I am going to miss a lot about Istanbul (and Turkey in general), and I don't think I could even begin to list everything here. I will try, though, to give you a brief summary:
I will miss the chaos of a city where 15+ million people are packed into very small spaces. I will miss the public transportation, even though sometimes it feels like a good majority of the aforementioned 15+ million people are standing uncomfortably close to you for the hour-long bus ride through gridlocked traffic. I will miss the sound of yelling, as in "BUYRUNBUYRUNBUYRUN" or "SIMIT" or, my personal favorite, "ŞEMSİYEŞEMSİYEŞEMSİYEŞEMSİYE" ("umbrella," repeated over and over whenever it rains). I will miss the peacefulness of the mosques and the sound of the call to prayer as it envelopes the entire city five times each day. I will miss the smell of fish and salt water and that lemon-scented hand cleaner that people are always giving you in restaurants and on long-distance bus trips. I will miss the tanginess of the fresh yogurt and Iskender Kebap, the creaminess of the domates çorbası, and the sticky-sweetness of the baklava. I could probably go on forever about all of the little things I will miss about this city and this country, but perhaps what I will miss the most is actually pretty big. No, not the Superdorm or my single-burner hotplate. What I will miss the most about this place is that ribbon of water that divides the two continents and makes Istanbul such a beautiful and special place: the Bosphorus. It was the first thing that really struck me when I arrived and, five months later, I am still not tired of looking at the turquoise-blue color or steady stream of boats, from tiny fishing dinghies to giant oil tankers. Sitting on a ferry yesterday afternoon, I couldn't help but think that there probably isn't a view of the Bosphorus I don't like; it really is an amazing sight from virtually every angle, whether you're on the open deck of a boat with the wind in your hair and the Istanbul skyline spread out before you or on the top of a hill, the city and water twisting and turning together until they disappear into the distance. I will miss those views.
The view from campus...with snow!
Those are some of the things I'll miss. And that's just counting the things, not the people. To talk about the people would require more space and time than I have. Not to mention the fact that they would be a little more difficult to sum up.
Okay, I suppose I should go and attempt to pack my things (i.e. defy some fairly basic principles of physics). But I will post again (pictures, too!) once I'm back home and adjusted to the snow drifts and frozen ponds. I guess I'm feeling a lot of things right now - sadness, of course, but excitement about going home, too - and I had better stop rambling or I will never make it onto the airplane! So farewell, Turkey, and thanks for a great 5 months. I'll see you again sometime soon!
