Ya La! Ya La! Let’s go Morocco!! ~Day 1

Ya La! Ya La! Let’s go Morocco!!

Woo! I am finally in Africa!!! I have been waiting for this one :D The first day I started after lunch on the ship (saving some money J).  Getting ready I knew that I had to cover up from my shoulders to below my knees or I would be harassed! A couple of my residents and I headed out for our first excursion!  Our first step was to take our little shuttle bus to the actual city. You see, we are currently docked at a freight port instead of the usual tourist port… but that doesn’t stop us :D  The first thing I said when we got out was, “We’re in Casablanca! I love it!!” then a few steps later, “The dirt is red! I love it!!” then a few more “I love its” and they got the point! :D The first official stop was at a bank for money exchange. $1 here is 7.99 Durham so it looked like I had a lot… but not really J  We then continued on exploring the city of Casablanca!  Our first pedestrian thing we experienced was that there are no walking signs for crossing streets…  It’s sooo confusing too because their stop lights aren’t across the street like ours, they are on the right hand side of the road you’re driving on (so kinda like where a stop sign would be). Any how, once we figured out how to cross the streets we started looking around. We noticed that not too many women were out and about.  And those that were out were fully covered! Did I tell y’all that it is currently the month of Ramadan?  Oh and we are in a country that is 99% Muslim! It has a huge impact on the city!

Eventually we came upon a great little market with all kinds of hand made trinkets: mirrors, masks, purses, scarves, random camel ornaments, instruments, wall decorations, Moroccan clothes, and soo much more!!  Then we found ourselves in brand name market… like track suits and shoes for Adidas and Nike… oh and then came the rip off DVDs. I found it very tempting to purchase a copy of the latest Harry Potter movie (still in theaters) but I resisted! Leaving this little shop I followed the girls and was approached by a lady in a vale (of course most all of the ladies were in them).  She was showing me her book of henna designs and, although they were very pretty, I was not interested. I said, “No thank you!” …then, next thing I knew, she had my hand (I have no idea how she got it)! She pulled out this thing that looked like a huge needle (at which my heart jumped… I HATE needles)!!! I repeatedly said, “NO NO NO!!” I relaxed very slightly when I realized that it was her henna pen but continued to say NO! 15 seconds later I had a little henna design from my pointer finger to just above my wrist!!! She said something like “you like?” I said, “no thank you!!!” and she said, “have a good day!” Whew!!! I was sooo relieved that she didn’t make me pay! But now I have a free henna and a little story to tell J. 

We kept shopping for a while and got lost a few times (by now I’ve come to expect it).  Eventually we made our way to the Mosque II… the 3^rd largest mosque in the world!!! …OMGoodness! It WAS huge!!! And gorgeous!! The courtyard alone was larger than 2 football fields for sure! There was a lovely little walking path that surrounded it with little gardens on the sides! The architecture was beautiful! And I loved the tile work!  We walked over to the side where the ocean was (yip it’s built over the ocean)!  We really wanted to go in, but only Muslims were allowed in.  I have been told of how beautiful it is! There is supposedly a glass floor that allows you to see the ocean below and a dome ceiling that opens up (practically for an ocean breeze… but also for beauty).  I really wanted to go in!  And so did Mia! The other girls said no… but she and I looked at each other and grabbed our paskminas and started wrapping our hair! We giggled a little as we left then asked one another if we really thought we could do it… then we met a lovely lady who said we could walk in with her (in French but that’s pretty much what she said). We were so excited! We got passed the first 2 guards as we talked to the lady J Then right as we were stepping into the mosque they asked Mia if she was Muslim.  I honestly think they didn’t feel like they needed to ask me because of my dark skin and eyes, but Mia with her green eyes, white face (with freckles), and red hair barely showing kinda gave her away. Of course you can’t lie when you are about to enter holy ground so she said no and we walked back after saying “Orivwa” (sp?) to our sweet friend who tried to help us in.  When we got back the other girls were ready to head back… but Mia and I split off because we still wanted to explore.  We headed in the direction of home but in a different pathway.  We were looking for more of the Moroccan culture and were pleasantly surprised when we found ourselves in a food market!! Why do we not have these everywhere in the States??? They are AMAZING!! Everything was soo fresh and smelled amazing… just like all the other markets… except here there were new fruits and herbs J Oh and I loved seeing all the people! It must have been the time for everyone to come and get their groceries for the evenings “break-fast” meal! The women were out here J With all the things going on, one thing that really stood out to me was that women were holding hands… and so were men! And I loved the way they greeted each other! They would (firmly for the guys) shake hands with their right hand and place the other hand on the other’s shoulder as they kissed each other’s cheeks back and forth 4 times! The smiles on their faces were soo warm, it was like they hadn’t seen each other in a good while, while at the same time with such familiarity (like they saw each other yesterday)! I appreciated it!  Oh and this whole timeMia and I were getting really thirsty… but, while it’s not terrible, we did not want to drink in front of the people because it’s supposed to be rude. Then we realized that all this food was being sold and NOTHING was being eaten OR snacked on!  Just another reminder about Ramadan where everyone is fasting from sun-up to sun-down! Nothing goes in their mouths at all! No food! No drinks (even water)! No chewing gum! No smoking! Not even brushing your teeth is allowed while the sun is up!  It is all to remind them to be patient!  So we stuck through and waited till we were back on our little bus to the ship. We were so glad we took the long way home J As I was on call that night, I decided to stay in for the remaining 2 hours and get some work done.

