He who gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes [from their want] will have many a curse. Proverbs 28: 27
Honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency [from righteous labors] and with the firstfruits of all your income.
Proverbs 3: 9
Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you. Luke 6: 38
In everything I have pointed out to you [by example] that, by working diligently in this manner, we ought to assist the weak, being mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, It is more blessed (makes one happier and more to be envied) to give than to receive. Acts 20: 35
Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Malachi 3: 10
Give to him who keeps on begging from you, and do not turn away from him who would borrow [at interest] from you.
Matthew 5: 42
Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, "prompt to do it") giver [whose heart is in his giving]. 2 Corinthians 9: 7
[Remember] this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings.
2 Corinthians 9: 6
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Lost Notebook
I was in my room tonight and I wanted a book to between my laptop and my lap. I looked over and saw a notebook that was stuck between a bookshelf and my old nightstand. I opened it and discovered my school notes from my final semester at SSU. This means...I found the information about the D'Arcy family that I posted about earlier!!!!
So, as I mentioned, there was a D'Arcy who came over with William the Conqueror. His family was given power via William in the North England, protecting the country from those big bad evil Scots. ;) Several centuries later, big bad Henry VIII lowered them in status. They began to build up their fortunes again during Elizabeth's reign. When James I united Scotland and England, he gave the Darcys an earldom. The fourth earl died without male issue. Two of his estates were given to his daughter, Amelia. The bow on this package is that Amelia had a daughter, Augusta. This would be Augusta Byron Leigh, the key word being BYRON! Yes, Lord Byron's half-sister. I loves me some Byron.
Anyways, Robert D'Arcy was the last nobleman from the original D'Arcy who came with William the Conqueror and he died in 1778.
Austen most likely read David Hume's history and therefore knew about the famous family.
So, as I mentioned, there was a D'Arcy who came over with William the Conqueror. His family was given power via William in the North England, protecting the country from those big bad evil Scots. ;) Several centuries later, big bad Henry VIII lowered them in status. They began to build up their fortunes again during Elizabeth's reign. When James I united Scotland and England, he gave the Darcys an earldom. The fourth earl died without male issue. Two of his estates were given to his daughter, Amelia. The bow on this package is that Amelia had a daughter, Augusta. This would be Augusta Byron Leigh, the key word being BYRON! Yes, Lord Byron's half-sister. I loves me some Byron.
Anyways, Robert D'Arcy was the last nobleman from the original D'Arcy who came with William the Conqueror and he died in 1778.
Austen most likely read David Hume's history and therefore knew about the famous family.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Old Money
Response to comments from a previous post...
Bingley's money came from his father, who made his fortune in trade. It is new money. This is why Bingley is renting an estate. Because he is new money, his family does not have an ancestral home. It is why his sisters are hoping that he will marry Darcy's sister (new money + old name and old money).
It is hilarious that his sisters behave in such a superior manner to everyone, including the Lucases and the Gardiners, because their money came from trade.
Regarding Darcy...
His name, Fitzwilliam, was his mother's surname. Fitz ("son of" from the French "fils" and Latin "filius") was often attached to the names of illegitimate nobility/royalty, mainly of Norman origin. Factoid - Princess Diana was a descendant of Charles II via his first illegitimate son, Henry FITZroy.
There are a couple of peerages with the name Darcy in them. Sir Richard D'Arcy was a Norman knight who helped William the Bastard overthrow the Saxon monarchy in 1066, thus becoming William the Conqueror. ;)
Austen does not explicitly tie the character of Darcy to this bloodline, but it is entirely probable that she knew of the history and assumed her readers would know as well. It's highly unlikely that she chose the name on a whim. In that case, Darcy isn't just old money. He's OLD money and possibly illegitimate royalty.
Emma, the only time (that I can recall) Austen even remotely hints at anything to do with slavery is in Mansfield Park. Sir Thomas Bertram has an estate in the West Indies, specifically on the island Antigua, and it was manned by slaves. The main character, Fanny, asks him about it one time and the subject is not discussed.
To a certain degree, the character of Fanny is essentially like a slave. She lives with her aunt and uncle, the Bertrams, but her father is from the lower class and she is treated from her first day of living with them as an inferior.
Mansfield Park contains the most symbolism of any Austen novel and is rather a bit like Jane Eyre in that respect. Like the chestnut tree in Jane Eyre, there are physical boundaries in Mansfield Park that represent greater moral issues for some characters. Similar to the game of charades that is played in Jane Eyre, the characters in Mansfield Park play a game called Speculation that can be interpreted as a metaphor for what is happening between one of the couples. Of course we know that Jane Eyre was written several decades after MP and Bronte was outspoken in her criticism of Austen. I just think it's interesting. :)
Bingley's money came from his father, who made his fortune in trade. It is new money. This is why Bingley is renting an estate. Because he is new money, his family does not have an ancestral home. It is why his sisters are hoping that he will marry Darcy's sister (new money + old name and old money).
It is hilarious that his sisters behave in such a superior manner to everyone, including the Lucases and the Gardiners, because their money came from trade.
Regarding Darcy...
His name, Fitzwilliam, was his mother's surname. Fitz ("son of" from the French "fils" and Latin "filius") was often attached to the names of illegitimate nobility/royalty, mainly of Norman origin. Factoid - Princess Diana was a descendant of Charles II via his first illegitimate son, Henry FITZroy.
There are a couple of peerages with the name Darcy in them. Sir Richard D'Arcy was a Norman knight who helped William the Bastard overthrow the Saxon monarchy in 1066, thus becoming William the Conqueror. ;)
Austen does not explicitly tie the character of Darcy to this bloodline, but it is entirely probable that she knew of the history and assumed her readers would know as well. It's highly unlikely that she chose the name on a whim. In that case, Darcy isn't just old money. He's OLD money and possibly illegitimate royalty.
Emma, the only time (that I can recall) Austen even remotely hints at anything to do with slavery is in Mansfield Park. Sir Thomas Bertram has an estate in the West Indies, specifically on the island Antigua, and it was manned by slaves. The main character, Fanny, asks him about it one time and the subject is not discussed.
To a certain degree, the character of Fanny is essentially like a slave. She lives with her aunt and uncle, the Bertrams, but her father is from the lower class and she is treated from her first day of living with them as an inferior.
Mansfield Park contains the most symbolism of any Austen novel and is rather a bit like Jane Eyre in that respect. Like the chestnut tree in Jane Eyre, there are physical boundaries in Mansfield Park that represent greater moral issues for some characters. Similar to the game of charades that is played in Jane Eyre, the characters in Mansfield Park play a game called Speculation that can be interpreted as a metaphor for what is happening between one of the couples. Of course we know that Jane Eyre was written several decades after MP and Bronte was outspoken in her criticism of Austen. I just think it's interesting. :)
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Did someone say opinionated?
When I was in Istanbul, I downloaded an audio book called This Is Your Brain On Music, by Dr.Daniel J Levitin. I listened to most of it on the looooooooong flights home, first to London then to San Francisco.
Levitin was a musician and producer before he earned a PhD and immersed himself in the field of cognitive neuroscience. The book is a bestseller and has been translated into over 15 languages. A couple of years ago, Harvard added it to their list of required reading for freshmen.
The book discusses the components of music and their relation to your brain (to sum up).
He describes how the brain determines that sound is music and how people hear things differently. This was very interesting to me because music is such a big part of my life and something that has puzzled me for a while. I am completely aware that a lot of people would call me picky. I'm fine with that, especially after encountering this book. I'm fine with it because I know now that what I hear is actually different than what you hear. There are some voices that almost cause me physical pain. I only need to hear a few seconds of a something and I know if my ears are happy or yelling at me. Music that has too much base increases my heart rate and highly irritates me. I've never been high and I don't really have a point of reference, but there is music that sends me orbiting somewhere around Neptune.
I have a Completely Useless talent for hearing singers/bands before they are "found" and thinking Oooohhh, this could be good. Other people seem to be able to make millions off of this, but I can't.
