Turkish Delight

Today was the day of my speech – the whole reason I’m here … remember? This morning we went to a big breakfast with everyone from the CIEE conference, with again absolutely delicious food. And we were going to venture out, but my nerves took over and we decided to just practice my speech and chill at the hotel for a bit. We found an absolutely incredible view of the Bosporus, where you could see Asia, the Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque, it was unreal. I then met Daniel, my resident director from Rennes, Cerise, a woman from Mobility International USA, Chris, another student who studied in Rennes in the fall with Asberger’s syndrome, and his study abroad advisor, in the conference room to set up our power points and go over the order of the afternoon. I was extremely nervous, but somehow managed to keep my cool for the presentation. There were about 30 people who attended, and they were engaged and really eager to talk to me, Chris, and Daniel after our presentation. It was a little after 3 and mom and I had realized that we hadn’t had lunch. We ventured out of the hotel to find a sandwich or something yummy. We were crossing the street, looking for a falafel stand or something quick and easy, when we realized, we were taking our lives into our own hands by crossing the street on our own. Two lanes of the street had stop lights, while the other didn’t. So it was somewhat of a “run or die” situation. A really nice Turkish man noticed our hesitancy and helped us across the street. He realized we were American and spoke to us about his sister living in Baltimore “amazing America city.” We told him about our hunt for lunch and he said “come with me, I show you.” He brought us to his friend’s kebab stand, got us sandwiches, and helped us back to our hotel, first having us stop at his family rug shop for business cards, of course. He is an excellent example of everyone here, so nice. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he was about the 50th person to ask me if I were Turkish? Thank you Mimi for my Greek blood!

I also met some one from a program called Diversity Abroad, which encourages students with diverse backgrounds to study abroad. So, after lunch, he interviewed me for his website, and was really great to talk to about my experience. They are launching a new website in January, and hopefully I will be a part of it. There was then a “Meet CIEE” fair, where all of the Resident Directors set up tables with information about their cities and countries, and lots and LOTS of candy. My mom and I completely raided every country, taking chocolate, key chains, pens, and essentially anything we could find. Everyone was so nice and eager to talk to us about their specific program. I spoke with the directors from St. Petersburg, Seville, Brussels, Ferrara, and Dublin, who all seemed dynamic and interested in their students’ study abroad experience. After getting a stomach ache from chocolate and cookies, we ran upstairs to change before the big cocktail reception at the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. Before we went, our rockstar organizers Kate and Jill, gave us a heads up that the lift was broken and the bathroom was small, but how often do you go to a cocktail party in the garden of the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum in Istanbul? We took a van over with a couple guys from CIEE who were super helpful. We bumped up a good flight of stairs, and we were under this amazing tent in the garden with heaters, overlooking the lit Blue Mosque. There was traditional Turkish music (which the Resident Director of Istanbul assured me that she found off the street) and delicious Turkish hors d’oeurves. We had a few cocktails, tried traditional Turkish Raki (which is like Ouzo, tastes like black licorice, and is horrible), and explored the museum. Of course as I was on the lift up to the museum, it ran out of battery, so once again we recruited CIEE man power and made it up the huge flight of stairs, you know … just a day in the life. The museum was very cool - they had Turkish rugs, turban accessories and hand painted tiles from the 16th century. We indulged in appetizers which included dolmas and fried parmesan cheese balls (yeah, they are amazing as they sound), and I chatted with someone’s husband from CIEE who is really interested in feminist film, which rocked. Around 9 we left the party and headed back to the hotel, where we then turned right back around and went to a hookah bar with some of the CIEE staff. We tried apple, grape, and lemon mint, and trust me, it was no Purple Caterpillar. Everyone was really nice, and the Resident Director from Jordon was with us, so she was able to speak Arabic to the bar staff. I was really proud of mom for sticking it out. She and I also had a conversation about being a strong, American woman in Jordon, which was interesting and less scary than you expect she said. After a really long day, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. We are in for a big day of sightseeing tomorrow. We are hoping to hit the Spice Bazaar and the palace, along with trying some more traditional cuisine. This entire trip is flying by, and I can’t tell you how much fun I am having, and how unbelievably nice everyone is. I’m so lucky to have gotten this opportunity.