August 30, 2007- page 2

Between jet lag and adapting to the Turkish cuisine, my first week in Istanbul was far from what I expected. My first impressions of the city were enough to make me want to go home and forget about the whole semester. 

The first week we took Turkish at Istanbul Technical University and then went on field trips to see the sights of Istanbul.  We visited all the places I learned about in my Ottoman Empire class last semester; Hagia Sophia, the Blue

Mosque, Topkap1 Palace, a whirling dervish performance, the Dolmabahçe Palace, and the Hippodrome.  Everywhere we went was rich with Byzantine and Ottoman history, but I still felt like a tourist on vacation. To experience today’s culture, the group went to a professional Turkish soccer game over the weekend which could have ended poorly if the home team didn't win; thankfully, Fenerbahçe ended the match victoriously.

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