Istanbul: March 4th

Day 2 began the way most mornings on study tour do- with a delicious hotel buffet breakfast.  I've come to embrace and truly enjoy the spread of lunch meats, vegetables, and pastries that usually fill these buffets.  It sounds sarcastic, but I'm actually serious.  After nomming, we met up with Koray who would be guiding us all around the city for the day.

Oh, and this is the view of the sprawling city we saw every morning :)

To make our time in Istanbul easier, we were provided with convenient transportation cards, similar to those on the T in Boston.  They were loaded with money, and all we had to do was tap it before boarded a trolley, tram, bus, or ferry.

The tunnel tram- 2nd oldest in the world next to London!  This little guy helped out so much when traversing the steep hills of Istanbul!

We headed over to the Sultanahmet area of the city, where the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia are all located.  So much history in such a small space!  The Hippodrome, which used to be a large stadium seating 100,000 people, has pretty much been dismantled, pieces of it being used to construct other buildings in the city.  

The original floor of the Hippodrome

As Koray shared a bit of this history with us, something life-changing happened!  A little street vendor approached our group, carrying what appeared to be thin bagels on a large stick.  Our class was unsure about this, and I was prepared to ignore this man completely; however, our professor explained that the man was selling "simit," a traditional Turkish street snack, like the soft pretzel of Philadelphia or the hot dog of Copenhagen.  He graciously purchased a few for us to sample, and since then, I have never been the same.

Bagel/Pretzel hybrid covered in sesame seeds.  THE GREATEST SNACK

...And for just 1 lira, you could pick up a simit at one of these many stands all around the city.

Alright, back to history and moving past the snacks.  We visited the Blue Mosque first, which is the largest mosque in all of Turkey.  It's called the Blue Mosque because of the original blue paint and tile work inside.

Right across the way is the Hagia Sophia, which started out as a church during the time of the Byzantine empire.  It's an enormous building, and it was constructed in just 5 years!  After 916 years, it was converted into a working mosque for another 481 years.  Now, it's a museum of sorts and attracts tons of visitors every year.

The face is evidence from the days when it was a Christian place of worship, as Islam doesn't allow human figures in mosques, etc.

From above.

After a packed morning, it was time for lunch.  A few of us set out down a small side street, where we were beckoned by a waiter from every single restaurant.  Although a little overwhelming and unexpected at first, we were finally sold on a restaurant that promised a roof top terrace with a view of the Blue Mosque.  It didn't disappoint.  And the food was pretty delicious too.

Thennnnn we met up with our class again to visit the Topkapi Palace, the former residence of the Ottoman sultans.  It's now home to collections of jewels, weapons, and the most beautiful tile I've ever seen in my life.  (Regardless of the fact that this tile is located in the former harem where all the sultan's 300 concubines lived.)  

 

 
AH so much blue and green and teal.  All my favorite colors.  The pictures don't do it justice.

We had some more time to explore, so we took that opportunity to stop for some Turkish coffee!  I had been super excited to try it- it's a lot different from normal coffee.  It has a much stronger flavor, combined with a semi-sandy consistency, and it's served in an adorable little cup.  The idea is to finish your coffee, then turn the cup upside down on your saucer, wait a minute or two, and then read your fortune via the coffee grounds.  It's an acquired taste, but I enjoyed it.

Somewhere in there, I saw an ice cream cone.  I wonder what that says about my future..

The next stop we made was the Basilica Cistern.  With only 20 minutes before it closed, we decided to duck in, and I'm SO glad we did.  It's basically a huge underground room that was discovered while the city was doing unrelated construction.  And it can hold a ridiculous amount of water.  The atmosphere was so cool, and they had really ominous/new age music playing in the cool darkness.  

Down in the Cistern, we ran into a bunch of our classmates and we all met back up in front of the Hagia Sophia to walk to the Suleymaniye Mosque, then to a performance of the Whirling Dervishes.  The whole tradition is a ritual dance based on Sufism. 

