Journeys!

Above: View of Bursa
Top Row: Bathroom Sign; In our Hotel; Traveling companions with .5 lira coffee!

*I wrote this 3 weeks ago and forgot to post it. oops! Coming soon: Passover post! just wait. its gonna be awesome.*

This weekend I went on an Adventure. Early Saturday morning two friends and I took a ferry from Istanbul to Bursa, about 2 hours south. Complete with over night bags and hopes of an open hotel room, we were ready for a pretty cliche college-tourist weekend. And that is what we got. In the best, and most refreshing way.

The trip rejuvenated my spirit for being abroad and brought to light some of the reasons I have been struggling the last few weeks. The fabulous weather certainly helped.

Bursa was the first capitol of the Ottoman empire until 1402 when the capitol moved to Edirne and later to Istanbul. The city now has a (relatively) modest size of 2.6 million, compared to Istanbul which has between 13 and 17 million, depending on how you count. For comparison's sake, Chicago is about 10 million in the metro area; the Twin Cities have about 3 million.

Band at the meyhane restaurant we ate at. The dude in red
is not part of the band, but IS singing along.

I hadn't quite realized how small and invisible I feel in Istanbul until arriving in Bursa. When we wandered the streets--conspicuous with our backpacks, cameras, tour books, and general lack of shame in those accessories--people stared; people also said hello. One two occasions kind strangers brought us to exciting places we wouldn't have otherwise gone.

First, a German woman living in Bursa walked by while we stood confused outside of a very dead hookah bar and invited us to hear a Turkish rock cover band with her. The band was great. Turkish rock is great. Our new friend Sandy told us how at first, when she arrived, people stared at her and she felt uneasy, but she has found a wonderful group of people who enjoy rock music and bars, whereas most of Bursa is much more conservative. She too started in Istanbul, where she couldn't find work or a close community.

Shopping center built in the early 15th century

The next day, we were strolling away from the Green Mosque and Mehmed I's tomb (one of the most famous landmarks in Bursa) when a store owner beckoned us over and asked if we went to Koc (pronounced Coach) College. We were not the kids he was looking for. Undeterred he introduced himself as the man in charge of the Mosque's restoration process and took us on a small tour of it despite the construction. He knew much more about the symbols and history of the site than we could have gotten from a guide book, and answered lot of other questions about Turkish and Islamic art we had been wondering about all semester. He then brought us tea and escorted us to a restaurant

I share these two stories not just because they are cool (Turkish. Rock. Cover band.) and I want to acknowledge the kindness of these individuals, but also these experiences helped me understand why I felt so refreshed arriving there and hopefully how I can alter my current approach to be more fulfilling.

Travelers with famous Bursan
puppets in the Puppet Museum!

Secret trip to Green Mosque!

It is clear that I will never feel like a local in Istanbul, let alone like I belong. The language barrier is too vast and the map is too confusing to feel like I have a handle on it. The size alone, I feel, is keeping me from getting much beyond the perpetual-tourist stage. Whereas in Bursa I felt welcome and embraced by the city, in Istanbul the feeling is different--not unwelcome, but also not invited in per se.

Similarly, at Bogazici while some students are enthusiastic about reaching out to foreigners, or at least open to it, I can't help but feel like most see our presence as a slight annoyance. One which I completely understand and empathize with; the school shouldn't exist to make students who come for one semester feel comfortable and as a student it would be extremely hard to make the space in my day for the fleeting exchange students.

Fortunately, being in Bursa also reminded me of a few things. As a long term tourist, I should take full advantage of my position; embrace my outsiderness rather than attempt to shun it. With the weather finally improving, I need to get out and really see the sites to their fullest extent. My architecture and urbanism class is definitely inspiring that.

Mehmet I's Tomb

Also, inspired by a "no-shame-study-abroad" approach, I'm trying to throw shyness and fear of awkwardness to the wind; approaching strangers to chat, asking classmates or other random people I meet around campus on friend-dates, going to student clubs just to test them out and hope they are in english. If I'm embracing the temporariness of my time here and my relative invisibility in a city of 15 million, then I can reach farther outside of my comfort zone than I ever would at Macalester.

So I leave this weekend with a clarity I didn't have before--a little more purpose for my time here. I'm, hopefully, no longer trying to fit it into a some narrative it never fit and instead try to put myself in as many new situations and see as many new things as possible. Embrace my ignorant American visitor status as much as possible. Let the touring begin!