(I can give a list of these singers/bands on request)
Dr.Levitin has done a lot of work with neuroimaging and music, finding a link between music, movement and emotional states. His research with musicians of various skill levels has shown that the higher the skill level, the great activity there is between both hemispheres of the brain.
I've also come across a researcher who works with Alzheimer's patients. There are patients who can't remember their spouse of 40 years visiting them the day before, but they remember music from half a century earlier and can even recognize when a note or two of a song is purposely changed. The musical memory of some Alzheimer's patients functions just as well as healthy seniors.
Babies recognize pieces of music that were played to them while they were still in the womb. Babies as young as four months recognize when a familiar piece of music is purposely changed during research.
When people sing together, their brains release oxytocin, which builds trust and bonds people.
I'm sure we all have certain music that reminds of particular people or memories.
I've recently been watching home movies of Marine World and I tell ya, the music from the whale and dolphin show brings tears to my eyes.
I listen to The Carpenters as an adult because I remember my dad playing them when I was little.
The Jeopardy Think music will always bring back memories of my grandparents' house: jars of baby pickles, the cold brown tile of the kitchen, Grandpa in his long white socks, the clutter on the table, the big vase full of coins.
I go to a church that has some wonderful voices and some of my earliest and most vivid memories are of those voices.
I definitely know what I don't like and what I like.
I hope you do and that you don't let anyone (such as myself, haha!) talk you out of what you enjoy. If you enjoy it, then it is good music.
But I will still try to talk you out of listening to that Michael Bolton arias album.
And just for fun, listen to this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYToP5ZfydE&feature=related
and then listen to this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJnjcX8skXk
Levitin was a musician and producer before he earned a PhD and immersed himself in the field of cognitive neuroscience. The book is a bestseller and has been translated into over 15 languages. A couple of years ago, Harvard added it to their list of required reading for freshmen.
The book discusses the components of music and their relation to your brain (to sum up).
He describes how the brain determines that sound is music and how people hear things differently. This was very interesting to me because music is such a big part of my life and something that has puzzled me for a while. I am completely aware that a lot of people would call me picky. I'm fine with that, especially after encountering this book. I'm fine with it because I know now that what I hear is actually different than what you hear. There are some voices that almost cause me physical pain. I only need to hear a few seconds of a something and I know if my ears are happy or yelling at me. Music that has too much base increases my heart rate and highly irritates me. I've never been high and I don't really have a point of reference, but there is music that sends me orbiting somewhere around Neptune.
I have a Completely Useless talent for hearing singers/bands before they are "found" and thinking Oooohhh, this could be good. Other people seem to be able to make millions off of this, but I can't.
(I can give a list of these singers/bands on request)
Dr.Levitin has done a lot of work with neuroimaging and music, finding a link between music, movement and emotional states. His research with musicians of various skill levels has shown that the higher the skill level, the great activity there is between both hemispheres of the brain.
I've also come across a researcher who works with Alzheimer's patients. There are patients who can't remember their spouse of 40 years visiting them the day before, but they remember music from half a century earlier and can even recognize when a note or two of a song is purposely changed. The musical memory of some Alzheimer's patients functions just as well as healthy seniors.
Babies recognize pieces of music that were played to them while they were still in the womb. Babies as young as four months recognize when a familiar piece of music is purposely changed during research.
When people sing together, their brains release oxytocin, which builds trust and bonds people.
I'm sure we all have certain music that reminds of particular people or memories.
I've recently been watching home movies of Marine World and I tell ya, the music from the whale and dolphin show brings tears to my eyes.
I listen to The Carpenters as an adult because I remember my dad playing them when I was little.
The Jeopardy Think music will always bring back memories of my grandparents' house: jars of baby pickles, the cold brown tile of the kitchen, Grandpa in his long white socks, the clutter on the table, the big vase full of coins.
I go to a church that has some wonderful voices and some of my earliest and most vivid memories are of those voices.
I definitely know what I don't like and what I like.
I hope you do and that you don't let anyone (such as myself, haha!) talk you out of what you enjoy. If you enjoy it, then it is good music.
But I will still try to talk you out of listening to that Michael Bolton arias album.
And just for fun, listen to this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYToP5ZfydE&feature=related
and then listen to this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJnjcX8skXk
Friday, November 18, 2011
A Tale
My earliest memory of Charles Dickens is reading those little Great Illustrated Classics of his novels. You know, the ones made for children that have delightful pen and inkish drawings and are in inch thick? I had Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and A Tale Of Two Cities. Today, kids have Harry Potter, Twilight, Diary of Wimpy Kid, and I don't even know what else. I had Great Illustrated Classics. I was also very fond of The Count of Monte Cristo, which deserves an honorable mention even though it wasn't written by Dickens. Anyways...
My favorite singer was attached for several years to a musical version of Tale. I kept up with it as he did workshop after workshop, a semi-staged reading, etc. I was so excited when the show finally had its out of town tryout in Florida. I thought Hm, Florida - never been there...
So off I went by myself on the red-eye to Sarasota. Can't say that I enjoyed the place very much. It was October and standing outside at midnight and sweating while waiting for a cab isn't my idea of fun. It was hot, it was smelly and even the beach wasn't pretty. I know, I know, I need to visit the Atlantic side of Florida. Maybe I will. When I run out of other places to go.
I digress.
The show was a little rough around the edges, but the director did some great things and the cast was good. I saw it twice, since I've been around long enough to see good things die for a multitude of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with how much people actually enjoy it.
It did make it to the Great White Way eventually, but alas, somewhat ironically, did not have a long life there. In the era of Wicked, Hairspray and Jersey Boys, the media simply doesn't have a taste for these kinds of musicals. Epic shows from classic literature, about love and forgiveness, are so 80's. ;) If Les Miz opened tomorrow, it would probably be universally panned.
I convinced my aunt that we had to go see it, so off we went to NYC for a few beautiful October days. I found us a cheap hotel up in the Bronx and we did some sightseeing that I had never done, which was sad considering how much I had been there previously.
Whoever invented student tickets/obstructed view should have a theatre named in their honor. We saw the show a few times, each time from the front row (I think the students tickets were $25). I saw the composer on the street and talked with her, she was so nice.
Although some of the reviews were downright scathing, the one think they all had in common was praise of the lead. And indeed, he was terrific. After all, I don't fly across the country on a red-eye for just anyone.
I've been to a lot of shows in a lot of places, but never to one where everyone in the theatre was practically foaming at the mouth over it. I sat and listened to lifelong New Yorkers rave about and mention critics by name who had panned it. The chatter in the ladies restroom was especially enlightening. ;)
Sad to say it closed after a few months without recording by the OBC. A year or two later, they pulled together a semi-staged concert version in England, but with some cast changes. They were smart enough to retain the best part, though. A sample follows... This is the song he sings when he has his I'M IN LOOOOOVE!!! momemt and it is reprised in the final scene when he sacrifices himself so Charles can live. *sniff*
And FYI - the audio quality isn't very good because I pulled it from a radio interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsdz4fVyKMY
My favorite singer was attached for several years to a musical version of Tale. I kept up with it as he did workshop after workshop, a semi-staged reading, etc. I was so excited when the show finally had its out of town tryout in Florida. I thought Hm, Florida - never been there...
So off I went by myself on the red-eye to Sarasota. Can't say that I enjoyed the place very much. It was October and standing outside at midnight and sweating while waiting for a cab isn't my idea of fun. It was hot, it was smelly and even the beach wasn't pretty. I know, I know, I need to visit the Atlantic side of Florida. Maybe I will. When I run out of other places to go.
I digress.
The show was a little rough around the edges, but the director did some great things and the cast was good. I saw it twice, since I've been around long enough to see good things die for a multitude of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with how much people actually enjoy it.
It did make it to the Great White Way eventually, but alas, somewhat ironically, did not have a long life there. In the era of Wicked, Hairspray and Jersey Boys, the media simply doesn't have a taste for these kinds of musicals. Epic shows from classic literature, about love and forgiveness, are so 80's. ;) If Les Miz opened tomorrow, it would probably be universally panned.
I convinced my aunt that we had to go see it, so off we went to NYC for a few beautiful October days. I found us a cheap hotel up in the Bronx and we did some sightseeing that I had never done, which was sad considering how much I had been there previously.
