East meets West

17million people...that's the population of Istanbul. 

The flight Boston-London-Istanbul was fine. Very exhausting..bad food..not a lot of sleep. Waited for other people to arrive for at least 2 hours...it takes 1+ hours to get to campus which is unfortunate.

I have been orientating for three days now....several more to go. It's long, interesting too but mainly long. There are 30 U.S. students in the CIEE program.

Yesterday, we ventured to Sariyer (a nearby town 15 minutes away) which has a larger supermarket to purchase everyday needs. It's a pretty neat place...I look forward to exploring the town with a smaller group! 


I woke up this morning with a fever, cold, and other flu symptoms...which made today quite miserable. I still participated in everything though. We had a four hour scavenger hunt....we were divided into groups on campus and had to make it to a particular part of the city, find some landmarks, and then cross over into Asia and find a restaurant. Thankfully, my group had a student who had studied for 2 months this summer in Turkey and knew how to get around the city.


FOOD: is pretty delicious! I haven't tried anything too risky or anything with meat. But what I have tried is wonderful. A lot of eggplant dishes, rice, beans....I can live on this! The dessert is just as fantastic if not more tasty! Turkish delights? mmmmmm...there was this pumpkin dessert-like Turkish delight thing? 

We went to a restaurant that has about 15courses if you count all the variety of things they served us. A plate of appetizers with bread, hummus, dips, and grapeleaves....

5 main dishes (many of them filled with none other than MEAT)...

and 4 types of dessert one of which is below: sweet olives with nuts...who would have thought about eating olives for dessert?

The food is delicious. It is endless. Much better than food service at Berea (haha)....


More later. I promise I will try to do better!

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting on [my] World to change....

I have been waiting for this trip for a long time...and now that it is 4 days away, I am a bit freaked---I won't lie, I am quite nervous...very nervous...and I think that is only expected. 

I have been asked a thousand times, "What made you want to go to Istanbul?" and I have to think back to why I originally wanted to: the culture, the architecture, the adventure. Although I am having a hard time seeing the value of this trip as it approaches, I know I will be surprised by the experience that awaits...

My check-luggage is waiting for me in Boston... [ I spend two nights there before I leave for Istanbul]. 

I have been ready physically for so long...packed, organized, overly prepared.
I won't be ready emotionally until I am sitting on the plane, forced to be ready. I guess I am lucky to not want to leave home. I have the best family in the world and that is why it makes it so difficult for me to leave. I am a home-body, no doubt. [I miss my Berea life too...friends, work, classes, etc]. 

I just hate the "unknown" that I am about to enter. But...I signed up for this study abroad experience with the anticipation of the thrills, adventure, and excitement awaiting. I must remember that I wanted this!

..."A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour!"