Day 2 arrives! That morning we split up into two groups based on our projects for later in the semester. I went to the Istanbul Interparish Migrants Progam and heard about the work they're doing there. My group's project is focusing on non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, which includes Greeks, Armenians, Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. This organization we visited is basically a confederation of faith groups that pull their resources together to offer social services to migrants and refugees who are denied or not provided such services by the government. The program offers medical advice, job contacts, soup kitchens, support for recent refugees, and other social services.
We had time then to wander Istiklal, one of the main streets in the city (the Stroget of Istanbul, as our teacher says. It's also a pedestrian street, like Stroget). Most of the shops were uninteresting--stuff I could get in Denmark or the States, albeit in Turkey it's cheaper. I got a big lunch for 9 TL, which is like $6. We walked up to Taksim Square, which is considered one of the city centers.
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| Istiklal Caddesi, the pedestrian street in Istanbul |
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| Tram going up to Taksim Square |
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| Taksim Square, but it's more like a series of confusing intersections than a square. This is where all of the major demonstrations in the city are held. |
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| Monument at Taksim Square |
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| Delicious food! Just walking by these kinds of stores made me hungry. |
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| A lot of the streets in the city are built on hills. Apparently Istanbul was built on 7 hills--like Rome! |
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| We walked along the water for a few minutes to get to the University. The dome near us in a mosque--they're literally everywhere in Istanbul. |
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| View from the walkway, with Dolmabahçe (pronounced like Dolma-bache) Palace on the left. This palace was built as a more European palace, to replace Topkapi Palace (which I went to and will post pictures from). |
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| Everywhere we went, there was a beautiful sea view. Istanbul is surrounded by a lot of water. |
After time on Istiklal, we went to Bahcesehir University and heard a professor speak about Turkish nationalism. It was really cool--she basically said that to be considered a Turkish citizen (by Turkish society, and in practice by the Turkish government, though not explicitly stated) you have to be a Turkish-speaking secular Muslim, which is a very interesting combination, particularly because there are a number of groups in Turkey that don't fit that box for some reason or another.
After the lecture I had to go back to the hotel--I was sick a few days before the trip and was tiring easily with all of the walking we were doing. I had time to get myself together, get dinner, and write this blog post, but I hope that I'll be good to go for the next couple of days!
Istanbul is a really beautiful city, and so old! Our guide was like, "Yea, that's the new section of the city ... the buildings are from the 15th century, that's new for us." I love it here. There's so much to unpack, the city is mysterious and foreign in some ways but familiar in others. Like, the streets with cafes look like something you'd see in Italy or Greece, but the Turkish language and the bright-red Turkish flag are definitely markers that "You're not in Kansas (or Europe) anymore!"
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