Whoever invented student tickets/obstructed view should have a theatre named in their honor. We saw the show a few times, each time from the front row (I think the students tickets were $25). I saw the composer on the street and talked with her, she was so nice.
Although some of the reviews were downright scathing, the one think they all had in common was praise of the lead. And indeed, he was terrific. After all, I don't fly across the country on a red-eye for just anyone.
I've been to a lot of shows in a lot of places, but never to one where everyone in the theatre was practically foaming at the mouth over it. I sat and listened to lifelong New Yorkers rave about and mention critics by name who had panned it. The chatter in the ladies restroom was especially enlightening. ;)
Sad to say it closed after a few months without recording by the OBC. A year or two later, they pulled together a semi-staged concert version in England, but with some cast changes. They were smart enough to retain the best part, though. A sample follows... This is the song he sings when he has his I'M IN LOOOOOVE!!! momemt and it is reprised in the final scene when he sacrifices himself so Charles can live. *sniff*
And FYI - the audio quality isn't very good because I pulled it from a radio interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsdz4fVyKMY
Pride and Prejudice
In response to comments from the previous post:
All English majors at SSU have to take a senior level theory course. I had already taken this course with another professor and I found out that Bob was going to teach it using the novels of Austen as the objects to be interpreted through the lens of theory. So we read Williams, Derrida, Hillis Miller, Cixous, Showalter, Brooks, Greenblatt, Said, Lacan, Foucault, etc. I took the course again because there was no way I was going to miss it and we just listed it as a single author course and not the theory course that I had already completed. It was the most enjoyable class I've ever taken.
He told me that he was going to teach it the previous semester and asked me which novels I thought we should use because he didn't think there would be room in the syllabus for all of the. So I agonized for hours and hours and sent him this long explanation and justification. And he ended up doing all of them. Curse him. :)
I do not think that Elizabeth is indefensible.
When we were reading P&P, I was basically the only person who wasn't defending her. As an aside, you can use her own words and self-assessment of her behavior to critique her. Elizabeth faults vs. Darcy's faults, the century old discussion!
Anyways, this was one of those times when everyone was fearfully silent and just the two of us were talking. He very calmly suggested to me "Do you suppose this is because you hold women to a higher standard than men?"
This was one of my Lightbulb Moments with him.
I thought for about three seconds and said "Yes."
This explained more to me about myself than any other single statement. Ever.
I think I will write more about that in a later post.
Regarding the Bingley family wealth....
Here is one of the most irritating and fantastic things about Austen.
She will mention something of vital import ONCE, almost in passing, as if she just threw it in there as an afterthought.
My favorite example of this is in Sense & Sensibility. Colonel Brandon and Willoughby engage in a duel. A DUEL!! For someone like Marianne, can you get more romantic than that??? But most people don't catch it and it has only been included in one film version. The scene is not dramatized in the novel, as you will never find a single scene in any Austen novel that takes place with only men involved. I don't have the book in front of me as I write this, but the line is something like "They met at an appointed time without serious injury to either party." That's it!! The characters in the novel never discuss it. Irritating Austen!
Your homework is to find out why Bingley is wealthy. :) It's fairly easy to find, it's towards the beginning of the book.
"I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine." -Elizabeth Bennett, Jane Austen
All English majors at SSU have to take a senior level theory course. I had already taken this course with another professor and I found out that Bob was going to teach it using the novels of Austen as the objects to be interpreted through the lens of theory. So we read Williams, Derrida, Hillis Miller, Cixous, Showalter, Brooks, Greenblatt, Said, Lacan, Foucault, etc. I took the course again because there was no way I was going to miss it and we just listed it as a single author course and not the theory course that I had already completed. It was the most enjoyable class I've ever taken.
He told me that he was going to teach it the previous semester and asked me which novels I thought we should use because he didn't think there would be room in the syllabus for all of the. So I agonized for hours and hours and sent him this long explanation and justification. And he ended up doing all of them. Curse him. :)
I do not think that Elizabeth is indefensible.
When we were reading P&P, I was basically the only person who wasn't defending her. As an aside, you can use her own words and self-assessment of her behavior to critique her. Elizabeth faults vs. Darcy's faults, the century old discussion!
Anyways, this was one of those times when everyone was fearfully silent and just the two of us were talking. He very calmly suggested to me "Do you suppose this is because you hold women to a higher standard than men?"
This was one of my Lightbulb Moments with him.
I thought for about three seconds and said "Yes."
This explained more to me about myself than any other single statement. Ever.
I think I will write more about that in a later post.
Regarding the Bingley family wealth....
Here is one of the most irritating and fantastic things about Austen.
She will mention something of vital import ONCE, almost in passing, as if she just threw it in there as an afterthought.
My favorite example of this is in Sense & Sensibility. Colonel Brandon and Willoughby engage in a duel. A DUEL!! For someone like Marianne, can you get more romantic than that??? But most people don't catch it and it has only been included in one film version. The scene is not dramatized in the novel, as you will never find a single scene in any Austen novel that takes place with only men involved. I don't have the book in front of me as I write this, but the line is something like "They met at an appointed time without serious injury to either party." That's it!! The characters in the novel never discuss it. Irritating Austen!
Your homework is to find out why Bingley is wealthy. :) It's fairly easy to find, it's towards the beginning of the book.
"I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine." -Elizabeth Bennett, Jane Austen
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Pass the Butter?
I decided to start writing on this blog again because I have an idealistic hope that it will somehow help me. Due to a number of issues, I have felt this semester as if I have some kind of academic PTSD (no offense to any true sufferers of the diagnosed medical condition). I have struggled with writing and my schoolwork. I feel like I know nothing and I'll never be a good teacher.
My experience as a student in Istanbul left a lot to be desired.
I think I just hit the university there at the perfect not so great semester. There was a new dean (or someone high up, can't remember exactly) who had the bad habit of scheduling meetings during one of my classes and my professor ended up cancelling over a full month of class. The problem is that we were still responsible for ALL of the reading and anything was fair game on the final. I had another course in which the professor cancelled a few weeks of class, which caused her to cancel the midterm and give a final instead. My grad program in the US doesn't usually have final projects and final exams - both of the classes I have mentioned did.
The main person in their international student office was on maternity leave and her replacement looked like a deer in headlights. The standard mode of operation in Turkey is chaos and confusion and the university is not immune to this. They gave me exactly one piece of paper at orientation, the activities calendar. No welcome packet with campus services, instructions on how to register - nothing. ALL of this very important information came to me in a very poorly constructed email. Their online registration system had a number of bugs that caused me a lot of stress. I couldn't get into a Beginning Turkish course that fit my schedule and practically beg a professor to add me. She wouldn't.
So. Yeah. Not what I had hoped.
While I was in Istanbul, someone very dear to me died unexpectedly. I can count on one hand the people who have truly changed my life. Bob was one of them. He was the Mad Scientist in my universe, the one who stuck electrodes in my brain and made it shoot off fireworks of love, fear, exhilaration, doubt, pleasure and all the other things that we are taught can't live together. A lot of students absolutely loathed him and left their opinion at ratemyprofessor.com as proof of their loathing. They are fools. If you want to build a beautiful home, sometimes you have to burn down the old one.
In my first semester with him, he called me "a good Christian woman" in front of the whole class, most of whom were scared to death of him. This amazed and amused me, mainly because I had never said a single word to him about my life or how I live. It amused me because the class was deathly silent as he sat across the table from me and began to discuss something from the Bible. It was a Literary Analysis Seminar, a junior level class, and to this day I cannot remember what we were reading or how it in any way related to something Biblical. The kicker here is that Bob claimed to be an atheist. I laughed when I wrote that. Bob the Atheist made me more keenly critical of and involved with my faith than anyone else in my adult life.
He was an incredibly demanding teacher and he gave from the deepest and most passionate part of his being. He poked, he prodded, he peeled back the layers of dead skin to the part underneath that was pink and struggling to sustain itself. He made me aware of my weaknesses, my biases, my strengths and my voice. I spent three hours a week with him and he understood things about me that no one else seemed to understand. He understood why I loved Edith Wharton's Archer and Ellen and why I was the only person in class who didn't defend Elizabeth Bennett.
