14 Lessons I Learned in 2014

          Today is the last day of 2014. And I can not believe that. Because I can remember exactly what I was doing on December 31, 2013 and it seems like it was yesterday. I was dreaming about being in a foreign country living my dream of studying abroad one year from then. And now, here I am. I am living that dream. A year ago, I hadn't even submitted my YES Abroad application and when I thought of my year abroad, I imagined it would be in Morocco or India, but never did I think I would be here. But I am so glad that I am. 

          2014 was an incredibly difficult year, but every single part of it was worth it. It was the year that I got to meet some of the coolest people ever at IPSE and PDO. It was the year I got to realize how much I love my home, my school, my family, and my friends in the US when I left them. It was the year I stepped on the plane that brought me to a new life that I never could have imagined. It was the year that I gained two new families: my host family and the family I've found in other exchange students and especially the exchange students here with me. It was the year that I started on the craziest adventure of my life. 

           And throughout this adventure, I've learned so much about myself. I have learned so many lessons this year and I am so glad to have been able to learn them through such an amazing experience. So, here are 14 lessons that I learned in 2014!

1. No matter how unlikely you think something is, there is no harm in trying. I never thought I would get the YES scholarship but I figured I would give it a try and now look where I am.

2. When you are sad or upset about something, telling someone can help so much. Sometimes having someone tell you that it is ok and offer words of encouragement can make you feel a 100x better. 

3. In the same way, if you are happy, share that too. You might cheer someone else up with your energy and at least you will have someone else to celebrate with. 

4. Gaining a few pounds is not the end of the world. I'm not thrilled about the weight I have gained here, but I've realized that it isn't permanent and if it means I get to enjoy the delicious Turkish food more than it is 100% worth it. 

5. Not being perfect does not make you a failure, and as long as you are trying, that is all that is important. I am so far from perfect and I spend all day every day making mistakes, in the language and the culture of this new place, but I've realized that that does not mean that I am not succeeding at what I am doing. I am trying every single day and that is what matters. 

6. It is possible to feel completely at home and incredibly awkward all at once. I so often find myself feeling comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time here. It's a very strange feeling but one I have gotten used to. 

7. No matter what, try your hardest to not make a big deal out of other people's differences, whether it be a disability, race, etc. Being constantly stared at here wears on me overtime and it has made me realize how terrible it is to have people stare at you just because you look different. 

8. Fake it until you make it can sometimes be a good plan of attack. When I'm confused here, I just pretend that I know what's happening until I figure it out. When I feel like crying, I paste a smile on my face until I feel better. And eventually, things work themselves out. 

9. It's your life, so live it the way that you want to. If that means leaving everything and moving to a foreign country, do it. If it means quitting the job you were miserable at, going to a new school, whatever, just do it. You will be so much happier that you did. And don't ever let anyone make you feel bad for living how you want. It is your choice and your life. Do what is best for you.

10. Appreciate what you have. Being away from everything that was once important to me for almost 4 months now has given me so much appreciation for everything that I had. While I am still living in a place where I have most of the "American necessities" (real shower, etc.), even just being away from your family can make you want to appreciate them so much more once you are back with them. 

11. Make every effort you can to travel. Where you live is such a tiny piece of everything that is out in the world, and you will never know what anything else is like if you don't travel. Seeing how other people's lives are different and the same as mine was in the US has opened my eyes so much, and now I can't wait until I can travel even more. 

12. Laugh! Laugh about anything and everything. Laugh everywhere. Laugh when you are happy and when you are sad. Laugh at yourself. Laughter is the best medicine and it always makes me feel better. 

13. Try and live in the present. I am as guilty of not doing this as the next person, but since I've been in Turkey, I've realized that I can't spend all my time remembering the past or dreaming about the future. But I've realized if you are always living in the future, there isn't going to be anything to remember later. You only get one chance to live the moments you are in right now, so try to really live in them. 

14. Every once in a while, stop and look at how great your life really is. This experience has been anything but easy, and when I start to get really done, I take a minute and look around and realize how amazing this life I'm living really is. I'm getting to live in a gorgeous country, with some of the friendliest people I've ever met, and the best food I've ever heard the pleasure of eating when I'm only 16. Many people will never get to have an experience like this and I get to do it when I am so young (not to mention it's free). No matter what, life can be pretty beautiful when you really look around. 

