Hello once again. Having returned to Eastern Europe, I can once more blame my silence on lack of internet. My very cool roommate, Rachel, and I moved into our apartment... lawd, two weeks ago, and we just finally got internet this past weekend. However, I was in Izmir last weekend, and then I had a spectacular 24-hour stomach bug... so, yeah.
Here's my new apartment!
It's a beautiful place, and I'm very happy to have found it. There are doubtless some charming Eastern European touches. Rachel's bedroom door will not close at all, and the bathroom door sounds like a gunshot when you open or close it. Lightbulbs keep blowing out despite having just been changed, and the other day we found a merry stream of ants coming out to say Hi from underneath our fridge. Old Turkish women in headscarves keep coming to our door, either because they are lost (we think), or because they want to scold us for not leaving our shoes outside (again, we think). But overall we are both pretty happy here so far. And moving to Sirinevler cut my commute by HALF!! HOORAY!!! Because seriously, standing mashed in that metrobus for over half an hour after having gotten completely beaten up by eight year olds was no fun whatsoever.
The job is still insanely trying. I've made a very good friend in Sarah, the school's other female English teacher. And I am daily very grateful for her, because if I was all alone with no one to talk to, ask questions of or just plain vent, I seriously do not know if I could cope in that place. I do not wake up on workdays with a smile on my face.
Whenever I am dragging myself home after a particularly hard day, I always try and remember that at least I am having a bad day in Istanbul. The time here is going to go very fast, and even though workdays are of course a total loss, I've been trying to make the most out of the time that I have here, and not lose myself in frustration and depression. Because honestly, I could be frustrated and depressed in America.
Two Sundays ago, Rachel and I fought our way through Istanbul's public transit and went to see some more sights in Sultanahmet. We loosely followed a walk outlined in my Rick Steves Istanbul book, skipping past parts we'd already done, like the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The first thing Rick pointed out to us was The Golden Milestone.
It may look unassuming now, but back in the day, this thing was covered in gold and marble and considered by the Byzantines to be the center of the world.
Then we found our way to the nearby Basilica Cistern, so named because Byzantine Emperor Justinian built it on the site of a former basilica. It was basically a massive reservoir and the columns holding it all up had been recycled from nearby Roman sites.
Pretty cool huh? There's only a few inches of water in the Cistern now, but in Justinian's time it would have been about half full. At the far end, there are two giant Medusa heads that have been repurposed as column bases. I highly recommend visiting the Basilica Cistern if you are in Istanbul.
After the Cistern, we walked around the Hippodrome, which is basically unrecognizable as an ancient site; it's been converted into a modern square. There is a very awesome Egyption obelisk here though, apparently 3,000 years old.
Rick Steves tells me the Germans gave this fountain to the Ottomans as a goodwill gesture to try and get them to come in on their side in the upcoming World War I.
After that, we wandered around Istanbul's back streets for a while, perusing shops, markets, and various street bazaars.
I am usually so good about controlling my "Stuff" Impulse Buy wants, but in Turkey I am constantly seeing so many gorgeous things! I simply must have one of those amazing lamps, and that blue pottery made me drool. And then there's the rugs! I found one teeny miniature rug I liked a lot, that was maybe 12x12. I figured, what the hell, I'll splurge, it's really pretty. It'll look cute on an accent table. I'll spend... oh, 50 US on this. Guess how much it was. Go on, guess.
$1,500. That's one thousand and five hundred American dollars.
I put it back. A lot more carefully than I picked it up.
At the end of our wanderings, we went to a cute Sultanahmet cafe and paid for the privilege of eating in Sultanahmet. At least the food was good.
We had a really excellent day wandering around Old Town Istanbul, reminding ourselves that yes, there really is more to living abroad than losing your voice to first graders. My next weekend would be even better, because I was about to pack up and head off to check out Izmir. Sisyphus and I reunited once again!
Here's my new apartment!
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| Super fab living room. I love the rug! |
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| My bedroom. I've added a night table and a desk. |
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| Kitchen. Those gadgets you see on the end are a washer and a dishwasher! |
The job is still insanely trying. I've made a very good friend in Sarah, the school's other female English teacher. And I am daily very grateful for her, because if I was all alone with no one to talk to, ask questions of or just plain vent, I seriously do not know if I could cope in that place. I do not wake up on workdays with a smile on my face.
Whenever I am dragging myself home after a particularly hard day, I always try and remember that at least I am having a bad day in Istanbul. The time here is going to go very fast, and even though workdays are of course a total loss, I've been trying to make the most out of the time that I have here, and not lose myself in frustration and depression. Because honestly, I could be frustrated and depressed in America.
Two Sundays ago, Rachel and I fought our way through Istanbul's public transit and went to see some more sights in Sultanahmet. We loosely followed a walk outlined in my Rick Steves Istanbul book, skipping past parts we'd already done, like the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The first thing Rick pointed out to us was The Golden Milestone.
It may look unassuming now, but back in the day, this thing was covered in gold and marble and considered by the Byzantines to be the center of the world.
Then we found our way to the nearby Basilica Cistern, so named because Byzantine Emperor Justinian built it on the site of a former basilica. It was basically a massive reservoir and the columns holding it all up had been recycled from nearby Roman sites.
Pretty cool huh? There's only a few inches of water in the Cistern now, but in Justinian's time it would have been about half full. At the far end, there are two giant Medusa heads that have been repurposed as column bases. I highly recommend visiting the Basilica Cistern if you are in Istanbul.
After the Cistern, we walked around the Hippodrome, which is basically unrecognizable as an ancient site; it's been converted into a modern square. There is a very awesome Egyption obelisk here though, apparently 3,000 years old.
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| Bit of the Hagia Sophia at sunset. |
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| German Fountain |
After that, we wandered around Istanbul's back streets for a while, perusing shops, markets, and various street bazaars.
I am usually so good about controlling my "Stuff" Impulse Buy wants, but in Turkey I am constantly seeing so many gorgeous things! I simply must have one of those amazing lamps, and that blue pottery made me drool. And then there's the rugs! I found one teeny miniature rug I liked a lot, that was maybe 12x12. I figured, what the hell, I'll splurge, it's really pretty. It'll look cute on an accent table. I'll spend... oh, 50 US on this. Guess how much it was. Go on, guess.
$1,500. That's one thousand and five hundred American dollars.
I put it back. A lot more carefully than I picked it up.
At the end of our wanderings, we went to a cute Sultanahmet cafe and paid for the privilege of eating in Sultanahmet. At least the food was good.
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| Rachel and our meze platter. |
Loved hearing from you again. And, happy to read that you still have a sense of humor, even after the "teaching" thing! Keep us posted; love the photos. Can understand your temptation to purchase a few things!
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