Farewell, Istanbul!

Hello everyone! My dad and I are at the Istanbul airport - Ataturk International Airport - waiting for our flight to London. We got her in plenty of time.... I'm still smarting from having missed my flight to Spain.

Turkish Bath Time:

Dad and I decided to indulge in own of Istanbul's famous Turkish Bath experiences. To begin with we were each herded off to separate male and female bathing areas. When I entered the first room - a "holding tank" of sorts, I was immediately out of my element. To my pleasant surprise pretty much everyone was Turkish. My initial delight at diving into this "authentic Turkish experience" was closely followed by a string of pressing questions: where do I change?, how much do I change?, who is supposed to be scrubbing me down?, and how the hell do I get from holding tank to bath sans towel? A slightly disgruntled attendant soon answered the first of my questions shoving a towel and goody bag into my hands and frog marching me into a changing room, indicating a locker along the way. Okay, I thought, clothes off and towel on, here I go. The goody bag smelled pleasantly of herbs and spices but I figured I'd let my attendant help me utilize it properly.

As soon as I wandered back into the holding tank a beefy Turkish lady similarly clad in a towel grabbed my hand and led me into the steamy bath area. Everything in sight was made of various shades of marble. The ceilings of the circular "hamam" (bath) rooms are vaulting domes with lattice pattern windows letting in sunlight. Around the perimeter you find elaborate spigots and sitting areas cordoned off. All this surrounds a giant raised platform on which about a dozen women were lounging wearing just their underwear. OH. I didn't have MY underwear. I had little time to reflect. My strapping attendant sharply indicated my towel and the marble platform sternly and haltingly said something along the lines of "face - down". I comply... not quite feeling the Turkish relaxation wash over me as I moon my attendent and the rest of the bathing area. To her credit, she didn't miss a beat. She jabbed my should once, grabbed my "spice and herbs goody bag" and opened it to reveal a pair of standard issue black underwear. Ah......to be continued.

Istanbul photos, by popular demand :)

Istanbul (not Constantinople....or Byzantium)

Now to get you in the mood for this blog post about history...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj1d_istanbul-not-constantinople

Most likely most of you, like myself, know that Istanbul used to be called Constantinople. I had no idea, however, that Istanbul has been known by so many other names as well!

Byzantium: first known name of the city - founded by Greek colonists in 667 BC. Later the East Roman Empire was known as the "Byzantine" empire - although this was MUCH later: German historian Hieronymus Wolf dubbed it such 100 years after it had fallen.

Augusta Antonina: for a brief period in the 3rd Century AD by Roman conquerers

New Rome, Alma Roma, Roma Constantinopolitana: The Romans, obviously. before Constantine the Great took over in 330

Constantinople: The name that became widely known when Constantine the Great was powerful - Also Latin Constantinopolis and Greek Konstantinoupolis

Konstantiniyye: Name that bacome widely known in the Arab world during and after Constantine's time

Istanbul: since the 10th Century in a range of forms - comes from the Greek for "The City" or "To the City". Also Stimbol, Islambol, Stamboul

Other languages: Hebrew - Kushtandina, Icelandic - Miklagarour (the old Norse name that came into use after Viking contact with the Byzantines)

Love!

Croatian Limbo

Hey all!

Still in Croatia. Continues to be a bit odd/hilarious since we're pretty much the only tourists in Croatia this time of year and the weather is all over the place. So here are some things on my mid these days:

International Relations/Politics:

The closer I get to coming home to more I realize that I've been in a very unique political environment here. All my peers are interested in international relations and quite well informed- plus I was not just in Europe but Geneve - land of international relations. Coming back to the states may be a little frustrating for me. With all the domestic economic turmoil going on in the US I'm anticipating the news/national political mindset to be very domestically focused. It'll be interesting to see how much I notice that and what sorts of political stories I find myself following.

Food

I miss cheese and chocolate! I also miss all the food my mom makes. There's not much more to say about this really... but Swiss cheeses are unbelievable.

Daddy!

So excited to meet my daddy in FIVE more days in the Istanbul airport! I've never had the chance to travel with just him - and for so long - it's going to be special. Also, the idea of Istanbul has enticed me for years. I love spots on this globe where things either don't make much sense or are a grand conflagration of more than one culture. Turkey in the Middle East? check. Turkey as a candidate to join the EU? check. Turkey in Asia too? check check check. I obviously know it will be completely different from India but I think it will be the closest thing to it that I've seen in a couple years. I'm ready for a little bit of madness and difference. And my daddy there with me! I'm sure traveling with a middle-aged man will make a difference in ways I haven't even realized yet.

My wonderful friends from SIT

I've met some spectacular people here. A few of the goodbyes will be rough. Mostly, of course, I'm glad we met and will thus forever be in each others' lives. Yesterday we went on a program-sponsored trip to two coastal villages and a lunch site... hanging out with the people who count was wonderful. There is honestly a contingent of people I will not miss at all, but why think about them? My friends Danika, Allison and I bought ridiculous ear muffs for 6 dollars.... best souvenir ever. It was cold! And my earmuffs are pandas. SOoooo that's a must-buy situation, clearly.

Christmas

All the other SIT students except one are preparing to go home in a couple of days... I, of course, I'm going to be traveling with my Papa for two weeks but I sort of keep forgetting that we're not on the same schedule. I am SO excited for home and Christmas. I want to accelerate these next few days until I meet my Dad because goodbyes are hard and everyone around me is in such a different place. I'm just way thrilled for Turkey - London - Christmas. And Minor ladies - we'll be dressing up and going to the Sound of Music in downtown Seattle, yes? We'd better!

Love to you all, happy holiday season. I can't wait to get to see you whenever that may be.

~Alice