Tag: study in istanbul

3 people, 3 classic Istanbul tourist experiences: Turkish bath, Grand Bazaar, hookah lounge

By Staci B. Brooks | [email protected]

on March 06, 2013 at 6:03 PM, updated March 06, 2013 at 6:13 PM

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Most of the University of Alabama EMBA students’ recent visit to Turkey involved visiting various company headquarters and factories to understand Turkey’s place in the global economy.

But, of course, all work and no play is a waste of a plane ticket.

As a group, we visited the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, the Blue Mosque,Topkapi Palace, the Hippodrome area, and many more ancient sites. We also cruised the Bosphorous, and crossed from the European side to the Asian side multiple times. (Istanbul is the only major city in the world to sit on two continents.)

Evenings brought free time, and we broke off in small groups to experience more of Istanbul. Here are recaps of three classic Istanbul activities from students who wanted to experience them:

Turkish bath

The “hammam” or authentic Turkish bath Ayasofya in Istanbul. The hammam was built in 1556 and reopened in 2011 after an extensive restoration. It sits between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. (Staci Brooks/al.com)

A Turkish bath is more about the beauty of the facility and the rituals of bathing than it is about the act itself. Multiple guidebooks and the concierge at the hotel recommended the Ayasofya Hurrem Sultan Hamam for a beautiful and authentic experience. The Ayasofya “hammam,” or bathhouse, was built in 1556. Its architect, Mimar Sinan, was the chief Ottoman architect and his work is still seen throughout Istanbul.

Everything guests touch in the Ayasofya Hurrem Sultan Hamam is marble, except for the gold-plated bath bowls. Look up and you’ll see the building’s massive domes from almost every room. Just breathtaking. The hammam was originally built for a sultan’s wife and it shows. (It was restored a few years ago and re-opened for regular folks.)

If you want to give an authentic Turkish bath a try, here are some things to keep in mind if you visit this bathhouse:
*Men and women have separate facilities and separate entrances.
*Men get male attendants and women get female attendants.
*You will get a locker with a digital code to store your clothes and belongings.
*Everything was spotless. All guests get a new, sealed packet of soap, shampoo, conditioner, a comb and the world’s scrubbiest loofah mitt to use for their services and to take home.
*You can be as modest (or immodest) as you like. The attendants try to make everyone feel comfortable. Some choose to wear bathing suits for their services.
*Your attendants might not speak much English. But the signs for “Stop!” and “Lighten up, please.” are universal. You want baby soft skin? It’s gonna hurt a little.
*Be prepared to spend the equivalent of at least $100. When I visited, services started around $90 and you don’t want to be the person who doesn’t leave a good tip for the other human being who just bathed you.
*Relax and enjoy the moment. Pretend you’re a sultan or a sultan’s wife.
Staci Brooks

Grand Bazaar

Handbags, luggage, clothes, spices, teas, vases, rugs, and much, much more. Thousands of shops make up Istanbul’s famed Grand Bazaar. Great negotiators can find great deals. (Staci Brooks/al.com)

The Grand Bazaar is busy, chaotic, loud, packed with people, and the shopkeepers are pushy and don’t take no for an answer.

And it’s a whole lot of fun.

The Bazaar is one of the largest covered markets in the world. It’s a collection of thousands of small shops on a grid of about 60 streets. Shopkeepers hawk spices, Turkish tea, jewelry, souvenir trinkets, leather jackets, shirts, luggage, rugs and tapestries and much, much more. They also sell high-end designer-like goods, including handbags and perfume, of, well, questionable provenance and authenticity.

Once you get the hang of it and aren’t blinded by all the chaos and deafened by the pushy shopkeepers (“Special price for you, my friend. 80 lira. Why you won’t come look?”), you begin to notice there is some order to all the madness. All the handbag and luggage shops are here; all the jewelry is over there; all the shirts are around the corner and so on. It’s organized into sections, although it is really, really hard to tell at first.

