Night in Sariyer

After spending the afternoon with all 40 CIEE members in Sariyer for Turkish coffee, a few of us decided to go back to Sariyer later that night to explore and eat dinner in a local place. It was our first time venturing out of campus by ourselves without any help from our mentors. Turns out the public bus transportation system is ridiculously easy and frequent. After arriving to town we wandered the streets, strolled along the Bosphorus, window shopped, and finally stumbled upon a location that suited our desire for something local. There was a little sign pointing into an alley for a cafe which we followed up a few flights of stairs and through a doorway that looked like it could have been the entrance to a home but when we went inside there was Turkish pop music playing and a host ushering us to our seats. The waiters are surprising attendant and helpful. We were all trying our best to use the few words of Turkish we have learned so far but it mostly resulted in us laughing, pointing, and gesturing to express what we wanted to order. We all felt like such noobs whipping out our Turkish phrasebooks and dictionaries trying to translate the menu. After multiple failed attempts we just crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. Which turned out to be great because even though none of meals were what we expected they were delicious to the last bite.

After we finished eating we were checking out the view from the window adjacent to our table and noticed a Kebab Salon and upon further inspection I identified two students I recognized eating inside the salon so we quickly paid our bill and swung over there to say hello. It felt like we already belonged to the town. The experience definitely boosted my confidence in making my way through Istanbul. Afterwards we walked up to a pub to try the national drink Raki which tastes like black licorice and turns from clear to white when mixed with water (which is how the drink is customarily served).