Istanbul

My time in Istanbul was short but lovely. The weather forecast was definitely not pleasant looking, but the weather stayed sunny and warm for 4 days anyway! Then it became quite rainy and cold for my last day and a half. Oh well.

I got a chance to visit all my favorite spots. I went with my cousin to Ortakoy where you can sit by the Bosphorus river, eat Kumpir (a kind of baked potato that’s 1000x more awesome than your typical baked potato), and watch the ferry boats go by. Ruya, her roommate, friend, and I sent out to Taksim for dessert and a little bit of Istanbul night life. I did some shopping at the saturday bazaar at Ingirli, as well as some in the Grand Bazaar--some clothes and turkish things. It’s SO much easier for me to find clothes in Turkey where the people are small like me. Also, the prices for good quality clothing are a lot cheaper than anything you’ll find in the US. I also went to one of the old Turkish Hammams with beautiful architecture and got scrubbed clean! I tried a new food - stuffed mussels, and ate some of the foods I miss: taze fasulye, bamya, doner kebap, kazan dibi, salep, just to name a few...and drank a ton of Turkish tea.

Sorry about the sideways pictures.I'll try to fix them when I have more reliable internet! It took about a million years just to upload them and I can't figure out how to turn them without having to upload them again :(

It was really lovely getting to know my cousin Ruya as she reaches adulthood. This is her first year away from home in Cyprus-she just started college back in September. It’s really neat to see her transform from a wild and free child to a fun loving (but more aware of responsibilities) young adult.

I’m in Cyprus now! My cousins keep posting pictures of us together on facebook, so check my page to see what I’ve been up to or check back here for more updates :)