I know they're the same buildings, but the lighting is different!!

 
 
 
This is sunset from my window.

Pictures!!

Hagia Sophia...it's huge!!

Blue Mosque...I haven't been inside yet!

The history building, where most of my classes will be!

Check out this view from the university...crazy, huh?

Two things you see everywhere in Turkey, minarets and flags!!!

This is Hamit's brother Murat. He is playing backgammon with a friend. EVERYONE here plays backgammon!!

This is the Blue Mosque, it is lit up at night, but more so than usual because Ramadan starts tomorrow!

Apartment Update!

So today I met my friend Mert. He has been very helpful so far. The apartment that he found for me of Elif is barely a five minute walk from campus. There are nice white walls and Ikea wooden floors. There is a toilet in the bathtub, which is suppose to be removed very soon. There is not an oven or a refrigerator. Nor is there any furniture, so shopping I go. =) We should have everything by Saturday and we’ll get everything, including myself, moved in!

So as I was having problems with getting the money transfered for the apartment, now the university is saying they didn't get my money. Hopefully it is found, and soon!!!

Couldn't be more lucky!

My host counselor, Nejat, met me at the airport. All my bags where were they were suppose to be and we talked the whole way back to the house. We crossed the Bosporus and went into ASIA!! I have never been in Asia and Europe on the same day before.

Their house is absolutely gorgeous. It is three stories. They have to in home workers. Anne, the lady who cooks does a great job. And I ate some beef...I'm not sure if I'll do it again, but I had about three small bites. I'm definitely not use to meat, but so far it hasn't made me sick. The other man who works in the home carried my two massive suitcases to the third floor. I felt very horrible about it, especially because I don't really need them for the night.

They have wireless in their house and porch, so I sat outside and checked my email. The weather is amazing and no mosquitoes!! That could really be the highlight so far!! This place is like a palace, I feel like I'm at the Ritz. But tomorrow I'm going to see my apartment and it will be back to reality!!

Turkish cat!!

First pictures of Istanbul!

 
 
 
 

More!

In transit...

I'm waiting at Heathrow Airport for my flight to Istanbul! I had a white chocolate/rasberry muffin. I can already tell how much less saturated fat Europeans use than Americans. I was very lucky that Katie happened to find some stirling pounds yesterday when she was cleaning out her room so I could actually afford the muffin!

I sat next to this big Romanian guy on the plane and he kept sleeping on my side of the arm rest and the woman's chair in front of me was broken so her head was pretty much in my lap. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. Although, the highlight was definitely seeing the sunrise over Limrick. It was breathtaking. It started with a small line of red on the dark blue that was night. Then orange, purples and yellows until they all fade and it is light out. That's when traveling alone is sad. I see something so beautiful and I wish I could share it with the people I love the most, but they were most likely all sleeping soundly as I thought about them.

Bon Voyage!

I had a great weekend with family and friends! I'm packed and have my money situated! Things are all ready to go.

It's never easy to leave. Many tears, but it's time to go!! I love and already miss everyone!

Less than a week.

The summer has flown. I leave for Istanbul in less than a week! I can't believe how fast is has gone. Although I am not packed, I am more than ready to start this new adventure. I have found an apartment, gotten my student visa, and done all of the last minute shopping. Now I'm working on transferring money to the correct banks in Istanbul, something I am not very familiar, nor is my bank at home. It has proven more difficult than expected. Hopefully everything will be situated today and I won't have to worry about it any longer.

I am subbing for a 5th and 6th PE class for a couple of weeks, Friday is my last day!! They are about to arrive for Frisbee! It's a great job! =)

Wilf Wilkinson

I met the president of Rotary International in South Bend. It was very awesome. I'm glad I went. He's very inspiring.

Californiaaaaaaaaaaa...here I come!!!!!

We went to the county fair...really, I went to CA just to feel like I was in Indiana. Just kidding! We had an awesome time. Lynne is the best host! I went to an art show, Laguna Beach, Balboa Island, movies, dinner. I got to meet a few of her friends. All in all, I had a great couple of days! =)

Harry Potter - 7....

