My Istanbul

Merhaba!  Welcome to my Istanbul.  I finally arrived in my new home last Tuesday and am very happily settling in.  For those of you who are not in the know, or perhaps just want a quick refresher, I am here, in this amazing city, as a research fellow for nine months.  Koҫ University (http://www.ku.edu.tr/en) in Istanbul has an institute, the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC).  This institute offers 20 fellowships each year to academics internationally who study aspects of the history, archaeology, and art history of Turkish cultures from the Neolithic to the Ottoman periods (for more on this amazing institute and fellowship opportunity, see http://rcac.ku.edu.tr/rcac/about).   I am here conducting research on my dissertation which, very briefly, examines the use of foundation myths and founding figures in the inscriptions and sculpture from cities in Southwest Turkey (for more on my dissertation, email me).  Because I am living here for a year and because I am here as a researcher and not (primarily) as a tourist, I do have the caveat that the nature of my blog will be changing somewhat from my previous entries on Prague and Berlin.  While I will be sure to include posts and photos of all the amazing sites and things that I do here in Istanbul and around Turkey, I will be also including more thematic posts about my experiences in this wonderful city and as a participant in this fellowship program [with that being said, let me know if you have questions!].  So consider this as the first of my new posts and an introduction to my new life in Istanbul.

[Koҫ University]

So let’s begin.  First off, fly Turkish Airlines—they are fabulous!  The seats are roomy, the planes are super clean, and the food is delicious! 
When I stepped off the plane at the airport, my first thought was ‘home’.  Perhaps it’s because I realized that I was about to unpack somewhere that I would be staying for more than 2 weeks (which hasn’t been the case for 2 months); perhaps, it was because I had fallen in love with this city on my first taxi ride from the airport two years ago.  Who knows really, but it felt really good to be there.  I always describe Istanbul in a series of clichés, most prominently—it is a city where east meets west.  But that is how I know it and that is why I love it.  Nowhere else have I seen so visibly in so many different aspects of life such cultural interaction and blending—it’s in the architecture and the art, the fashion, the music, the food, the customs, the people.  There is something about Istanbul that is like every other city I’ve been to, and no other city is like Istanbul.

I am living in a one bedroom apartment at the RCAC, which just so happens to be on Istiklal Caddesi—the main pedestrian street in Beyoǧlu, which is a popular neighborhood in Istanbul.  This area, just north of the Golden Horn and Sultanahmet (the neighborhood with the Haghia Sophia), is considered the Bohemian center of the city (as Lonely Planet says, “If you miss Beyoǧlu, you haven’t seen Istanbul).  It is thriving, constantly, with bars and restaurants, galleries and shops, street performers, protests, live music.  Up and down Istiklal and its narrow side streets full of street vendors, smokers, and taverns, there are people.  All day, from noon til night, Istiklal pulses with tourists and locals shopping, eating, sightseeing.  It is an incredible street to be on and terribly overwhelming at times, since all this is just outside my window (as well as the windows of the library), but I think I’ll take it as a welcome reward after a successful day of work! 

The Institute itself consists of three recently renovated buildings on a block of Istiklal.  The original building was a turn of the century structure, into which the Koҫ family moved in the 1960s to house their business.  The firm expanded and the other two buildings were added on in the 1970s.  When the Koҫ family made these facilities the home of RCAC, major renovations took place.  Today, the three buildings house both the RCAC and the Netherlands Institute in Turkey.  It consists of a wing of nicely outfitted residential apartments (complete with wireless internet, cable tv, excellent closet space, and a super comfy duvet!), two libraries, offices, a separate study area for the fellows (with study desks and lockers), a few classrooms, an auditorium, a kitchen and dining hall, laundry room, lounge, bar, and a fabulous rooftop terrace with views of the Golden Horn!  Soon to come are a small museum for relevant exhibitions and an alumni restaurant and bar on the top floor.  It’s nice.  Clean lines, glass, maple, simple.  It’s an aesthetically pleasing building to run around in, and do research.  Another bonus is that it brings in speakers and conferences throughout the year (both the RCAC and the Netherlands Institute).  This weekend alone there are two conferences in our building!  One on Achaemenid Persia and another on Imperial Legacies.  There’s a major conference in December on Wine Consumption (I’ll be sure to attend and take lots of “notes”!).  My responsibilities at the institute over the year are fairly limited beyond working on my research project.  I am required to give one informal presentation to my colleagues in the fall summarizing my research and then present at a public mini-symposium in the spring on my topic.  Beyond that, everything is optional, but those options include—dinner Sunday-Thursday, Wednesday teas, weekend field trips to sights around Istanbul and Turkey (determined by a vote of the fellows). So I think I will be taking full advantage of all my opportunities.

