Wednesday, June 11

Wednesday

Today was a work day for our final projects at the end of the course about cultural identity in Turkey. I decided to talk about women's dress, as I have been fascinated with the varied dress that we have encountered in Istanbul. This has included clothes that would easily be found in the US to covered women (women who wear headscarves and wear clothing that cover their entire body), and even women who wear burka-like things called çarşaf (the Turkish word for sheet). Emily was interested in the same thing, so we will be partners.

In the morning Emily and I went to Prof. Shields for some breakfast and advising on our project. I thought I was going to go to customs to get my camera, but alas Yekta's uncle had contacted some people that he knew in customs that told him it would be just as expensive for me to send the camera back as it would for me to pay to get it. By the way, FedEx had told me that I would have to pay 1500 lira, which is equivalent to about $1200. So that was obviously not going to happen.


When we got back to the flat, we saw loads of ambulances, helicopters, airplanes, and even several jet skis rushing over Galata Bridge. What could it be? A national emergency, like an assassination or riot? Or perhaps a natural disaster, like a fire or earthquake? So oviously, we went to go check it our firsthand. Sadly we were either too late or nothing was really happening, so this Turkish mystery remains unsolved.

Slightly depressed about my camera situation and definitely exhausted, I napped for about 2.5 hours before our Turkish lesson with Hande. After that, it was time to forget about my worries for awhile and watch the Turkish national football (soccer) team play Switzeralnd in the Euro Cup. We went to a sports bar off of Istiklal to watch the game, and were very surprised with how quiet the Turks were as they were watching! Switzerland scored first, and then Turkey responded with a goal of their own in the second half. Then, in the last few minutes of the game, Turkey scored again to win!

This time the Turks were not quiet at all, and as we were walking down Istiklal back to our flat we realized that the crowd was going the other way, towards Taksim Square. Naturally we joined them, shouting "Turkiye! Turkiye! Turkiye!" just like real Turks. At Taksim, the shouting, singing, and jumping around continued, and we met some more mystic Turks (one of our hobbies) and although I went back to the flat, Amanda, Clayton, and Edward went with them to Ortakoy to sit on the pier and drink Efes.