The woman is an absolute genius. I've never been a strong writer, but she's just amazing. I'm in awe of her imagination and ability. And, of course, a tiny bit envious.

It's sad that they're over. But all good things must come to an end. (Actually, I don't really believe that, but in the case of Harry, I think it's fitting.)

Gettysburg!

Going to see Rachel!!!!!!! (and Matt, of course!)

Personal DNA

I took this quiz. I think it was really accurate. =)

Benevolent Inventor

http://www.personaldna.com/

Waitress

Tonight I went to The Town Theatre in Highland http://www.towntheatre.net/. They were showing Waitress! (I'm not sure if it's The Waitress) But I absolutely loved it. My parents went to a wedding and I've wanted to see this movie for ages, so I went by myself. PLUS, I thought I worked today, from 3-9:30, but I read the schedule wrong!! I'm a total dork like that sometimes! But no reason to waste the whole evening!

In the movie she bakes pies and she's having a baby and she wants to run away. It's endearing. I cried, not just in the theatre but on the way home too. It wasn't unexpected, I've been a little bit of a wreck lately. It was good to get it out.

My sister and my friend Kayte went to China, and I got to talk to her today on Google chat. =) It was a good end to the day. So for Kayte, Good Night Moon.

Bitter

I hate writing things like that, but it's a good place to vent since I can get it all out and not be judged. Being at home is really wearing on me. I love my job and I don't mind working, but I also don't want to be left out of anything and the people around me don't work so they can do whatever they want whenever they want. So now I'm missing out because I'm the only one who has a job, and I'm bitter. Although my family annoys me, I still want to spend time with them, but I'm not included. It's no one's fault, but it hurts my feelings anyway. Then I'm more rude than I normally am, great.

The South Shore

I went up to the city yesterday to meet my grandmother and her dear friend Fran. We went to the Turkish Consulate and to lunch (and of course, Ghirardelli's) before parting. On the train ride into the city I met Jill who was going up for her job. We talked and laughed as always. I love that old friends can pick up where they left off no matter what.

On the way home, I sat next to a woman named Holly. She had to go home early from her law office because her dog Hank was sick. We hit it off immediately. She was Polish. We talked about traveling, dogs, unique homes, sisters, life in general. She told me about the family she lost in the Holocaust when the Nazis occupied Poland. Really, I feel in love. She was such a sincere person, we talked the whole hour and a half back to Dunes Park. My favorite thing she said was that I had "smiling eyes." It's nice to get a real compliment every once in a while.

Just one for now...

Birthday at the beach......now I'm 22....oy

We're crazyyyyyyyy

Good news!

Dear Andrea,

Greetings from Istanbul!


I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as a special student to the Department of History of the Faculty Arts and Sciences at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, for the Fall (September 24th, 2007 - January 16th, 2008) and Spring (February 23rd, 2008 – June 11th, 2008) Terms of the Academic Year 2007-2008.


We are sending your acceptance letter and welcome guide to your home address.

Best wishes,


Bayram Sen
Advisor
Exchange and Special Students

It was by far the best wedding ever.....I'll post pictures soon.

Wedding......TOMORROW!

The wedding is tomorrow...everything is ready! I am so excited!! We're starting pre-wedding festivities in a couple of hours!!! I can't WAIT!!!!!!!!!

Side note

On a side note...Katie and I managed to lock ourselves out of the house. Rick had to come from work to let us in!!!

Never a dull moment! (That's a quote from my mother, who I love!)

With Katie and Rick

Since I've missed so much in the last four months of the wedding planning I am pleased to say that I now get to attend the "meetings." The past couple of days I have got to be with Katie and Rick. It's so much fun. We've had meetings with the hotel, the photographer, and the DJ. I like them all, Katie (and Rick) has done a great job with everything. It's really exciting now to think about the next few weeks!