In my final semester with him, he told me that he thought I should go straight into a PhD program. I was shocked. I had another professor tell me something different. But what stood out to me was the explanation he gave. He said I should do that because I had passion. Granted, this was during the Theory/Austen course, where I ruined his life by pointing out the source of Bingley's wealth. I guess you could say I was passionate in that class. But his explanation wasn't because he thought I could get into a program easily due to good grades or something like that. It was because I had passion. And that was Bob. Passion. Passion for learning, passion for teaching, passion for the grey lumps in the skulls of his students.
And there I was, literally on the other side of the world. And he was dead. I didn't get to say goodbye to him. I didn't get to go to his memorial service. All I could do was sit in my room with peach colored walls in Istanbul and cry.
I still cry.
I cry because I am walking around campus or driving and I think of something I would want to tell him. And I remember that he isn't here. I want to tell him about how I am leaning towards Sociolinguistics and how the student I tutored received the highest grade in her class. I want to talk to him about all the books we never talked about, I want to talk with him about the speech President Obama made when Bin Laden was killed and how brilliantly the speechwriter used pronouns. I want to see him smile that Bob smile.
The point of this self-indulgent ramblin (but really, blogging is the epitome of self-indulgence) is that I think something in me withered up since he's been gone. It's been years since I had such a problem writing. It's like waiting for the toast to pop out of the toaster when you don't have any bread.
So that's what I'm doing with this blog.
I'm trying to make bread.
My experience as a student in Istanbul left a lot to be desired.
I think I just hit the university there at the perfect not so great semester. There was a new dean (or someone high up, can't remember exactly) who had the bad habit of scheduling meetings during one of my classes and my professor ended up cancelling over a full month of class. The problem is that we were still responsible for ALL of the reading and anything was fair game on the final. I had another course in which the professor cancelled a few weeks of class, which caused her to cancel the midterm and give a final instead. My grad program in the US doesn't usually have final projects and final exams - both of the classes I have mentioned did.
The main person in their international student office was on maternity leave and her replacement looked like a deer in headlights. The standard mode of operation in Turkey is chaos and confusion and the university is not immune to this. They gave me exactly one piece of paper at orientation, the activities calendar. No welcome packet with campus services, instructions on how to register - nothing. ALL of this very important information came to me in a very poorly constructed email. Their online registration system had a number of bugs that caused me a lot of stress. I couldn't get into a Beginning Turkish course that fit my schedule and practically beg a professor to add me. She wouldn't.
So. Yeah. Not what I had hoped.
While I was in Istanbul, someone very dear to me died unexpectedly. I can count on one hand the people who have truly changed my life. Bob was one of them. He was the Mad Scientist in my universe, the one who stuck electrodes in my brain and made it shoot off fireworks of love, fear, exhilaration, doubt, pleasure and all the other things that we are taught can't live together. A lot of students absolutely loathed him and left their opinion at ratemyprofessor.com as proof of their loathing. They are fools. If you want to build a beautiful home, sometimes you have to burn down the old one.
In my first semester with him, he called me "a good Christian woman" in front of the whole class, most of whom were scared to death of him. This amazed and amused me, mainly because I had never said a single word to him about my life or how I live. It amused me because the class was deathly silent as he sat across the table from me and began to discuss something from the Bible. It was a Literary Analysis Seminar, a junior level class, and to this day I cannot remember what we were reading or how it in any way related to something Biblical. The kicker here is that Bob claimed to be an atheist. I laughed when I wrote that. Bob the Atheist made me more keenly critical of and involved with my faith than anyone else in my adult life.
He was an incredibly demanding teacher and he gave from the deepest and most passionate part of his being. He poked, he prodded, he peeled back the layers of dead skin to the part underneath that was pink and struggling to sustain itself. He made me aware of my weaknesses, my biases, my strengths and my voice. I spent three hours a week with him and he understood things about me that no one else seemed to understand. He understood why I loved Edith Wharton's Archer and Ellen and why I was the only person in class who didn't defend Elizabeth Bennett.
In my final semester with him, he told me that he thought I should go straight into a PhD program. I was shocked. I had another professor tell me something different. But what stood out to me was the explanation he gave. He said I should do that because I had passion. Granted, this was during the Theory/Austen course, where I ruined his life by pointing out the source of Bingley's wealth. I guess you could say I was passionate in that class. But his explanation wasn't because he thought I could get into a program easily due to good grades or something like that. It was because I had passion. And that was Bob. Passion. Passion for learning, passion for teaching, passion for the grey lumps in the skulls of his students.
And there I was, literally on the other side of the world. And he was dead. I didn't get to say goodbye to him. I didn't get to go to his memorial service. All I could do was sit in my room with peach colored walls in Istanbul and cry.
I still cry.
I cry because I am walking around campus or driving and I think of something I would want to tell him. And I remember that he isn't here. I want to tell him about how I am leaning towards Sociolinguistics and how the student I tutored received the highest grade in her class. I want to talk to him about all the books we never talked about, I want to talk with him about the speech President Obama made when Bin Laden was killed and how brilliantly the speechwriter used pronouns. I want to see him smile that Bob smile.
The point of this self-indulgent ramblin (but really, blogging is the epitome of self-indulgence) is that I think something in me withered up since he's been gone. It's been years since I had such a problem writing. It's like waiting for the toast to pop out of the toaster when you don't have any bread.
So that's what I'm doing with this blog.
I'm trying to make bread.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
We have lift-off.....kind of...
Blogger is no longer banned in Turkey, but I still do not have my laptop. I am typing on a Turkish language keyboard and it is very irritating, so this will be short. In fact, that´s all she wrote.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Weekend Outings
On Saturday afternoon, I took the metro to Taksim Square.
Taksim and Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Street) are the big hangout spots in Istanbul. Istiklal has tons of shops and restaurants, a high school, several foreign consulates, various churches and lots of cool old buildings.
I met Rebecca at the McDonald's. I got there early, since it was my first time and I wasn't sure how long it would take to get there from the flat. I was sitting outside McDonald's and a woman with a dog came to sit at the table next to me. She asked me if I was afraid of dogs and I told her No. She sat down and started talking to me. And she talked. And she kept talking. I won't take up a year of your life going into detail, but I'll just say that she has an opinion about everything. I just tried to explain that just like all Turks don't agree with the government, so it is with Americans. The funniest part of the whole episode is that she took the dog to McDonald's because it was a special day. He became a man that day, as she put it. :) She fed him a couple of hamburgers and he was happy.
Rebecca and I went to dinner at a delicious restaurant. I had a mix platter with kuzu, kofte and other yummy stuff. The custom here is to bring the guests a cup of tea after the meal, sort of like the American custom of giving mints. After dinner, we walked down Istiklal. I took a bunch of pics, they are on FB.
Istiklal is very busy and is closed to traffic, except for official vehicles. There can be thousands of people there at any given time. An old fashioned type of street car runs down the middle.
We went into St.Anthony's Church, which is really beautiful. They still have their large nativity and beautiful Christmas decorations up, so that was very nice to see.
She took me to the Galata Tower, which is truly stunning. It's HUGE. It was originally built in the 14th century. It's over 200 ft tall and the walls are 12 ft thick. It has a restaurant, a cafe and a nightclub. When you get to the top, you can walk around the Tower and there is a panoramic view of the city. It is beautiful. We went just as the sun was going down and the lighting was gorgeous.
You can see the Golden Horn that separates the Old District from the New District on the European side, and the Bosphorous Bridge which connect Europe to Asia.
On our way back up Istiklal to the metro, we stopped and had amazing dessert at a place Ozsut. I tried a drink called Salep, which is made from orchid root. It is frothy and white and served warm with cinnamon on the top.
We had a great day together and it was fun to see some of the sights.
On Monday, I was lazy for the most of the day.
Fatma and I started talking around 4 and I said Well, I should go outside...
