Day 2 in Istanbul: University Visit and the Best Bath Ever! (Wednesday, July 21)

This morning, I woke up and had a rushed breakfast on the ship before jumping on a bus with my Student Affairs at Sea cohort as well as Kathy and Keith to Sabanci University. The cool thing about the trip there is that Sabanci is located on the ASIAN side of Istanbul, so I got to travel over the bridge from Europe to Asia that morning! My first time in Asia! Yay! : )

Anyway, the visit to Sabanci was very interesting. We got to take a tour, talk with the department of International Affairs, and we even got to eat lunch in their student union! Throughout my visit, I was surprised at how much Sabanci University’s campus looked and felt like a university or college in the United States. The campus was located on the outskirts of Istanbul, in a relatively poor area. I did not expect universities with extensive campuses to be so common in Turkey, especially within a city as large as Istanbul. As I learned more about Sabanci, I realized that it seemed similar to a US university not only in terms of appearance, but also in the variety and quality of student services offered. I was interested to find that many students live on campus and are involved in activities and programming. There are over 60 student clubs at Sabanci. In addition, there is a requirement for all students to participate in a civil involvement project which includes 40 hours of work over a period of one year. In terms of academics, there are three faculties (or areas of study): engineering and natural sciences, art and social sciences, and management. Each student begins their Sabanci experience with a standard first year of classes, moves into a faculty during the second year, and then chooses a specialty within that faculty by the end of their second year. This is a really uncommon model in Turkey – usually student dive right into their area of intended study. All of the classes at Sabanci are conducted in English rather than in Turkish despite the fact that about 96% of students are Turkish.

One component to Turkish higher education that I felt was particularly interesting was the process a student goes through in choosing a university to attend. In Turkey, every student who wishes to pursue some form of higher education must take a national exam. Each student chooses between ten different tests that represent a variety of disciplines. For example, if a student is interested in studying science, they will take the 3 national exams associated with science. After taking the exam, the students receive their grades and then rank the programs and schools that they are interested in attending. They will be placed into a school depending on how many points they score on the exam as well as how it matches their ranking. Although this system is perceived as being reliable, fair, and transparent, there may be some negative aspects associated with this kind of college acceptance system. One issue with this process is the rigidity of the system. If a student chooses one academic track and then changes his or her mind later in his or her academic journey, they must begin the entire process again by taking the appropriate exams to be accepted into a different program or institution. I can’t even imagine not being able to change your mind! With my chronic indecisiveness, I’d be a horrible Turkish student, that’s for sure…

Anyway, the ride home from Sabanci University was longer because of all of the traffic in Istanbul, so by the time that we got back to the ship – around 5 PM, we were pretty beat from the long day. Not wanting to waste any time in port, however, we (Amanda, Erin, Greg and I) ate some quick dinner on the ship and then headed out for another exciting (and possibly the most interesting!) adventure yet – the Turkish Bath!

The bath was a completely new experience for me but it actually turned out to be extremely relaxing. First, you go into the changing room they give you and undress. You have to then wrap yourself in this little towel that barely covers what you would like it to cover – although it doesn’t matter much because it comes off pretty much immediately when you get into the bathing area. (Men and women have separate changing and bathing areas, fyi…) After changing, I steamed for a little in the main room – it was toasty in there, but in a pleasantly warm way. I laid out on a big marble table that sits low to the ground. It was crowded when we got there around 8 PM – there were probably close to 15 women on the marble. Because it was so busy, it was pretty noisy as well. The noise wasn’t distracting, though, because it was sort of muted – with the high, domed ceilings, and the water running, and women chatting (it’s a social event, after all)…the noise sort of all ran together and created a dull constant murmur – like you were hearing with earmuffs on. The air was heavy with moisture and each breath I took felt like it was cleansing my lungs. The warmth of the marble was intoxicating and I almost fell asleep in the 20 or so minutes that I was lying there. Then, before I knew it, it was my turn and one of the women bathers came over and scrubbed me down until all of my dead skin came off in gross rolls. (Too much information? Probably…) After about 5 ½ weeks of traveling in the summer heat and sun, it felt so good to exfoliate the layers of grime and dirt…yuck. Next, I headed to the pools – first the hot pool for a few minutes and then the cooler one (which was still the temperature of warm bath-water). Feeling refreshed, I headed to another small room for a warm oil massage –which was fantastic – before resting in the final, cooler room for a while. What a relaxing experience! It’s funny that the lack of clothes didn’t even really matter! It just goes to show how much of your feelings depend on the context of the situation. Honestly, though, I think that if I got a bath like this every week, I would be a different person. Truly. I left the Bath feeling totally mellow and good from the inside out (and a little slippery on the outside, on account of the oil). : ) It was about 11PM (yes the bath was 3 hours long!) so we decided to stay out for a bit. We found a little café on a side street and drank some delicious Turkish tea. The taxi ride back to the ship was uneventful and I drowsily sank into bed around 1 AM feeling calm and peaceful. I envy the people who live here and can experience this anytime they want. Not a bad way to live…not bad at all!