friends new and old

Nur, my office mate and her family

And Yeshim a former student from RIT.

These bright faces have made me very much at home

With their endless generosity, warm laughter

greek chruch

The next day I took my students from the university on a walk, and I took them through Fener. None of the 16 students had ever been to this area just north of the university.

I took them as well to the Greek Church; I told them it was the only place in Istanbul I knew to be silent. They loved the church, the scent of the candles, and the darkness.

Quiet fun to take an Istanbuler to some place they do not know.

fener

It was a rainy afternoon when I took a walk through Fener, a district just to the north of the university running up the golden horn.

Four-years ago I stayed in a small guesthouse across the street from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, a small church surrounded by mosque and a quite conservative Muslim neighborhood. The church is in fact the worldwide headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Church. Note the wire and high walls

Fener is a very old part of the city once a wealthy Greek settlement

It has in the past decades fallen to decay, though lovely architecture.

I learned after my walk and seeing the changes since my visit four years earlier. That the renovations happening have now slowed; the government has stopped the sale of any of these structures to foreigners.

silver lining

Then of course the bright side to the trip to the noter, a new material,

a fluffy web like thick plastic

And it even comes in purple

excuses

14 march

I have been in Istanbul two full weeks now, and yes I have been slow at posting

But here’s an excuse.

The mountain of paper work needed for the educational ministry

And then too the residency police required a trip to a noter?

So, my trip to the noter see the sign in the corner next to the largest scarf store in Istanbul I am told.

The noter,

He seems to have one million stamps and enjoys using them all.

Sorry for the blur, I was told not to take a photo but I could not resist.

I counted 18 stamps; this is a translation of my passport!

Yes for the ministry of education

Galata tower

I live near to the tower.

A Five-minute walk.

I was told that after sunset it was magical to look up

To see the orange stone of the tower against the evening sky

Luminous

the university

The building was a tobacco factory the main buildings of the university are beautiful renovations of the factory buildings with open spaces and yes interior gardens, with birds!

I teach on the fourth floor this is the view from my classroom window looking back to the Galata tower. ( and my neighborhood)

My walk home, I took the Galata bridge, the underside is a pedestrian walk way with restaurants, as I look back at Suleymaniye mosque at sunset, you see the fishing lines from hanging down from the deck above.