Spring Break!

Well spring break is officially over...I go back to school and back to reality tomorrow. The past 10 days were incredible. I had such a wonderful time with my friends from America and it was a truly a delight to be with them. I could go on and on about how great it was to spend time with friends from college, to have them in my city for a week, to catch up, etc - but instead I'll just comment briefly on a few highlights from the week.

First off, I have lived here for over a year now and this past week I experienced my city in a way I never have before. We spent the entire week with Turks who were intent on showing us a good time. They took us everywhere - a few places I had been before and several new places. It was awesome. The eating feast and talking never stopped, I loved every minute. We literally went from one restaurant or cafe to another - eating waffles, chocolate, pasta, meat, sandwiches and drinking coffee, tea, ayran, etc. Almost every night we had to take a taxi back home because by the time we stopped fellowshiping the buses had quit running. This gave me A LOT of practice with my Turkish :)

New favorite things to do: Nargile and Tavla, Singing Karoke in Taksim
New places to go: Caddebostan Parki, KOÇ UNIVERSITY
New foods: Kokoreç (not my favorite), Sütiş Restaurant in Emirgan
More fun stuff: Riding bikes around Prince's Islands, going to football games/practices, Hamam (Turkish Bath), Terayki Cafe and Park

All in all it was a fabulous week. I grew to love this country and the people here even more and am grateful my friends were able to experience a part of my life. Here are a few pictures...I'll put more on facebook soon.