The next day started off wonderfully… because I woke up to my own alarm and not to a phone call from security… the whole night!! Wooo! Yay for good students! Incase you don’t get it yet… it’s rare that an on call is that quiet :D I got up for breakfast and then we loaded up the busses to head out for our 3 day trip to Marrakesh!!!

Bulgaria!!! A Gem on the Voyage :)

Bulgaria!!! A gem on the voyage :)
July 24-27, 2011

I enter Varna, Bulgaria with 2 feelings: 1) sad that I'm not in Egypt, and 2) excited about this new country that I know very little about! Again, my first adventure out is a field practica to visit a Roma community. I was a little confused at first as to why they we were going to a "Roma" community. We learned that it stood for gypsy! Our itinerary began with a heart warming visit to the poor community. It was a little confusing. We got off the bus to be welcomed by a small family who lead us to their one room home... But on the way we were shouted at in Bulgarian so we didn't understand. Our wonderful guide, Luba, told us that the neighbors were embarrassed that they had brought us here because they are so poor.  We continued on to one of the ladies house where her and her 4 kids (one of which she took in because his mom died and no one wanted him because he is disabled) lived. It was a shack with one room with 2 couches that here whole family lived in. She was soooo warm and welcoming! As she showed us in, she took our hands and guided us to a spot to sit down at. Once we were all in, she pointed out her little house and gave each of us hugs. She pinched my cheek too! Her and her little family were so proud to have us in their home and share what they had! And they were happy to take pictures with us! As I left the house, I looked out the door and saw that there were many more kids outside!!
They wanted to meet all of us and when they saw that we were taking pictures, they became fascinated!! They all asked us, " photo? Photo?" Like I mentioned, they are a poor community and don't have hardly any electricity... Let alone electronics. They were astounded with these cameras that showed them the pictures and videos! They all wanted their picture taken and they wanted to take our pictures too!  As I was walking the all wanted to hold my hand or hug my waist! Particularly, there was a little girl, Spavra and her little sister, Livia who followed me everywhere! They wanted to take me to their home and show me more things. They took me up a path to see their donkey and a friend :) we kept picking up more and more kids! We went into another ladies house. She was a single mother of 5 beautiful kids. Each of them came from someone who promised to help her live a better life, but after a baby was born they left! Her house was a little bigger because it had an entry room. One thing I noticed is that these people are soooo poor, yet their houses were very orderly and as clean as they could be!  We walked around a bit more playing and hanging out wit true kids! We also met some kids around the age of 18 and they asked us for Skype! We were so surprised that they had access to skype, but I believe it was just that age group that knew about it.  As we were leaving it was soo sad to say goodbye! Some of the little girls (and some mischievous boys) gave us sweet kisses to say goodbye! I gave Livia the only piece of candy I had and she smiled Big! I wished that I had more to give them :( but one other really great thing about them is that they were already happy with what they had!
