Author Archives: Valentina

June 15, 2012 Dear Yoli, I have no words in my heart or mouth that could possibly express my outrage and grief over what has happened.  The harm to your precious sacred person is vile and inexcusable.  The intended harm … Continue reading →

I’m writing with the view of the beautiful lake that I’m grateful to call home. It’s been eighteen months since I was last here and as I sip a warm cup of tea in this old table that brings back … Continue reading →

Bu ilkbahar tatilinde benim fransiz arkadasim, Bertrand, Istanbul’a geldi, bu bizim Kara Deniz ‘e yolculuğumuz. Once biz Trabzon’a uctuk. Orada universitenin bir yurdunda kaldık. Sonraki gun Sumela Manastırı’na gittik. Sumela Manastırı ormanda buyuk bir dagda. O gece, biz yasli bir koylu kadinin … Continue reading →

Estoy en un bus con musica en árabe a todo volumen, la gente fumando por todos lados. Estoy siguiendo un camino de cabras, visitando monasterios antiguos en el valle sagrado – Qadisha. Estoy comiendo falafel con menta; zatar con tomates y … Continue reading →

Traveling with a group of six girls is a bit of a hassle and a lot of fun: way too many unwanted attentions and just the right amount of gossip to have a blast in another three-day-weekend adventure. This time … Continue reading →

As nice as the Koc campus is, we can all get a little lazy when it comes to taking two buses and a metro to be in Taksim (downtown). So this weekend three other girls and I decided to find … Continue reading →

It’s my third day of class and I ‘m already behind on my readings. I’m sorry 80-pages-of-turkish-history-due-tomorrow, you’ll have to wait until I write a blog post. Classes have been as good as can be expected so far, except for … Continue reading →

I got an email today from my RA and thanks to google translate I could get the overall message. I think it’s a good example of how Turkish grammar is different from English/Spanish/any language I know a bit of… “Welcome … Continue reading →