Sorry for the temporary shutdown of my blog everyone! I'm not sure what happened exactly, but all of a sudden I got emails flooding my inbox about my blog not being available to viewers. Thanks guys, it encouraged me to know that people are actually reading it and that they care! Thanks to all of you and to Jorge, who generously helped me out using his cell phone, my blog is back up, although I think it's under review for some unusual activity (not quite sure what that is). Keep reading!

Today was our first full day in Egypt! No pictures from today, but we had quite a lot of fun. I'll try and get pictures from other people in the group and put them up. Woke up at 5:50 thinking it was 6:50 am and almost got into the shower but my roommate woke up and reminded me of the time change, thankfully! Another girl actually got up at that time and showered and got ready, THEN realized it was too early. We had a bunch of time to walk around so we found a cute coffee shop down the street and had muffins and mochas! Mmmm. At 9 we had our orientation for AUC, and we learned about the Arab revolt and all the events leading up to it, as well as the current situation today. We read after class about the protest at the US embassy in Cairo today and although it shook us up a bit, we've been assured that Zamalek is probably the most safe place in Cairo because it is filled with international students, although we still should be careful. We've heard that the Egyptians respect students from abroad. After orientation we were free to roam the island (Zamalek is surrounded by the Nile!) and we found all sorts of shops and fun places to check out later. For lunch we had shaweras, which are sandwiches made by a man on the side of the road who shaves chicken off of a large chunk on a skewer. They were delicious! The streets of Egypt are CRAZY. Cars are parked everywhere, some even on the sidewalk, and you have to do a lot of coordination of looking up to see where you're going, looking down to see the bumps and cracks in the sidewalk, and dodging around cars as well as looking for cars coming your way. It's fun. At 1 pm we had a crash course in Arabic, and it was so overwhelming I thought my head would explode. Too much to learn!
After all of this we took a trip to the grocery store to stock up on Arabic jelly and peanut butter (interesting) for lunches, and then I went for a run in the exercise room. At 7:30 the whole campus put on a party, and it was huge! Everyone from the Zamalek dorms was there, along with students from off-campus apartments and people living at the other AUC campuses. There were twinkling lights, music, and traditional Egyptian food that I don't know the name of. A special show was put on for us as well; a 10-year old Egyptian boy came in with this traditional dress on and started dancing. He would spin and spin for what seemed like fifteen minutes and while doing this he used props. First he had glittery hoops he positioned around his head, then he pulled scarves from his costume and swirled them around. THEN, he started pulling the costume off itself! One layer of his skirt came off and went around his shoulders (creating a two-level skirt display) and then he held it over his head. Then the second layer of skirt came off and a smaller skirt was underneath. He would spin it and do all sorts of tricks with it. I was amazed. After the performance he invited audience members to come try, and they looked ridiculous, only adding to my amazement that a 10-year old had made it look so easy to spin for that long. After he left, they left the music running and all of a sudden everyone was dancing to Egyptian pop songs. It was so funny, and totally different from American dancing, especially since the guys were the ones being goofy and wanting the spotlight when usually American guys are shy on the dance floor. These Egyptians didn't hold anything back and they were hilarious. We all danced for a while and then everyone trickled on up to bed. What a night!

Salam wa aleikum! Peace be upon you.
I googled that. It's the traditional way to say hello in Arabic, according to the internet. But tomorrow I'll be getting a crash course in Arabic so I'll let you know if that's correct! We arrived in Egypt today at about 3:00 pm, and the view from the plane was an exaggerated version of what I had been expecting. I was thinking there would be sand, but not THIS much. The whole city of Heliopolis (where the airport is) is full of it! I even thought we were going to land on the sand for a bit because I didn't see the tarmac at first. It was scary. We took a bus through the city and on to the American University of Cairo, which is in the Zamalek area (it's a pretty safe area, so don't worry). On the way I saw some pretty tough sights from the highway. The road went above the buildings sometimes so we were looking down at the tops of them, and there was so much trash and junk on every building, it was overwhelming. Someone asked if these buildings were deserted, that's how run-down they were. But then we saw people on the top doing their laundry amidst the trash, and they looked up at us and all of a sudden all I could think of was how we looked: Americans riding by in a high-class bus, taking pictures and looking pretty wealthy compared to them. It was a sad feeling. I think it's a good thing for me to see these things though; one of my goals this trip was to MAKE myself see things that are tough to look at because sometimes I feel that I'm in the American bubble and I haven't realized what much of the world is living like. I feel very blessed to live in the US after today.
Anyway, we got to the AU and unloaded our stuff. Our dorm rooms are HUGE, much bigger than any St. Olaf dorm room, and it was nice to unpack all of my stuff instead of living out of a suitcase. After unpacking we went on the hunt for some food and found a cute deli down the road that delivers food for free (good to know for later). My whole meal (which was a Mocha frappe and an omelette, as well as splitting a piece of cake) was 32 Egyptian pounds, which averages out to about $5.30 US dollars. Nice deal, huh? We were so excited about it. After dinner we ventured back and had a mini-orientation session with an RA from the campus. There are about 100 international students here right now and I'm excited to meet all of them! They're throwing a party for us tomorrow night with an Egyptian theme, so that should be fun. They all kind of stared at us though and everyone knows we're the newbies on campus. OH, and the rules are very strict here. There's a point system, and if you get up to 7 points for violations you are EXPELLED. These points come from things like not leaving the building during a fire alarm, public displays of affection, swearing or wearing inappropriate clothing, being loud, playing cards, drug usage, drunken behavior, etc. So I can't hold hands with all those people anymore, darn it! Just kidding.