         2014 has been a pretty amazing year for me. I wouldn't trade the adventures and lessons, the memories and the laughs from this year for the world. 2014 will always hold a special place in my heart, for being the year I found a new place for myself, over 6000 miles from the only place I ever thought I would have a home. I will always remember this year, for every single part of it. It hasn't always been good and it hasn't always been easy, but it has always been worth it. 

          I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for me. I know that it will only bring more adventures and more wonderful memories and I can't wait to face it all. To everyone who made 2014 what it was, thank you so much! Here's to what I know will be another wonderful year! Happy New Year! Mutlu yıllar!

A Very Merry Christmas!

          Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays to celebrate, so as it drew closer and closer this year, I became sadder and sadder at the thought of missing it. Because for me, the best part of the holiday isn't the gifts (though those are always nice and appreciated), but all the traditions my family has for the holiday. And since I knew that those traditions were not going to happen this year, I was understandably sad. Christmas isn't really celebrated here, because of the almost entirely Muslim population, so I was expecting it to be just a regular day. 

         Gone were the luminarias and Christmas caroling in the park, the cinnamon roll breakfast, the presents under the tree, and the tamales for dinner. They were the things that I most missed this year, but I am glad I experienced a different kind of Christmas this year. 

          The biggest difference between this Christmas and Christmases past was that I went to school. Yes, you read that right. School on Christmas. And while I could have skipped on the basis of it being an American holiday, I decided that I can always say that I didn't go to school on Christmas, but this may be the only time that I can say that I went to school on Christmas. School was school and it was actually a little sad just because I felt like everyone needed to be celebrating but no one even realized it was Christmas unless I told them. So after being a little sad all day because of that, I went to hang out with the other exchange students for a bit and then headed home.

The cute little wreath on the door to our apartment. 

A very sweet text from my Turkish teacher wishing me a Merry Christmas. 

          But that was when my day turned completely around.  First, a package from one of my friends in the US arrived, bringing with it a beautiful bracelet, a very sweet letter, and lots of Reese's. I had been waiting for this package for a very long time so I was incredibly excited that it finally arrived. During dinner, my host family played Christmas music and afterwards, I gave them each chocolate and tried to explain how it was like what we give in stockings in the US. 

The contents of the package from my friend. Love you Megan!

The chocolate for my family. I had no way to wrap them, so I tied them together with strips of plastic bag. Sometimes you just have to get creative!

          After dinner, I was supposed to call my family but I could not get FaceTime to work. During the great FaceTime battle, my host family came in decked out in party hats and sparkly scarves, that they promptly stuck on my head as well. As we attempted to sort out the technology problems, they gave me two gifts, a sweater and a very pretty cardigan, and watched as I opened them. My host family had been wanting to meet my natural family for a very long time, so when I was finally able to get a call through, they stuck around for awhile to talk to my family and let them join us in a little celebrating. Watching my two families meet each other and how excited they all were brought me so much happiness and I am so glad I got to see it. My host family had even made a cake and brought it to show my real family before they left me to talk with my family for awhile. I loved talking with them again and I think my family loved seeing my host family and everything that they had done for me. 

The presents from my host family. 

Me and my host sister in our sparkly holiday gear. 

The cake my host family made. It was delicious!

          And this weekend, Priya and I got together and attempted to make Christmas cookies. They didn't turn out the best ever, but they taste decent and we had fun making them. 

Me and Priya with our Christmas cookies.

And this adorable picture that sums up mine and Priya's relationship in one photo. 

            I can not fully describe how special this Christmas was for me. There are not words to sum up how much it meant to me that my family went to the effort to make this holiday special for me even when it's not something they celebrate here. And getting to have my natural family celebrate with me (even if just virtually) made it that much more special. 

          While it wasn't the tradition filled Christmases of my past, this was a Christmas that I will never forget and that I will always love to remember. I am so glad that I got to celebrate with both of my families and that this holiday wasn't as hard as I had expected it to be. I hope that everyone had a very happy holidays! Görüşürüz!

Updates from My Last Month-ish!

          I haven't made a post about just daily life here in awhile, so in this post, I am going to talk about some of the more exciting things I've done in the last month (ish). 

