However, I’m not the only one who is so sentimental about leaving, the whole Leiden crew is sad about it. Therefore Esther suggested to have a real Dutch Pancake Evening together before we all go home. Here are some pictures.
zaterdag 12 juni 2010
Dutch Pancakes
The last few days of living in Istanbul have arrived. It is so weird to realize I will be leaving this city where I have been living in for almost 6 months. At first it was difficult to adjust, but now after so many months it will be really difficult to leave it all behind. Even though I’ll see most of my friends back in Holland it won’t be the same. Because it will be hard to text each other in the middle of the day and meet for a lunch break in Taksim or have a ‘study session’ at Boğaziçi University with one the most beautiful views of Istanbul. Really, these last few weeks especially have been so great. But at least we have this week together before I’ll start my travels to Dalaman, Thessaloniki, Urfa, Mardin and Diyarbakir. Of course I’m looking forward to traveling too, but I wished I could take all my friends with me.
However, I’m not the only one who is so sentimental about leaving, the whole Leiden crew is sad about it. Therefore Esther suggested to have a real Dutch Pancake Evening together before we all go home. Here are some pictures.
However, I’m not the only one who is so sentimental about leaving, the whole Leiden crew is sad about it. Therefore Esther suggested to have a real Dutch Pancake Evening together before we all go home. Here are some pictures.
zondag 23 mei 2010
Misirli Ahmet
Friday night I joined Marina, her flatmate, Gaye and her boyfriend to the concert of Misirli Ahmet. Ahmet is supposed to be a very famous darbuka player in Turkey, he got the name Misirli (= from Egypt) because he went to Egypt to study how to play the darbuka there. Funny enough people in Egypt refer to him as Ahmed el Turki. On youtube you can find video's of him playing two darbuka's at the same time! Since I very much like the darbuka I was curious about him. The concert was good but different than I expected though. It was very jazzy with the combination of a synthesizer (by the way, what is it with Turks and synthesizers, they are everywhere!), two electrical guitars, drums and a clarinet. However in the end Misirli Ahmet and the drummer gave a fantastic show...without the other musicians ;)
Edirne
A couple of weeks ago we went to Edirne to make the visa run to Bulgaria. I realized I haven’t written about it, so even though it’s a month ago I would still like to share it with you. Both Mirjam and me needed to renew our visa so we decided to go to Edirne, and Marina joined us
Once we arrived in Edirne we walked around a bit, ate some delicious and very cheap Edirne döner before we started our adventure. On our way to the dolmuş to Kapikule in Bulgaria we thought it might be wise to check which seats would be available for our way back to Istanbul. We checked the office of the company with which we came; Nilüfer. They informed us that all seats for that day were taken, perhaps we could take the cancelled reservations if we came back at 5 pm. Hmm…a bit worried we took the dolmuş to Kapikule, they leave from the dolmuş station near the city centre. The ride to the border was really nice, slanting hills with beautiful flowers, horses and farmers…the real Turkey to me! After about half an hour we arrived at the border where the dolmuş dropped us off. On foot we continued. We were so lucky that it was a beautiful and quiet day so we didn’t have to wait long in the queue for the first booth. It was so funny we just waited in line between the cars, and the guys at the visa booth looked a bit strange at us. Nevertheless they gave us the stamp and we walked further to the next booth. There it was a little bit more difficult as they started to ask us all sorts of questions, but because we thought it was so funny and were laughing all the time they were just kidding around. Finally we arrived in Bulgaria where we bought an ice cream and walked back to Turkey. Arriving at the booth to buy our visa for Turkey we saw it was the same guy as in the other booth on our way out!! So of course he thought hmm…what’s going on here. So he asked what we did and that we shouldn’t lie to him… So we just said we went to Bulgaria to buy an ice cream and decided to go back to Turkey. It was really funny and luckily he could laugh about the situation too! Then we waited for the dolmuş to pick us up again. So it was really really easy and I think it took us only 1,5 hour back and forth from Edirne.
