7.12.09

7.12.09
Bonjour tout le monde! So, as you all know, I flew Air France and it – was- GLORIOUS! French for 5 million hours? Yes, please! Yet, even bright, sunny, French-filled days can burn you. ☹ I just HAD to get the horrible, the terrible, the dreaded and the feared…Middle Seat. Now, THAT was not enjoyable. It would’ve been really difficult for the old Kelly to fall asleep, but the new and improved (in the area of successfully sleep depriving myself) college-surviving Kelly fell asleep within minutes. Yes, with my head bending awkwardly and flopping about, struggling to nestle in a comfortable position within my centimeters-wide domain…oh, ‘twas an experience. I didn’t move out of my seat for 10 hours. The whole time, I kept thinking, “Oh my lemon, what if I get a not-so-fata-but-still-painful leg cramp like Alan Priester or…A BLOOD CLOT?!” And yet, I still didn’t move. I think I probably fell asleep every time I woke up to think about it. Haha! I watched Friends, Sex & the City, 17 Again, and this one French movie I’ve been wanting to watch, Coco Avant Chanel. I noticed a recurring theme as I watched these bore-busters: they all had something to do with France. The two Friends episodes were The One Where Joey Speaks French and the one where Rachel gets a job in Paris. In the Sex & the City episode, Carrie’s book started to sell in France and she even spoke a little French herself (though it was painfully American *spit). ☺ Hmm, I wonder why they chose those episodes, eh? Well, my flight from Paris to Istanbul was the fastest 4 hr flight of my life! Mainly…because I slept the entire time and even skipped my meal. The lady next to me woke me up and offered me her’s, but I groggily replied with the shaking of the head and the quickly falling back to sleep.
And now, for my most glorious moment of this unnecessary detailed blog:
I – FINALLY- put my French into good use!!! Actually, while I was at Charles De Gaulle airport, I wanted to speak to someone in French, but I totally…um…well…didn’t. Haha! Fail. I kept telling myself, C’mon! Just ask them what time it is! But then I’d reply to myself, Dude! You won’t understand anyway! ☹ But!! But! At the Istanbul airport, I was looking at the Turkish (why the heck isn’t it in English? Everything is in English!) detailed board for what belt to pick up my luggage, and I must’ve looked rather stressed out or lost or like Tien or SOMETHING, but a man stopped and asked me if I needed help and of course, being the knowledgeable and capable person I am…I said yes. He thus replied with! DUN DUN DUN!
“Parlez-vous francais?”
*cue the spotlight
*cue the “ahh” halo sound
*and now cue the confetti and parade of absolute joy!
Yes. I know. I think he was my guardian angel, too. I always knew my guardian angel was French! So I replied with, “Un peu,” which means a little. And then we talked in French the WHOLE TIME! WHOLE TIME! I UNDERSTOOD! OH I UNDERSTOOD! *and here I jump with hands duly raised in the air and mouth stretched in the grossest but sincerest smile ever!
He helped me find my belt number, and as we walked over there, we chatted it up a bit. Hehe. Hehehehe. He asked me if it’s my first time in Istanbul and I told him that I’m here with my school. And he told me that he’s actually a professor at a university in Istanbul! Cool! He asked what I’m studying and I told him archaeology and that I’m staying at a site in the middle of nowhere. Some other chitchat, but ultimately, I felt ridiculously cool. And they all told me French would be pointless! COME TO EUROPE AND I’LL SHOW YOUUUU! *spit. ☺

Now I’m sitting at a café as Serena is trying to find the last person to arrive. Then we’re gonna go eat dinner in town. Yeee!
[continuation]
Wow! Istanbul is way “chic-er” than I thought it would be. The straights are a cross between Europe and Asia…which makes sense, I suppose. Haha. It’s so exciting to be at such a historical place! On the way to the hotel, we crossed this Byzantine castle wall….WHICH MEANS THAT WE JUST FRICKEN CROSSED INTO WHAT USED TO BE CONSTANTINOPLE! *swoon oh my damn. Then we crossed an ancient Roman acquaduct. Could this place BE any cooler? ☺ We ate on a terrace at this one pub and my food turned out to be such a let down. ☹ Since it was a pub, it had pub food…mine was basically dry chicken fingers. Woe. Afterwards, we just roamed the streets. Highlight of the night: some delicious gelato that rivals that of Italy’s!
Now I’m back at the hotel and pooped from my lengthy journey. Tomorrow, we’re going to see all the sites like the Aya Sophia (prompted by Prof. Trimble as “a place to see before you die!”) and such. We’re gonna take a 14 hour train ride to Konya, the closest town to Catalhoyuk. The train ride is supposed to be pretty sweet though—it has beds and everything. Yuhyeah.
Until next time!