Beaches, Burns, and Ramadan

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Merhaba blogcular!

Yes I realize it has been a long time since I last wrote an entry, but never fear I am still alive! Since my last entry I have traveled Istanbul a "bit" more, mainly meaning Burc Beach, Kadakoy, Eminonu, and the streets surrounding Taksim Square.

So without further ado, Burc Beach is located in Kilyos and is owned by Bogazici University making it beautifully free during weekdays with a student I.D. Two friends and I embarked early on a Tuesday morning to travel on the hour long bus ride to Kilyos. Now I would like to interject that I have never been to a legitimate beach such as one that is located at the shores of a sea or ocean. Kilyos is stationed on the shores of the Black Sea, and my first thought when we got to the sand was "I can't see the other side!" and for the first time in my life I was really able to look out over a body of water and watch it meet the sky. We ended up spending the whole day lounging on the beach, swimming in the sea, and of course.. building sandcastles. Truly the greatest day since getting here was checking off one of my Bucket List items which was swimming in the sea/ocean. However, we all had a fun discovery when we got back to the dorms. While at the beach, there is a lovely breeze that is constantly blown off the water keeping you cool all day, and even with three applications of sun block, and even being under an umbrella for an hour for lunch, each one of us returned home with sunburns. Well now I have learned that beach sun is much stronger than normal sun and I'm ready for the next beach adventure!

Now being in another country you get to learn some pretty awesome names. For example, I live in the Etiler (et-ee-lar) neighborhood, which is apparently the Johnson County of Istanbul. Istanbul is also the most westernized and progressive city in Turkey, which makes sense considering it is right on the cusp of spanning three countries; Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The other day a few of my friends and myself went exploring in Kadakoy, pronounced how it's spelled, which is located on the Asian side. Kadakoy is a perfect little tourist area filled with small shops, people, and restaurants. Now the best way to pick a restaurant when you're in a crowded tourist place? Choose the one where the people outside don't yell at you. I feel that when I get back to the states I'm going to be weirded out by how quiet the sidewalks are. In Istanbul, hosts and hostesses wait outside in the outside seating area and will do their best to get you to come to their restaurant. they shove menus in your face, shout their specials, and try to talk over each other for the reason that restaurants are normally right next door to each other and they all want to fill up their seating. While we were at Kadakoy though we found some really cute little shops, a pack comic book store, and then finished the evening with a relaxing ferry ride back to Kabitas (cab-uh-tash).

Eminonu (e-minoo-noo) is the first stop on the Old Peninsula if you're arriving by tram. Here we visited two mosques, the Yeni Mosque and the Rustem Pasa Mosque, both were beautifully lit by the sunset background. In fact, in the Yeni courtyard we stumbled upon a live airing television show that we found out was an informational piece about how to properly celebrate Ramadan with fasting and why people should fast and how to be a good follower of the Islamic faith. It was really interesting because from my experiences, a person would never host a television show in any church that I've visited. Here though, mosques are seen as community gathering places where families may come together or where festivals can be held. I found that absolutely beautiful. After visiting the mosques we decided had dinner and decided to tour the area a bit more. We found a little dessert shop where the owners gave out free samples of their baklava and different types of Turkish Delight. Then we found a place called Coffeetopia where we were treated with cappuccinos, apple tea, and free shots of a special type of espresso that, to me at least, tasted awful, but is apparently difficult to make and has a short shelf life.

Throughout this past month thought, a majority of the citizens in Istanbul, and my friends for that matter, have been partaking in Ramadan which is the month of fasting for those who practice the Islamic faith. This can make eating dinner with friends incredibly difficult, meaning you either eat by yourself, or you wait until 8:45pm, and my family and friends can all attest that I do not wait for food easily. But the month has finally flown by and I have survived, as well as my friends. Tonight is the final night of Ramadan called Eid where people gather in large groups and feast on a large meal at the end of the day. Needless to say I'm looking forward to celebrating this wonderful night with both food and friends. Being in a totally new culture, it has been so eye opening and wonderful to experience things that I know I would never have in a million years living in the middle of Kansas.

To wrap up this post, my stay in Istanbul has definitely had its ups and downs. But with each passing day I'm getting more glad that I made the decision to really push myself. Traveling so far away on my own for my first journey out of the states was seen by many as crazy and the people I met here couldn't even believe that I chose to make my first destination Turkey. But I'm glad I did. How's school going you ask? Never better! Except I should probably get started on that paper that's due August 8, but I still have two weeks right?... Yeah maybe I should get started on that.

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