Metro Card and ID

I think Spring is finally here! The past two days I have left my room for class wearing only jeans and a polo shirt. Unfortunately, it rained today on my way back from class so I was a little wet, but it was warm and that's a good thing! Tomorrow is supposed to be around 70 so maybe I'll break out my shorts. Not much has been happening here, but I figured I'd write about getting my metro card and finally receiving my ID card after being at the University for 8 weeks.

Public transportation in the city is really cheap. Taking the bus, ferry, tram, or subway costs a flat fee of 1.50TL the equivalent of a dollar in the states. Comparatively, I pay $1.70 every time I take public transportation in Boston and that's including the .30$ savings I receive for using a charlie card. As a student, I'm entitled to a student transportation card that makes riding public transportation practically free! I'm not positive, but I think I'm paying somewhere between fifty and seventy cents now that I have a student akbil (Akbil is pictured above. It's like a debit card that deducts money every time you take public transportation... Some buses won't let you on if you don't have the Akbil so its pretty important to get). Unfortunately, I had to wait until receiving paperwork from the school verifying that I was a student before getting the discount. I've had the paper for a few weeks, but for some reason I just hadn't gone to get the card. I think part of it was that transportation was so cheap I figured I didn't need to bother to get one. Furthermore, getting to the public transportation office to apply for the cards requires a bus ride through endless amounts of traffic, a 15 minute walk, and a 5 minute train ride. Excuses aside, I woke up Monday determine to get the card not only to save money, but also as a memento of the trip. Unfortunately, the weather Monday was terrible: cold, rainy, and windy. Nonetheless, I still decided to go and embarked on what turned into a 4.5 hour trip. First, I had to take a bus from the university to Taksim. The distance is not far, but the traffic in Istanbul is horrendous. What could have been a 20-30 minute drive in CT turned into roughly an hour bus ride. From Taksim, I had to walk about 20 minutes to the funicular train stop for a quick 2 minute ride to Karakoy another neighborhood of Istanbul where the transportation office is located. Once there, getting the card was really easy. I had to pay 5 lira for the card and then I put 20 lira worth of money on the card. When I finally arrived back in my room I was freezing cold and wet, but feeling pretty satisfied with myself. Perhaps having this student akbil will make me look less like a foreigner when I get on buses. Now instead of fumbling for change I can simply show my card and get on. I have a feeling that I'm still going to be recognized by everyone has an American!

This morning I walked into class and overheard a couple Americans talking about how they had just gotten their ID cards from the University. Ever since orientation, all we have heard is how crucial the ID cards are. ID cards are required to eat in certain dining halls, to print, to access the library, access the campus at night, and much more. At first, we were told the IDs would arrive by the end of February, then we were told the first week of March (by now we didn't believe any of these deadlines), and I had managed to mostly forget about the IDs until today. In the end, the IDs will probably serve little purpose while in Istanbul, but I'll be happy to keep the ID as a memento of the trip. The IDs are much cooler than my Boston University ID. See the pictures in the post for a visual explanation of why.

Not much else is going on here. I was going to go away this weekend to Bodrum which is located in the Aegean region of Turkey. Its supposed to be beautiful, warm, and its right on the water. Unfortunately, I decided that I have too much work to go. I have 3 midterms next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. I also want to get started on an essay so that when Mom and Bailey are here I don't have to do any work! Unlike the majority of the exchange students, my grades that I receive in Turkey transfer to BU and factor into my GPA. This means that I actually have to study and do well in my classes. For most of the Americans, they simply need to pass the classes as their grades won't show up on their transcripts. Nonetheless, I plan to do some sightseeing on Saturday (not sure where yet), work on my paper Sunday, and study for my tests on Monday.

Hope everyone enjoys the beautiful Spring weather this weekend. Happy Easter!

Love,

Brett