we headed back on the bus to visit the middle class homes of the Roma community and, although it wasn't high class, we definitely found it to he an upgrade.  They had a "roadway" unlike the skinny walking paths the other community had and their houses were much bigger with bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and living rooms. This family was very hospitable and welcomed us in offering cool glasses of water (yes, it was bottled... We are not encouraged to drink the tap water from this country). We kindly took it and they held an interesting discussion about their education access and the kinds of opportunities that they had as Roma people. It was interesting to find that most Romas were looked down upon. Even though they are offered free education until 8th grade, they often do jot because they are bullied so much.  In addition, their family needs them to support the payments.  We continued on with many more questions before running out of time... Then our guide walked us over to a small celebration hall, but made us stop before we got too close. All of our hosts ran ahead and our guide told us that they were preparing a ceremony for us and when they were ready, we proceeded. We walked up to the little building and the family was out presenting a basket of bread and they had a little girl dressed in a red gypsy outfit. She offered out professor 5 flowers, which is offered before you enter as a guest. They offer an odd number as a sign of friendship (An even number would be offered at funerals). As we entered and they broke off a piece of the bread, dipped it in honey, and give it to us :) yum! Walking in we saw a nice buffet of bulgarian food that they had prepared for us! We sat and enjoyed it and then were welcomed into the dance room where the girls wrapped their belly dancing scarves (with jingling coins) around us and taught us how to belly dance! Then we all just danced for about an hour or two before we had to leave the amazing community! This was by far the best trip I've been on! I was so happy to learn about the gypsys and talk to them! :)
Our second day I was happy to lead the jeep safari ride!!! It was fantastic!  Our driver, Petar, took us off roadin, some of us flying out of our seats and others  trying not to get smacked by attacking branches as we speeded by them!! We stopped by an endless bed of sunflowers to take some pictures!! We also also stopped to taste the Bulgarian brandy which tasted like you were swallowing fire!! Then we got to shoot a pellet gun... It fired back on me and now my arm is soar.. But it was all fun :) then we ended up going to get out barbq lunch! Yum!! It was roasted chicken kabobs with veggies :) at the end the drivers did a very special performance of traditional music with their jeep safari band :) they even played an American song in honor of us! Then before their grand finally they taught us an easy Bulgarian line dance which was fun!!! After everyone got back safe our tour guide interviewed a few of us for their tv news :) we latter met our guide, Nia, for dinner and then I had to head in for my on call night.
Our third day was a treat! We headed out to the natural healing mud baths of Bulgaria! We were told that these baths were created by a complicated process as the result from the impact of water, minerals,soil, bacteria, and a few other things. We sat in a smelly but natural medical lye bath for 10 min and scrubbed the salt from beneath the fusha waters on our skin. We could already feel the effects of it as our skin became smoother than a baby's bottom! Then we headed over to the muddy waters where we covered our while bodies in the mud. Of course we had some fun and took pictures too! Once covered, we headed to the beach to lay out to let the mud dry (it's supposed to be for 30 min) before we ran into the ocean to scrub off, feeling amazing!  Afterwards we went to the city of Nessebar to grab a bite to eat and shop around. This country had so many unique potter and knickknacks! I loved it. Wrapping up the trip, we graves some post cards and road back to Varna :) then the SeaHort/GradPack headed out for a fun evening!
My last day was a relaxed one walking the city and eventually hopping into the Black Sea for a day at the beach :) it was a nice end to such a great country!!

Sea ya latter,
Jenni

Sent from my iPod

Greece! Opa!!

FirstI have to say I'm terribly sorry!! I had emailed in a couple of my blogs and apparently they never made it in... so :) Today will be Greece. I believe tomorrow is Bulgaria, and hopefully soon after will be Morocco (if I'm not too overwhelmed by the end of the semester :)!!!