If anyone has any suggestions on what to say in my "toast" let me know!

Milan three...

Carla grilling! YUM!!!!!
Little Italian house.
Elisa and I in a big frame!! We're so cute!

Milan two...

Duomo Catheral
The plaza
Weird skeleton
One of the many parade of cows!! Originally started in Chicago!

Milan one...

One of the tunnels through the mountains!! They were CRAZY long!
Beautiful flowers in Clara's yard!
Filippo!
Mom and Carla at the castle, how adorable!

One great week..with my mama...

I’m aware that I haven’t written in a few weeks. I have been driving all over Europe with my mom. We ended up staying in Kusel, Germany for two nights because her luggage was misplaced by the airlines. It was actually really lovely, the only down side is that we did not make it to Amsterdam. We then went to Strasbourg for a day to see Nelly and Christian. I had no idea it was an EU capital. We went on a boat tour so we learned a lot about the history of the city. Christian and her husband cooked us a beautiful dinner too.

Over night we stayed in Thionville, France. It was an unexpected stop, but so much fun. We walked around the square and people watched. Mom ended up taking pictures of these boys riding their bikes over a fountain. It was actually really neat because the boys barely spoke English, but one did say, “I don’t like my English teacher.”

We continued to Giverny to see Monet’s garden and home. It was breathtaking when I saw it with Liz and Steven, but it blew me away this time. The flowers were huge and vibrant. We stayed for quite a long time and we enjoyed every minute. Mom LOVED it, it was awesome to be able to share that with her. That night we stayed in Blaru, a small B&B. Our hostess was Pierre. She was an adorable little French woman who had five children. The house was incredible. I don’t know how we found such a gem in the middle of the French country side, but it was like a fairytale.

Off to Paris…we did the big three art museums: the Louvre, l’Ongerie, and d’Orsay. We were pooped, but we saw a lot. The next day I did not feel well and ended up going back to the hotel after seeing the Eiffel Tower, going to where some Impressionist lived, and Vosges palace. After a long nap and a note from the reception desk, I realized mom was lost. She got back around 7:30. She was lost for two and a half hours!! But she made it back safely! We went to the bar and met “Ryan” who is from Mauritius and Edsel from Georgia, USA.

In the morning we started our long drive to Geneva, Switzerland. The tolls are well, tolling. It was quite expensive, but the view of the mountains and waterfalls was almost priceless. After finding parking and our hotel, we walked around the old part of the city and bought chocolate. The breakfast in the morning was a grand expanse.

We made it to Milan and to Elisa’s house where we found a note to go to the post office were her mom worked. Clara shrieked with delight when she saw us. She doesn’t speak a lot of English, so she was very worried. We ate dinner at Carlo’s, her brother, house. It was just simple rice and cheese, but it was delicious.

Milan was on the agenda for the next day and we took the train into the city center. The Cathedral Duomo was a gorgeous white and pinkish marble. There was tons of shopping, of course. We went to the castle and walked the parks. After we got back to Elisa’s and I took another nap, when mom woke me up Elisa was home!!! We ate another terrific dinner.

Mom left in the morning and Elisa and I watched movies all day. She made me real Italian pizza and mushrooms and rice for dinner. In the afternoon between rain storms we went to a little medieval town. It was quite adorable, but it started to rain again. (There wasn’t rain for the entire month of April, but May has brought the showers.) We talked after dinner like friends who had never parted. It was really lovely and I wish that I didn’t have to get up at 4am the next morning because I know we could have chatted all night. I had the greatest time at her home, but the stay was so short. I can’t wait to go back and maybe she’ll be able to come to Istanbul next year! Some people you see after a long time and wonder why you were ever friends with that person, but then there are others when it makes perfect sense. I love Elisa and I know that we’ll always be friends. :-)

So now I’m in Heathrow airport just waiting to go back to America, not excited about the country, food, government, etc, but I cannot wait to hug and see my family. It’ll always be home.

Mom is just too cute in Switzerland!!

Geneva