Selim Sesler'in konseri: Selim Sesler's concert

Last night we went out to eat at this great little restaurant and then to a bar to hear Selim Sesler play. Don't ask me the name of the restaurant because it wasn't marked! But it was on the sixth floor of the Emir Han just off of Istiklal Caddesi... We went with Alex's konuşma (speaking) class led by the teaching assistant, who is a very friendly, generous person! (Are you reading this Didem?) The music was fantastic and I've included a little clip so you get an idea. Also you can get more information about him at http://profile.myspace.com/selimsesler


The group at the concert was much smaller... They don't know what they missed!!

Yağmur: Rain

Lately, we have enjoyed some rainy days. According to my Turkish teacher, Istanbul used to have one rainy day for every 10 sunny days. In the last two years, however, it has rained once every two months or so. The newspapers frequently have stories about drought conditions, disappearing reservoirs, and failing crops. So, people have been pretty happy about the rain despite the inconvenience of walking through rivers of trash. For your viewing pleasure, here are some rainy day scenes:



At least yesterday's rain cleared the air of humidity. The other times it just made the rest of the sunny day even more humid!

Ezan: Call to Prayer

Every day, six times a day, there is the call to prayer from every neighborhood mescit ("chapel") and congregational cami (mosque). The times are calculated according to the season, and right now, the ezan is chanted at 3:46am (to wake people up), 5:51am (the first morning prayer), 1:22pm, 5:17pm, 8:32pm, and 10:18pm. We can usually hear several ezan at the same time. Here are a couple of recordings. I can't say much about the camera-work, but the sound is interesting.

İstanbul'in Kiliseleri: Churches of Istanbul

They are tucked behind walls, peeking over rooftops, and sometimes just in plain sight. I've seen a lot more churches in Istanbul than expected. Of course, there are the historic churches that have been converted to mosques, or like Aya Sofya from a mosque to a museum. But here are few of the active churches that we've come across in the city:
A Greek church just behind Taksim Square

A church down the hill from Taksim that we can't find identified on our maps

A Greek church we saw on our architectural tour in Eminönü

A Gregorian Armenian church in Eminönü


Its elaborate and very European interior...

A Protestant Armenian Church (aka the American Church because it was founded by missionaries)

Check out that austere interior with countless light fixtures in the ceiling!

Menemem kebabçıda yemek: Eating eggs at the kebab restaurant

It's time for true confessions. We have been lapsed vegetarians on this trip. It is possible to eat well and eat only vegetables, but... This is definitely a meat culture and many vegetable dishes, if they're served hot, include some meat or meat stock.
With Alex's "konuşma" (speaking class), we went out to eat at a kebabçı in Bebek. Alex didn't want to eat meat and he ordered menemem, which is a super scrambled eggs dish with tomotoes, peppers, and cheese. One of the teachers at the table was astounded and tried to explain to him that this was breakfast food, and the meat was excellent here, etc. Yet he was resolute. Me, I had the tavuk şiş (chicken shish kebab) and yes, it was tasty.


Even though she objected to the menemen, she was quite friendly and it turns out that she did her masters degree at the University of Arizona!
After the meal, we traveled in a caravan of taxis to Ortaköy Iskele, the pier for the evening boat tours of the Bosphorus. There is an impressive mosque right next to the pier, outdoor vendors of food, clothing, and jewelry. It's quite lively!

İstanbul'in Tepeleri: The Hills of Istanbul

It's a fact. Istanbul is a seriously hilly city. Getting around as a pedestrian involves slogging up steep inclines, navigating through the trash, and squeezing out of the way for any type of vehicle. (One way signs are taken as a suggestion, by the way.) So, here are a couple of pictures of typical hilly routes we've taken:
Stairs (half-way only!) down from our apartment building to the Bosphorus

The other half to the bottom of the hill...

Pürtelaş Caddesi, which we use to get to Taksim Square

Look far in the back, do you see the stairs?

Hafta sonu İstanbul'da: The weekend in Istanbul

Alex had his midterm exam on Thursday (and did better than he expected, of course!) and had Friday free. So we spent the weekend being tourists together, which was great fun. I already mentioned the shopping, but we also spent a good many hours in the Archaeology Museum, went to one of the Prince's Islands (Kızıl Adalar), and ate out a lot :D
Here are some of our photos from the weekend:
Alex takes care of lions everywhere!

From the Ishtar Gate in Babylon 575 B.C.

Details of various Roman statues:



Gold tchokes from the Artemision (near Ephesus)


Cybele, a goddess who's got what it takes!

Pireler! Fleas!

Oh my. The fleas are the least of it. These two beasties have tested my love of felix domesticus. Mama cat, aka Black September, hasn't been spayed since Alice was born. Since we moved in, Black September has been yowling in heat about 85% of the time. She also misses her human, Claudius, which makes her cry every time someone leaves the apartment. She is astoundingly loud (hence the earplugs). Now, Alice is learning from her mother and perfecting her own yowl.
At first, we thought we'd let the cats sleep in the room with us. Ahhh, but they don't sleep at night--they play, fight, and yowl. When they play, it's always claws out... So, then we shut them out when we went to bed. Within two weeks, Black September had figured out how to fling herself at the door handle and get in. (It's a handle, not a knob, and it doesn't lock.) We put the desk chair in front of the door. It wasn't heavy enough, and now we use the armchair to blockade the door at night.
The latest chapter in this saga is the fleas. There is a little controversy on whether the cats have fleas or a roommate's bed has bedbugs, ugh. Regardless, I went to the pet store, got the meds and pantomime instructions, and today the cats have been treated for fleas. We shall see...

Yalnız karanlıkta evde: Alone in the dark at home

Why was I sitting in our room, in the dark, playing with my 1996 model cellphone last night?

