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?