Living in Istanbul: Changes in Istanbul

I can't believe another week has passed. I know I sound like a broken record, but I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. Nothing too exciting happened this week. Work has become a bit mundane. My company is going through a transition period and my job has changed slightly. Before this transition period I was extremely busy in the office preparing for job fairs. For two weeks we had American employers come to Turkey to personally interview the students. I really loved working at the job fairs, but they were exhausting. My job was to speak with the students before they met with the employers to make sure they were fully prepared and to pump them up. I really loved working with the students and while most of them now think I am crazy, I think I did a pretty good job of getting them excited for their interviews. What I loved the most about these job fairs is the fact that after the fairs were over I got to go out to eat with the American sponsors. Our dinners were at nicer restaurants in Istanbul that I would have never thought to go to. One night we went to a restaurant that also had a traditional folk night. We got to see belly dancers and other traditional Turkish dances which was really fun. At one point in the night they had pulled everyone from our table up onto the stage. These dinners were a lot of fun and they were a great networking opportunity for me that could potentially lead to jobs when I come home for good.

Now I am employed by an American sponsor company who works with my company. I am continuing to work at the same office; however, instead of interviewing students and leading speaking clubs, I am arranging Skype interviews for my students and I am helping students with the application/visa process. I am no longer allowed to have direct contact with the students in the office so all of my communication is done via email. Some days I have a lot of work to do, but other days I am just sitting at my computer surfing the internet.

The most exciting part of my week was Saturday night. My friends and I were celebrating my roommate's birthday at our apartment. After eating pizza and beer we decided to go out for a bit. This may not have been the brightest decision considering that the protests have started again in Istanbul, and there was a big one Saturday night.

Police men with gas maks

Graffiti on the street

As we walked down the main road, Istiklal, we could see all the destruction the protests had caused. The street was torn up, shop windows were broken, and there was graffiti everywhere. At this point the protests had started to die down, but there were police men and water tanks all over Istiklal. We continued walking until we saw a large group and heard chanting. We realized that this was where the main protest was happening so we decided to go another direction.

Suddenly we realized that a group of people were running away from the group of protesters. We ran with the group realizing only afterwards that police had thrown tear gas and that is what had spurred the running. As we were trying to figure out a way to get to a bar away from the protests we ended up walking into tear gas. We immediately noticed it as we could all feel a burning sensation in our eyes. The thing about tear gas is the more your eyes water, the more intense of a burning sensation you feel. After a few minutes we were able to dry our eyes and the burning began to stop. We ended up getting far away from the protests and drank a beer at a bar close to our house. At the bar everything seemed normal. People were acting as if the protests hadn't happened. I noticed one guy with a beer and a gas mask on. It seems that people have gotten used to the protests here and it doesn't stop them from carrying on with their lives. They know that if there is going to be a protest, they need to bring there gas mask and try to stay clear of the main road.

Seeing the protests and the reactions of the police officers made me feel fortunate that I live in the US. The protests were in response to a new bill that is being passed with regards to internet censorship. For the most part the protestors were not violent; however the police still felt it necessary to use tear gas to break up the protestors when they started shouting. I am glad that I got to see what a protest is like in Turkey because that is something I would not get to experience in the US. Don't worry Mom and Dad I will be steering clear from the rest of the protests from now on.

Destruction on Istiklal

A man cleaning up the road

Istiklal the day after the protests

Now on a lighter note, here are some more pictures from this week! Yesterday my friend and I went on a 5 mile walk by the Bosphorus and here are just a few pictures from our walk.