The background to this story is that Alex's program sponsors a number of Saturday field trips. Yesterday they went to Edirne for the whole day (The pictures will be on Picasa soon).

I spent the morning and afternoon with our flatmate, Simem, and her five year old niece, Zeynep. While Sinem was getting ready to go, I played with Zeynep. She told me all sorts of things and I did my best to keep up with her! We played pass the basketball and count to twenty... I did OK with that game. We played with the cats and she explained what the bebe and anne were doing.
Our first stop of the day was the Post Office to mail a suit, dress shoes, and hiking boots to Claudius, who rented the rooms to all of us. We took everything in plastic bags to the Post Office on the assumption they would have boxes for sale. They did, in one (very) small size. Without any explanation to Zeynep, Sinem ran off to get bigger boxes from a fast food restaurant nearby. The niece took it all in stride... at the Post Office with a stranger and auntie just ran out the door. Sinem got one big box, which we used to send the suit and shoes. And then, she asked for two small boxes, tape, and a knife in order to build a bigger one for the hiking shoes. I'm laughing to myself that in a U.S. Post Office, they would have told us to get out of the way and come back prepared. We were doing all of this box construction on somebody's desk, by the way. But it all worked out... and Zeynep didn't get antsy until the very end!
Then we hopped on a city bus to Ortoköy to take a little Bosphorus cruise. Since the cruise wasn't going to leave for an hour, we found a nearby playground for Zeynep while Sinem and I enjoyed a midday beer. We shared a cheesy gözleme that Zeynep fed to the birds. Once on the boat, we got blown about by the wind and watched the other people as much as the coastline. The cruise was just an hour long and more than enough for Zeynep, who started to fall asleep on the bus back to Taksim.
I was pretty sleepy, too, since Alex got up a 5:30am to get ready for his trip to Edirne. After Sinem's sister came to pick up her daughter, I collapsed for a nap. When I woke up in the evening (3 hours later), no one else was home. So, I did my Turkish homework, ate a lazy dinner, listened to "This American Life" podcasts, played with the cats (more on those little monsters later), etc. This was fine until the power went out. Ha.
Then I had to decide how much battery power to drain from the computer. Instead, I sat aroundin the dark, experimenting with every possible key combination with my little phone. I even learned that it has a flashlight! Ha ha. The power fluctuated for the next couple of hours before Alex finally got back from his trip. But, by that time, at least I could use my cellphone flashlight to find my way to the bathroom...

Competition: What is the best cat toy ever?

What is it?????
Post your guesses... and I will reveal the answer soon!
(See the comments for the answer...)

İlk ders Tömer'da: First class at Tömer

It's a good thing I got an early start this morning becuase I got myself lost on the way to class! When I went to register, I found the building without any problem. Today, of course, nothing looked familiar and I wandered about for awhile, and then just started over from the last point I knew was right. Once I found the building, I still had to find my classroom. Just outside the office, there was a crush of people looking for the their names on the posted class lists. I misread "Z" for "2" and headed for the second floor. Nope, none of these rooms had beginning classes. Try again. OK, then I saw it was a Z, and what can that possibly mean? No classrooms in the basement, just in case. But there was one class on the ground floor. Aha! This is my class...
In my class, there are some 15 of us, including one male student. The teacher, Sinon, is also a man. The few women I spoke to all are married to Turkish citizens. Now there's a practical motivation to learn Turkish! I think most of the students are in their mid-20s and a few of us are older. The majority are Russian speakers, then Chinese, Korean, Iranian, Rumanian, Libyan, and me. There's a significant range of proficiency in the beginner level, but that is typical of language classes. Sinon worked hard for those 3 hours and 40 minutes--and the time went by quickly enough. I definitely empathize with him!
I'm really glad to finally be studying Turkish!

Gezme: Sightseeing

I know I said that Aya Sofya is the best, and it's true... but it has real competition! Here are some photos from the Naval Museum, Istanbul Archeological Museum, and Topkapı Sarayı (Palace).

As you can see, the chain didn't save the day!

Who needs a living palm tree, when you can have one of stone at the Archeaological Museum?

Detail from the tomb of Alexander the Great (or so they say...)

Many, many shards of pottery from Troy!

Uhh, what myth is this?

Summer garden at Topkapı Sarayı. The sultans had some things figured out!

Like how to cook on a grand scale!

Roofline at the palace

Great tree in the palace garden

Vitrinlere bakmaya çıkmak: Window shopping

When I explore the city, I don't always bring the camera... and go for the unmediated experience. Invariably, I see something fantastic that I want to show people! Nevertheless, I've been wandering through the markets in Sultanahment, both the touristic ones and the local areas. These are arranged by type of goods. So, all of the electronics shops are together, then the grocers, then the clothes, up the hill to the jewelers and carpet sellers. The protocol is completely different for foreigners and local shoppers. Yabancılar (like me) get the hard sell, and any eye contact raises the stakes. I wear my sunglasses and put the peripheral vision to work. Even so, the shop keepers try their best: "You're going the wrong way! My shop is over here." and "I can not see where you are looking, but I would like to show you my carpets." Nice try, guys!

İlginç web sitesi: Interesting website

http://www.360tr.com/topkapi/index.htm

360 tours of Topkapı Sarayı... Give it a try!!

Bozuk para: Change

It's a genuine phenomenon... Turkish cashiers loathe to handle large bills. Fine, you say, just use acceptable demoninations. Ah, yes, but ATM's almost always dispense in 50s. Today I went to one of the major banks in Taksim Square to get bozuk para. I took a number, waited patiently for 20 minutes, explained myself in Turkish, and the clerk told me she didn't have enough small bills! (In the bank?!?) Guess I need to get more strategic...