Update

Tonight consisted of a meeting, seeing all the other folks in the program together for the first time, and then getting free shit at dinner for bringing in 14 customers to a kebap place. Post that, there was some negotiating with a man selling what were clearly stolen goods out of the back of his van about acquiring a mattress pad. He said he could have one for me by tomorrow at 4:00pm. My concern is that he completely misunderstood me, and that he will actually try and sell me a human skull for 15TL. Should I go see him again? Maybe. Maybe I want a human skull. After the talks concluded, a bunch of us headed home before going to "Bu Cafe," the glorious gem of a hangout that I only discovered on my last day in Istanbul 3 years ago, but plan on spending plenty of time at this go-around. Passing by the gate to our dorm, though, the otopark attendend, Hakan, stopped us to chat with me and the girls I was with (guess which he was more interested in). Two of them are of Turkish extraction, and a hilarious conversation ensued in which he flatly stated that Turkey is the best country on earth, and moreover that one Turk is worth five Americans. When I challenged this, he smiled and said that despite this, we could still be friends. Dave, is this the guy who was into the Bozkurtlar? 

At Bu Cafe, we played tavla, talked about Bosnia, learned Dama (Turkish checkers), listened to Emin tell jokes about men from Montenegro, and smoked the best mint hookah I've ever tasted. Also, some people got some hazelnut flavored vodka, which I tasted and found to be surprisingly good. Good luck finding that anywhere. So weird. Anyway, tomorrow morning is the placement test and the interviews, so I am going to call it an early night. Tomorrow, news of the test, perhaps a trip to the store for shirts, and maybe, just maybe, a festively Bedazzled human skull.