Itinerary and Thoughts While Preparing for Ottoman Seminar

I add this photo of the interior of the Hagia Sofia and the one above of Iznik as teasers for what is to come soon.  I leave for Turkey in less than two weeks and thought I would share a few thoughts about preparing and about this blog.

• First, for all my friends and family who worry about me going (Turkey is experiencing protests against the government, and the major protests are in Istanbul, where most of the seminar is.), please know I will be prudent.  I am excited, not worried.  
• Second, this blog is a journaling requirement of the institute and will have some content related to tying ideas back to the classroom.  It won't just be a travel log.
• Third, I will have some specific thoughts related to the study group I am in, which is Trade and the Economy of the Ottoman Empire.  If you think I might be obsessing on one area, it is because I am assigned to that and will be thinking of it often, though I am really interesting in EVERYTHING.
• Finally, please feel free to post any comments or questions.  I promise that if I do not answer them all while traveling, I will when I return.  If you don't want to officially follow this, I will not be offended, but if you do, you will get notified of updates.  I will try to post at least something daily, but it may be brief.  Some days will be busier than others, and I want to spend more time experiencing than writing on this.  I will go back after the seminar and add information and photos to the specific days.  

I am posting a link to the Syllabus/Itinerary.  Good luck deciphering some of the names.  I have studied it and the Turkish alphabet just enough to be able to hopefully correctly pronounce some of the places and names correctly.  

Thanks to all of you--family, friends and students who are supporting me!  I really appreciate you being excited with me.