My Friend

Turkey is absolutely incredible. This city is full of so much history and stories. Its people are friendly beyond measure and always willing to talk and address me as "Friend" and "Brother". Granted it is a false sense of community that is instilled primarily within the infrastructure of all touristy cities. Nonetheless I smile at the vendors' attempts at small talk and engage them in dialogue, telling them that I am from America and not looking for any trinkets. I feel the stares of older men as they try to understand my combination of Crocs, a blonde stripe and drop-crotch harem pants, and say thank you to the younger men/boys who aren't scared to yell out "I like your style!" or "Nice hair/pants!". I chuckle when they holler at me in their Ni Hao Ma's and Konichiwa's. I have surprisingly been mistaken as German a number of times.

So far my first days(two at this point) have included our first lecture class in the upper story of a restaurant near the hotel, visits to two mosques, including the New Mosque and another one I forget the name of, wanderings in the Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, and random streets after being separated from the group, two nights of wine on the terrace[mistakenly heard as the terrorist], a Turkish bath complete with Fat Turkish Masseuse Man, and plenty of interesting and wonderful experiences with an eclectic group of new friends. More stories later, it's 2 a.m. and I have class tomorrow. This is summer school after all.

The view of Hagia Sophia from near our hotel.

P.S. My teacher, Yukiko, hosts office hours in the Carpet Shop that her husband owns.
P.P.S. She also speaks Turkish and has a 4 yr old daughter with tri-citizenship.