I have accidently been slacking on keeping up with posts but I am here now to make some updates on what I’ve been doing

Orientation began the day right after getting to campus.  Waking up at nine is hard enough for a college student but throw in an eight hour time zone change and things get trickier.  Nonetheless I jumped out of bed eager to explore the campus for the first time.  I can’t think of another way to describe it but a modern day castle.  The school was built in the early 90’s in the middle of a national reserve so it is surrounded by a lush forest with a view of the Bosporus and Black Sea.  In the middle of the campus stands a tall clock tower with a tea and coffee house in the top where you can really see everything.  The Social Sciences building has pieces of excavated ruins which include columns and wall artwork from historic buildings.  The court yard in front of the engineering building has multiple steam engines.  The campus isn’t that big but when walking around there are many walkways, gardens and courtyards that you can easily get lost in. 

At the orientation it’s very obvious that people are suffering from major jet-lag.  As in any orientation we go through several ice-breaker routines and a general intro into what we are going to do in the program.  Afterwards, we met our mentors, who are students who volunteer to show us around for a while and get settled in.  They showed us how to use the minibüs or 

what they call the dolmuş (which means full because the bus is always stuffed with people) and how to get to Sarıyer.  Sarıyer is the closest town to the campus but still considered a part of Istanbul.  While in town we have the opportunity to buy groceries and the mentors take us out to dinner.  We all tried börek, which is a flakey bread filled with bits of meat or cheese. 

The next day my mentor, Fulya, took my group back into Sarıyer so that we can buy cell phones that will work in Turkey.  Once we had our new phones Fulya asked if there is anything else we would want to do.  It took a bit of pressure I think but we convinced her to take us into more parts of Istanbul and show us the things she likes to do.  She took us on a ferry down the Bosporus to another part of the city called Beşiktaş where we met up with her boyfriend and went to a place called BeerPort.  Hard to imagine what they serve there, huh? We sat for a little more than an hour visiting asking about all kinds of things to do.  Once we got a little hunger we went to a restaurant next door to have some kabob.  The food was very good although the drink we had was not my cup of tea per se.  The drink is called Ayran.  What it is is a mixture of water, yogurt, and salt.  And different from the yogurt we’re use to, that is sweet and fruity, Turkish yogurt is sourer.  Needless to say I couldn’t get over the bitter aftertaste of the concoction.

Once back to school I went to my dorm to settle in.  I wasn’t tremendously exhausted so I decided to read a bit.  At around midnight I got up to use the restroom.  For some strange reason they don’t have toilet paper in the restroom.  B.Y.O.T.P. However, I forgot to B.M.O. I went back to my room, to possibly steal some from my roommates stash, but discovered I had locked myself out.  I’m not use to a door that automatically locks and the doors use swipe cards like in hotels instead of keys, which is something else I am not use to.  For about thirty or so minutes I did my best to break into my room.  I found small cardstock boxes in the trashcan of the restroom that I used to try and jimmy the door open.  After failing in every way possible I gave up and made the walk of shame to the housing office.  Why a walk of shame?  Because all of this was done shirtless.  I walked into the office asking for a temp key as a man and woman who had been talking looked up to see a half naked white boy.  They giggled a little at the situation and sent me back to my room.  

Location: Rumeli Feneri Mh., 34450 Istanbul/Istanbul Province, Turkey