As they spin, they keep one hand up to God, and the other down to distribute God's goodness to the earth.

Incase you're still curious, I was able to get a short video.  Enjoy.

Phew, well there you have my whirlwind first day in Istanbul.  SO MUCH FUN.  But don't worry DIS, academics started bright and early on Day 3...

Istanbul: March 3rd

I'm finally back from a much needed week of traveling!  It felt so good to be out and about in the world again, and my travel bug is officially back.  This semester for long study tour, I was lucky enough to get to travel to Istanbul with my Conflict & Migration program, and I am definitely in withdrawal from the magic in this exciting and enchanting city.  Going into this trip, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had heard only good things.  On our trip, we would not only get to experience the unique culture of this city, but also take a more academic approach, looking at how the meeting of Eastern and Western culture in the city affects the balance of the population.  Eventually, our class is going to write up a new "mock" constitution for Turkey, addressing the concerns which we would witness first hand.  We were broken up into groups to examine specific aspects, and my group's task was to observe Greek, Armenian, and Non-Muslim life in the city.  Armed with some key preliminary research, we were ready to start our adventure.

Day 1 wasn't nearly as dramatic as last semester, as I all my toiletries managed to make it into my suitcase, and I didn't have to take another 6am frantic run back to the apartment.  Fortunately, our flight didn't depart until 12:30, so my housemate Molly and I were able to stop for coffee on our walk to the Metro and actually made it to the airport before anyone else in our class- YAY punctuality.  After meeting up with our classmates, checking out bags, making it through security (where I was pulled to the side to be patted down/tickled to death) we boarded our flight, which treated us to a delicious meal of mushroom ravioli.  Before we knew it, we landed in Istanbul!

Soon after, we met up with our guide for the week- Koray.

From the start, Koray proved to be the most entertaining tour guide ever.  He and our professor go way back, so he's been helping out with DIS study tours for a while.  On our bus ride to the hotel, he gave us plenty of practical information about Turkish culture, including a warning against making flirtatious eye-contact with people out at the bars, as this could be perceived as overly suggested.  Unfortunately, this tip lead to everyone in our group avoiding eye-contact at all costs and probably looking crazy.  Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Our hotel was gorgeous, and in such a great location.  We took a short walk to the main walking street, where our restaurant for the night was located.  On the way there, we witnessed a minor fist-fight on the street (the cause of which Koray explained probably had something to do with someone's mother being insulted, I guess "Yo Mama" jokes aren't appropriate in Turkey?).  No worries though, we arrived safe and sound and began my favorite part of study tours- DINNER.

The first dinner was a bit eclectic and included an assortment of spreads, fried fish, and mystery fruit saturated in honey, but it was tasty nonetheless!

The world's best baba ganoush! 

Tiny little fried shrimp

Little fishy who you were supposed to eat, bone and all.  I did some dissecting instead..

After dinner, it was time to get some rest before our packed day of cultural visits!  ...But not before stopping and picking up our first authentic Turkish delight from the candy store we would continue to frequent for our five days in Istanbul.

Here comes the sun!

I'm done a busy week of midterms, and I'm ready to kick the winter blues and welcome spring to Copenhagen!!  Lately it's been cold and rainy, which has rendered me cooped up inside my apartment.  Today, however, was the most gorgeous sunny day that it left me filled with lots of hope, lots of fresh air, and lots of vitamin D!

......just in time for long study tour, where Conflict and Migration will be visiting a city where it's been snowing all week.  What a swap.

Can't complain though- I'm so excited to be traveling again.  I'm ready for more adventures!

Worth it.

Yes, it happens.  I've been pretty busy this last week with papers, assignments, quizzes- you know, typical college things.  Thanks to a reminder from former Copenhagian Amy, here's a random collection of the recent happenings in my life!