So we got dressed and went out for a little while. We went to a photography studio and she helped me get my portrait taken for the photos that I will need to register for classes and to get my residence permit.
We went to dinner at this little place that serves one dish - manti (but the i doesn't have a dot and makes a different sound).
It was delicious. It is teeny fresh made dumplings/ravioli served warm with yogurt (kind of like sour cream), pasta sauce, garlic, butter, fresh herbs and spices. It is fantastic. We stopped on the walk home and I got some fresh baklava, also fantastic. My tummy was very happy.
Today I have to go pick up the photos and go to school to get my student ID and password. I am meeting Rebecca at 5 and we are going to paint the town red. ;)
Taksim and Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Street) are the big hangout spots in Istanbul. Istiklal has tons of shops and restaurants, a high school, several foreign consulates, various churches and lots of cool old buildings.
I met Rebecca at the McDonald's. I got there early, since it was my first time and I wasn't sure how long it would take to get there from the flat. I was sitting outside McDonald's and a woman with a dog came to sit at the table next to me. She asked me if I was afraid of dogs and I told her No. She sat down and started talking to me. And she talked. And she kept talking. I won't take up a year of your life going into detail, but I'll just say that she has an opinion about everything. I just tried to explain that just like all Turks don't agree with the government, so it is with Americans. The funniest part of the whole episode is that she took the dog to McDonald's because it was a special day. He became a man that day, as she put it. :) She fed him a couple of hamburgers and he was happy.
Rebecca and I went to dinner at a delicious restaurant. I had a mix platter with kuzu, kofte and other yummy stuff. The custom here is to bring the guests a cup of tea after the meal, sort of like the American custom of giving mints. After dinner, we walked down Istiklal. I took a bunch of pics, they are on FB.
Istiklal is very busy and is closed to traffic, except for official vehicles. There can be thousands of people there at any given time. An old fashioned type of street car runs down the middle.
We went into St.Anthony's Church, which is really beautiful. They still have their large nativity and beautiful Christmas decorations up, so that was very nice to see.
She took me to the Galata Tower, which is truly stunning. It's HUGE. It was originally built in the 14th century. It's over 200 ft tall and the walls are 12 ft thick. It has a restaurant, a cafe and a nightclub. When you get to the top, you can walk around the Tower and there is a panoramic view of the city. It is beautiful. We went just as the sun was going down and the lighting was gorgeous.
You can see the Golden Horn that separates the Old District from the New District on the European side, and the Bosphorous Bridge which connect Europe to Asia.
On our way back up Istiklal to the metro, we stopped and had amazing dessert at a place Ozsut. I tried a drink called Salep, which is made from orchid root. It is frothy and white and served warm with cinnamon on the top.
We had a great day together and it was fun to see some of the sights.
On Monday, I was lazy for the most of the day.
Fatma and I started talking around 4 and I said Well, I should go outside...
So we got dressed and went out for a little while. We went to a photography studio and she helped me get my portrait taken for the photos that I will need to register for classes and to get my residence permit.
We went to dinner at this little place that serves one dish - manti (but the i doesn't have a dot and makes a different sound).
It was delicious. It is teeny fresh made dumplings/ravioli served warm with yogurt (kind of like sour cream), pasta sauce, garlic, butter, fresh herbs and spices. It is fantastic. We stopped on the walk home and I got some fresh baklava, also fantastic. My tummy was very happy.
Today I have to go pick up the photos and go to school to get my student ID and password. I am meeting Rebecca at 5 and we are going to paint the town red. ;)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
One week milestone
On Wednesday, I rode the bus for the first time and that was an experience.
I had orientation at school and it was my first time in campus. Fatma told me what bus to take, so I rode the metro to Sisli and found the correct exit up to civilization. :)
The bus system here is somewhat chaotic. I only knew I was in the correct place because a bunch of buses seem to randomly stop there. I just sat and watched for a while. The bus pulls up, the doors open, people stream off and then stream on. The buses are often very crowded. The driver will be pulling away and people are still trying to get on. Sometimes the bus is so crowded, people are standing on the steps that lead up to the driver's seat.
I finally worked up the nerve to get on the one I needed, 59R. I stepped on and asked the driver "Bogazici?" He looked at me like I was speaking Swahili. At first he told me No and I thought ok, what's going on? So this very nice looking, very well dressed young man who was sitting in the seat closest to the door started speaking to him in Turkish and after some deliberation, he told me "Yes" in English.
It turns out that the bus does a little loop around the station before it heads the opposite direction to Bogazici and I think that is why the driver told me No initially. Thank God the nice guy was there to help me, because I probably would have gotten off and gave up and just went home.
I think the lack of order caused me some anxiety. I rode the bus for years before I started driving, so it wasn't new to me. But the buses in Napa are a little different. ;)
The driver does not call out the stops and there isn't a recording that plays or anything. It seems that you just need to know where your stop is. So we putzed along and I saw a very official looking entrance with the little booths and a big sign that Bogazici University. I got off the the bus and started walking.
And I walked. And I walked. This part of campus is up on a high part of the city and you have to walk down this windy road to get to the buildings. I got down to something that sort of resembles a quad. I saw a short line forming on the steps of one of the buildings. I walked over and asked someone and found out that I happened to be in the right place.
This was just not well thought out. There were no signs or notices or anything saying "Orientation Students - Follow this path!"
All they did at orientation was tell us about important dates (registration, add/drop etc.), took questions, and a couple of students talked about all the different clubs and specific groups for the exchange students.
I am not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.
I talked to a couple of very young American girls who are at Bogazici because they were evacuated from Cairo. They didn't seem too concerned about this. :)
I'm reluctant to say that in general, the Americans I observed all seemed like preppy snotty undergrads in their sweaters and skinny jeans and boots, who asked stupid questions and laughed at the accents of the school admins when they were speaking. Someone needs to smack them. I am so glad I am not staying in the dorms, because they put all the international students together and I would be stuck with these people.
There was a dinner after orientation (15 lira a person, a rip-off), but I didn't go. I got some chips and juice at a little shop across from the bus station and rode back to the Metro. A little boy got on the bus with an older woman and he sat down next to me. I smiled at him and held the bag chips down so he could reach and he took one. This was my effort for American/Turkish relations that day. :)
On Thursday I stayed in the flat for most of the day and went out in the evening to Carrefour.
On Friday I went back to Cevahir and got some new stuff for my room. I went to Koctas, the Turkish Home Depot and got a rug, a lamp, and a curtain. I found another shop that had a ton of bedding, towels, etc. and picked out a very cute bed set and a couple of pillows. I am very pleased with my purchases. The bed set has a big poppy pattern and it really brightened up the room. It was a bit of a chore hauling all those bags back to the flat, but I managed.
Today I think I will go to Taksim for the first time. Taksim is the big shopping/eating/touristy area in Istanbul.
I was hoping to get in some travel before classes begin, but it turns out that I can't leave the country until I get my residence permit, or my student visa is basically voided. So I am stuck here in Turkey. :)
I had orientation at school and it was my first time in campus. Fatma told me what bus to take, so I rode the metro to Sisli and found the correct exit up to civilization. :)
The bus system here is somewhat chaotic. I only knew I was in the correct place because a bunch of buses seem to randomly stop there. I just sat and watched for a while. The bus pulls up, the doors open, people stream off and then stream on. The buses are often very crowded. The driver will be pulling away and people are still trying to get on. Sometimes the bus is so crowded, people are standing on the steps that lead up to the driver's seat.
I finally worked up the nerve to get on the one I needed, 59R. I stepped on and asked the driver "Bogazici?" He looked at me like I was speaking Swahili. At first he told me No and I thought ok, what's going on? So this very nice looking, very well dressed young man who was sitting in the seat closest to the door started speaking to him in Turkish and after some deliberation, he told me "Yes" in English.
It turns out that the bus does a little loop around the station before it heads the opposite direction to Bogazici and I think that is why the driver told me No initially. Thank God the nice guy was there to help me, because I probably would have gotten off and gave up and just went home.
