About me
As the title suggests, this is a chronicle of my changing times. I currently live Arlington, Virginia and I go to graduate school at ESIA at GWU. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Haskovo, Bulgaria. Now I'm what's called a RPCV. I see this as an open diary of where I was, where I am and of course where I hope to go. It's a record of the daily trials, tribulations, successes and distractions of my journey. I hope you enjoy it. Welcome to a slice of my world. I'm also obliged to say that this is not an official Peace Corps website and the views and information presented here are my own and do not represent official Peace Corps views.
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Istanbul...
It seems like I post more often when I'm traveling. This time it's from Istanbul, Turkey. I'm here with my friend Pauna to celebrate our birthday's - mine being this Sunday. I'd heard a lot about Istanbul from fellow PCV's who'd traveled here and every one of them loved it. And from what I've seen, I can see why.
The city is a thriving metropolis deep with history and culture. These are all first impressions, since I've been here less than 12 hours, but I'm amazed at just about everything around me. The thing that stands out to me more than anything else is the friendliness of the people here. Waiters smile and say "Please" and "Thank you" like they actually mean it. In BG you're lucky if you get a simple "Good Day" when you sit at a table. Trying to find our Hostel this afternoon, we actually had shopkeepers come out of their shops to point us in the right direction because they saw us looking at a map with our bags. People on the street have overheard our conversations with each other about where to go or what to see and have offered their advice to us unsolicited. At a cafe this afternoon, a waiter saw Pauna looking into her empty cup of Turkish Coffee and offered to give her a free reading of her future.
Thus far, we've really only seen the Hagia Sofia since we were tired from traveling overnight, but it was phenominal to see something I've longed to see for a very long time. I remember reading about the church back in college and saying to myself that I wanted to see it someday. It's now a museum, after being converted from the largest church in the world to a mosque. Both faiths are now represented, which is an interesting blend to say the least.
Well, I'm off to get a late dinner. Hopefully I'll more time in the next few days to post more on this fantasic place.
Posted by: mjmarble at October 20, 2006 20:57 |
link | comments (3)
travel
