Don't worry,

I'm still alive.

Things are better (yay). My classes have finally settled down (for the most part--there are still a few details that need to be pinned down, but that's it). Thank goodness.

It looks like I'll be taking 5 classes:

Graphic Design

Arts & Culture in Istanbul

Disaster & House Design

Architectural & Urban Development in Istanbul

Design Studio

Last week, my Architectural & Urban class went to an exhibit about the development of Istanbul over the last 100 years. It was very well done, and my favorite part was a scale model of Istanbul from 1950 (I failed to get any sweeping overview photos).

This last photo was from the beginning of the modern period of Istanbul(Sedad Hakki Eldem, completed 1934). I didn't much care for the building, but it made me feel like a freshman again, studying Mies and Gaudi, and wondering how people survived living and working in and around them.

I also taught myself to make Turkish coffee (with some help from Google).

I may never be the same again. This is the strongest coffee I've ever had, and everything else, I fear, will taste like water when I get back.

Oh. Another thing I learned?

Don't drink the grounds. I speak from experience.

One, they're used to tell your fortune (apparently, I have a blob in my future). Two, they don't taste very good. You would think I would have known that, but clearly I didn't.

Let's see...other than that, there really isn't anything going on. It's been raining like crazy--the amount we've gotten in the last two weeks is normally what they get in two months. It's not terrible, although it makes everything slightly damp, which is my biggest complaint now.

Three cheers for improvements!

m.