          I have attended two of my school's basketball games in the last couple of weeks which have been very fun experiences. They remind me a lot of school sports games back in the States, with lots of cheering and everyone getting in to it. Here, like in the US, each school has a side of the gym that everyone sits on. There are seats, but most of the students from both schools choose to join what I have dubbed the mob. There is always a massive group of students cheering, yelling, dancing, and singing throughout the whole game, and the group is usually led in the cheers by some of the older boys. Both games I went to, the mobs got pretty heated and were sounding pretty angry yelling at each other across the gym. It is such a fun atmosphere and I have really enjoyed going to the games, especially since my school won both of them. Hopefully, I will be able to attend more games during the rest of the season. 

At the game. My school is in white. 

The other school's mob during one of the games. 

          One afternoon a few weeks ago, there was a random student concert performed in the school garden. Apparently this is a yearly tradition during which the music club performs. They were pretty good and it was fun, although I was a bit confused at first. 

The crowd in the school garden watching the performance. 

           Last Friday was my host parent's anniversary so we went out to a restaurant for dinner to celebrate. I didn't know that it was their anniversary until I got home from my Turkish class and there was a giant vase of beautiful roses and my host sister told me it was for my host mother from my host dad. I had köfte (meatballs) for dinner and they were insanely good so I was content. There was a woman singing for part of the time there and everyone in the restaurant was up dancing and singing, and I had a "Yep, I'm in Turkey." moment watching it. 

The flowers my host dad got for my host mom. 

           Last Saturday, I went with my family to a presentation at the university here in Aydin. I didn't understand it because it was in Turkish, but apparently the presenter is on TV here so that's pretty cool. 

          Last Sunday, I went to the Forum, basically a shopping center here in Aydin, with my family. It was all decorated for Christmas with little Christmas trees in the shops and garland and lights hung all around. It made me so happy to see, since it really doesn't seem like Christmas here and I've missed it. 

          Yesterday, Leah and I went to hang out in the city center. We explored the little bazaar we have here and found some beautiful traditional dresses that we want to buy before we leave. We also went sweater shopping and I was able to buy 2 pretty sweaters for 20 lira which is a little more than $8.5. A pretty good deal I would say! I also tried doner for the first time. Doner comes in many different forms but the most popular is chicken or beef in delicious juices of some kind wrapped in lavaş, which is basically a tortilla, so it's like a burrito essentially. It is a very traditional food and my friends here were horrified that I had been here for over 3 months without trying it, so Leah took me to her favorite doner restaurant and I got to try it. I had the chicken kind and it was absolutely amazing. I will have to make sure to eat more soon because it was delicious. 

          Other than that, my life here has pretty much settled into a routine. I go to school, have my Turkish classes, and hang out with my family at home. I'm pretty content here, although I am trying to find a few more things to get involved in, so that I have more to do after school. Here are a few more random pictures from the last little while. 

The pretty lights over all the streets in the city center that are lit up every night. 

My host dad made us Çiğ köfte for dinner last night. It was a much longer process than I realized and I enjoyed watching it. 

My clothes have taken over my host family's house it seems. These are all pieces of my clothing drying on the heater today.

          That's all for now. I hope that everyone has a very happy holiday season. Enjoying being with your family or friends because being away from them this holiday season has made me realize how lucky I have been to get to spend previous holidays with them. Happy Holidays!

100 Days!

Before I begin, I want to mention that I got the idea for this post from the blogs of two previous YES Abroad students: one who was in Malaysia 2012-2013 and one who was in Indonesia 2013-2014. Their blogs are super great and you can check them out at withlovefrommalaysia.blogspot.com and carlyoverthehillsandfaraway.blogspot.com. 

          Today is my 100th day living in Turkey. It blows my mind how fast these days have gone and that this means that my year is now 1/3 of the way done. 

          I remember that on my 100th day of kindergarten every kid brought in a bag with 100 somethings (Cheerios, beads, Legos, etc.) We all had to sort our 100 things into piles of 10 and we switched with people until we had 10 piles of 10 different things. In something similar to that, here are 10 lists of 10 things each about various different things from my time here. 

Top 10 Things I Love About Turkey:

1. The Food

2. How inexpensive clothes and food are here (perfect for exchange students who don't have much money)

3. How welcoming people are

4. How incredibly beautiful it is 

5. My host family

6. How fresh all the food is 

7. How much fun the other exchange students here are

8. The weather (this is mostly just where I am because it gets cold in the East, but I'm very down with 60 degree weather in December)

9. Good public transportation

10. The fun and upbeat music 

An example of the incredible beauty here. 

