This Thanksgiving holiday was a very unique one for me. My roommate, Kristin, and I met up with some "family" in Istanbul, Turkey where we got to reconnect and see some sights. It was wonderful.
As you may know, this summer I went to NY for a training before coming to Hungary. In NY, I met Kristin and a few other special girls. Kristin and I now teach in Hungary, one girl teaches in Moscow, one in Kyrgyzstan, one in Vienna, and one in Nigeria. 5 of us 6 were able to reunite in Turkey.
I was so thankful for this time with these girls. Although we live so far apart and have not seen each other since the two weeks during July in NY, we just picked up where we left off. We all are sharing similar experiences, so being able to talk about these things was nice. They really are family to me.
We stayed in a guesthouse with a wonderful hostess. She was very helpful in telling us what sights to see. She and her mom also provided us a "traditional Turkish breakfast" each morning. This included veggies, meat, bread, boiled egg, yogurt, and fig jam. It was yummy!
During the three days we spent in Istanbul, we were able to take a boat ride to Asia. That was my highlight! We enjoyed watching the sunset in Asia. We also took a boat ride on the Bosphorus Sea and saw many extravagant hotels, palaces, and clubs. The seagulls loved following the boat and getting a snack of bread. After this boat trip, we took the shortest subway in the world to Galata Tower. It was a pretty tower in the middle of a very "hip" part of the city. We took many walks around Istanbul and helped keep tourism alive by purchasing souvenirs from vendors. The vendors LOVED us American girls and were always inviting us "angels" to buy from them.
It happened that Turkey was also celebrating a holiday while we were there. A predominatly Muslim country, they were celebrating Kurban Bayrami. Due to this, many of the popular shopping bazaars were closed. Another aspect of the Muslim culture that we encountered was the mosques. There were mosques everywhere. The Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque were most impressive from the outside. Once we removed our shoes and covered our heads, we went inside the Blue Mosque and observed prayer and architecture. While beautiful inside it had an eerie feeling that I don't know if I liked.
A few other highlights include the food: On Thanksgiving we did not eat Turkey, but had McDonalds for lunch, and for dinner we ate kebabs from a seaside restaurant. We especially liked finding restaurants with cushions on the floor to eat from. They were fun to sit at. At one restaurant, I enjoyed kunefe, a sweet, cheesy, stringy dessert. We even found an Italian restaurant which we enjoyed. At each restaurant after dining, we were served apple tea. It is a tasty Turkish tradition that ends the meal.
We quickly learned that Istanbul is a cat city. There were cats everywhere! We were told to sleep with our windows shut if we didn't want any visitors. The cats loved to join us for breakfast on the roof of the guesthouse overlooking the Marmara Sea.
As you probably know, Kristin and I were sick the few days before this trip. Thank you for your prayers. Sickness aside, we were able to enjoy our trip. We are still not recovered completely, but are feeling much better. This was a very special trip for all of us girls, and I am so thankful for this time, especially since I was not able to be with my family in Kansas. These sisters are very special to me.