This past week I was working on the first part of my project for Sociology of the Family- I want to look into parental incarceration in Denmark/how visits within prison affect the parent/child relationship.  As always, Psychology of Leadership keeps me busy, but I don't mind because most of class is spent doing leadership exercises similar to those the Stonehill Orientation Team utilizes (miss you Peer Mentors!!)  In the wonderful world of field studies, I got to go see a modern Danish dance performance on Thursday night with my Danish II class.  It was pretty different from any dance show I've ever seen before, and the second half of the show was pretty far out there, but overall it was enjoyable!  Classes are picking up for everyone especially with long study tours coming up so soon!  At this time of the semester, DIS bravely sends us all out into the world with our core program for relevant academic visits but also fun cultural activities too!  Personally, I am BEYOND excited to get to go to Istanbul for five days, and my roommates are equally pumped about Paris, Brussels, London, Riga, etc.  Last semester my class went to Kosovo, and it was such a great experience that I can't wait to see what this semester holds.

In other abroad happenings, it's over a month into the semester- crazy how fast it's gone by!  I refuse to think about the end.  With all the schoolwork and cold weather, I think we all have a bit of cabin fever (and we're also mourning Rita's computer that crashed in Café Paludan on Wednesday..  RIP).  I also JUST recovered from a 4am bedtime Wednesday night..  I was bartending International Night at Studenterhuset, which was so much fun-- everyone should go!  But Grandma Tara wasn't quite cool enough to stay up until the bar closed and then wake up and be a functional human in her 8:30am class.  Oh well, worth it.  I got to spend all five hours behind the bar this time, so I'm slowly but surely becoming a pro.

TRAVEL PLANS are also in the works so we have lots to look forward to as spring is on it's way.  The other day, my friend Margaret and I booked a trip to Amsterdam leaving the morning after we get back from Istanbul (8:00am flight, oh my), and Rita and I booked our flights to Iceland over travel break!  We're so excited to go to the Blue Lagoon, see the Northern Lights (hopefully!), and go on a pony ride!  I've heard only good things about Reykjavik (and flown through like three times) so I can't wait to explore.  As it stands, we don't have a return flight, SOO we might never return.  Just kidding Copenhagen, we're working on it.

Speaking of which, booking flights is one of the most stressful experiences.  You sit in front of your laptop with your travel buddies double/triple checking the airline website, putting in all your payment information, and finally counting to three and pressing "Submit" at the exact same time.  Dramatic?  Maybe.  But sometimes things go wrong, like when there is one seat left on a flight and your friend gets it before you, or the website spells the name of your state wrong (Rhodes Island) and your payment doesn't go through.  Despite these little anxieties, the result, aka TRAVELING is completely worth it.

And finally, because I know pictures are fun, here are some of my good-looking housemates!  (I know I've been slacking on the picture front..  I guess this is like the phenomena of parents not taking pictures of their second born child, except I just slack on taking pictures of my second semester.)

Behind the Bar

Earlier this semester, I signed up to volunteer at Studenterhuset, which is basically a student cafe/bar for the University of Copenhagen.  As a volunteer, you get to attend lots of fun events, meet some really cool people, and get nice discounts on drinks/snacks.  You also get to bartend!

Last night was my first night volunteering.  Studenterhuset was hosting a pretty large event and had a bunch of DJs from all over Denmark playing music all night, so the turn out was expected to be huge.  I've never bartended before in my life, so I was pretty nervous, but it turned out to be a lot of fun!  I poured some beers (tilt glass, get perfect amount of foam), made some mixed drinks, and got to socialize with some mildly inebriated individuals.  Some friends stopped by too!  The hardest part was working the cash register.