I think the lack of order caused me some anxiety. I rode the bus for years before I started driving, so it wasn't new to me. But the buses in Napa are a little different. ;)
The driver does not call out the stops and there isn't a recording that plays or anything. It seems that you just need to know where your stop is. So we putzed along and I saw a very official looking entrance with the little booths and a big sign that Bogazici University. I got off the the bus and started walking.
And I walked. And I walked. This part of campus is up on a high part of the city and you have to walk down this windy road to get to the buildings. I got down to something that sort of resembles a quad. I saw a short line forming on the steps of one of the buildings. I walked over and asked someone and found out that I happened to be in the right place.
This was just not well thought out. There were no signs or notices or anything saying "Orientation Students - Follow this path!"
All they did at orientation was tell us about important dates (registration, add/drop etc.), took questions, and a couple of students talked about all the different clubs and specific groups for the exchange students.
I am not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.
I talked to a couple of very young American girls who are at Bogazici because they were evacuated from Cairo. They didn't seem too concerned about this. :)
I'm reluctant to say that in general, the Americans I observed all seemed like preppy snotty undergrads in their sweaters and skinny jeans and boots, who asked stupid questions and laughed at the accents of the school admins when they were speaking. Someone needs to smack them. I am so glad I am not staying in the dorms, because they put all the international students together and I would be stuck with these people.
There was a dinner after orientation (15 lira a person, a rip-off), but I didn't go. I got some chips and juice at a little shop across from the bus station and rode back to the Metro. A little boy got on the bus with an older woman and he sat down next to me. I smiled at him and held the bag chips down so he could reach and he took one. This was my effort for American/Turkish relations that day. :)
On Thursday I stayed in the flat for most of the day and went out in the evening to Carrefour.
On Friday I went back to Cevahir and got some new stuff for my room. I went to Koctas, the Turkish Home Depot and got a rug, a lamp, and a curtain. I found another shop that had a ton of bedding, towels, etc. and picked out a very cute bed set and a couple of pillows. I am very pleased with my purchases. The bed set has a big poppy pattern and it really brightened up the room. It was a bit of a chore hauling all those bags back to the flat, but I managed.
Today I think I will go to Taksim for the first time. Taksim is the big shopping/eating/touristy area in Istanbul.
I was hoping to get in some travel before classes begin, but it turns out that I can't leave the country until I get my residence permit, or my student visa is basically voided. So I am stuck here in Turkey. :)
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Day of Firsts
I woke up at 4am, went back to sleep at 7am, and woke up again at 10am! This is the best night of sleep I've had since I arrived.
I decided to go out and brave the metro for the first time. I got to the station without any problem (Fatma walked me there on Sunday) and hopped on the train. The mall, Cevahir, is just one stop up, so it actually takes much longer for me to talk to the station from the flat than it does to get to my destination once I get on the train. :)
Cevahir really is enormous. Truly. In fact, it's too big. Unless you know what stores you want, you could spend all day there. I never even saw the roller coaster, but I think it might be in the entertainment section.
There are a lot of the same American food places as in Forum, McDonald's and Burger King, etc. I had a tasty slice of pizza at sbarro. They passed me off to one of the employees who spoke some English. :)
I was on a mission to find some things for my room and a couple of towels. I went into Migro, which is like a grocery store and got a notebook and some tape.
I was totally surprised to find a big Yankee Candle display in a store called TepeHome. I had to take a picture of it. :) I got two towels and some neat adhesive wall decor things of the NYC skyline. I still need to get a small lamp and maybe small bed table.
There is an entranc/exit to the metro on the bottom floor of Cevahir right by TepeHome, so I hopped back on the train. At the Osmanbey station, you can exit to Rumeli Street or Pangalti Street. I ended up at Rumeli and I needed Pangalti. So I went back down the escalator, walked around, and went up the correct escalator to Pangalti.
I did have a little scare with my keys. I left the flat before trying the front door with my keyes. Fatma's keys were in the lock, so I unlocked the door, stepped out, and shut it. I immediately tried my keys to see if they worked...... And I couldn't get the door open. *gulp* I tried and tried and tried and the key wouldn't turn at all. So I just prayed that Fatma would be home and able to let me in when I returned. :)
She was indeed at home when I returned and I asked her about the door. It was like I suspected - you can't unlock the door from the outside if the key is in the lock on the inside. Good to know. :)
I showed her my purchases and we put the NYC decor up and then I put up all the pics. The room really looks lived in now. I am so pleased.
It's almost 4 o'clock and it is a beautiful warm sunny day. Fatma said it is supposed to be unusually warm this week, so that is good. She is studying for an exam and I think I might go out to the market and stock up on chow.
I decided to go out and brave the metro for the first time. I got to the station without any problem (Fatma walked me there on Sunday) and hopped on the train. The mall, Cevahir, is just one stop up, so it actually takes much longer for me to talk to the station from the flat than it does to get to my destination once I get on the train. :)
Cevahir really is enormous. Truly. In fact, it's too big. Unless you know what stores you want, you could spend all day there. I never even saw the roller coaster, but I think it might be in the entertainment section.
There are a lot of the same American food places as in Forum, McDonald's and Burger King, etc. I had a tasty slice of pizza at sbarro. They passed me off to one of the employees who spoke some English. :)
I was on a mission to find some things for my room and a couple of towels. I went into Migro, which is like a grocery store and got a notebook and some tape.
I was totally surprised to find a big Yankee Candle display in a store called TepeHome. I had to take a picture of it. :) I got two towels and some neat adhesive wall decor things of the NYC skyline. I still need to get a small lamp and maybe small bed table.
There is an entranc/exit to the metro on the bottom floor of Cevahir right by TepeHome, so I hopped back on the train. At the Osmanbey station, you can exit to Rumeli Street or Pangalti Street. I ended up at Rumeli and I needed Pangalti. So I went back down the escalator, walked around, and went up the correct escalator to Pangalti.
I did have a little scare with my keys. I left the flat before trying the front door with my keyes. Fatma's keys were in the lock, so I unlocked the door, stepped out, and shut it. I immediately tried my keys to see if they worked...... And I couldn't get the door open. *gulp* I tried and tried and tried and the key wouldn't turn at all. So I just prayed that Fatma would be home and able to let me in when I returned. :)
She was indeed at home when I returned and I asked her about the door. It was like I suspected - you can't unlock the door from the outside if the key is in the lock on the inside. Good to know. :)
I showed her my purchases and we put the NYC decor up and then I put up all the pics. The room really looks lived in now. I am so pleased.
It's almost 4 o'clock and it is a beautiful warm sunny day. Fatma said it is supposed to be unusually warm this week, so that is good. She is studying for an exam and I think I might go out to the market and stock up on chow.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Home Sweet Home
My sleep schedule is giving me fits. I am dead tired around 7 or 8 in the evening. On Sunday night, I went to sleep around that time and was wide awake at 1 am. I was up until about 5ish. I got up, had breakfast, checked out of my hotel and took a taxi to my new flat!
I unpacked everything and Fatma and I had lunch and talked for a couple of hours. She made a yummy lunch: pasta, tomatoes, hardboiled eggs, and pickles. I showed her pictures and we talked about our families. We seem to have a lot in common, so I think we will get along well.
I ended up staying in the flat, so I will probably go to Cevahir today. I managed to sleep until 4am! This is the longest I have slept since my arrival.
Things I am learning:
The Snickers are better here. I am not sure what they do differently, but something is different. I think it might be the peanuts. I think they are roasted. Anyways, they are tasty.
Breakfast is an American art, in regards to sweet fluffy kinds of things.
They have Dunkin Donuts here :)
Planning ahead and doing things early isn't a priority. Classes start in two weeks and they don't have days/times listed yet.
I unpacked everything and Fatma and I had lunch and talked for a couple of hours. She made a yummy lunch: pasta, tomatoes, hardboiled eggs, and pickles. I showed her pictures and we talked about our families. We seem to have a lot in common, so I think we will get along well.
I ended up staying in the flat, so I will probably go to Cevahir today. I managed to sleep until 4am! This is the longest I have slept since my arrival.
Things I am learning:
The Snickers are better here. I am not sure what they do differently, but something is different. I think it might be the peanuts. I think they are roasted. Anyways, they are tasty.