July 17-21, 2011 :)

So in out cultural pre-port we were informed that we would have the opportunity to see the changing of the guards in Athens. It happens every 2 hours but because we were there on a Sunday we would see the weekly ceremonial change with the band and march... Sooo we did :) it was so neat! We got there by cab (the driver was great because we reminded him of his daughters) and got there before the crowd did.  Of course we had to take a picture with the guards in their traditional dress! They had hats with tassels that hung next to their cheek and on to their shoulder. They had white under shirts with long sleeves that matched their skirts that were like ruffled dresses that flowed when they marched. They also had vests, and long white socks with shoes that had poof balls on the top :)   Once in place, they are not allowed to move and I thought it was sweet to see a couple of officers wipe their faces of sweat and unruffled their outfits before the ceremony started. All the spectators were herded over to the sides and across the street to make room for the band and marchers! It was great so see them march and switch places :)
Continuing on, we had a mission of doing the first thing on most's to do list: acropolis and the Parthenon :) of course it was lunch by this time and we had to find some lunch... And to our great surprise we found gyros for only 2.2€... And oh my goodness, they were AMAZING!!! They cut the meat off the rotating roaster thing right in front of  us and it was hot and delicious! From there we made out way up to see the amazing Acropolis and Parthenon :) it was really neat! We saw the place where Zeus  and Athena fought over the land. He chose a horse and she chose an olive tree :) she won because the horse died and the tree lived on! I loved hearing all the Greek myths and stories :) we hung out there and melted in the sun as we soaked in the history and moments with memories and photos :) then Caitlin, Ashley and I were ready for our next mission: Harry potter!
So as we were very dedicated to finding it and watching the midnight showing 2 days before those in the US... But we have no control over these countries and found out that Dubrovnik  only had 3 theaters which had no midnight showing... and the showing that did go in didn't start until 7pm... When we were leaving Croatia :( thus the first day in Greece was meant to watch Harry potter :) we made our way to the theater and met some high school kids from Greece. We were excited to talk to them about their culture... And of course Harry Potter :) we got to our assigned seats (yip here they do that in movies) and were so excited!!! We loved it! If course we were sad to see it end but it was wicked awesome!!!

Day 2 had a very interesting start. We were scheduled to visit the university of Indiana but there was a massive taxi strike. Not only were the taxi drivers not offering rides, but they were blocking all of the roads in all high tourist areas (air and ship ports).  It was crazy to see all the roads backed up! We had heard that the metro wasn't working either but no one had been to check. So our group walked 30 min to the station and, yes, they were running :) once we got to the university of Indiana we got to hear about their system and how this American school worked in Greece. Of course we also got to hear how this recession has been affecting the school as well but for the most part it seemed like a usual American school... Except in Greece and with more Greek students than American.

The third day I found myself low on cash but as I walked passed the field office desk I peaked in the magic box and found a free ticket to the Greek cooing class!!! I was so excited!  I had my plans for the day… and they were free!!!  Loading up the bus I found one of my residents, Carolina, who had also found a free ticket!  We headed to our cooking class which was a short ride over and ended up in a little bit of a shady block before we walked into our restaurant. Wow! Such a change! It was a very quaint restaurant decorated in what looked like traditional Greek décor. There was a gorgeous court yard from the entrance to the actual “classroom.”  Outside of the “classroom” doors was a very amusing chef mime who welcomed us in!  We walked in and found our table with all the things we would need to prepare our plates! We would watch the main chef make the dish then return back to our tables and recreate it! This class was wonderful compared to the Spain class because we were able to actually cut up and do all the measuring for ourselves and I didn’t cut off any fingers!  We made 6 dishes: Prassaia Salad, Horiatiki, Dakos, Tzatziki, Taramosalata, Fakes, and at the end we made Greek Frappes. The Tzatziki was one that was very simple and easy to remember. It was Greek yogurt, salt, grated cucumbers garlic, and of course olive oil!  There was at least 5 scoops of olive in each of the plates they love it… and it’s good for you!!!  After cooking our dishes we, of course got to enjoy it!  Afterwards, Carolina and I enjoyed the decorations around us. You know how they used to feed people grapes in bed?? Well there were little beds surrounding the tables so she and I took turns pretending to be Greek and feeding each other grapes. At the end of the class we were awarded diplomas for accomplishing the cooking class. They also allowed us to keep our little aprons!   When we left we all smelled like the food we had just prepared and I was very happy with it!
Day 4 my trip to Olympus! We headed out to Argolis with a quick stop at the cannal that connects the gulf of Croatia to the Aegean sea :) apparently there is an opportunity to bungee jump off of the bridge... But I did not!  Our next stop was lunch at some fancy wedding hall and it was also very good... I'm loving all the olive oil! So different than the kinds back home! Oh and I don't know how they make their sausage here but it's so juicy and delicious!! Afterwards we had a shirt ride to Epidaurus which is a small city known for it's theater performances and healing treatments.  We stopped at the theater Mycenae we got to go explore the treasures of Atreus.high was amazing! It was so big and yet, when we were sitting at the very top row, we were able to hear our tour guide who was on stage talking in her normal voice! I would love o have been able to watch a play there :)
A group of us were very interested in seeing the medical facilities that were known well by the Hellenic world :) Julia (our tour guide) took us down to the ruins of the sanctuary of Asclepius.  We got to see where so many people came to be healed... To come talk to Asclepius who would give them herbs and such and they would check into the dormitory (you know the place where you sleep) to have a healing dream and wake up cured! I decided to take a quick nap in an official dormitory   basically Its a slab of rock in a room (I took a picture so you'll see it latter :) I didn't have a miraculous dream but I wasn't broken so I was ok with that :) After all that we headed over to Olympia where we relaxed at our hotel for the evening.  It was a very cute little hotel with a gorgeous balcony view of the little Greek garden outside and the beautiful mountain scene of Greece :).  We actually got to watch a little tv this day! We stopped a little while on what looked like a Greek soap opera… it was interesting but of course we couldn’t follow it, 1) because it was in Greek and 2) because it was a soap opera :).  Then we flipped the channels and found House :) in English :)...then it went to commercials, which lasted more than 5 min so we continued flipping channels.  We finally came across a CNN in ENGLISH!!! This was basically our first time to catch the news since we left for this amazing trip so we were excited!!!  After a great dinner in the hotel’s lounge, we went back up and got ready for bed and since we had free wifi I logged on and actually got to talk to my sister, Alice, over Skype!! I was sooo happy to hear from her :) :) :) Then we fell asleep watching tv!

