Traveling and Getting Settled

Well, I made it. Not necessarily smooth traveling, but I can't complain too much. United flight 5982 was delayed 2 hours from Fort Wayne, so instead of arriving at Chicago O'Hare at 7:37, I arrived at 9:45pm for my 10:20pm international departure. This involved me deplaning, running to the train, impatiently waiting for the train to take me to the International Terminal at ORD, sprinting to the ticket counter, cutting to the front of the security line, and running to board the plane at 10:17pm. Turns out there were about 25 people also late, so they held the plane, but it was pretty nervewracking at the time. The biggest inconvenience in this is that my checked bag did not make the connection, and should *hopefully* be arriving tonight on the next flight in from Chicago.

After landing at Ataturk Istanbul International airport, visa and customs checks went smoothly, followed by the bus ride into the city to our hotel. On the way we witnessed a taxi driver fight in the middle of the highway which had traffic backed up about a kilometer.



Above is just a typical street in Istanbul, shot from our bus on the way into town. Shortly after, we arrived at our hotel, a very small one of just about 18 rooms. It has a very small lobby, 3 rooms per floor, and about 6 floors. It's on a very narrow one way street off the main drag in Istanbul.



View down the street from our hotel entrance. The quick snap I took of our hotel came out blurry last night. Following check-in, we went exploring down the popular hang-out street, passing many shops, restaurants, street performers, street vendors, anything a large city would have. The street vendors either sell a type of roasted nut, or kebabs and ice cream. For some reason, the kebabs and ice cream are always sold at the same location.

We searched for a foreign currency exchange shop, but all were closed since it was about 10pm local time. We found a restaurant that would accept dollars and credit cards. I took my first delve into Turkish food, and I don't think I will be losing too much weight while I'm over here. Had a purple salad with olive oil and vinegar as dressing, bread, and a nice slab of Sultahnamet beef with rice. More exploration into cuisine will come as I get more comfortable.

My daily schedule will consist of breakfast, class from 10am-1pm, and the rest of the day is mine to explore, do homework, whatever. Keep an eye out for more updates!

Ryan