İskender ve su! İskender ve su!

This was the first meal I ordered in Turkish. An İskender is a totally AWESOME lamb kebab, and su is "water." I literally said, "İskender and water." I could have spruced it way up by adding "lütfen" (please), but I didn't want to push my luck.

İstanbul is alien to me. You can see the sea of red clay roofs are visible fairly quickly after driving away from Atatürk Airport, with the occasional spire of a mosque poking into the air, like a series of toothpicks dotting the low skyline. I cannot read a single word on a single sign in the whole city. I cannot understand a single word spoken by a single person I encounter. But it's kind of cool that way.

First, because they expect it. I'm blonde. The natural assumption is that I cannot speak Turkish. I have had to remember not to smile if I make eye contact with anyone, especially males...social norms dictate that it isn't quite the friendly innocent gesture it is in the States.

I am staying for three days at Yeditepe Üniversitesi in İstanbul during in-country orientation. They're going to take us out on touristy-type excursions for a couple of days - Hagia Sofia and the like. I haven't slept for thirty-some hours, my legs feel like jelly, but I'm enjoying İskender with some fellow Turkish learners in the student union at Yeditepe, watching the US v. Slovenia match. It is an unbelievably pleasant experience. Pictures soon!