At the Bazaar, they take Turkish lira, but they love euros and U.S. dollars. Just make sure you know which currency you’re negotiating in. Some shopkeepers might try to trick you into thinking they were negotiating in dollars not lira. Be firm. Negotiating is a natural part of the Turkish culture and they are very, very good at it.

Here’s one student’s take on the Bazaar. This Birmingham-area woman, already known as a skilled negotiator among our classmates, really gave those shopkeepers a run for their lira:

“The most fun at the Bazaar was negotiating with the store owners. It is best if you price items at a local shop before heading to the Bazaar. That way you can negotiate a fair price. I heard that items at the Bazaar are (initially priced) double what they are worth, and I found that to be true. A T-shirt that sells for 10 Turkish lira in the city was priced at 24 Turkish lira at a Bazaar shop. Don’t be afraid to negotiate with the sellers. They expect you to do so and are very amicable.”
LaJuan Jones

Hookah lounge

The Ali Baba Nargile hookah, or water pipe, lounge in Istanbul, Turkey. (UA EMBA)

The hookah bars were a huge hit with many in our group. The hookahs, or waterpipes, are used to smoke flavored tobacco. Hookah smoking originated in ancient Persia and is a centuries-old practice.

One student, who loves his cigars back in the States, was among those who checked out an Istanbul hookah, or “narghile,” bar:

“The hookah, or water pipe, is not used for the illicit purposes we think of here in the U.S. In fact, in Istanbul, most hookah bars do not even serve alcohol. It’s the equivalent of our cigar bars. The shisha tobacco used in the hookah pipe comes in an assortment of flavors including mint, cherry, cappuccino, and the Turkish favorite, anise.

As an avid cigar connoisseur, I can tell you the smooth flavor of the shisha tobacco puts even the best cigars to shame. The smoke from the hookah isn’t like a smoke at all. It’s more like a flavored mist, or so it seems as compared to American tobacco products.

One of the most popular hookah bars in Istanbul is the Ali Babba Narghile. While lounging on soft benches in an open-air restaurant, you are surrounded by Turkish mosaic lamps and Ottoman chandeliers. The aroma of smooth shisha flavors filling the air is an experience that is uniquely Turkish. If you find yourself in Istanbul and would like a memorable experience, take your companions to a local narghile bar and enjoy the flavors of Turkey.”
Russ Elrod

March 7, 2013
‘I Can’t Imagine Studying Anywhere Else’: The culture shock and awe of a semester in Istanbul

‘I Can’t Imagine Studying Anywhere Else’: The culture shock and awe of a semester in Istanbul

Posted by The Elm on March 1, 2013 · Leave a Comment

By Allison Davis

Foreign Correspondent

How many cups of tea can one person drink in one day? This is the competition I have with myself on a daily basis. When people aren’t drinking tea, they are sipping on a Turkish coffee. In fact, my flatmate read my fortune using the coffee grounds left in my glass on my very first day in Istanbul.

Life in Istanbul is so different; it cannot even be compared to life at Washington College. Fortunately, I have three other WC students living near me. The four of us are working to figure out class registration, having four campuses, shuttle systems, cafeterias, and that’s all just on our school’s campus.

Our most challenging tasks are learning the language and navigating the streets. There have been times where we have sat in a restaurant for an hour waiting for the check. Only afterwards did we learn from my Turkish flatmate that it has to be asked for.

There are always mistakes in our communication with Turkish people. For example, I tried to ask a person where they are from and instead asked them where they perform a particular bodily function. When I go to the weekly fruit and vegetable bazaar in my neighborhood, I end up asking for an entire kilo of oranges, rather than just one single fruit.

Our new motto within our group of international students is “Live and Learn” or, on crazier occasions “YOLO.” Because we are still learning the language, we order random food or purchase things that look interesting at the grocery store. It’s extremely important to be flexible and open to trying new things.

