Istanbul: March 7th

Off to another university!  This time, we visited Yeditepe University.  We got a tour of the campus (which was beautiful, and the whole thing was constructed in a ridiculously short amount of time) and talked to professors in the law/international relations department.  The visit itself was cool, but the coolest part was that it was located in ASIA!

Yes, that's right.  I can officially say I've been to Asia even though we didn't even leave Istanbul.  In a matter of just 45 minutes, our bus crossed over the bridge and we all rushed to get a picture of the "Welcome to Asia" sign:

After our visit, we were able to spend some time exploring the area.  Then, we hopped on a ferry to take us back to Europe.  People use this ferry to commute to work every day- such a different concept from anything I'm used to.  Overall, the Asian side of Istanbul was a little bit different from where we had spent our time up until that point.  For example, the main road was lined with luxury shops, nice restaurants, and one Starbucks after another.  It definitely contrasted to other areas we had seen, i.e. the hollowed out houses in the neighborhood near the Greek Patriarchy, etc. 

Back in Europe, my small group went on a walk with a friend of our professor who is originally from Istanbul.  He is of Greek/Armenian background, and during his early life in Istanbul he experienced a lot of the tension surrounding minorities in the area.  The walk was a great way to hear more about his experience and see little-known places in the city that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.  One thing he pointed out was the effort to modernize Istanbul, often at the expense of important cultural sites such as Greek and Armenian churches.

Armenian church; tucked away off the main street

Attempts at art-deco design on one street, which our guide found repulsive, haha

After our walk, we went back to the hotel and I took a quick nap before our FINAL DINNER of study tour.  We went to this very snazzy place that was restaurant by evening, dance club at night.  Once we finished our meals, the tables were cleared away and we basically had the entire place to ourselves and a personal DJ.  The whole class, our professor included, had so much fun together celebrating a fantastic 5 days in Istanbul.

Love ya, Istanbul