The next day I woke up excited! We were going to visit the ancient Olympic stadiums of Greece!! One thing that slowed us down was a girl on our trip who lost her passport. I would never suggest doing that!!! It’s a hassle! But when we actually got to the site it was so exciting! We were in the presence of such rich history :)!  The site was a sanctuary of buildings associated with the games and was also an area to worship the Gods.  Our guide gave us a great run down of the history and a few more myths :) then we headed in! Our first site was the ruins of the wrestling arena followed by the “hotels” of the time.   We walked along the Sanctuary of Zeus and, of course, the Olympic stadium!!! It was basically a large field surrounded by stones.  There was a starting line for runners and a number of us lined up to compete in an “official” Olympic race :) …I got 3rd runner up… I thought it was pretty good in a competition against boys :) After we were awarded and had taken our Olympic photos, we headed to the Archaeological Museum of Olympia where all the artifacts and statues were preserved :) it was fantastic!!!!!  That basically wrapped up our amazing visit to Olympia as we headed back to Athens to board the ship.  This was a fantastic country! I loved Greece!!  Our next country is Bulgaria, the replacement of Egypt… I have optimistic thoughts about Bulgaria. I think it will be better than what everyone is expecting. Ok then, I'm out!

Sea yah latter,

Jenni Kraft

Typed on my iTouch

Istanbul, Turkey!!!

Istanbul, Turkey!

Nope, not the animal! The COUNTRY!!! Our first day began with a presentation from a Bologna Expert, Dr. Burak! WHAT?!! You don’t know what the Bologna Process is???!!!  Well that’s ok, neither did I before I started studying international higher education on this voyage. In (very) brief, it is the higher education program that began in 1999 that is followed by a 47 European countries!  The program is designed to promote employability, create comparable degrees, facilitate mobility, and increase competitiveness as a student.   My favorite objective of the program (as highlighted) is the fact that the involved parties value offering their students a simple way to become a global citizen by studying somewhere outside of their home country!  This mostly shocks me because the US complicates the transfer process so much that it is difficult to study outside of the states, let alone another country!  I whole heartedly believe that the US needs to learn something from this Bologna Process, especially because we are now falling behind in education in comparison to many others around the world! …ok so enough rallying for a Bologna Process (if you’re interested you will have to come talk to me latter… or look it up… it’s fascinating)!  He was a really great presenter and really gave us a chance to pick his brain on the process that we had been studying… but eventually we wanted to hoop off the ship to explore Turkey!!