Top 10 Favorite Turkish Foods:

1. Simit - I love Simit with all of my heart. It is like a bagel except it is entirely covered in sesame seeds and is a little bit denser than a bagel. There are Simit sellers everywhere on the streets and they are the cheapest and best place to buy your Simit (in my opinion). 

2. Pide - Meat, cheese, vegetables, or some combination of the three baked onto dough. So incredibly delicious and I always look forward to eating it. 

3. Kebab - The kebabs here are so delicious. I've only had it once but everyone raves about them and I can attest to how good they are. (Fun fact: Kebap is the Turkish word that was adapted into English and turned to kebab.)

4. Kumpir: Essentially a baked potatoe except with tons of different options for topping. I like mine with black olives and corn. 

5. Börek: Thin layers of pastry dough with meat or spinach in between the layers. 

6. Lahmacun: What people call Turkish Pizza. This is meat and some other stuff baked onto lavaş which are basically Turkish tortillas. 

7. Dolma: An extremely common food. This is usually peppers stuffed with meat and rice but can also be stuffed eggplant or other vegetables. 

8. Turkish Rice - Sounds boring but the rice here has butter on it and is just totally delicious. 

9. Köfte - Specifically Çine Köfte. These are meatballs and come in tons of different varieties depending on the region but Çine Köfte were the first ones I had here and I think they are the best. 

10. The Bread - This is pretty broad but the bread here is amazing and fresh and you can usually get a loaf for 50 Kuruş (less than 25 cents). 

   

                            Pide

Top 10 Things I Miss:

1. My family and friends

2. Cross Country and sports in general

3. Prep and having responsibilities in school (I am aware how strange that sounds but it gets boring when you don't have anything like your schoolwork to do)

4. Being independent (I am constantly relying on other people for everything because of the language barrier and I miss being able to do everything for myself)

5. Driving

6. Pre-made foods (I am also aware how strange that sounds but I want to make all these foods for my family here but I can't because I can't just whip out a can of black beans to make quesadillas like I can at home)

7. American and Mexican food

8. My clothes (you can only wear the same 5ish outfits so many times before you get tired of them and start missing your closet with lots of options)

9. Skiing with my dad

10. Chai and cards with my mom

Top 10 Things I Don't Love About Turkey:

1. Fearing for my life every time I cross the street 

2. How much students don't care about most of their classes at school

3. Constantly getting stared at and yelled at for being blonde

4. All the stray animals (it just makes me sad)

5. Ayran (all Turks love this drink but I personally think it tastes like death. It is yogurt thinned with water mixed with salt. I am not a fan of milk anyways so salty milk really does not work for me. It gets me a lot of wierd looks when I tell people because everyone loves it so much. 

6. Apartments everywhere so there are no long uninterrupted views in the city like at home

7. Constant car horns honking

8. The sketchy sausage (it is a very disturbing color of pink and I avoid it at all costs)

9. Yogurt on everything (I don't particularly want yogurt on my pasta but that's totally normal here)

10. No ice in any drinks here and no free water at restaurants 

The sketchy sausage. It's such a wierd color. 

Top 10 Most Interesting/Common/My Favorite Questions I've Been Asked:

1. How is _____ celebrated in the US? (Weddings, birthday parties, etc.)

2. Are you bored? (I am asked this at least once everyday at school)

3. Do you have a boyfriend? (This was especially common when I first got here. When I would tell them no, they would always say "Don't worry. We will find you one." To which I just had to say OK and continue on. 

4. Do you miss your family/the US? (Asked this on a nearly daily basis too)

5. Do you want more? (Every single meal I eat people are constantly trying to give me more food)

6. What's your favorite kind of music?

7. Do you like Turkish food?

8. Why did you choose Turkey?

9. Have you tried _______ food? (Once my classmates were asking if I had tried some kind of soup made of stomach or something like that and they just said "You should try it. It's disgusting but you should try it." Way to sell it guys!)

10. Have you ever been drunk? (This one just made me laugh because she looked so disappointed when I said I hadn't. People here get all their ideas of American life from movies and TV shows so I think they all assumed that I would have partied as much as the people in those.)

