Melissa Friday

An evening in Taksim Square

When I came to Istanbul, I really believed I was an educated person who had a general idea of what culture and life was going to be like here. After all, I’d taken several undergraduate courses on Middle Eastern, Ottoman and Turkish history.  I was going to dress conservatively, so as not to offend anyone, and I was completely prepared to give up my university alcoholism. It was a Muslim country, right? Wrong. So wrong. Imagine my confusion when I was severely underdressed for my first day of university in my typical attire of jeans, a t-shirt and Toms. And…

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