[yes, there's another closet around the corner]

[I have the same Ikea dishrack back home; well, Colin has it at least]

[My hallway]

[our rooftop terrace]

[View from our rooftop]

[Dining room and lounge--note the flat screen for watching futball matches!]

[the bar.  Apparently last year, the fellows spent every Saturday here]

I’m just starting to get to know the group of fellows, but thus far everyone seems stupendously pleasant.  I do have to say that, at times, I fell a little bit the outsider; I am the only Romanist, the only American (as of right now—at least one more is coming, and that’s a bit of an exaggeration, a number of the students are going to school in the US—they are just from other countries, mostly Turkey), and perhaps the youngest (?) [it is the case that only a few of us are at the earlier/middle stages of the dissertation, most people need to get done with their project sometime this year].  But in the end, that seems to do little to get in the way of conversations.  The students and professors come from a wide range of places (Canada, England, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Turkey) and have an equally wide range of research interests from the Neolithic period to the late 19^th century.  There does seem to be a slight concentration of Byzantinists and Ottoman-focused scholars.  All the projects sound genuinely interesting and I look forward to discussing progress with everyone—I was very excited when our director mentioned that last year a study group formed to discuss readings on space and place!  I think over the course of the next month or so, I’ll start providing more information on some of the projects that I become more familiar with, but in case you were interested, here and now: http://rcac.ku.edu.tr/fellowships/fellows/current/2011-2012

Well, that’s a fairly in depth introduction to my life in Istanbul—at least the setting.  So here’s a sampling of things that have been going on around here for me (or at least some observations)…

Cats are everywhere and they’re treated well!  I even saw a box of kittens.  It might simply be a matter of time before I sneak one into my apartment. 

Burger King is here and people love it.  [In Prague, my friend told me that people think it counts as a real hamburger because it has grill marks and takes slightly longer to make]

Our laundry room is great to have, but it takes some getting used to.  Turns out those numbers on the knob that I thought were minutes—they’re actually degrees centigrade.  Yeah—three hours later and my laundry was really clean J

The food is amazing!  The RCAC cooks dinner for us every night and it way too much wonderful food (baked chicken, salad, stuffed peppers, and eggplant, fruit and sweets for dessert).  I’ve had street grilled corn, and mussels stuffed with rice.  Not to mention other delicious food at restaurants, but I think food will have to be an entirely separate.

Don’t worry, I found beer.  In fact, I even found a Turkish hefeweizen that is quite satisfying.  Takes me back to summer Saucer HHs.

We have a gym.  I’m going to sign up tomorrow—they have yoga, pilates, spinning, something called Aero Dance and Total Body.  I’m going to put in a request for Zumba!

First field trip—behind the scene-viewing of the Yeni Kapi archaeological project!  5^th century CE shipwreck, here I come!

Don’t worry—I’ve already got soccer plans lined up.  One of our staff members is a huge Fenerbahҫe fan and he will help get us tickets for a game.  Also, it is Koҫ tradition that the fellows play the staff in football pick-up games regularly.  Now I’m just waiting for my cleats to arrive!

Speaking of soccer—saw my first hooligans today as fans of Galatasaray were drinking and singing team songs as they marched down Istiklal.

There’s a guy who walks around Beyoǧlu with two large house plants.  He’s selling them.  And he does it everyday.

I went to a shopping that was five stories!

The subway system is remarkable.  It’s all new (past five years) and is very clean and efficient. 

Finally, we had a great welcoming party on Friday—fabulous buffet, open bar, DJ.  The dancing started off slow, but after some Elvis and a little Shakira, the crowd was on their feet.  It was a good night of dancing!

So with that, I will close my first Istanbul post.  I love this city and it seems like this fellowship will offer me an amazing opportunity to experience life in Istanbul while still making progress on my research and exposing me to new ideas and evidence.  Let’s just say I am quite happy here.  And I look forward to keeping you all up to date!  As always, thanks for reading!