Back in Edirne we met up with Marina who waited for us there and started to look at other bus companies to check about the return tickets. After asking all the companies in Edirne we found out that all the tickets we sold! The next available tickets were the other day at 2 pm. So we were a bit freaking out! To make a long story short; after we came back to the same office for the third time there was another guy (he seemed like some kind of manager) and after making some calls he arranged us tickets back to Istanbul! Yeah! We were really relieved. So with the tickets in the pocket we could finally enjoy and explore Edirne. And it was worth it! Edirne is such a nice city. It’s not too big, but there are quite a lot of sights to visit and the atmosphere is really good there. Also we were very lucky we came a day before Cocuk Bayrami and could see all sorts of folklore dances, music and parades!
So in the end the visa run wasn’t the tricky part, just make sure you buy return tickets right from the start ;)
Once we arrived in Edirne we walked around a bit, ate some delicious and very cheap Edirne döner before we started our adventure. On our way to the dolmuş to Kapikule in Bulgaria we thought it might be wise to check which seats would be available for our way back to Istanbul. We checked the office of the company with which we came; Nilüfer. They informed us that all seats for that day were taken, perhaps we could take the cancelled reservations if we came back at 5 pm. Hmm…a bit worried we took the dolmuş to Kapikule, they leave from the dolmuş station near the city centre. The ride to the border was really nice, slanting hills with beautiful flowers, horses and farmers…the real Turkey to me! After about half an hour we arrived at the border where the dolmuş dropped us off. On foot we continued. We were so lucky that it was a beautiful and quiet day so we didn’t have to wait long in the queue for the first booth. It was so funny we just waited in line between the cars, and the guys at the visa booth looked a bit strange at us. Nevertheless they gave us the stamp and we walked further to the next booth. There it was a little bit more difficult as they started to ask us all sorts of questions, but because we thought it was so funny and were laughing all the time they were just kidding around. Finally we arrived in Bulgaria where we bought an ice cream and walked back to Turkey. Arriving at the booth to buy our visa for Turkey we saw it was the same guy as in the other booth on our way out!! So of course he thought hmm…what’s going on here. So he asked what we did and that we shouldn’t lie to him… So we just said we went to Bulgaria to buy an ice cream and decided to go back to Turkey. It was really funny and luckily he could laugh about the situation too! Then we waited for the dolmuş to pick us up again. So it was really really easy and I think it took us only 1,5 hour back and forth from Edirne.
Back in Edirne we met up with Marina who waited for us there and started to look at other bus companies to check about the return tickets. After asking all the companies in Edirne we found out that all the tickets we sold! The next available tickets were the other day at 2 pm. So we were a bit freaking out! To make a long story short; after we came back to the same office for the third time there was another guy (he seemed like some kind of manager) and after making some calls he arranged us tickets back to Istanbul! Yeah! We were really relieved. So with the tickets in the pocket we could finally enjoy and explore Edirne. And it was worth it! Edirne is such a nice city. It’s not too big, but there are quite a lot of sights to visit and the atmosphere is really good there. Also we were very lucky we came a day before Cocuk Bayrami and could see all sorts of folklore dances, music and parades!
So in the end the visa run wasn’t the tricky part, just make sure you buy return tickets right from the start ;)
zondag 16 mei 2010
Sister Time
Last week my dearest sweetest sister came to visit me! I really missed her so it was great to be together again. She brought me loads of delicious things from Holland which I missed sooo much. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Especially the ricewaffels and roggebrood were great!! Of course we did some touristic stuff and sight seeing and it was great. It was her first time in Istanbul and I think she has seen most of the highlights now. Also I think I might have completely exhausted her…but I just wanted to show her as much as possible in those couple days. Sorry ;)
Today it’s my parents turn to come and visit me, really looking forward to that too. Even though the thesis stress is rising by the day, it would be good to have a break.