I have only been in Istanbul for three weeks now, and I am only now starting to be more comfortable with the customs. Learning to adjust and adapt to different lifestyles is important when we interact with Turkish people.

I live in a flat that is a 15 minute walk from campus, which is different from my short walk to classes at WC. Another difference is that nobody has a dryer here, so if I do too much laundry, it takes two or three days to dry and I have no clothes or towels (it’s difficult to shower when you have to use T-shirts as towels).

This is just the beginning of my adventure in Istanbul. I can’t imagine studying anywhere else. There’s always a new neighborhood to explore, a new club to party at, and new people to meet. It is possible to be woken up by the first call to prayer that every mosque plays from its minaret, study the rich history of the Ottoman Empire during the days, and enjoy the modern atmosphere of the clubs and bars in Taksim Square at night.

Taking advantage of the city is our main priority. We ride the bus to different neighborhoods, the ferry to the Asian side of the city, or a horse carriage to the top of an island. The most amazing part of Istanbul is its hugeness. It’s not a city with a skyscraper skyline, but anywhere you look is still considered Istanbul. Two continents are included in this city, along with nine islands, and so much in between.

On my most recent adventure, my friends and I, a group of international students, travelled to Büyükada, one of the bigger islands. There are four larger islands and five smaller ones. Automobiles are not used on the islands, so everyone walks, bikes, or rides in open horse-drawn carriages.

On the Sea of Marmara, the boardwalk was an amazing sight with beautiful temperatures for the month of February. We sat along the Sea of Marmara, eating fresh fish and drinking our Efes (the beer of choice in Turkey), and we pondered if it was possible to have a better day.

In our case, it did get better. We reached a park near the top of the island and hiked the rest of the way. From the top was one of the most breathtaking views I have ever experienced. The view of Istanbul stretched for miles, and we sat there and admired it. After pretending to parkour on the rocks at the top of the mountain, we walked back to the ferry to head to our flats.

We, your fellow three WC peers and myself, are constantly visiting new places, trying new foods, and learning more and more Turkish words. I hope to keep you updated on our Turkish lifestyles and adventures!

via ‘I Can’t Imagine Studying Anywhere Else’: The culture shock and awe of a semester in Istanbul : The Elm.

March 2, 2013
Best of Our Blogs: “Isaac in Turkey” explains difference between Istanbul and Constantinople

Life

Best of Our Blogs: “Isaac in Turkey” explains difference between Istanbul and Constantinople

By AUBREE CUTKOMP

[email protected]

Twitter.com/aubreecutkomp

Isaac Handley-Miner, a junior at Hamilton College, is spending a semester abroad in Turkey. His blog, “Isaac in Turkey,” is another new addition to The Saratogian’s community travel blogs and will detail his time in Instanbul, an expedition he believes will be “rife with family history, good food, (occasionally) riveting academics, a little adventure and a lot of culture shock.”

“I’ve received a variety of responses when I tell people I’m studying abroad (in Turkey) this semester. I got a lot of ‘That’s unique,’ quite a few ‘I hear that’s a really fun city,’ some ‘Isn’t that dangerous?’ and even a couple ‘Where’s that?’ ” his inaugural post says. “But I think by far the most common reply has been neither a statement nor a question, but instead the opening line to a song: ‘Istanbul (not Constantinople)’ written by Jimmy Kennedy.”

Handley-Miner admits he had never heard of the song until his friends began singing it immediately after hearing where he was headed. After finally listening to it, he at first “thought it was a stupid premise for a song — yes, Jimmy Kennedy, you are correct, the city formerly known as Constantinople is now referred to as Istanbul,” he wrote.

But then Handley-Miner realized it was an interesting distinction.

“The name Constantinople connotes, at least for me, a medieval city steeped in ancient history and conflict. Istanbul, on the other hand, brings to mind a bustling, modern city teetering both physically and culturally between Europe and the Middle East,” he wrote. “I have a lot of family history in this city, especially at the school where I will be studying — Bogazici University.”