Considering that bartending is probably how I'll be financing graduate school and replenishing funds from an entire year galavanting around Europe, this looks like it'll be great practice for being a pro-pourer!  :)

Workin' on my Fitness

Recently, Rita, Meaghan, and I decided that due to our immense increase in pastry, hot dog, and peanut butter consumption, we needed to join a gym.  Last semester, I toyed with the idea of joining a gym but never ended up doing it.  This time around, I decided I needed to take the plunge.  DIS had also worked out a pretty good membership deal, so that helped subsidize the cost a bit too!  Armed with my sneakers, Nike gym shorts, and tye-dye Peer Mentor t-shirt, I set off for my first gym experience.

Yes, I have never before belonged to a gym.  Furthermore, I have never even utilized the gym that Stonehill provides for free.  So this whole experience was new to me.  The fun started almost as soon as we walked in.  Rita and I swiped our membership cards only to discover that they hadn't been activated yet.  This lead to an awkward interaction with a staff member who clearly thought we were idiots.  After dropping our things in the locker room, we decided to ease into our workout on the elliptical, only to discover that since we're in Denmark, all of the machines give instructions in Danish.  This made things interesting.  As we ellipticaled our little hearts out, we scoped out our fellow gym-goers.  Which brings me to my next point:

The best fitness/weight loss strategy in the world is to join a Danish gym.  Everyone was blonde, fit, decked out in coordinated workout apparel, and NOT SWEATING.  And then there was me, in my t-shirt and shorts, on struggle-street on the elliptical.  Oh well, it provided Rita and I with some motivation to continue going so that one day we too can become Danish olympians.

Proud of ourselves, we rewarded ourselves with a banana, passion fruit, and apple juice on the walk home.  I guess that's pretty good motivation too!

Fastelavn!

Recently, a few of my housemates and I got to celebrate a super fun Danish tradition called Fastelavn- it's basically the Danish version of Halloween, and everyone wears costumes, enjoys Fastelavnsbøller (Fastelavn buns), et cetera.  The kollegium two buildings down graciously invited us to celebrate with them on Saturday evening, so immediately upon arriving back home from short study tour, Anna, Rita, Meaghan, Stephanie, Sarah, and I set to work putting together costumes out of our incredibly limited resources.  This is the final product of our efforts:

Sarah as Hello Kitty, Stephanie as "Winter," me as a robber (I would), Rita as a cat, Anna as a masked salsa dancer, and Meaghan as a mouse!

We set off down the street en route to the party, knocked on the door, and were greeted by two confused, costumed guys.  Apparently, the kollegium was still finishing up with their celebratory dinner and not quite ready for the party (obviously US) to arrive yet.  After awkwardly standing around for a few minutes, we were finally escorted upstairs into the kollegium's library, where there was a bar set up and music playing.  Minutes later, we were once again ushered out onto the main staircase to observe the breaking of a large wooden barrel decorated with a painting of a black cat- think piñata, but potentially more dangerous.  The cat-barrel-piñata is based on the old tradition of actually putting a live black cat inside of a barrel and then striking the barrel repeatedly until it broke, sending the cat (or the messenger of Satan) running away into the night.  During the age of the Enlightenment, the Danes realized that this practice might be a little cruel and instead switched to candy.  By the way, the person to successfully split the barrel open with a baseball bat was a guy dressed as a nun.  That nun had quite the arm.

Note the costumes and the mad-dash for candy.

Considering none of us (besides Anna and another Danish friend Nicoline) knew what to expect, it was a pretty entertaining experience.  We were originally told that the kollegium was home to only guys who were studying to be priests, but this turned out to be untrue- we found some law students too.  Most people were grad students though, so we all felt a bit young/inadequate; oh well.  Also interesting was the system of purchasing a klipkort (clip ticket usually used on trains) to buy drinks.  And above all, the fact that this whole party took place in the library with people dancing around and everything.  If you're Anna, you even took the opportunity to do some light reading:

Overall, I'd say my first Fastelavn was an experience to remember- being the only Americans there, it was fun to try to blend in with the Danish students (at least until I opened my mouth).  At the end of the night, they even handed out pastries!!  That in and of itself is enough to make for a successful party.....