Anecdotes

Alhamdulillah, so far so good this week. I'm a bit busy between work and essays, but thought I would share a few pics and anecdotes.

I went to a Chicago GSB information session this evening. The room was mostly Turkish people, although the presenter was American. There was one other American and one British guy. It was at the Moevenpick hotel in Levent 4, so I took the Metro up. Chicago seems neat, although not as many research opportunities as I would have liked. There are only two Chicago alumni in Istanbul, so I will probably interview with one of them if I reach that stage in sha Allah.

Last week, I was walking back home when I saw a couple dogs walking around. I moved to the side a bit so I could walk around them, when one, two, three more popped out from behind some debris! I guess they were having a pow wow or something. Needless to say, I went around the whole block and came home from the other side. I thought I was moving to the area with fewer dogs! I guess they move around...

As I've stated, my policy is generally to assume that whatever is on the menu at US chains in Turkey is good to eat, especially if they've been offering iftar specials. However, you can't be too careful. Therefore, I've contacted a bunch of chains to see what the status is in Turkey. I'll let you know once I hear back in sha Allah. Popeye's is already in - good to go!

The YTL has been cratering agains the USD - I get 1.6 YTL for each dollar now. I'm not sure how long this resurgent dollar can last. In sha Allah, I will change more money soon.

I paid the rent on Monday. I guess rent and other utilities all get paid at various banks. You can pretty much go to any bank and pay your bills. It is wierd how that works here. I got my electric, gas, and water bills - YTL 18.2 for electric, YTL 6 for gas, and YTL 20 for water for the first month. I think that is pretty much the main bills. There is also a TV bill that pre-dates me, so I will ignore it, especially since the TV hardly works.

Here are some pics:

The inside of Konyali mosque.

Me and Memo (the store probably thought I was crazy for coming in, taking this shot, and leaving).

Apparently, some people drive Yugos still here.

They will drive Cherys soon too.

They say Bursa is the Detroit of Turkey. I couldn't really see it until I saw this (supposedly a branch of Turkey's leading bank.