Which by the way leads me to the following. Since I really really want to make the deadline of 15th of June I won’t have a lot of time left to explore Istanbul and share my experiences. I will try to do my best but I guess the coming weeks will just be boring. Or actually I should use a quote by my friend Esther, I think it explains a lot ;) “I love spending my time at home working on my thesis while the sun is shining and the rest of the world is enjoying the good life!”
Today it’s my parents turn to come and visit me, really looking forward to that too. Even though the thesis stress is rising by the day, it would be good to have a break.
Which by the way leads me to the following. Since I really really want to make the deadline of 15th of June I won’t have a lot of time left to explore Istanbul and share my experiences. I will try to do my best but I guess the coming weeks will just be boring. Or actually I should use a quote by my friend Esther, I think it explains a lot ;) “I love spending my time at home working on my thesis while the sun is shining and the rest of the world is enjoying the good life!”
vrijdag 7 mei 2010
Hidrellez Festival
Instead of celebrating Liberation Day on the 5th of May in Holland, we celebrated Hidrellez, the first day of the early summer in Istanbul. It’s a festivity that has been celebrated for many centuries in the Levant and even Mesopotamia. It has been celebrated under various different names, one of them is also the Day of Hızır. Hızır was a prophet who especially during this time of the year would help people in harsh times and would provide them health and prosperity. Besides this it is also believed that all wishes you make on Hidrellez will come true. For this reason there were traditional wish trees all around the festival site. Writing wishes on a piece of paper or a cloth is also an ancient Anatolian tradition which has been practiced by both the Muslim and the Christian population of Anatolia. It was very nice to see this custom being practiced at the Hidrellez festival. And of course for the festival the wish trees were decorated in bright and happy colors.
For us the Hidrellez was about enjoying the wonderful Gypsy music and dance. We were there from the beginning onwards while it was still possible to move around and have an overview of the festival. But when the evening fell it got more crowed and more crowded. On Facebook alone this event was supposed to have almost 16.000 guests!
For us the Hidrellez was about enjoying the wonderful Gypsy music and dance. We were there from the beginning onwards while it was still possible to move around and have an overview of the festival. But when the evening fell it got more crowed and more crowded. On Facebook alone this event was supposed to have almost 16.000 guests!
zaterdag 1 mei 2010
Fairies, Horses and Serenity on Büyükada
How wonderful it was to escape Istanbul's kalabalik and take the ferry to the Princes' Islands. We had a perfect sunny day and were even active enough to take the bike around the island. After I found out that cycling in Istanbul is a whole different experience than cycling through the Dutch landscape, we were wise enough to walk all the way up to the top of the island where you can find the old Greek Monastery, the Orphanage and lots of horses! The surrounding was absolutely stunning.
Oh and almost forgot to mention that there are no cars on the whole island!! People/tourists can be transferred in the old fashioned way; by horse carriages.
Oh and almost forgot to mention that there are no cars on the whole island!! People/tourists can be transferred in the old fashioned way; by horse carriages.
Queens day in Istanbul
Yesterday all the Dutch people in Istanbul celebrated Queensday! It was a really fun evening. There was an all orange music band playing and dancers in cool costumes. At 8.30 pm the fanfare left the Consulate and we all marched, danced and sung down the Istiklal! An orange invasion some Turks would maybe think ;)
dinsdag 20 april 2010
Latin Dance Festival in Boğazıcı
Together with Marina, she studies at Boğzıcı, we went to the Latin Dance Festival at Boğazıcı. I wasn’t really sure what to expect and I was really surprised to see how many students came to this event. Even though the theatre was really big, there were not enough seats for all. So it was all a bit messy and crowded and I thought it might be the same for the dancers… but on the contrary. Almost all of them were really good and it was fantastic to see all those Turkish people dancing the samba, salsa, rumba etc. on such a high level! It was a fantastic show!
