That feeling when you’re alone in the Istanbul airport at 3 a.m. and the only songs on your phone are the songs you loved in high school and only now do you really truly GET Neutral Milk Hotel.
That feeling when your Mama’s mad at you for going to Istanbul without telling her but Mama was the one who nurtured your free ‘n’ wild spirit so she can’t be that mad.
That feeling when she is.
But Mama, what would a study abroad experience be without some vague fetishizing of a non-Western culture?
That feeling when you’re fetishizing the living hell out of these harem pants, hot damn are they soft.
That feeling when everyone else in the city is used to all the cats hanging around but you’re still more stoked than you have ever been.
That feeling when a kitty lets you pet it!
That feeling when you know some nerd would say the cat has diseases but you know cats are highly revered in almost every culture except for Europe. Why do you think the Black Plague happened, nerd? Was it maybe all the huge nasty rats running rampant because the filthy Europeans killed all the cats? Who’s the nerd now?
That feeling when your friend Robert’s friend Fatih, who has very kindly spent the last two days showing you around, tells you how they used to slap each other in the balls in high school and that it would be funny if you did so when you see Robert. Now you have to slap Robert in the balls. You don’t have to but that’s the honorable thing to do and what are you if not bound by honor?
That feeling when you know you never would have made it as a harem girl. First of all, if the sultan didn’t immediately fall in love with you, you’d be like, “This is BULL, I’m going HOME,” and get assassinated. Secondly, when Nurbanu’s sultan husband died she hid his corpse in an icebox for 12 days while she waited for her son to return home and claim the throne. You can’t even slap a man in the balls.
That feeling when the sun is setting over the water between Europe and Asia and you think, “I should get a tattoo of Lisa Simpson yelling, ‘I AM THE LIZARD QUEEN,’ from the episode where she drinks the Disneyland ride water, that was such a great episode.” Ignore! This! Impulse! You put your mother through enough.
Charlotte Raskovich is a Humor editor for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at c.raskovich@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
The Most Famous People From U.Va.
By Kate McCarthy | 7 hours agoBy learning their stories of success, we younglings can feel inspired to reach toward great heights.
U.Va. Spirit Week 2024 dates announced
By Camila Cohen Suárez | 4 days agoStudent Affairs’ memo reads that “U.Va. Spirit Week will allow students to reflect on their role within the University system."
U.Va. “Tourapocalypse”
By Adair Reid | April 20, 2024Spring is a beautiful time for Guides to go on the offensive and really highlight the beauty of Grounds from the pollen-caked sidewalks to the lovely-smelling new mulch.
