i feel like venting my feelings on the internet.

i just moved back in with my parents on the island, have all of about $500 to my name, and need to graduate this quarter. this is not how i imagined my post college life. on that note, it's time for a hot beverage with some whiskey in it and bed.

i think this program has lasted too long, or not given us enough tatil, because ive taken to skipping lab and not doing homework. drinking and smoking nargile, clearly more important.

went to a lecture on turkish nationalism today after class. it was sweet, in the sense that i could understand what the guy was saying. i also didnt really learn anything new. also, totally denied possibilities of racism during ottoman empire, and during the early republican period.

i am wearing a pair of those pants that basically a skirt. they are floral print. i never want to take them off.

last weekend we had a really exhausting bogazici mandated tour with an extremely boring archaeology phd student. we saw some sweet stuff, but the tour went from 9 am to 8 pm (i got left behind at a bathroom at around 4:30, al-hamdulillah!). also, we were overloaded with details of architectural history, it would have been nice to hear some information about social importance of these areas (alas, might have deviated from the secular narrative). this weekend, strangely enough, no one signed up for the edirne trip with the same guide, and it was cancelled. i mostly ate, drank, and squeezed in a museum between the consumption. i was not crazy about the botero exhibit at the pera museum, but there were some pretty sweet orientalist paintings in the permanent collection. word.

today in discussion class we talked about discrimination. us american students were mostly bringing up discrimination towards african-americans, slave history, etc. our ta leading the discussion brought up discrimination towards women, especially in the east.....she mentioned honor killing, general sexism as being specific to eastern turkey. i'd like to look at this idea further, how the practices of honor killing is represented towards the "western" part of turkey, and also how the state deals with these issues.

since first posting, i have done a number of things, which have largely included studying turkish grammar. but ive found time to do some other things....a friend and i went to check out the domabahçe palace, which was apparently built as the Empire was in decline. it was very....ottoman rococo, if you can imagine such a thing. i had mixed feelings about the actual palace itself, but it had interesting chandaliers, a crystal staircase, and sweet things made out of animals. the highlight of the tour for me was when the tour guide started her discussion on Mustafa Kemal by saying how much she owed him as a turkish woman.

the following day, i went to istanbul pride. it was really fun and interesting. pride in american cities is very much a commercial thing, and despite the religious wackos who turn up, it has little of a protest feel to it. istanbul pride did not have the spectacular floats and outfits that you see at an american city, just a bunch of people marching with signs, saying chants which i tried to pick up on. apparently a politician had recently made homophobic comments, so much of the chants and signs were aimed at that person. one of my favorite things was that the signs Lamba distributed were written in turkish, kurdish, and armenian. also, i saw a smithie, a uw professor, and a seattle friend all at gay pride. what?

first impressions....

...so, i arrived three days ago in istanbul. bosphorous university is a bit far from the main city, so my contact with the city proper has been limited to my bus ride from the airport and a night at a bar in taksim. its a very beautiful city from what i've seen. the water, birds, mosques, pretty in line with the movie scenes ive seen. i enjoying walking around istanbul, because its less conservative about women's dress than damascus was, and i feel less self-conscious about what im wearing, being foreign etc. not that that's been a major issue since its been rainy and cold the whole week! not what i left seattle for....

my dorm room is very institutional looking, but has a lot of storage. my flat mates are pretty all right. one of them has never taken a turkish class before, but has lived here for 4 years, and takes great pride in her swearing skills. a little bit in your face, but learning your mom jokes in foreign languages, clearly important.

so far i think the turkish program is really good. we have hour blocks for different things like speaking, writing, grammar, all with different teachers. helps me not get burnt out on 4 hours of turkish a day. however, there are a shitload of films and lectures also scheduled for us, as well as outings. i mean, im sure its all cool stuff, but i just want a little time to check out istanbul on my own, and other stuff, like apply to graduate school. i guess that is all for now, pictures to come.