Concert in an Armenian Church
Thursday there was a concert in the Üç Horan Ermeni Kilisesi (The Armenian Church of the Three Altars) and together with Sabrina and Hubert we had a wonderful musical evening. There were three youth choirs performing that evening. One from Barcelona, the other from Budapest and the third was from the Armenian church. They were all very very good and I was really impressed by the beautiful songs. Of course the acoustic was absolutely perfect, but the second group treated us with an even more experience of their songs. At one point they spread all over the church, standing all around the church benches and started to sing. This was like a dolby surround sound system and absolutely amazing. Unfortunately my recordings were pretty bad so I can’t share it with you. Nevertheless you can see some pictures.
How to get there: On the Istiklal Cad. you should go to the Çicek Pazari and take the first street: Sahne sk, there the entrance is hidden behind a huge iron door. Just ask one of the shopkeepers on Sahne sk. if you can’t find it.
How to get there: On the Istiklal Cad. you should go to the Çicek Pazari and take the first street: Sahne sk, there the entrance is hidden behind a huge iron door. Just ask one of the shopkeepers on Sahne sk. if you can’t find it.
woensdag 14 april 2010
Summary
As you may have noticed I haven’t written much lately, so now I will just give a short summary of the nice things I did last 2 weeks.
One of the positive parts of being a Dutch exchange student is that you are invited to all sorts of interesting events. Wednesday the 31st of March were very lucky though! We were invited for a Business Cocktail at the Dutch Consulate on Istiklal. For those who know how the building looks like may understand how excited we were to go there. It was a very fun and interesting evening. Some of us did some networking, others just enjoyed the superb snacks and desserts and the good atmosphere. It was really nice to be surrounded with so many Dutch people all of a sudden.
Later that week I joined Marina and her friends who came to visit her for a walk in the old Greek and Jewish neighborhoods; Fener and Balat. We were very lucky it was great weather, I think the nicest day since I’ve been here. For some reason the sun won’t show itself so often…I can’t wait for the weather to be warmer! But anyway our walk to Fener and Balat started with a visit to the Greek Patriarchate all the way up to the Chora Church and other Byzantine churches some turned into mosques, some not.
The first week of April the first guest from Holland arrived. Well not exactly from Holland, let’s just say he’s Dutch but his last stop before Turkey was Georgia and before that…well…he almost traveled the whole world those last 6 months. We did some sightseeing together but unfortunately I also had to study as well, so in the end I could join him 2 days.
In between the walks, visits and studying I really like to spend time at our nice apartment. I’ve been trying lots of new recipes since I came here. And since it was Easter I thought we couldn’t do without a real challah bread. They turned out pretty well if I say so myself…unfortunately I didn’t taste them because I gave them away to friends. At least I have a good excuse to make them again ;)
For pictures scroll down.
One of the positive parts of being a Dutch exchange student is that you are invited to all sorts of interesting events. Wednesday the 31st of March were very lucky though! We were invited for a Business Cocktail at the Dutch Consulate on Istiklal. For those who know how the building looks like may understand how excited we were to go there. It was a very fun and interesting evening. Some of us did some networking, others just enjoyed the superb snacks and desserts and the good atmosphere. It was really nice to be surrounded with so many Dutch people all of a sudden.
Later that week I joined Marina and her friends who came to visit her for a walk in the old Greek and Jewish neighborhoods; Fener and Balat. We were very lucky it was great weather, I think the nicest day since I’ve been here. For some reason the sun won’t show itself so often…I can’t wait for the weather to be warmer! But anyway our walk to Fener and Balat started with a visit to the Greek Patriarchate all the way up to the Chora Church and other Byzantine churches some turned into mosques, some not.
The first week of April the first guest from Holland arrived. Well not exactly from Holland, let’s just say he’s Dutch but his last stop before Turkey was Georgia and before that…well…he almost traveled the whole world those last 6 months. We did some sightseeing together but unfortunately I also had to study as well, so in the end I could join him 2 days.
In between the walks, visits and studying I really like to spend time at our nice apartment. I’ve been trying lots of new recipes since I came here. And since it was Easter I thought we couldn’t do without a real challah bread. They turned out pretty well if I say so myself…unfortunately I didn’t taste them because I gave them away to friends. At least I have a good excuse to make them again ;)
For pictures scroll down.
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