Breakfast is an American art, in regards to sweet fluffy kinds of things.
They have Dunkin Donuts here :)
Planning ahead and doing things early isn't a priority. Classes start in two weeks and they don't have days/times listed yet.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Not in Kansas anymore...
I'm here!
The flight from SF to London was long and uncomfortable. Those seats have no lower back support and it is just unpleasant for me. I only managed to get about 2ish hours sleeptime. But the flight crew was so nice and they serve a lovely cup of tea! I had a short layover at Heathrow, which is massive. I couldn't get the public wifi to work, so I just gave up. I used a whole package of Kleenex on the flight, so I stopped at my old friend Boot's and got some cold medicine. Apparently, you can't find cold med that doesn't have a dose of caffeine in it. Silly Brits.
The seats on the smaller plane from London to Istanbul were much more comfortable and I was able to sleep a little more. There was an adorable little two year old across the aisle from me. His dad was so cute, so attentive to him and and kept shooshing him in a mixture of French and English.
I arrived around 10:30 and went through customs without any problem. I got my luggage and took a taxi to my cute little hotel. It's cute and clean, just typically small.
The time change has me all messed up, so I was only able to sleep for about 6 hours. I got up and wondered around the hotel and found the breakfast buffet down a couple of floors. Breakfast here is great, lots of foods that I enjoy. A typical breakfast here consists of bread, cheese, cucumber, tomato, yogurt (real yogurt, the semi-runny, tart kind), some form of cold meat (like cold cuts), olives, dried fruit and a couple of other things. They have this juice here that is so awesome, I think it's cherry pomegranate. It's so delicious.
The Davids were very thoughtful and got me a converter/adapter set. I didn't think to check it before I left and didn't find out until I arrived that it doesn't work with the plug on my laptop. This made feel a little worried, because the battery was low from me messing with it at Heathrow when I couldn't get the public wifi to work. I wasn't sure where to go and how to get there to buy the right converter. I am so glad I have my iPod touch, because I was able to use that for internet access.
I have been in contact with a few people here about renting a room and I had it set up to meet with a girl Saturday night. She told me what metro station to go to and when. So I had basically all day and I saw in the lobby of the hotel that there was a little brochure for the Turkuazoo, Turkey's only aquarium. I thought Well, that sounds fun. I do love me an aquarium. :)
I took a taxi and that was my first time seeing the city during the day. It has such personality. The landscape is kind of like San Francisco, just bigger and more spread out and older.
It turns out that the Turkuazoo is in an enormous mall called Forum Istanbul.
I stopped and Starbucks and had a snack. There's no place like home, right? :) The menu board is in English, which is a plus.
I guess I have become an aquarium snob. This one is not so fantastic. I think after visiting the most awesome one on the planet in Atlanta, anything else just cannot compare. But it was enjoyable and I had fun people watching.
It didn't take very long to go through it, so I poked around the mall for a while. I went into an electronics store like a Best Buy and found the correct converter for the laptop, another memory card for my camera and a USB charger for my iPod so I don't have to use the converter.
I went into a big store called Real, which is like a Super Walmart. I found a copy of Jane Eyre in Turkish. That totally made my day, as it is the one specific thing I wanted to get here. And it was only 2 lira!
It was Saturday so the mall was pretty crowded, especially the food court. They have a lot of American fast food places - McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Popeye's, sbarro. There is a Mexican food shop that sells pizza and burgers. :)
Something scary happened as I was eating my piece of kibbeh. I was going to go down the escalator to the next floor, but I decided to stand at the railing next to it and eat quickly. I was standing there and suddenly people started screaming and a crush was forming on the escalator that was going down. It had malfunctioned right at the bottom and things and people were getting caught in it. They managed to get everyone off, but one lady was injured. Very scary. :(
I went back to my hotel and left that evening to meet with the girl about the room. I was very hopeful that out meeting would go well, as she is a student at Bogazici and seemed very nice. I waited for 40 minutes and she never showed. This was so frustrating to me. I was getting quite cold and the place I was at is kind of like a small version of Times Square. I got in a taxi after 40 minutes and came back to the hotel. I was disappointed. I emailed her and she never replied.
So, I took this in stride and emailed another girl who was on my list, Fatma. She also seemed very nice and we set up to meet at her flat on Sunday morning at 11.
I got up and got ready and stumped another taxi driver with trying to find the flat (they always seem to have a problem finding my little hole in the wall hotel). We finally found it and Fatma greeted me from an upper window. The buildings here can be five or six floors. She unlocked the door for me and I went up a couple of flights.
Fatma is a sweetie. She is Turkish and was raised in France. Her English is great, we had no problem understanding each other. She is very self-conscious about her accent and English, but I kept telling her that her skills are so good and the accent isn't a problem for me. We sat there and talked for two hours. I told her that I would not be offended if she decided that she did not want me to live in the flat after meeting with me. I said "This is YOUR home." She said that she had one other girl who was coming to look at it. But after we talked for a while, she basically said that she liked me and wanted me to stay and the other girl would just have to deal it. :)
She is a very interesting person, very smart. She has a law degree from France, but wants to live in Istanbul and so is studying Turkish law. She will work in the business/corporate area of international law.
The flat is very cute. It has two bedrooms and one living room, which are all a good size. The bathroom and kitchen are typically small, but that just makes everything within closer reach. :) My room has a twin bed, a wardrobe and a desk with a small chair. There are new wood floors that are nice and shiney.
Fatma lived in Istanbul previously as an exchange student and she explained to me why she chose this flat. It is in a neighborhood called Kurtulus (Ker-too-loosh) in the Sisli (chiz-lee) district. There are all variety of small shops and everything I will need. She took me out for a walk and guess what the closest metro station is???? Yes, the one where I waited for 40 minutes the previous night. :)
I couldn't believe it.
Fatma is very excited about me living there. She is very social and wanted someone who would be a friend and flatmate and wouldn't just stay in their room all the time. I am excited to polish up what little French I remember and she can also help me with learning some Turkish.
The time change is giving me some trouble. I can't sleep for more than 5 or 6 hours at a time. I woke up at 5:30am on Sunday morning and fell asleep at 7:30pm because I was tired, then woke up about an hour ago at 1 am. I hope this doesn't take too long to work itself out.
The traffic here can be awful and riding in a taxi is interesting. These guys are somewhat homicidal maniacs. :) They get so unbelievably close to other cars and people. When you get into the smaller neighborhoods with streets that seem about three feet wide, it gets even more interesting. When I was going to meet Fatma, the driver had to keep backing up because there wasn't room for another car to pass by him. But the cars here are all very small, so they zip around quickly.
Pre-registration and orientation are this week, but I haven't received any communication from the school about specifics, so I guess I will have to try to find that out for myself.
If anyone has any questions, just ask!
Oh, Fatma has two goldfish! :)
The flight from SF to London was long and uncomfortable. Those seats have no lower back support and it is just unpleasant for me. I only managed to get about 2ish hours sleeptime. But the flight crew was so nice and they serve a lovely cup of tea! I had a short layover at Heathrow, which is massive. I couldn't get the public wifi to work, so I just gave up. I used a whole package of Kleenex on the flight, so I stopped at my old friend Boot's and got some cold medicine. Apparently, you can't find cold med that doesn't have a dose of caffeine in it. Silly Brits.
The seats on the smaller plane from London to Istanbul were much more comfortable and I was able to sleep a little more. There was an adorable little two year old across the aisle from me. His dad was so cute, so attentive to him and and kept shooshing him in a mixture of French and English.
I arrived around 10:30 and went through customs without any problem. I got my luggage and took a taxi to my cute little hotel. It's cute and clean, just typically small.
The time change has me all messed up, so I was only able to sleep for about 6 hours. I got up and wondered around the hotel and found the breakfast buffet down a couple of floors. Breakfast here is great, lots of foods that I enjoy. A typical breakfast here consists of bread, cheese, cucumber, tomato, yogurt (real yogurt, the semi-runny, tart kind), some form of cold meat (like cold cuts), olives, dried fruit and a couple of other things. They have this juice here that is so awesome, I think it's cherry pomegranate. It's so delicious.
