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Published: September 11th 2008
Yesterday I met a guy from Amherst who lives like 2 minutes away from me named Santiago. He reminds of Jim Libstaff but funnier and perhaps more obnoxious sometimes. And a bit more philosophical. We spent 10 lira between the two of us on a perfect hookah that lasted us over 2 hours. If we get 3 or 4 or even 5 of us together we can make that 2 lira a piece! Anyway, after that me and him went to lunch and then got my account unfrozen and then went to registration. On the way we met a bunch of foreign exchange students. It's kinda weird--there are more of them wandering around this far in advance of school than there are actual Turkish students it seems. You can usually spot them from a mile away. One of the kids I met on the street yesterday, Paul, is coming from Evergreen and knows literally everyone I know who goes there--he even dated Juliane for a while and used to jam with Will Baxter!
Anyway, somehow an informal outing was arranged where we all met in front of the exchange student dorms at 7PM, from whence we traveled to Taksim, the
bustling cultural center of the more European New City. Oh hey, remember when I said that the Old City had less historical stuff? I was wrong--I was confused as to where the line was drawn between the two. Anyway, 30 to 40 of us all went out, met our Turkish guide from the University's Exchange Commission, and had a good time on İstiklal Caddesi, a long pedestrian avenue with lots of bars and stores and restaurants and cafes that has crazy lights. It is kind of like something you'd find in Vegas but cheaper and way bigger and not fake. All 30 to 40 of us ate at a köfte restaurant, went to a rooftop lounge-slash-hookah-bar-slash-cafe where everyone was watching the Turkey v. Belgium football match for a while, but left because it was expensive, and then had a good time at a sort of American-rock-music-themed outdoor bar called Little Beyoğlu, Beyoğlu being the name for a large section of the New City. I talked to Dickey and Anna about Constantine and his relationship with Christianity, and played the guess-what-music-I-listen-to-based-on-how-I-look game with some girls from West Virginia University. When all was said and done we didn't get a taksi back
Us at Küçük Beyoğlu
The chairs had band logos printed on them--RADIOHEAD, DROWNING POOL, FALL OUT BOY!until 3AM!
One of the coolest parts of this exchange is that not only will I meet lots of Turkish kids, I will meet kids from all over the world. Last night alone I befriended people from Colombia, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Hong Kong, and even more exotic locales like West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco.
Sweet.
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amy d
non-member comment
sweet indeed.
i am addicted to your travel blog and getting really jealous/happy for you.