My First Impression

When it was first suggested that I visit Turkey for a study of abroad, I was somewhat taken aback. I had never really considered visiting the Middle East before. Most of this stemmed from misinterpretations and misunderstandings about a country that I hardly knew anything about. When you focus on one area of the world too little in your studies, sometimes you find yourself caught up in the Western media's portrayal of things. Turkey for me was just another factitious Middle Eastern country at odds with the world.

Nevertheless, even though I might have carried a little media-biased baggage, I did have some general knowledge of the country I was preparing to visit. I knew that Turkey was closely allied with the West and was a member of NATO. I knew that Turkey had not been as supportive of some of the Bush regime's policies regarding the Iraq War, but still was considered our friend. I knew that Turkey had close relations with the rest of Europe, and was developing, until the economic downturn, fairly steadily (even though they had a slump I believe in the late 1990s... I might have that fact incorrect).

My first impression upon landing in Istanbul at Ataturk Airport was astounding. Immediately I found Turks more than willing to help my fellow traveling partner and I sort out our first missed hotel pickup. One of the police officers at the airport took us to a comfortable location and watched for our ride to arrive.

One of my funnier moments was at the airport when I could not figure out how to flush the toilet and soaked all of my clothes with the bade when I accidentally turned it on full throttle thinking that where was the flush control was. I had to drip all the way back down the airport back to my luggage to grab a change of clothes. Needless to say, it was quite humorous after traveling for nearly a day to get to Turkey.

Ultimately, everything was resolved and our ride got there to take us to our hotel for one of a few nights in Sultanahmet. After having recently having visited Haiti for the second time, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the only country I have visited overseas, I could not have been more astounded by how well developed Istanbul was. I guess when you have only witnessed the two extremes of the spectrum it can jade your view as a Westerner.

As we drove to our hotel I witnessed a vibrant city that I could not wait to explore and embrace. I saw palace walls and turrets of the mosques in the background (of course it was night and they might have been something else). Istanbul looked like any large, cosmopolitan, well-developed American city that I had ever visited. I guess my first impression defied all previous expectations.

Nonetheless, after arriving at the hotel I discovered quite quickly that for as Western as Turkey might initially have appeared, there definitely were strong Eastern traditions waiting to be discovered. Everything from how our hotel rooms were decorated to the city we started roaming around that night hinted at what we would soon discover.