The trash on top of the buildings

The Nile River! 

We're all pretty tired from a day of travel, and it's quiet hours so we're heading to bed. Hasta la vista! (that's not Arabic, I know. I'll let you know what the Arabic version is tomorrow ;) )

Our last day in Turkey was today, and it was super relaxing! We woke up and crossed over to Asia again, going to a beach on the Black Sea. I know I know, this sounds like something very academic for us to be doing... Don't worry though, our real classes start in Egypt (where we're going tomorrow!) and I will not be as happy of a camper then. You'll see.

The Black Sea was really pretty, but at first it was slightly raining when we got there. We decided to try the water out and it was warmer than the windy air, until it started raining a little harder. Eventually people started telling me that my cheeks were turning a bit blue (which is a first for me, usually it's my lips that turn blue) and so I decided to get out and borrow some sweatshirts. This is when it really started to rain and we had to run for shelter! After a while however, the sun came out and we ate lunch on our towels and played frisbee. I also walked up and down the beach and found some pretty neat shells. Let's cross our fingers that they don't turn to smithereens in my luggage! After the bus ride home, a big group of us walked to a restaurant and ordered pizza pitas. I know, it's not very Turkish, but we were all feeling the need for something a bit more normal after all the things we've tried. Then we went on the hunt for dessert and ended up in a cute dessert shop eating pudding-like chocolate over pudding-like cake. I'm not sure what it was but it was GOOD. After dessert a couple of us had a great game or two of Monopoly Deal and now I'm off to bed! Not a very packed day but a great last day in Turkey, relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

Ahhh, a Sunday in Istanbul. VERY different from a Sunday in America. No one is heading off to church, not even me :( I haven't even SEEN a Christian church nearby. 99% of Turkey is Muslim and their holy day is Friday, so today is just like any other day of the week in this city. This was especially clear to me when we had our second class today. I'm thinking, "class on a Sunday? That's strange!" but we will actually be having our classes with Professor Legler (the St. Olaf prof leading our trip) on Sundays most of the time. Anyway, we had class on the roof of our hotel, sitting on pillows and discussing the book we've read, "Behind the Beautiful Forevers." It talks about life in an Indian slum (and it's non-fiction; a woman actually lived there for 4 years just to chronicle the lives of the people) and it's a great read. I'd totally recommend it. After our two hour class we all headed out to get lunch and then went to the Basilica Cistern, which is one of the most popular sight seeing expeditions in this part of Istanbul. Like everything else, it was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel. The cistern is a gigantic underwater reservoir that was built by a Byzantine emperor in 532 and held 80,000 cubic meters of water that were used in the Byzantine palace and close buildings. There were 20 km of aqueducts built with it too that delivered water to it from another reservoir near the Black Sea. This place was forgotten for a while after it closed and then was rediscovered in the 1500s and opened to the public. It was truly magnificent. You walk underground and are immediately in awe of the towering hodge podge of pillars that were taken from ruins of other buildings when it was built. These pillars hold up domed ceilings high above your head, and you realize you're walking in the spot that used to be filled to the top with water. There is still water in the bottom and carp swimming around creepily. In the back of this immense space there are two columns that are famous for the Medusa heads that are on the bottom, and I took some pictures of those. After this fun tour we went to buy some pants and then to the spice bazaar, which is an overwhelming beehive that smells great. Mounds of spices and teas, as well as dried fruits, were everywhere you looked! After the spice bazaar a friend and I went across the street to a dock with restaurants and ate seafood by the Sea of Marmara. On the roof above us, people were fishing, so we'd see a wriggling fish being reeled in right next to us every once in a while. It was beautiful over there. Afterward, we went out with some friends and then all headed back for an early turn in. Only one more night in Istanbul, and then off to Egypt!

Topkapi Palace, right down the road from our hotel!

The Sea of Marmara from a beautiful terrace at the Topkapi Palace.

The Ottoman Emperor's Lounge pavilion

A perfect example of how many of the walls were so intricately painted at the palace

Hagia Sophia Mosque

The beautiful mosaics at the Hagia Sophia: this one of Jesus and John

Me putting my thumb in the Wishing Pillar-gross!

The Blue Mosque

Blue Scarves to match the Blue Mosque!

Stray dogs are EVERYWHERE

The beehive-esque Grand Bazaar

On the ferry to Bursa!

