Arrived in Denver

 Good afternoon all!  Just landed in Denver.  All students checked in fine.  I will post a bit more shortly!

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Day 1: Istanbul

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          As we adjusted to the time change and our  new  surroundings, the first stop of the morning was  Altinbas University ,   where we enjoyed some coffee for on ly  ₺5  (about $0.30). The campus we visited is a part of  Altinbas  University, which is our host institution. A warm welcome and introduction was then presented from our  generous  hosts ,  followed by a roundtable talk with faculty  and  the  h ead of their International Relations Department . We discussed Turkish politics and foreign policy. A few topics mentioned were issues they had faced in recent years with war in surrounding countries as well as current issues with climate change, migration, and inflation  of the  Turkish  lira .  O ur  gracious  hosts spent the day giving us a tour of some of the local sites like the  Dolmabahce  Palace, which served as the  court for the lat...
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Day 10: Ankara

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Today started with a 9:30 am departure to the Turkish Parliament, known in Turkey as the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. While there, our tour guide walked us through the General Assembly and the areas surrounding, such as the entry point for important politicians and dignitaries, and the wreckage from the 2016 Parliament bombing. We learned about the physical division of the Grand Assembly: elected representatives sit on the floor, dignitaries are situated above and to the left, high ranking military and judiciary personnel view from the upper, right section, and the press sits in the back along with other spectators (see photo below). Parliament has 600 members elected by proportional representation. Perhaps one day I’ll be entering through those tall and shiny doors as a diplomat! Next, we spent time at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk essentially founded the Turkish Republic, and led the Turkish National Movement during the Turkish War of Independence...
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Day 2: Istanbul

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I can’t believe it is only the second day with all that we have seen! We started our morning  taking a bus to Kadir Has University. There we met with Professor Mustafa Ayden who told us  that American and Turkish relations originally started in the Ottoman Empire and how they  have changed and developed. Professor Ayden also explained the history of the campus building, which  has four different levels where the history was left and built on top of. We  were able to see the cistern (an old waterproof receptacle), an old cigarette factory, and museum  that are all part of the campus building.  After a wonderful morning, we set out on foot to go have a meal at a beautiful little restaurant  where Dr. Gonda made a stray cat his friend (or rather the stray made Gonda and his chicken its  friend). Moving along through the city we saw the Bulgarian Iron Church which was the last church built  in the Ottoman Empire. We also saw an Armenian chur...
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