Burda yaşıyorum, beğeniyorum.

Merhaba, Türkiye. Sen güzel, büyük, eski ve yeni, şahane, ve şimdi ve oluyorum. Durmuyorum.

Don't worry, that's pretty much the extent of the Turkish I can use in this post. I'm just singing the praises of Istanbul.

I like it here. Quite a bit.

So, I suppose I should do some general catching up. It's now Thursday afternoon, and I have about two hours left of my intensive class. Although it's run by IKU, not everyone taking the language course will be studying here. Many, if not most, will be at the Technical University for the semester. I would guess there are about eighty students in total from all over--Spain, Germany, Estonia, and Slovakia, to name a few.

Grant (the other Coe student; his blog is here if you care for more stories) and I are the only Americans here. So far, that hasn't been too much of a deal, since none of us can communicate very well when we get out into the city.

A quick geography lesson, since Istanbul is nearly indescribable if you don't know:

The city is divided into three parts, all separated by water: the New District, Old District, and Asian side. Both the Old and New Districts are on the European side, which is separated from Asia by the Bosporus (running roughly north/south). The European side is divided by the Golden Horn (running east/west) into the Old (south) and New (north) Districts.

The Old District is where most of the tourist-y things are, like the Aya Sophia and Grand Bazaar. If you get out farther, you eventually run into the airport. Most people live on the Asian side, and the New District is where, I think, a lot of the day-to-day cultural things happen.

My flat is in the New District (Şişli, to be more precise), not to far from Taksim Square. IKU, however, is near the airport, so it takes me an hour to get to school every day.

I walk to the nearest Metro stop (like the Parisian Metro or the London Underground); it takes about 15 minutes from the time I leave my door until I get on the Metro.

I then go one stop to Mediyoköy and walk to the relinquish-your-personal-bubble-MetroBus (another 15 min), which takes me over the Golden Horn and, 25 minutes later, delivers me a five-minute walk from campus.

I feel like I can barely call myself an architecture student now, since I have been here for five days and have not yet seen the Aya Sophia. I'd say I'm going exploring this weekend, but we have class Saturday and Sunday (I feel rather sick just saying that). Honestly, though, my first stop will be the Egyptian (Spice) Market. I refuse to eat bland food for nine months, which is what I'll be doing if I don't go.

There's plenty to do near my flat, though. We're close to Taksim, which has a lot of restaurants and pubs and shops. There's also a book market. I found it after I'd spent 8.5 hours walking in unsuitable shoes (I wasn't planning on being out for that long), so I didn't browse. I also don't know enough Turkish to make it worth it, at least right now.

Besides, I haven't finished Les Mis yet.

There's also a street running parallel to mine that has a number of grocers and bakeries and tiny shops. I'm still trying to get the hang of shopping here. Not only can I not understand much, everything is separate: bakery, dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables, and fish shops (fresh-still-staring-at-you fish). I have yet to find a butcher, and the grocery (the kind that we're a bit more used to) doesn't have much beyond spreadable meat, which doesn't count.

The bread, though.

The bread.

Fresh bread everyday for two to five lira. I can smell it every morning. There are also rings of bread covered in sesame seeds that are wonderful, available three times on every corner for only a few lira.

And the cheese.

Grocery store cheese is supposed to be average, right? And if it comes in a tin, it's not very good.

Hah.

I got a tub (seriously: it's a tin tub that must weigh close to five ponds) of mozzarella, and it's some of the best I think I've ever had. It's painfully difficult to show restraint.

I've also not been very good about taking photos (I'm using school as an excuse), but I should be putting some up soon. And if you're really desperate, Grant has some up on his blog.

m.