I live in Istanbul?

I think it is finally settling in that I am actually living in Turkey. It still seems very surreal and I think by the time I get used to everything it will be time for me to leave. Yesterday at my internship I continued to keep myself occupied by surfing the web. I think one of the guys who works here eventually saw the boredom on my face. He gave me a book to read about the history of Istanbul. I almost finished the 200 page book. It was interesting, but a little tedious to read. After work, the guy I live with, Ilhan showed me around Istanbul. I am going to get lost a lot in this city. It is huge and everything looks the same. We walked around the main streets and then went to the Galata Tower. This tower was built in 1348 and used to be the tallest building in Istanbul/Constantinople. The tower itself is beautiful and quite impressive. At the top of the tower I could see all of Istanbul from the European to the Asian side. Ilhan pointed out every landmark that I needed to see during my stay here. I think I could spend all 3 months just traveling around this city. I took pictures with my iPhone at the tower but none of them do any justice to the beauty of this city.

view from Galata Tower

After the tower we went and got beers at a Heavy Metal Club. It is nice to know that heavy metal is appreciated everywhere. Apparently a lot of people go to this bar because the beer is cheap, and it was. The Turkish beer is called Efes. It was good, not the best thing I have had, but it was very drinkable. After drinks we went home and hung out with our other roommate. It is so nice to go home to someone who speaks English and can understand some of what I am going through. I was telling her about my first day in the office and how difficult it was that I don't speak Turkish. She has been here since March and understood completely. I eventually went to bed and found it difficult to stay asleep. Hopefully I will get used to all the noises. Today I was woken up at exactly 5:30 by the call to worship. Throughout the day there are five call to worships which is pretty cool. I still haven't quite gotten used to them and I'm taken aback every time I hear it.

Today at the office I found out a little more of what I will be doing. Apparently they didn't want to overwhelm me yesterday so that is why I didn't have any work. I did my first interview today. Well it was kind of an interview. I just spoke to someone in English who is interested in doing the WAT (work and travel) program. From what I have gathered I will be conducting Skype interviews with Turkish college students that want to spend their summer break working in the USA. I will assess their English skills and suggest jobs that I think would be appropriate for the amount of English they speak/ their personality. Most of the jobs these students will be working are entry level positions in amusement parks, hotels, and restaurants. I will also lead a speaking club twice a week to help the students with the interview process, and conversational English skills in general. It seems like it will be a lot of work, but I think I will like it. Hopefully next week I will be able to start the interviews.