Handley-Miner is the “the fourth generation to be at Bogazici University and the third generation at Hamilton College. Talk about legacy,” he wrote.

“After acknowledging the visceral difference I experience between the two names Constantinople and Istanbul, this distinction is reminiscent of my own relationship to Istanbul,” he wrote. “It’s not a perfect parallel, but I do have an almost misplaced nostalgia for my family history in Istanbul and that era; I’m also going to be having my own experience in this city decades after my father and my ancestors lived there. New meets old (no offense, dad). Modernity intersects antiquity just the way the two names, Istanbul and Constantinople, overlap to combine histories and cultures. What does this mean for me on a day-to-day basis? I have no idea. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. It gives me something to reflect on between mouthfuls of baklava.”

Follow the blogger’s adventures in Istanbul this semester at isaacinturkey.blogspot.com.

via Best of Our Blogs: “Isaac in Turkey” explains difference between Istanbul and Constantinople – saratogian.com.

February 14, 2013
What you need to know if you’re studying abroad in Istanbul

By Jennifer Guay

@jenfmg

USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent

New Yorker Sarai Sierra, 33, made sure to text, email or Skype with at least one member of her family every day of her three-week vacation in Istanbul.

But when Sierra’s father went to pick her up at Newark Liberty International Airport last Tuesday, he was told that she never boarded the plane. The mother of two young boys has now been missing in Istanbul for over a week.

Sierra visited Istanbul as a student of photography. She wanted to capture the city’s ancient landscapes, historic mosques and unique fusion of European and Asian influences — attractions that draw millions of tourists every year (6.9 million visited in 2010, according to U.S. News).

“Istanbul is fascinating because it’s a bridge between the East and the West, between traditional and modern ways of life,” said Paulina Muratore, 21, a senior at Boston University who studied abroad in Istanbul last semester.

Muratore calls Sierra’s disappearance “an extreme anomaly.”

AP photo.

A view of the street with the hostel, in yellow, where Sarai Sierra, a 33-year-old New York City woman was staying in Istanbul Monday, Jan. 28, 2013.

Boston native Muratore is one of a handful of Boston University students — typically three or four per semester — who study abroad at Boğaziçi University in Beşiktaş, Istanbul. For Muratore, an international relations major focusing on Middle Eastern studies, a semester in Istanbul was a lifelong dream fulfilled.

With a growing population now over 13.5 million, Istanbul is the third largest city in Europe, following London and Paris.

During the Arab Spring uprising, protesters looked to Istanbul as a model of a successfully modern, moderate Muslim community.

The megacity has undergone rapid urbanization, remaking many of its previously rundown neighborhoods, and fosters a thriving economy and a growing middle class.

Istanbul is also heralded as one of the safest metropolises in the world, with uncommonly low crime rates for such a densely populated city. While the U.S. State Department advises caution because of instances of “violent attacks” and a “continuing threat of terrorist actions,” it also notes that “the rate of street crime remains relatively low.”

“The city surpassed my expectations in terms of safety,” said Muratore, who said she only ever felt unsafe if she was out alone at night.

“People are very honest. For example, in Boston, people sneak onto buses through the back door to get away with not paying. But in Istanbul, if you get on the bus through the second door, everyone immediately rushes to pay their fare. I felt safer in Istanbul than I normally do here.”

The Turkish government does not conduct a national crime survey. The Istanbul Police Department reported 150,000 crimes in 2008, but it remains unclear where the number came from and what the department’s definition of “crime” entails.

The International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS), a worldwide poll of homeowners’ experiences with crime, presents a different — and compelling — perspective.

Thirty percent of Istanbul citizens surveyed said that they were victims of burglary over the past five years — a percentage higher than all other cities surveyed, including London, Paris and Amsterdam. Yet Istanbul had the lowest assault rate of all cities surveyed: Only 3.5% of residents said they had experienced assault over a five-year period.

