Rest of the Week

So it's the end of the week - time is flying by. I'll do a short recap of the week starting after Topkapi Palace.

Tuesday:

A Turkish musician and historian came over to the apartment and we watched a documentary on trains and how they were indicative of Ottoman modernization. Then we had a discussion about some of the readings we'd had about organization of Istanbul. We had dinner at Professor Shields' and William's apartment and had Mexican food - a good change from the doner we've been eating every day.

Wednesday:

We went to an art museum that is opposite the Blue Mosque beside the Hippodrome. It used to be the palace of the Ottoman Grand Vizier, a sort of Prime Minister for the Sultunate. Most of the art was very practical - art was painted or molded onto doors, Korans, furniture, swords, and carpets. Here are some pictures:

An ornately decorated version of the Koran:


The view from the Grand Vizier's balcony:



Looking at an old Mosque door covered in decoration:



Thursday:

We boarded the ferry to Kadikoy and then a bus to Sabançi (pronounced Sa-ban-chi) University. Most of the universities in Turkey are public and thus free - all that is required is that you pass a very rigorous exam at the end of high school. Unlike in the States where you can choose your major, the results of the entrance exam determines where you will go: higher scores allow you to go into fields like medicine and law, whereas lower ones will get you into technical and vocational schools. Sabançi is a small private university that is unlike those schools, however, and the students there can choose from multiple fields like languages and engineering. Professor Shields arranged for us to go and meet with a class of Turkish university students our age, and all of them were very nice and welcoming. They gave us a presentation in English about Turkish life and culture and then led us to lunch, where one of the students even paid for my lunch. Over lunch, we talked about language, summer, politics, food, universities, soccer and more. Over the day we became friends with them and joked about stuff - we even arranged to meet with them in Istanbul at a future date to be determined and exchanged numbers. Here are some pictures of their university and of us:

Their University Library:


The group of us in their gym:

Though Sabanci was very nice and modern (it was built in the last 10 years), the campus seemed to be lacking in something. Amanda (one of the girls on the trip) later pointed it out to me: the campus was sterile. Although they did have a nice fountain area with cafes and their dorms were very nice (with maid service!), their was no real character to the buildings of their university. Maybe it's just because I go to UNC, but it seems that the campus was just lacking in that essentialness that makes many universities in the States and elsewhere so special - that feeling that draws you back years after you've graduated. Hopefully Sabanci will be able to create its own feel for its students in the future.

Friday:

We went to the Medresesi and discussed the effects of World War I and of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on the country. Ataturk is a fascinating man that I've learned more and more about as the time goes on... look for a blog post about him later on. After our class, we had another Turkish lesson with Hande, our instructor, who has given us some very useful phrases for carrying out conversation in Turkish.