Life in this fair city

So life here in Istanbul has been fairly quiet since my last post; I suppose that's what happens when I update more frequently than every 2 weeks. On Thursday, I was supposed to go to a hamam with friends, but I've been kind of sick most of this week, so we postponed that til next Monday or Tuesday. I've been looking forward to going to a hamam again ever since learning I was coming back to Turkey: it is such an amazing and relaxing experience, and you feel so clean afterward, as if you'd traded in your old skin for a fresh one. Mmmmmm, it's nice... I think we're going to a touristy one this week, and I'll be interested to see how the experience compares to my fondly-remembered neighborhood hamams back in Ankara. I've heard some of the tourist ones require you to wear swimsuits, which would be very different.

Friday was my roommate's birthday, so we celebrated with cake in our room before heading out dancing. I should say rather, before everyone else headed out dancing: I was a little light-headed/passing out-ish, which was like a party only not, so I just made an appearance at the cake part and went to bed, hoping to feel better enough this morning to go to Bursa for a daytrip with Robin and Abby. Sadly, I was not quite up to that, so I slept in this morning and will have to get to Bursa sometime later. I need to get there, as Bursa is famous for its bathtowels and I am currently towelless. Anyway, instead of day-tripping, I had a leisurely morning and then headed over to Cat's (the other Fulbrighter) in the afternoon, as she was also sick, for a convalescing party. It was pretty much exactly what I needed: we had a late lunch of healthy vegetarian food, did some studying while watching my sick-day movie of choice, Pride and Prejudice, and chatted/gossiped/planned/commiserated. She's trying to convince me to do a 10k run in late August (it's called The Human Race, which is reason enough to do it right there), but I am pretty sure I am not yet at that stage in my feeble attempts to become a legit jogger. We'll see.

After returning from Cat's, I did a little more studying before indulging myself with a little American comfort food by ordering in an asian chicken wrap and a smoothie. They were wonderful, even if I do feel a little bad for not having real Turkish cuisine. I do feel all better, so I think tomorrow will consist of studying at Starbucks with a roommate and a friend, and doing a little waterfront exploring as a study break. Then, next week will bring the hamam early in the week and inshallah a daytrip to Edirne next Saturday, where Sinan's greatest mosque is located.

Next week should be just fascinating here, politically: the judge in the case to shut down the AK Parti begins considering the case on Monday, which means the verdict could come as early as Tuesday or Wednesday. If the verdict is to close the party, as it is pretty widely expected to be, it will make my research kind of interesting, and at a wider level will make Turkey very interesting, as they'll have to call new elections and many current politicians will be ineligible for office. The AK Parti members will have to re-form as a new party, which may not be as popular as AKP, so it could be a real power shift. Also, given the whole Ergenekon affair (a shadowy group apparently dedicated to effecting a coup, in the name of Kemalism; lots of arrests of supposed members have been carried out in the past few weeks), civil unrest and even a coup might not be unexpected. Kind of makes me wish I was already in Ankara...

On that note, I'll leave off til next time,
-R