The ICVS also found that attempted burglary and assault cases both had reporting rates of less than 20%. Additionally, crime statistics typically exclude the millions of squatters said to be living off the map in Istanbul.

However, widespread police reform is bringing about notable changes.

The Turkish police force is placing higher value on training and education. As of 2010 data from the the National Police Department, reported by Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman, 85% of police now have undergraduate degrees.

The government has also set up a surveillance system that connects hundreds of cameras across Istanbul to police stations. Eighty-five percent of police stations are also monitored by security cameras, which has substantially cut down on allegations of torture and mistreatment by police.

The Turkish public is also highly involved in crime detection. Tens of thousands of public meetings have been held throughout Turkey, where millions gather to hear about criminal activity in their neighborhoods.

“There’s a great sense of community in Istanbul, which is really incredible for a city with such a large population,” Muratore said. “It’s surprising to an outsider, because in big U.S. cities, there’s more of a sense of the individual. In Istanbul, it never seemed like that. It’s just one big community.”

Jennifer Guay is a Spring 2013 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.

February 1, 2013
Notre Dame student will study abroad in Turkey

Though there is unrest in the region, Sizemore will not be in harm’s way.

By JERMAINE PIGEE

[email protected]

Instead of learning about Turkey in a classroom, Kayleigh Sizemore will learn first-hand about the country.

The 15-year-old Notre Dame High School sophomore will spend next year in Turkey with the help of the Rotary Club student exchange program.

She was scheduled to leave at the end of August, but there were problems with Sizemore’s documents.

“The Turkish government didn’t approve any of the student visas on time,” said Sizemore, who arrived in Turkey Friday. “I was not the only one who was stuck because of it.”

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Sizemore said she wants to see the country through the eyes of someone who lives there.

“I want to learn the language, the culture, how they make the food, everything,” said the daughter of Ashlee Cockrell and Dean Salsberry.

Instead of going to a more popular country such as Spain, Egypt or Greece, Sizemore wanted to go a different route.

“I asked them to find some place on the Mediterranean where I could go,” she said.

The Rotary Club in Turkey is paying for Sizemore’s trip, so Bob Bartles, youth exchange officer with the local Rotary Club, said he is unsure how much the trip costs.

Regardless of the cost, there is a higher purpose to the program.

“We want to promote peace and understanding between various cultures,” Bartles said.

And though the war in Syria is spilling over into Turkey, Bartles said Sizemore will not be in harm’s way.

“If we thought it wasn’t safe, we wouldn’t have sent her over there,” he said.

Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate has said more than 80,000 Syrians are staying in Turkey after fleeing their country.

Sizemore will stay with a host family that lives on the Bosphorus, also known as the Istanbul Strait, on the northwest side of the country. The Syria-Turkish border is on the southeast side of the country.

Kemal Deniz, her host father, is a naval officer who speaks fluent English. Her host mother, Kesan, is a secretary.

The family also includes 14-year-old Ada-mert, who will be Sizemore’s host brother.

The host family’s grandfather also lives with them as does a live-in housekeeper.

“I will be one of their children,” Sizemore said. “I will have chores, homework and all that.”

One adjustment Sizemore will have to make is in her schooling. Tenth- through 12th-graders attend college in Turkey, and Sizemore plans to do advanced studies at Doga College.

“My biggest challenge will be the school and the language,” she said. “I will have to concentrate every moment of the eight hours a day I am in school.”

Uniform codes are different in Turkey as well. Sizemore said she will wear long skirts, ties and long socks.

Food also will be different for Sizemore, as meals consist mostly of lamb, fish and many spices.

“The family has lots of fruit trees, and I love fruit,” she said.

She expects to experience some homesickness.

“I’m terrified about leaving home, and I will miss my friends and family, but I’m also excited,” she said. “Very few people get the chance to do this, and I feel very fortunate that I get to do so.”

via Notre Dame student will study abroad in Turkey.