Top 10 Favorite Desserts/Drinks:

1. Turkish Coffee

2. Baklava

3. Mozaik Pasta - this is chocolate cake with tons of cookies in it and it is amazing

4. Künefe - this is a little wierd tasting but I like it. It is shredded wheat with a layer of cheese in the middle soaked in a sugary syrup with some type of nut on top. 

5. Güllaç - thin layers of dough folded and piled on top of each other soaked in milk and rose water with walnuts and pomegranates on top

6. Boza - this drink is apparently only served in winter so I just recently tried it but it is made from fermented wheat and is served with cinnamon and chickpeas on top. Sounds wierd but it's actually really good. 

7. Turkish tea - I don't think I have gone a single day since coming here that I haven't had at least one cup of tea

8. Aşüre - tastes kind of like oatmeal although it very much is not and has pomegranates and cinnamon on top

9. Tulumba - kind of like a churro, these are bite sized pieces of fried dough that are soaked in a sugary syrup

10. Cevizli sucuk - various nuts strung on a string and then dipped in thickened grape juice until it drys in the shape of a sausage. Just be careful when you eat this; it's very hard. 

                     Mozaik Pasta

Top 10 Most Used Turkish Words For Me:

1. Evet - yes

2. Hayır - no

3. Anlamadım - I don't understand 

4. Bilmiyorum - I don't know 

5. Çok güzel - translates as very beautiful but is used in tons of situations as very nice or very good

6. Seviyorum - I like it

7. Yorgunum - I'm tired

8. Tekrar - Repeat (I have to ask for people to repeat them selves constantly because I won't understand it the first time)

9. Nasılsın - How are you?

10. Günaydın - Good morning

10 Things You Might Not Know About Turkey:

1. Like Russia, Turkey is also partially in Europe and partially in Asia

2. Istanbul is the only city in the world to be in 2 continents. The Bosphorus Strait divides the city between Asia and Europe

3. It is believed that Noah's Ark landed on Mt. Ararat in Eastern Turkey

4. St. Nicholas was born in Turkey

5. Turkey's real name is The Republic of Turkey

6. Despite a 98% Muslim population in Turkey, Atatürk banned the wearing of hijab in the country. This isn't enforced but I've heard that you are still not allowed to wear them if you work in the government. 

7. The Turkish alphabet has 29 letters. It is missing x, q, and w from the English alphabet but has six accented letters: ü, ö, ı, ğ, ş, and ç. 

8. Turkey shares borders with 8 countries: Greece, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Armenia, and Georgia. 

9. The currency in Turkey is the Turkish Lira. Currently, one Lira is equal to 2.3 dollars. 

10. The ancient city of Troy was located in modern day Turkey. 

10 Things That I Am Looking Forward To in My Next 200ish Days:

1. Visiting Antalya with the other YES and NSLIY kids for our Mid-Stay Orientation in February

2. Going to Istanbul with my school in May

3. Getting better at Turkish to a point where I am hopefully somewhat fluent

4. Eating more delicious Turkish food!

5. Getting to start volunteering regularly

6. Exploring my city even more

7. Sharing my American culture with more people

8. Learning to cook some of my favorite foods so I can make them for my friends and family once I'm home

9. Hopefully visiting Ephesus and Pamukkale

10. Getting to celebrate my birthday here 

10 of My Favorite Memories From My First 100 Days:

1. Looking out over Istanbul as my plane came into land and the moment that I stepped out of the airport into what was my new home. 

2. Swimming in the Meditteranean Sea with my host sisters 

3. Visiting Cappadocia and getting to see things in person that I had only seen pictures of before

4. All the dance parties I have had with Leah and Priya in our liason's car on the way to various activities

5. Making Thanksgiving dinner with Leah while we danced and sung to my music

6. Every time that I have been able to accomplish something, no matter how small, using Turkish

7. Attending a Turkish wedding and dancing with my family

8. The day my class threw a party for me and everyone brought different foods

9. Going olive picking and getting to talk with the other exchange students during that 

10. Going to dinner with my host parents for their wedding anniversary and watching everyone dance to the music

          100 things for 100 days here. It's so hard to wrap my mind around how quickly these days have gone and that about 200 days from now, I will be back in the States. These first 100 days have been the craziest adventure of my life. I've laughed more than I ever thought was possible, I've cried, I've smiled even when it's the last thing I wanted to do, and I've been so happy I couldn't wipe the smile off my face if I tried. I have grown so much since I arrived here and I wouldn't change this experience for the world. Things haven't always been easy and sometimes I've wanted nothing more than to go home. But when I really think about it, this has been the most amazing experience for me and I am so glad that I've gotten to experience so many amazing things. 

