We Have Arrived!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have reached Istanbul at last. I can tell because my browser is in Turkish. So, I got on the flight to JFK at 8 Thursday morning; two people from the trip were also on that flight so we bonded while waiting for flights. We then sat in JFK waiting for Turkish Airlines to open (after traveling by airtrain from terminal 8 to terminal 1) for six hours. International tourists are CRAZY; we saw one guy roaming around with two brand new gas grills and a microwave. The rest of the UNC group arrived, and we all boarded the flight to Istanbul.

The plane was insane. They handed up free stuff every five minutes: sleep masks, blankets, pillows, socks, ear plugs, head phones, really good food. There were tons of free movies to watch, games to play, and music to listen to. They even had an exercise program that came on and taught you how to keep from feeling so disgusting while sitting in a seat for 10+ hours. We sat on the runway waiting to take off for two hours, but that was the only foul part of the flight.

We arrived, got our passports stamped, collected our luggage, and rode the bus to the hotel. Even the ride was gorgeous; we skirted the Bosporus the whole time. The houses here are so pretty, piled on top of one another with their white walls and colored roofs. On nearly every street, modern architecture sits next to buildings that have been standing for centuries; some women are wearing full head covering while others look like American fashion magazines. The call to prayer rings out over the city, but the shop keepers keep piling more stuff onto sidewalks. We're staying in the Laleli neighborhood of Istanbul; each neighborhood is named for the largest mosque in it. The buildings are four or five stories tall with multi-stories of little family-owned shops. And the sidewalks! There are seemingly random staircases downwards, or huge steps out of nowhere. Shopkeepers greet you in several different languages--French, Spanish, Turkish, English, Russian--trying to see where you're from.

We walked down to the Aya Sophia and Sultan Ahmet Mosque; we're going in tomorrow. They're insanely beautiful and HUGE! We wandered around a little before going to dinner. My table ordered the house special kabob platter. After feeding us bread and various dips, the platter arrived, complete with flames in the center. It was really, really good and cheap, too. Everything is cheap here; the Lyra equals about 70 cents.

Everyone seems really nice thus far; my roommate and I went exploring during our downtime and took pictures of the crazy things Turks put in shop windows (such as 30 baby dolls velcroed to the wall) and figured out our hotel room (you have to put your key in a slot in order to turn the lights on, for instance). At dinner I got to be sarcastic with people who actually understand it (yay!) and I generally like everyone. I'm not forgetting Kate quiet time though; even while we were wandering about I tried to be quiet so I could absord everything.

It still hasn't quite hit me that I'm in another country, or that I won't be going home anytime soon. I'm slightly awkward with people, but I'm reminding myself to shut up when I don't want to talk, and that generally seems to be working. I'm so exhausted though (I didn't really sleep on the plane and have been dealing with people for almost 48 hours straight) that nothing is really sinking in. I'm going to bed soon (it's only 9:30 PM here).

And, as promised, PICTURES!

This mosque is considered TINY by Turkish standards.














Me in front of the Aya Sophia

















Our massive platter of kabobs, complete with flame in the center


















I love you all! I'll update soon. :)