First day????

This is the backyard of my host university. Deniz cok guzel! The cement retaining wall that runs parallel to the sea. The sun is shining melting the snow storm away! I can go out to the boardwalk on my breaks, drink tea and watch the boats pass. I love the view of old and new, 2,000 yr. old minarets surrounded by brightly colored apartment buldings. This city is packed! Today is my first day out and around by myself with out my helpful knight in shining armor. So much easier the second time around.















An interesting thing about Turkish schools from grade school up until university is this cafeteria lunch served on the metal trays. For some reason I really like the metal trays, the sound, the cold and reusable? The meal is between 1 and 1.50 liras per day. Yes it's not gourmet but when you are a broke student it is hot and quite balanced. It usually consists of some starch, (rice or noodles), some sort of stew with a flavoring of meat, maybe a soup, and a dessert item(fruit or Turkish honey soaked sweets), a water and of course bread! The accompanied silverware is a fork and a big spoon. I also like the big spoon...no knife normally.














This is one of the many friends that visit our campus. They come and go from the canteen, as you can imagine more visit during lunch hour. There are tons of stray cats and dogs in Turkey. Bob Barker needs to visit and promote, "don't forget to spay and neuter your cats and dogs." No really i need to research this more...