Arrived Safe and Sound!

 Just a quick update.  We have all arrived safe and sound in Istanbul!  Everyone is checked in to the hotel and hopefully getting some rest.  More tomorrow!

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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 12: Urgup

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Our morning started bright and early at 4:30am for a sunrise hot air balloon ride! We drove through the city to the balloon valley; a place full of people just like us waiting in anticipation for the ride. We watched our jackrabbit blue and yellow ballon blow up before climbing in. As we dipped between the valleys of Kapadokya we watched the sun rise over the horizon admiring the view with the other hundreds of balloons around us also on a morning ride. We had a smooth landing followed by cherry mimosas to celebrate a successful flight. After that it was back to the hotel for breakfast. After a quick moment of rest we meet the students from Kapadokya University who will be traveling with us throughout our time here. They are all students in the English Language and Literature Department and will be helping to translate on the excursions. We started our day of touring with a bus tour of the Castle of Cappadocia and The Red Valley. The Castle is the tallest rock structure in the area and...
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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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