Istanbul: Day 5

Finally, a picture of a typical Turkish breakfast! Show to the right are 2 simit filled with cheese as well as Turkish tea (pronounced as we say chai). The tea comes very hot and is best with one sugar cube. This breakfast costs less than 3 Turkish Lira, which is $2. I'm loving the exchange rate in Turkey!







Our entire morning was spent exploring a museum that had an exhibit of ancient - 19th century art, to include pieces made during the Roman and Ottoman Empires. For example, I did a project on glass and its shared trade between the Middle East and Italy, and I got to see a 2nd century glass bowl.

In the afternoon we went on a bus tour of the Asian part of Turkey. A professor at Bogazici University who recently got is Ph.D. from UW told us all about urbanization. In short, people, both rich and poor, illegally invade forest lands and settle there. They then wait until legislation changes such that their taking of the land is not illegal. Now, the government is building houses for the people living in shanty town so that they can renovate their homes and sell them to upper middle class citizens. One of the pictures I posted yesterday protests this in another part of Istanbul. It was only in the areas we saw on the Asian side that I actually saw animals. For example, I saw goat and sheep herders grazing their animals on the uknpopulated hillsides with their broken down settlement located at the top of the hill. Seeing this made me realize how hard it is for the people to move without losing their livelihood and identity. Moreover, the government housing isn't conducive to the way these people live. For example, most of the extended family lives together - this isn't taken in to consideration while building the government housing. Additionally, these houses aren't like government houses as we think of them. Instead, they are places that will likely raise in rent in the near future, and consequently force the tenets, which are part of a very poor economic class, to relocate once again.

Ok, on to something much lighter now! We visited the main campus of Bogazici (Bwa-zichi) University. Previously this campus was a high school (boarding school) and my prof. went there! The campus is really beautiful - it overlooks the water and the old city walls. Also, there are cats and kittens everywhere! Istanbul has a large population of wild cats and dogs, but most of the cats are friendly. The little black kitten was one that always hung out at the cafe I went to in the morning.

We then went down to the water to hang out and have dinner. Below is a day and night picture of the same mosque.