We were told that we had an excellent location for the ship this time but we had no idea we would be this close to EVERYTHING! It was fantastic! Of course our first stop was to the ATMs to pick up money… but I don’t like the exchange rate and I found the Western Union bank right next to them and popped in to exchange for free :D I love saving $ especially this late into the trip! Then it was time to explore!  Of course we also had a mission in our exploration… which was to find a Turkish Bath!  We first crossed the Galata Bridge.   Only half way through the bridge we had already been stopped about 8 times by the little restaurants on the lower level of the bridge to join them for dinner… we decided that we would be walking the top half more often!  Here (2^nd level) there were a few mindful venders selling sunglasses and water… other than that, about 100 guys fishing off the railings… I wanted to borrow one and fish for a bit, but thinking back… I can’t really think of any of them that caught a good size fish… Any how, we continued on and of course the first building we see is a Mosque! The winding walk way did not allow us to go straight to it though so that would be an adventure for another time. Onward we went up and down the winding and narrow roads of Istanbul and, as we were warned, we found ourselves lost!  With no plans for the day and no huge rush for anything in particular… we got a little more lost and just enjoyed the scenery and people J!  This country was a bit different language wise because, unless they worked with tourists (and even then…) they didn’t know very much English… try asking for directions or just figuring out where you are without words!!! Eventually, we just kept wondering and found ourselves in what looked like some sort of market area.  I looked down at one point and saw this weird backpack… kind of shaped like an L with the shoulder straps on the tail end ( L <-this side) that didn’t make since to me… but when I saw a guy with it on his back… and the hugemungus box (probably with items for his shop) I noticed that it was used as a support mechanism to help them lug large items around.  Like I’ve mentioned already, the roads are narrow and windy and you can’t get a car through them… so it has to be people!  After seeing these little guys with their massive boxes work hard to get to work we discovered that we had made it to a main road! Basically we walked a block and stumbled upon one of the most famous Hamams (Baths). Relieved we went in and checked it out! It looked great! After finding it we just wanted to explore some more and did a little price shopping for random things around the area.

Eventually it was dinner time and after seeing the prices on the main street, we all decided to go up an ally to find something cheaper.   We were very happy to come across a quaint little restaurant. We were warmly welcomed (unlike the others who just insisted we sit) into their restaurant!  The food was DELICIOUS!!! I had a traditional meatball smothered in some yummy sauce! At the end of our meal our wonderful waiter, Fehmi, asked us if we had tried traditional Turkish Tea. Of course none of us had and he brought us out a free round J It was really good! He was soo sweet!! He even offered for us to come back later for Naglina (hookah), but we wanted to head out to check out more of Istanbul.  After Tiana got our waiters number J we headed out and explored more!

Eventually we found ourselves in Sultan Ahamet Square… right in the middle of the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia! By this time it was already getting pretty late and the sky was a lit but dark blue and with the Hagia Sophia lit and the wonderful waterfall in front the view was just beautiful!!! We all decided that we needed to return but that mosques were for another day J  We continued on to find a “Water Closet” or WC… or as y’all know it restroom!  In most of these countries, they are not too common AND you have to pay!! …oh and it’s always good to bring toilet paper! Any how we found one next to a hookah place and decided to stay there… where we all tried some hookah as we enjoyed a performance form a worling  Dervish. Basically, this is a religious dance where the “performers” wear a white gown that covers everything neck down, and a tall brown furry hat.  They spin and spin and spin without falling for a long time and while they spin they are in deep prayer.  I have a lot of respect for them because I would fall for sure… and he didn’t even loose his balance when he stopped! And that wrapped up day one as we headed back to the ship for a good nights sleep!

