Üşüdüm, dammit

Day four in Istanbul and the temperature is declining as rapidly as my competency. I finally got my room to be warm and snuggly enough that I don't have to wear a beanie and mittens to bed, but we just got back from dinner at a restaurant that was actually a docked boat and my little toesies are still thawing out.

I've been trying to absorb every word of Turkish that comes my way, down to the "çekiniz" and "ikiniz" on the doors. My vocabulary now consists of approximately 50 words and maybe 5 sentences. Still relying on pointing and flapping and yelling singular words like "SU" and "KARDI?" to get what I need.

  

Here are my initial assessments  of Turkey/Istanbul/Koç:

THINGS I LOVE:

• Turks are much more aware of their surroundings. No one talks on the Dolmuş, they just kind of stare out the window and stare at the ground and stare at you and then don't look away when you look back. They are curious about things. They like to know things. 
• The exchange rate. 1.80 TL for every $1? Don't mind if I do. I can't remember the last time I got a three-course meal for four bucks. I say, "Super!" which in Turkish, is "Super!"
• There are no serving spoons. Everyone just kind of eats off the same dish with their own utensils like germ-oblivious family. This is how we do it at the Lalli household, so it feel just like home.
• The water pressure in these showers is incredible
• Attitudes towards alcohol. Maybe it's only because I don't drink that I notice that American kids get plastered just so they can be even louder than they already are and do stupid things without feeling responsible for themselves, whereas in Turkey, people drink as a social thing. And instead of getting drunk and doing dumb shit, they get drunk on Rakı (some kind of really potent crap that tastes like black licorice) and ponder life's serious problems. Kids drink with adults. The program staff actually bought us Rakı  on the boat/restaurant and everyone was merry.
• The public transit system. In LA, it takes an hour to get somewhere that's 20 minutes away. In Istanbul, it takes 20 minutes to get somewhere that's an hour away. And you don't have to sit around and wait in a sketchy dirty bus stop for a half hour and then get accosted by schizophrenics and sit in puddles of homeless person urine and/or syrup and/or two-shot caramel macchiato frappucino with extra whip spilled all over the seats.  
• The tunnels under the school that connect all the buildings. Students are actually encouraged to use them, and every few strides there is a brilliant piece of graffiti on the wall like "I used to blink, but then I got shot in the knee with a bow and arrow," and "Nope, Chuck Testa."

THINGS I DON'T LOVE:

• The unseasonably cold weather. The sun hasn't made an appearance yet and it has snowed every day (the snow doesn't really fall, it just kind of blows around). They said this is the coldest winter in 30 years, which reminded me of first-year orientation at Oxy when it was 110 degrees and the hottest summer in 30 years or something. Either way, it makes you not want to do anything, and during orientation, YOU HAVE TO DO LOTS OF THINGS. 
• This campus is large. Large=more walking distance in the snow in inappropriate footwear. 
• All the labels are in Turkish, so I can't tell which one is the shampoo and which one is the conditioner. I took my chances and bought an upright bottle and its upside-down friend. I was right, but heaven forbid next time they both face the same direction.
• This is allegedly an English-speaking university, and technically it is because the students and the faculty all speak English. But most of the cleaning staff, restaurant staffs, baristas, facilities people, cashiers, etc. probably couldn't tell if I was speaking English or Zulu. Which is a shame, because I really want to speak to them and know their stories, but all I can say is "ÇAY LÜTFEN?"

But as always, it will get better. It has to get better. Tomorrow's another gün, and I accept the challenge.


İyi geceler, Amerika