Settling In!

Hi All,

It's about 11:30 here in Istanbul and I'm back in my room getting ready for bed, but I figured I would do an update first! I saw that CT and the surrounding area is set to get hit by a big snowstorm tomorrow. I'm not sure what's better: the rain in Istanbul or the snow at home. I think I'll take the rain!

For those concerned, I was able to find a pillow, groceries, towel, and due to a misunderstanding at the department store queen sheets that are doubling as a blanket for now. I got all of this at a mall about a 10 minute drive from my dorm. I almost walked to the mall as its about a 30-35 minute walk from the Superdorm, but I decided not to. That proved to be an excellent decision because when I left the mall it was pouring rain and I had about four shopping bags of groceries and linens and my backpack. The rest of saturday, I spent hanging out in the dormitory. At the grocery store, I purchased lots of fruit, veggies, pasta, a variety of chips, cheese, and cold cuts. All the things I need to survive on! I'm completely blanking on what I did Sunday, which probably means I did not do much!

I'll just skip ahead to yesterday, Monday. I went for a long walk in the morning in a different direction than what I had done before. I looked it up on google maps and it was somewhere around 5 miles, but I'm not positive of my actual location so it might have been off by a little. Of course I forgot to bring my camera, so I don't have pictures of that area, but I'm sure I'll be back in that vicinity again. Monday was also the day that most of the other American students started arriving. In the basement of my dorm there's a barber shop (random, right?), laundry, cafe, and small market. Monday afternoon I went down to the mark to buy some more bottled water and a girl in a Columbia sweatshirt walked out of the entrance. I think I scared her a little bit with my extremely enthusiastic, "Hello, and are you an American." Thankfully she was, and we talked for about 15 minutes. Even though I knew I wasn't the only american student at the university it was nice and also a big relief to know that they were finally on campus. It had been a lonely weekend!

Today, I had to go to the main campus to pre-register for registration. Basically, I had to go to the office of international students and check-in. The main campus is about a 15 minute walk from where I'm living. The campus is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, it was misting so I decided not to take any pictures, but I will soon. The school is huge and sits right on the edge of the Bosphorous. I can't even begin to describe it so hopefully the pictures will be up soon. After registering, I went for a walk in the surrounding neighborhood and got completely lost, but managed to make my way back to the dormitory after only a few wrong turns. I've started carrying around a copy of the university's address in my coat pocket so that if I ever get lost and need a cab the driver will know where to go. After the walk, I went back to my room to hang out and then I went to dinner with a girl from BC and her two roommates who are also american students at Bogazici University. The BC student, Erin, is friends with the daughter of one of mom's friends, Laurie Schwartz. It was nice to finally sit down and meet some people. We went to a small cafe and had dinner. I have absolutely no idea what I ordered. I just pointed to the menu and asked the waiter to pick whatever he thought was best. I ended up having something like a stuffed/crunchy pasta with what seemed like a cream or yogurt sauce. It was tasty! After dinner, we walked down the main street of the neighborhood I'm living in and stopped at a cafe (similar to a panera's, but much nicer) and had ice cream and coffee (And, for the record, I still have not had a coffee in my life).

Okay, well tomorrow I have orientation at 3 and then a dinner and some sort of outing afterwards. I have no other details besides that, but I'm looking forward to meeting the other students.

Hope everyone is well and talk soon!

Love,

Brett