          Thank you so much for following my crazy adventures and endless ramblings these last 100 days and I hope you will continue to follow them for my next 200. Have a wonderful week wherever you are and if you are taking finals this week, good luck! Hoşçakal!

My Thanksgiving!

          For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving always pretty much went the same way. I would always sleep in as late as I could (so like 8:30. Sleeping in is not my specialty) and once I got up, my dad and I would make some special breakfast for our family. I would iron the tablecloths and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I would peel ridiculous amounts of potatoes and try to help with the other food. I would set the table and wait for our guests to arrive. 

          Our Thanksgiving has always consisted of the same two families coming to our house. Occasionally, a foreign friend of my dad's or a cross country coach joined us, and recently, we had been missing one of my sisters, but I could always count on those same families joining us for our special meal. I could always count on the same foods being there, even our wierd tradition of having jello. I didn't expect those things to ever change, but I knew that if I went abroad this year, my Thanksgiving would obviously be a little different. 

          I have never spent a holiday away from my family before, so I was expecting it to be a little hard. Knowing that my whole family was together enjoying their holiday while I just went about my daily business here was very rough for me and I was pretty homesick because of it. But I tried my best to combat the homesickness by doing "Thanksgiving things". I made a hand turkey Wednesday night and I told my friends at school about the holiday on Thursday. But nothing was really making me feel better. Until Leah, one of the other exchange students here, texted me on Saturday and asked if I wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner with her family on Sunday night. I happily agreed and the madness of trying to prepare an entire Thanksgiving meal began. 

          I baked an apple pie for the occasion and then went to Leah's house to help cook the rest of the meal. We proceeded to spend the next 5 hours creating many different dishes and just generally making a mess. We made turkey (so yes, I have now eaten turkey in Turkey), mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, and gravy, as well as banana bread pudding for dessert. We played music and sang and laughed and just had a generally wonderful time. We had a few issues throughout the day (namely the bowl we were reheating the gravy in exploding and spilling everywhere) but all things considered, we thought it turned out pretty well. 

          The other two exchange students here came over and we all sat down to eat. Before we started, we went around the table and said what we were thankful for this year and then we dug in. Everything was delicious, especially the stuffing and the desserts. We had such a wonderful time making our meal and Leah's family seemed to enjoy it. It was exactly the thing I needed to take my mind off being homesick and I was so happy to get to celebrate such an Anerican holiday when I am 6,000 miles away from America. 

Our stuffing baking. We had to get a little creative with ingredients and Leah decided we would use pomegranate seeds instead of cranberries. It actually tastes really good like that. 

Leah straining our gravy after too much flour was added and it got a little chunky. 

Our gravy post reheating explosion. 

All of our food on the table ready for eating. 

Me and Leah with our feast in our super cute aprons. 

The desserts. My apple pie is on the right. 

And now, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a list of a few things I am thankful for this year:

- I am thankful for my family, and especially my parents, at home in the US for supporting me throughout this entire journey and for allowing me to go on this life changing adventure

- I am thankful for my host family here who allowed me to come into their home when I was a complete stranger and for putting up with my lack of Turkish and my general awkwardness here

- I am thankful to all of the people I've met here who have taken me in and helped me through these last few months

- I am thankful for my friends at home who have kept in touch and who have cheered me up whenever I've been sad 

- I am thankful for all of the incredible oppurtunities I have had and for all the ones I will have in the rest of my time here 

- I am thankful for the other exchange students here with me, who listen when I'm sad, who can always make me laugh, and who truly understand what I am going through 

- And I am incredibly thankful for YES Abroad and AFS because without them, I wouldn't be in this amazing country having my crazy adventures and meeting these incredible people

          This Thanksgiving was pretty different than the ones of my past, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I will be able to tell the story of my Turkish Thanksgiving for the rest of my life, and I really love that. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading! Hoşçakal!