istanbul...worth the wait

What a difference 15ish hours makes. 

I started in Detroit at 10:15. Next was Norfolk, next was JFK, and next (finally) was Istanbul. The waiting sucked. I'm not going to lie about it. Once I got to JFK, my flight was first switched to another terminal and then delayed an hour and a half. Once we boarded the plane, we waited another hour and a half until we pushed back from the gate. 

I always wonder how these things happen. I don't mean why planes are delayed. I get that. Arrivals can be late (bad head winds?) and maintenance problems can crop up (um, I'd prefer you take the time to fix that before we depart), so I get that part. What I don't understand is how grown adults turn into impatient preteens when a trip is delayed - myself included. While still at JFK I looked like your friend's restless kid sister, sitting on the ground, continuously fiddling with the zippers on my backpack. 

It would have been much worse on the plane had I not been seated by my neighbor. I'll call her Linda. Linda, a divorcee, was traveling to Istanbul to begin a three week vacation with her friend (although I can't be sure, I imagined her name was Debbie). In her mid-60s, Linda has a 35 year old son she was attempting to hawk to me even after I told her I was 24. 

"He's a hard working, high earning young man. Well, young at heart. How old are you again?"

At any rate, Linda was four star entertainment. The woman has been everywhere - Dubai, Indonesia, Tunisia, etc. Despite her wide travels, though, she still seemed awed by my trip. She kept telling me how "brave" I was, going to Istanbul by myself not knowing anyone. For the first time, I began to realize that this trip could go horribly wrong. 

Thankfully, Linda's worries were ill-founded. I arrived in Istanbul around noon, got a cab, got to campus, and officially started this trip.

Istanbul. Cok, cok guzel. It's amazing here. Bogazici Universitesi overlooks the yacht and freighter-specked Bosphorus Straits. Beyond the beauty, the people are extremely accommodating. The town's people I've interacted with speak broken or no English and yet they have been more than willing to attempt to understand what I'm saying. 

I have a feeling this is going to be an amazing few months.

Bosphorus Straits

Bosphorus Straits

Bosphorus Straits

Sunset

The amount of stray cats and dogs here is really mind blowing.

Petting stray cats. Probably not a good idea.

Really petting stray cats. Really not a good idea.

The view from my window.