Second week down, things are picking up!

I just finished up my second week of class and things are going well. The first week was used primarily for administrative purposes and sorting out the kinks. There was a small snafu with registering for the entry level Turkish class, however that is all sorted out and I am set for the next few months. Although I have only had one real Anatolian Civilization class, I believe it might be my favorite. The class itself is very diverse; Turkish, Greek, and Americans. The discussions are engaging, enlightening, and revealing about differences in education/cultural views. The other three classes are progressing nicely as well. I am now learned in the Greek alphabet and am working on sounding out words. This past Friday was quite the remarkable day. I crashed a field trip of another class to Yenikapi, had lunch in the professors cafe, listened to 20 odd fellowship project descriptions and had a great, low-key nights with friends. Yenikapi is an archeological site that was discovered in the digging of a metro tunnel. When a wall dating back to the time of Constantine was uncovered, construction was halted and rescue excavation ensued. The site has been identified as the Byzantine Harbor of Theodosius. There are two stone piers, dozens of wooden ones, 36 shipwrecks, countless (literally) pottery shards, bones, and artifacts (the have already processed 250,000 crates and are currently working on 40,000 crates, and that doesn't include the piles of crates left at the site). Well they dug a little deeper and discovered neolithic foot prints and an ancient fishing village. Looks like this chunk of land has been inhabited for quite some time. There is pressure to wrap up the excavation so all of the ships have been removed and the dig area is dotted with canes and modern construction equipment. Quite interesting. Apologies for the lack of pictures- they were not allowed-but Google images has quite a few. To top of the week, I managed to touch base with the Koç rowing team. After introducing myself I was invited to join them for practice anytime. I made sure that the day that I practiced with the team was a day that was spent on the water. Well that morning was this morning! I woke at 6:30 and was picked up outside the apartment at 7. We arrived to the boat house on the Golden Horn around 8 and were on the water around 9. I rowed a double with another woman who was not a part of the team- she was an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering. We got our rhythm pretty quickly and were both surprised how natural it felt (She had not rowed for 10 years, I for 3). Below are images of my neighborhood and apartment. I live on the first floor of the dark green building, directly above the Taksi stand. And yes there is construction everywhere. Here are some other local shots.