Hello again!
This weekend I went with my host family to Istanbul. We went because we had to take my host sister, Aslı, to the airport. She is an exchange student and will be spending the next year in Long Island.
I was only in Istanbul for a night and a day, but I saw enough to know that it is absolutely beautiful. It took 7 hours to drive from Afyon to Istanbul, but the trip was completely worth it. It was a funny experience to be able to travel from Asia to Europe but remain in the same city. We walked around some when we got there and it was neat to see people from all different races and to hear all different languages (in Afyon, the only language you hear is Turkish, and me trying to communicate in English).
One of the differences between Turkey and America that I have noticed, is that in Turkey there are mosques everywhere. I have yet to see a church or a synagogue, but from the window in my room alone, I can see 3 mosques and if I were to walk down two or three streets, I would be able to see five other ones. When we were driving to Istanbul, we saw many small towns and villages, but it didn't matter how small the village was, it had at least one mosque. From the apartment where I live, I can hear the muezzin chant the call to prayer five times a day. It sounds beautiful. In Istanbul, because there are so many mosques, it takes a good five minutes for all of them to send out the call to prayer.
In Istanbul, there are two bridges that connect the Asian and European sides of the city. We took a boat ride that went between the two bridges and went up the European coast and then back down the Asian one. The trip was at night, so the entire city was light up and we could see the palaces and mosques and all the houses, it looked beautiful. There are two really old (as in, built in the Middle Ages old) castles on the coasts of Istanbul, one on the European side and the other on the Asian side. I didn't get the chance to go inside them, but I could see them from the boat. I wanted to go inside the palaces that I could see from the boat ride, but Aslı said that when I go back to Istanbul on a Rotary trip, I will get the chance to do so. I can't wait!
On the way back to Afyon, instead of driving for 7 hours, we took a ferry ride. It was the kind of ferry that you can park your car in and then go sit somewhere. This ferry trip took us from Istanbul across the Aegean sea to Yalova. From there, it was only a five hour drive back to Afyon.
A few days ago, it was Afyon's independence day. Modern Afyon is 84 years old, although there are parts of the city that are much, much older. On that day, I saw a small parade going down one of the main streets and at night, there were fireworks.
I have had numerous people tell me that I look Turkish. First my host family told me that, then one night, we had some of Aslı's former teachers over for dinner and they all told me that I look Turkish. When I was with Aslı and some of her friends at a café, some university students came over and asked me to take a picture of them. I didn't understand what they wanted, but one of Aslı's friends jumped up and said that she would do it. Aslı then told me that they had thought that I was Turkish. This also happened when I was on the ferry, someone asked me a question in Turkish and my family had to answer for me. I find it very amusing that people think that I am Turkish, and it is nice that I look like similar to everyone else, but I wish that I knew what people wanted when they come up to me.
One of my favorite things about Turkey is how friendly everyone here is. When people come over to my house the first thing they do is kiss me on both cheeks, even if I am meeting them for the first time. I think that this is a wonderful way of greeting people, and to me it feels much nicer and more personal than just shaking hands.
Well, that's it for today, I hope everyone had a good weekend!