Yerebatan

I've had a few days off of work because of the holidays. Yes, the school is generous enough to give us time off for Christmas, but not enough to go home. God forbid we they give us TOO much time off, lest we lose, in absentia, what remaining motivation we have for working for the place. But I digress.

I went to the underground Roman Cistern the other day, which is just underneath Topkapı palace. It was built in the 6th CE by the Romans, but after they left it wasn't discovered again until the 16th CE, at which time the Ottomans used it to supply water to Topkapı palace. It's a bit of an eerie place, which the Istanbul Municipality attempts to augment with some rather contrived, scary organ music. Nonetheless, the lighting is excellent, and the entire cistern is very well maintained. In 1994 they brought fish in in an effort to restore it as closely as possible to its original nature. It leaks in certain places-no one really knows why-and there are two pillars built atop giant heads of Medusa. One lies sideways and the other is upside down. As always, copy the link below to your address bar and you can see the photos I took on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059789&l=51189&id=26310454

In other news, I'd like to wish all my family and friends a very Merry Christmas. I badly wish I could be home in New York, especially since you've gotten all that snow already! I have to say, I've been missing New York a lot lately, and I'm looking forward to coming home for a month in the summer. I can't believe I've already been here for five months! Just six more months and you'll all get to see me (well, most of you). Take care...