The Davids were very thoughtful and got me a converter/adapter set. I didn't think to check it before I left and didn't find out until I arrived that it doesn't work with the plug on my laptop. This made feel a little worried, because the battery was low from me messing with it at Heathrow when I couldn't get the public wifi to work. I wasn't sure where to go and how to get there to buy the right converter. I am so glad I have my iPod touch, because I was able to use that for internet access.
I have been in contact with a few people here about renting a room and I had it set up to meet with a girl Saturday night. She told me what metro station to go to and when. So I had basically all day and I saw in the lobby of the hotel that there was a little brochure for the Turkuazoo, Turkey's only aquarium. I thought Well, that sounds fun. I do love me an aquarium. :)
I took a taxi and that was my first time seeing the city during the day. It has such personality. The landscape is kind of like San Francisco, just bigger and more spread out and older.
It turns out that the Turkuazoo is in an enormous mall called Forum Istanbul.
I stopped and Starbucks and had a snack. There's no place like home, right? :) The menu board is in English, which is a plus.
I guess I have become an aquarium snob. This one is not so fantastic. I think after visiting the most awesome one on the planet in Atlanta, anything else just cannot compare. But it was enjoyable and I had fun people watching.
It didn't take very long to go through it, so I poked around the mall for a while. I went into an electronics store like a Best Buy and found the correct converter for the laptop, another memory card for my camera and a USB charger for my iPod so I don't have to use the converter.
I went into a big store called Real, which is like a Super Walmart. I found a copy of Jane Eyre in Turkish. That totally made my day, as it is the one specific thing I wanted to get here. And it was only 2 lira!
It was Saturday so the mall was pretty crowded, especially the food court. They have a lot of American fast food places - McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Popeye's, sbarro. There is a Mexican food shop that sells pizza and burgers. :)
Something scary happened as I was eating my piece of kibbeh. I was going to go down the escalator to the next floor, but I decided to stand at the railing next to it and eat quickly. I was standing there and suddenly people started screaming and a crush was forming on the escalator that was going down. It had malfunctioned right at the bottom and things and people were getting caught in it. They managed to get everyone off, but one lady was injured. Very scary. :(
I went back to my hotel and left that evening to meet with the girl about the room. I was very hopeful that out meeting would go well, as she is a student at Bogazici and seemed very nice. I waited for 40 minutes and she never showed. This was so frustrating to me. I was getting quite cold and the place I was at is kind of like a small version of Times Square. I got in a taxi after 40 minutes and came back to the hotel. I was disappointed. I emailed her and she never replied.
So, I took this in stride and emailed another girl who was on my list, Fatma. She also seemed very nice and we set up to meet at her flat on Sunday morning at 11.
I got up and got ready and stumped another taxi driver with trying to find the flat (they always seem to have a problem finding my little hole in the wall hotel). We finally found it and Fatma greeted me from an upper window. The buildings here can be five or six floors. She unlocked the door for me and I went up a couple of flights.
Fatma is a sweetie. She is Turkish and was raised in France. Her English is great, we had no problem understanding each other. She is very self-conscious about her accent and English, but I kept telling her that her skills are so good and the accent isn't a problem for me. We sat there and talked for two hours. I told her that I would not be offended if she decided that she did not want me to live in the flat after meeting with me. I said "This is YOUR home." She said that she had one other girl who was coming to look at it. But after we talked for a while, she basically said that she liked me and wanted me to stay and the other girl would just have to deal it. :)
She is a very interesting person, very smart. She has a law degree from France, but wants to live in Istanbul and so is studying Turkish law. She will work in the business/corporate area of international law.
The flat is very cute. It has two bedrooms and one living room, which are all a good size. The bathroom and kitchen are typically small, but that just makes everything within closer reach. :) My room has a twin bed, a wardrobe and a desk with a small chair. There are new wood floors that are nice and shiney.
Fatma lived in Istanbul previously as an exchange student and she explained to me why she chose this flat. It is in a neighborhood called Kurtulus (Ker-too-loosh) in the Sisli (chiz-lee) district. There are all variety of small shops and everything I will need. She took me out for a walk and guess what the closest metro station is???? Yes, the one where I waited for 40 minutes the previous night. :)
I couldn't believe it.
Fatma is very excited about me living there. She is very social and wanted someone who would be a friend and flatmate and wouldn't just stay in their room all the time. I am excited to polish up what little French I remember and she can also help me with learning some Turkish.
The time change is giving me some trouble. I can't sleep for more than 5 or 6 hours at a time. I woke up at 5:30am on Sunday morning and fell asleep at 7:30pm because I was tired, then woke up about an hour ago at 1 am. I hope this doesn't take too long to work itself out.
The traffic here can be awful and riding in a taxi is interesting. These guys are somewhat homicidal maniacs. :) They get so unbelievably close to other cars and people. When you get into the smaller neighborhoods with streets that seem about three feet wide, it gets even more interesting. When I was going to meet Fatma, the driver had to keep backing up because there wasn't room for another car to pass by him. But the cars here are all very small, so they zip around quickly.
Pre-registration and orientation are this week, but I haven't received any communication from the school about specifics, so I guess I will have to try to find that out for myself.
If anyone has any questions, just ask!
Oh, Fatma has two goldfish! :)
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
One more day!
My visa arrived on Monday morning!!!
I booked a hotel for the first two nights. I will go there and crash and try to look at a couple of rooms that weekend. I got an email from the buddy that is assigned to me from the university. She seems great and is already helping me with some things. Today I am doing laundry and getting my suitcase one day closer to being good to go.
Smith and I went to Sac and had dinner with Bethany and Stanley. The house is so nice and the kitchen is especially awesome. ;) We had Bethany's yummy taco salad for dinner.
It is a beautiful warm and breezy day here. It will probably be raining when I arrive in Istanbul, so I am glad for the sunshine.
This feels so weird, I don't think it will be real until I get on the plane!
I booked a hotel for the first two nights. I will go there and crash and try to look at a couple of rooms that weekend. I got an email from the buddy that is assigned to me from the university. She seems great and is already helping me with some things. Today I am doing laundry and getting my suitcase one day closer to being good to go.
Smith and I went to Sac and had dinner with Bethany and Stanley. The house is so nice and the kitchen is especially awesome. ;) We had Bethany's yummy taco salad for dinner.
It is a beautiful warm and breezy day here. It will probably be raining when I arrive in Istanbul, so I am glad for the sunshine.
This feels so weird, I don't think it will be real until I get on the plane!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Getting close!
So things are speeding along and I can't believe I leave in a week.
Well...I am scheduled to leave in a week. I don't have my visa yet, so we shall await the good will of the Turkish consulate in Los Angeles.
I am also still looking for an apartment. Things keep falling through. But I shall prevail!! :)
The party was last Saturday and it was great! Smith and Bethany did a terrific job. Thank you to everyone who helped and attended.
I keep thinking to myself "I can't believe I am doing this!" It's strange when things that you have thought about and imagined for so long begin to make their way into reality. It's like they are slowly becoming visible through a haze of fog and I am walking closer and closer to them.
Today I am going shopping to get some new shoes for the trip. I really don't like shoe shopping. I have such old lady feet, it just isn't an enjoyable activity.
Today's cool fact about Istanbul:
There are a bunch of Starbucks!!! :)
Well...I am scheduled to leave in a week. I don't have my visa yet, so we shall await the good will of the Turkish consulate in Los Angeles.
I am also still looking for an apartment. Things keep falling through. But I shall prevail!! :)
The party was last Saturday and it was great! Smith and Bethany did a terrific job. Thank you to everyone who helped and attended.
I keep thinking to myself "I can't believe I am doing this!" It's strange when things that you have thought about and imagined for so long begin to make their way into reality. It's like they are slowly becoming visible through a haze of fog and I am walking closer and closer to them.
Today I am going shopping to get some new shoes for the trip. I really don't like shoe shopping. I have such old lady feet, it just isn't an enjoyable activity.
Today's cool fact about Istanbul:
There are a bunch of Starbucks!!! :)
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