View from our hotel in Istanbul!

After what felt like a very long journey I have finally made it to my new home in Adana.

After leaving DC the we flew to Frankfurt where we split from the Egypt group and continued on to İstanbul, where we were met by a group of young volunteers. We were surprised and happy to find out that we were going to be staying in a hotel in one of the most popular neighborhoods of İstanbul, and it was beautiful. Just driving from the airport we passed beautiful old crumbling walls and houses that had been standing for longer than I can imagine.

Though we stayed in a very happening neighborhood it was less than satisfying because the volunteers would not even let us leave the hotel. For the two days we spent in İstanbul we left three times to eat, though two of those were Pizza Hut and Burger King. But breakfast almost ate up for the lack of authentıc cuisine. Every morning we stuffed as much of the the buffet style Turkish breakfast in as we could. we ate delicious bread, croissants, cheeses, olives, yogurt and honey, dried and fresh fruit, coffee, tea, pancakes and more. I could get enough. Plus all of this was eaten on the roof of the hotel, a nice patio with a beautıful view of the cıty. From where we stood on the European side we could see all the way past the Bospherous to the Asian side. The mosques stick out with the pillars around them announcing the call to prayer, it is so beautiful and foreign.
Besıdes food our orientation consisted of various informational sessions where the volunteers tried to prepare us for our new lives. We took basic lessons in Turkish, learned that shoes where not worn in the house and were warned that we would soon have a lot less freedom than we are accustomed to. All in all the "survival camp" was helpful, but we were all very anxious to get to Adana and meet our host families.

Yesterday we flew out at about 11:00, I sat next to a very sweet old Turkish women wearing a headscarf and as the volunteers warned us had no idea of American personal space. But I was comforted by how much we could communicate with such a language barrier. Thanks to my pocket dictionary and book of the San Juan Islands we made it through the flight with very few awkward pauses.

All of the host families were waiting at the gate when we arrive and I am ecstatic to meet my host mom and sister (my dad is working in İstanbul) there waiting with a sign. My host sıster Dilşad is very sweet and i think that we will get along very well. Her English is really good so she has been translating for her mom whose English is not that great but we have been getting along. They both seem eager to teach me which is great because my Turkish sucks, but I already feel like I am starting to pick things up!