Turkey: A Great Beginning to New Life Experiences Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

We didn't get the experience of taking classes in Turkey from Turkish professors because our own professor from UNI came with and taught our class.

On-site administration of your program

The program seemed very unorganized and still has a lot of things to work on before the next trip. The girls dorm did not have access to any internet so that was hard for communication between the boys and professors on the trip because we also did not have any cell phones and were unable to use the reception's desk phone in the dorm. It was hard communicating and understanding the faculty leader at the university because of the language barrier, we could not communicate effectively with him.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The girls and boys were in seperate dorms and we were not allowed to go in each others and there was no common place for us to hang out. The girls were not able to get internet in our dorm so we had no form of communication except when we were with the other students and professors. The dorms were nice and accomodating.They had a maid service that would vaccuum our room everyday. We had to buy our own toilet paper and change rooms once to have a room with a western bathroom. We had about a 20 minute bus ride to campus and where the professor lived, also about a hour drive from night life activities.

Dining in the dorms only had certain hours so if you weren't back in time for dinner you had to go find your own food somewhere else. The meals were filling but not always the most appetizing and there was no variety. You could only eat what was being served. The cafeteria at Fatih University was good and fairly priced, plus had a variety of food to choose from.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Visiting more than one city was great because you got the chance to see more parts of the country than just one area. The archaeological sites we visited were very cool and interesting to see. The history aspect of Turkey is very attractive and interesting. One night we went to a traditional Turkish event called rolling dervish which looking back was a good experience but at the time the boys and girls had to be seperated so the women went upstairs where no one else spoke english and we didn't know what we were supposed to do and the Turkish women were yelling at us but we didn't know what they were saying. It wasn't till after the show was over was the significance of the dance and show explained to us so we knew what was going on and why we were seperated. It was all over whelming at the time though but great to see the show and experience their important cultural tradition.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Nothing serious happened on the trip to me or any of the people I was with. Prior to leaving for Turkey we had to be kept up with our vaccinations and we also had to take typhoid pills but it was not a serious threat. I felt very safe in the country and the only time which was kind of concerning was the first night at the girls dorm when we had no form of communication with the people in the dorm because they did not speak english and we had no way of communicating with our professor.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

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• Dorm
• Hostel

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• Americans