The Puppet show 

I can't believe it's been three days since my last blog post! Sorry for all of you who actually read this. I'll get you all caught up and put pictures in a separate post because there are a lot. Thursday was quite a day. We woke up nice and early and walked with our tour guide to Topkapi Palace which is right down the road from our hotel. It was nice because we were able to walk everywhere we went that day. The palace is from the Ottoman Empire of the 16th century and is huge and gorgeous. We entered through a courtyard and saw the kitchens (which had about 25 chimneys), the parliamentary building, the emperor's "lounge" pavilion, the treasury, his outdoor throne on which he sat to watch sports, the mosque, and many other small buildings. The gallery alone was fascinating; we saw so many bowls, jugs, and cups that the Ottoman family used that were completely encrusted with rubies, turquoise, jade, emeralds, and pearls--just everyday eating tools. There was also some jewelry and a 82 karat diamond. The mosque had a gallery as well, with some unusual relics--the beard and teeth of the prophet Mohammed, for example, and the supposed rod of Moses (which happened to be painted with real gold). What I loved about the buildings was the paintings on every wall. Each wall was handpainted in such intricate detail or made out of tortoise shell, pearl, and turquoise. Latticed gold gateways were everywhere with Arabic writing in gold on the tops. Lastly we visited the harem of the palace, which was huge (I think it housed 130 concubines at one point) and had it's own pipe system. After lunch, the group walked to the Hagia Sofia Mosque, which recently has tried to become one of the seven Wonders of the World. It was huge and gorgeous, with towering dome ceilings depicting detailed mosaics of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus or just Jesus with a disciple. I believe the mosque may have been used as a Christian church for a while. There was a pillar near the back called the Wishing column that had a hole in it. Supposedly a man with a headache had put his head against this pillar and the headache went away, so from then on if one puts their thumb in the hole and turns their hand a full 360 degrees, they will be healed from their ailment or a wish they make will come true. So of course I tried it out but I was so freaked out by the fact that I was putting my thumb in a place where thousands of other thumbs had been that I forgot to make a wish. Instead I ran for the nearest person with hand sanitizer. After this mosque we walked across the street to the Blue Mosque, which dominates the Istanbul skyline. We took our shoes off and were given shawls because this mosque is still in use. It was a little strange to see tourists in the same place as people who were actually trying to worship. I kept thinking that if people came into my church to take pictures of me praying I would be a little bothered. Outside the mosque we saw the remains of the Hippodrome (an ancient arena for horse carriage racing) and then walked to the Grand Bazaar, which was REALLY bizarre. It's a huge shopping complex that is like a beehive: you walk in and feel like you're outside although you're inside and everywhere you look there are streets leading off in every direction and people inviting you into their shops. Those shopkeepers are relentless, I'm telling you! That night we had a nice dinner and played Mafia as a group on the roof of our hotel.

Yesterday (Friday) we met up with the Term in the Middle East (TIME) students for a lecture on Turkish history. We took a bus over to the University they were staying at in Istanbul and it was really great to see them since I had a few friends in the program. That afternoon a couple of us girls decided to pay for an experience rather than just a material good; we went to a Turkish bath. This is quite the experience! We had to get very comfortable with each other very fast, because all they give you are some underwear and a towel, and then they put you in a huge round room with a marble circle and the towels come off. There are women of every shape and size there and they literally take a layer of skin off of you as they scrub you down. It was the strangest thing but also very fun and well worth the trip. Some of my friends also got oil massages as well. That night we saw a whirling dervish performance, which was a little uncomfortable for me because I got dizzy watching the men spin. It's a Muslim form of worship in which there is a chant and music and men in white dresses spin around for about 8 minutes, then bow a lot and start the whole process over. It was confusing to us students because we didn't really understand all of the symbolic parts of the performance. That night we took a tram to Taksim Square which is the social hot spot of Istanbul. I've never seen that many people in one place in my entire life. The square had streets leading off of it, filled with shops not only at street level but 7 stories up in each building! It seemed like millions of people were there. We found a 7-story dessert restaurant and once we were directed to the 5th floor up a spiral staircase we got our fill of sugar. 

Now to today. Today we met our tour guide again and took a 4-hour bus ride to Bursa, Turkey. This involved crossing the Bosphorus river into the Asian part of Turkey. We had been living in and experiencing the European side of Turkey which is more expensive and more crowded, and it was my first time in Asia! In Bursa we shopped around and ate lunch and then attended a puppet show at a museum there. It was cute and the man was very talented but it was all in Turkish so we didn't really understand. After that we took a 5 hour bus ride home with horrible traffic and then went out to dinner for Devi's birthday! At the restaurant our group was so large that they took us up to the roof, which had the most spectacular view of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. People took so many panoramic pictures up there. At one point in the night everyone thought they were on a movie set, it got pretty magical. First, the waiters brought up sparklers and paraded around the birthday girl singing happy birthday. Then, over the speakers the song "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion came on and we all started singing and talking about the Titanic. Right when the first chorus started, across the town square and by the sea we saw fireworks start up!! It was like they were timed with the epic music, and like they were for Devi's birthday! It was awesome. Then after that, a whole flock of birds flew from above our building and circled around the high dome of the Hagia Sophia like someone had let loose a whole bunch of doves. All during the song. It was a beautiful moment. Now I'm back at the hotel and about to go to sleep. Sorry for the delay but I hope everyone is caught up and satisfied! Pictures will be in the next post. Goodnight and I'll write again soon!