September 16, 2012
Studying abroad with nothing to do but learn, leads to unforgettable trip

When I left New York on the first day of February, it was unseasonably warm. With the thermometer pushing 60 degrees, I sneaked in one more day of wearing shorts before winter would hit once again, as I boarded an airplane. One ocean, two continents and 10 hours later, I saw a city covered in the worst snowstorm it had suffered in decades.

Not quite what I expected when I landed in Istanbul, Turkey; a city I would be calling home for the next five months. Aside from personal accounts of friends and the guidebook I read on the flight over, I knew next to nothing of the city.

I knew even less of the language. I had learned how to say hello, but if I were completely lost and had no idea how to get to where I was living, being able to only say hello to a stranger on the street really wouldn’t help a whole lot. For the first time in my life, I could not talk; or more correctly, I could not communicate.

After finally recovering from jet lag caused by the seven-hour time difference, I went out; no objective in mind. At first it was to familiarize myself with my surroundings, but I found myself doing this many months down the road as well. Sometimes I went to new locales I had yet to explore, sometimes to my usual haunts. On most nights I would make the five-minute walk to the Galata Bridge, the bridge that connects the new side of the city with the older, historical side of the city (think Constantinople). During the half-mile walk, I passed by vendors selling cheese and tomato sandwiches, roasted chestnuts, simit, which are similar to a bagel and balık ekmek, grilled fish sandwiches served with lettuce, onion and tomato.

There is a place in my heart reserved for potentially-unhygienic-but-always-delicious street food, so I became a repeat customer to many of these vendors. If there had been no language barrier, I would know them all on a first-name basis.

After speaking with my fellow foreign students—in English—I learned that many of them were fearful of these vendors. Every Sunday I went to the local produce market in the “bad part” of town to buy my produce for the week. I could pick up kilos of fruits and vegetables for mere pennies, and I wasn’t about to let that opportunity pass me by.

I began telling myself every day, not to let this opportunity pass me by. I went to those questionable food vendors, not only because the food was delicious and cheap, which it certainly was, but because I wanted to belong. One particular favorite of mine was a man on the Galata Bridge who grilled spiced meatballs called köfte. Alongside the meat on the charcoal lay a cigarette, which the man took a puff of in between flips of the patties. Next to the grill sat a glass of Rakı, a grape-based liquor that many consider the drink of Turkey.

Life in Turkey was different. Cats and dogs would wander around the school, go in and out of the classrooms and nobody would bat an eye. Eventually, I didn’t either. It became normal.

By the time I was about to leave Istanbul, many of the friends I met there had already departed. So by myself, I went out; just as I did so many times before. I had already packed my clothes and went to the bazaar to buy goodies that I was hoping, with fingers crossed, would not get taken away at customs. I bought a köfte sandwich and a can of Efes and sat down on one of the many benches overlooking the Bosphorus Strait for one last time. I hadn’t spoken a word of English that day; only Turkish.

The night before, a few of my friends were to return home to Holland, so we met one last time to drink tea, smoke nargile, or hookah pipe and play okey, a game similar to rummy.

Surprisingly it was mostly Turkish students I would see eating the McDonalds and Burger King, not the American or European students. Turkey, or in this case, Turkish food, which quickly became one of my favorite cuisines, would be gone soon. There was no time to waste on things we could have at home.

My voice was hoarse from smoking too much the night before; I sat down and took a swig of that mediocre—but comforting—beer and a bite of my sandwich. The lights of the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya reflected on the water, the tram buzzed by and the fact that I was sitting on one continent looking at another had still not worn off. The view was not unique per se, for I had seen it many times before, but this final time around, it felt different. It finally felt like home. I was a foreigner, but this was no longer a foreign land.

via Studying abroad with nothing to do but learn, leads to unforgettable trip | The Oswegonian.

September 15, 2012