Hittite History and Archaeology
Aegean History and Archaeology
History of Modern Turkey
Ottoman History: The Classical Period
Classes are fine. I got most of my course material. They don't follow copyright laws here (I am unsure as to whether they are ignored or if they are simply not on the books) so I have to wait for the prof to drop off the copied and bound material at the copyshop. The classes have a significant amount of reading, though some of it is optional.
Lectures are very chill. Campus is home to about 40 stray dogs and 40-50 stray cats by my personal estimate. They wander in and out of the buildings. The cats spend more time inside than the dogs, mostly because they can jump thru windows and make less noise. It's not uncommon to find one sleeping on a radiator in one of the canteens. One jumped thru the window of the canteen only to find a very pissed off grad student. The cat freaked out and scattered all the grad student's papers all over the floor... I spent most of my Aegean history class today with an orange tabby purring in my lap. It was in the prof's lap for a while, but she got annoyed with double-tasking between lecturing and petting the cat.
I only have class 12 hours a week, with it mostly concentrated on Wednesdays and Fridays, which leaves me ample time for exploring. For example, after my one hour of class today I'm heading to the mall in Sisli to get some new clothes.
I am sick and tired of the one jacket I brought with me, so I'm getting a different one that will blend in better. I stand out enough with my hair color and I'm hoping that if I dress less American the taxi drivers won't honk at me as much. Before I left I expected that people in Turkey would dress more like people in Western Europe, meaning no hoodies, so I didn't bring one. That assumption was completely mistaken. Hoodies keep the rain off your head and don't flip inside out in the wind like an umbrella does. We had good weather here for the end of February, but the cold and rain is back with a vengeance. It's not so bad, I just feel like a real weather brat sometimes from growing up in Texas without seasons.
If you couldn't tell from the other posts, I absolutely love it here. The food is amazing, the people are wonderful and the classes are pretty easy. I've made some great friends from a lot of different countries. Some nights we hang out with the Americans, others we go out to clubs with the Europeans, other nights we stay around campus and go to concerts with Turkish friends, and sometimes I just chill and drink Persian tea with my Irani flatmate.
I've gotten used to the eastern-style toilets. For those of you who haven't traveled as much, an eastern-style toilet is a porcelain hole with two little areas for your feet. There's a spigot with a pitcher on the ground next to it that serves the same purpose as flushing. In all honesty, they make more sense to me than western ones especially when it comes to public bathrooms. I am happy that I have a western-style one in the flat tho.
Other topics of interest:
People have been wondering if the House vote on calling the 1915 event a genocide made the news over here, and I assure you that until Monday's earthquake that was pretty much all the news was covering. It still continues to be a big point of contention. The vote has made it somewhat awkward here. I've been asked about it several times by shopkeepers as well as my Turkish friends. I do not feel threatened or anything like that, people simply want an explanation as to why the vote happened and why America sided the way it did. People here argue that there's a lack of proof that it was intentional. I try to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible. I know that when I am here I act as an unofficial ambassador to the country or whatever, but there are some tight spots that I would rather avoid.
As far as earthquake stuff goes, I was back in Istanbul by the time that quake hit (4am Monday morning) and it was closer to Syrian border so I didn’t feel anything. I was in Cappadocia in central Anatolia this weekend and if I had still been there, I probably would have felt it. Nominally the building I live in is up to code. I do have cracks in my walls and a faultline does run trough Istanbul. That being said, there’s no need to worry. If a quake hits Istanbul, I’m safer in this building than most. Every building in the city is required to staff someone to monitor quake activity. I have no idea if that person actually does anything, but they’re there. I am in one of the more expensive parts of the city near Bebek (most expensive spot on the Turkish Monopoly board). Things are well built. Plus, these things tend to happen in threes. No reason to think there will be a fourth any time soon.
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