Ha ha I’m looking at my Blog so far and its already too long J But that’s ok, most of the next days included getting lost again and shopping around.  So the next day all the grad students went out to explore again J we came back for lunch on the ship and joined a few others.  Evan shouted out that if anyone wanted to join him on a trip to Asia for ice cream meet at Tymitz Sqare at 2:30… how funny is it that we are able to say something like that!! “Oh, I’m just going to Asia for ice cream!” I feel SOOOOO privileged!!! I still can’t believe I’m here some times!!  So, I met Evan and Jenn to do just that!  We jumped on a fairy to the other side of Turkey and found ourselves in Asia… except it looked just like the other half of Turkey J Well minus all the tourists! It was nice to just get a feel for a place without getting bombarded! We strolled around looking for this “Chewy” ice cream that supposedly Turkey is known for… I had no idea what they were talking about… but when we found it I surely did! Their ice cream was like a texture combination of taffy and ice cream!! I loved it!! Mmm I want more right now!!! Yum!! After some people watching and relaxing we headed back to the ship for dinner (meals on the ship are already paid for… so we save money by eating on the ship).  Jenn was exhausted for the day and still had a trip but offered to give it to me! So for the evening I got to go on a walking tour of Istanbul!

Our first stop was to experience the “Call to Prayer” in the courtyard of the “New Mosque” (built in 1600’s). It was amazing! I hope one day you can all take time to just listen to a call to prayer! After the call, we actually took off our shoes and wrapped up (women had to cover their legs shoulders, and hair. We walked in and kneeled in the back where the tourist section was.  All the men would pray in the middle.  Standing and bending and kneeling and into a fetal position then back up and down again as a group at first then separately! All the women would pray in the very back behind a fences wall so the men would not be distracted. The whole process was beautiful!!! We left in a different state of mind J then boarded the bus to another little part of the town where there were a number of restaurants surrounded by live music, clapping, dancing and laughter!! The next little town was Turkcity! This was kinda like our sixth street back in Austin, Tx J The main street for night life!! Then we headed back J

The third day was fantastically relaxing!! We slept in this day and left after lunch for our first (and probably only) Turkish Bath experience!!! I was a bit nervous about this (you will see why) but I thought… I don’t know another opportunity that I will have to do this.

WARNING: this part is a little more personal and some may choose to skip this, join back in where the ** is J

So I went for it! A group of us grad students entered the Cemberlitas Hamami to the right (where the women went).  We were led to our locker room where we all to undress and just wrap in a little towel.  In a traditional bath, you basically get naked and have someone scrub you down! I was sooo happy when the lady actually handed us a little magic bag that contained a pair of black undies that everyone wore!  Wrapped and ready we headed to the bath room where there was a marble slab in the middle. We each found a spot and laid there bare and free absorbing the warmth of the room (it was kinda like a sauna to open your pores I guess).  When the washing lady was ready for us she called in broken English “Lady?!” and we came to be washed.  My lady called me a little baby and thought that I was Turkish J She took my little hand scrubber and scrubbed me down! It was kinda icky because she was getting rid of all the dead skin!! After that she COVERED me in bubbles and washed me J it was nice again because I was all covered and I got a little massage too! In the end of the bubbles she pored water over my head and I felt refreshed. Then led me over to the little sink where she hand washed my hair! MMmmmmm J Loved it! Then I wrapped up and headed to sit in the Jacuzzi for a little while! Once we had a little group together we headed to the little rooms that surrounded the marble slab and pored the cool waters from the sinks over ourselves! It felt amazing because it was soooo hot in there!

**When we were good and ready we headed to the next room to get our oil massage!! Which was sooo nice!!! We all left the bath ouber relaxed and glowing from the experience!!! The remainder of the day was strolling around again.  We made our way back to Sultan Ahamet Square and took some time to really appreciate the Blue Mosque and all its glory!  It’s called the blue mosque because they have the most blue tiles in one building. It was amazing to be able to walk into and experience!  Next we walked around the Hagia Sophia J it was beautiful! Then we headed back to the ship for dinner. I stayed in to save some money and catch up on some work!

The next day were dedicated to walking around and experiencing the Grand Bazaar!! This actually put me out of my comfort zone because I had to barter with the sellers!  I got really uncomfortable but eventually I got a few good deals!! J

The last day I actually got to visit Bahçesehir University and I really appreciated the fact that it was sooo dedicated to being student oriented and giving its students the opportunity to get a global experience!!! I could talk a while on this visit (I already wrote a 5 page paper on it) but I’m already at 3 pages single spaced and I’m sure you’re tired of reading by now J I enjoyed Turkey very much if you could not tell J I hope you enjoyed it from afar! Well Morocco is next! Until then…

Sea yah latter,

~Jenni