T-minus 3 weeks

First, a quick update about the current situation in Istanbul and Turkey. There are still protests going on, but they are not as strong as they were a few weeks ago. During the week it is much calmer because people have work/internships/school and it gets bad on the weekend because there are many more people out protesting in the streets. At 9pm every night on the dot people start banging on pots and pans, and at that point we know it's 9pm. Erdoğan has made server all speeches on tv and also a couple in front of live crowds of his supporters and he is still not backing down. He hasn't changed anything, and I don't think the protestors will stop until something does change. Erdoğan still has a large percentage of the Turkish people behind him so he isn't alone. In Istanbul it seems that everyone doesn't like him, however that is not the case for all of Turkey.

Last week was a lot of fun because I saw lots of friends and socialized. Monday I went to see The Great Gatsby with my roommate, Ece. It was in English with Turkish subtitles, so although I wasn't really improving my Turkish it was good to watch it in it's original language and understands everything.

Tuesday Ece and I had some of her friends over and we played a huge game of monopoly. Although I did not win, I have to say I stayed in for a while and regardless it was a lot of fun. I went to bed around midnight and apparently they stayed for hours after I fell asleep although I didn't hear anything :P.

Here is a video about what happened at 9pm when everyone was over:

I got my hair cut Thursday and I love it. It has never been this short and I can't exactly put it all up, but it's great! Here is a picture:

Friday for lunch I met up with my friend Chris, who was with me in Izmir last summer, to meet before he left Turkey. It was great seeing him again while we are both here. After work I met up with my friend Turgut who I met last year while he was studying abroad at GW. It was to catch up.

Saturday I slept in and then met up with my friend from high school and we went to a bar where our other friend from high school in Samsun works. I met some new people and it was fun to be out on Saturday night. My friend had to get back to his dorm before the curfew (yes, many Turkish dorms have curfews) and I didn't want to get home too late. Good thing I left when I did because apparently soon after they closed the bridges. One of my friends who had spent the weekend in Izmir was stuck sleeping at the airport because she couldn't get back to the European side.

on the boat going from Beşiktaş on the European side to Kadiköy on the Asian side

European side

Train Station ın Kadiköy

Sunday morning I made a huge pancake breakfast for my roommate and her friends. It was a lot of fun cooking and then eating the pancakes :)

Like I mentioned before, while studying in Samsun I had several Palestinian friends who were studying Turkish too and one of them is currently studying in Istanbul. I met up with him on Sunday after not seeing him for 2 years, since I left Samsun. Again, it was a good thing I left when I did because things got bad again in the city and the police closed some roads and such.

I read in the news that earlier in the week the police shot tear gas canisters into a hotel off of Taksim Square where people were taking refuge. Apparently, the police stormed into a shopping mall on Sunday to find people hiding there good, luckily without the tear gas this time. The scary thing about this is that the mall is a 4 minute walk from where I work. In the square where my bus stop is for work there have been multiple buses and police stationed there since Sunday. Monday morning there were people cleaning up because there was so much trash in the square from the protests on Sunday. I know that it gets bad every weekend, so I am being cautious. It hasn't gotten too bad that we can't go to work, but I was slightly worried on Sunday when I heard this. Luckily things have calmed down again because it is during the week and, like I have mentioned several times before, people have work.

Yesterday I was out with my friend at a cafe/bar in the evening and at 9pm on the dot cheers broke out. I took a video, mostly for sound, that you can watch below.

Although I am really sad to leave Turkey in less than 3 weeks, I am somewhat glad to be back home and out of everything that is going on in Turkey. Although I am safe and I don't think anything truly bad will happen, it has put somewhat of a damper on my summer. I feel bad saying that because I fully support the protesters and I think they are being very brave standing up for what they believe in, but I haven't been able to do everything I had hoped. I am glad that this isn't my first time in Turkey, because I feel bad for the tourists that cannot experience everything to the fullest. At the same time, I am very glad to experience something like this and to see it first hand. It has been a very interesting and educational experience.