Quick Update

Hello Everyone! Just a quick update since I don't have so much Internet time around here. Things are going very well. We are helping out all around the city :) I love it since I love volunteer work. The only downer is that it is soooooo hot around here right now. Summer has arrived in full force and you can especially feel it while riding on a crowded bus in the middle of the day haha!

Next week we have a long weekend and they are taking our whole group to Ephesus for 3 days. It will take 10 hours to get there but I am excited since so much history is there. Oh and I made a friend today named Rabia and I can't wait to meet her again. That is all the time I have for now will update again soon if I can. Love and miss you all!!

-Kaitlyn

In Istanbul!!!

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry it has taken me so gosh darn long to write on here again but we have been busy to say the least. Ok so we arrived in Istanbul 2 Saturdays ago ha I can't remember the date. Well anyway...we arrived around 2am Turkey time :P and then drove to our new home. We are staying in two separate flats (one right on top of the other). They are actually very nice flats and we are in a pretty good area...very close to a lot of stuff. Unfortunately there is a mosque very near our flats so the call to prayer goes off every morning around 5am...ugh! I'm starting to get used to it but most of the time it will wake me up haha!

Our first week here went pretty good :) The city is beautiful and there is a lot to see! Sometimes it seems like any other city until you get a good look from a high place and see all the mosques! They are absolutely everywhere haha. Even though I am not a Muslim I cannot deny the beauty of those buildings...they are gorgeous. One fun thing has been that because we don't have cars over here our group has to take the bus everywhere. Oh my....Turkish buses are extreme. Rarely do you actually get a seat so you are stuck squished between a bunch of hot and sweaty people trying really hard not to fall over because these Turkish bus drivers LOVE the brake and gas pedals!!! And just in case that isn't difficult enough us girls are not supposed to look men in the eyes because being western women that would be considered us making an advance lol....so while we are trying desperately to keep our balance in a crowded (and I mean crowded) bus we are also having to keep our eyes lowered lol....most of us have become accustomed to wearing sunglasses on the bus, it makes things a bit easier :)

One of our days last week we got to go out and see the Blue Mosque...oh my was that amazing! I took lots of pictures so don't you worry :) That building was so huge and detailed I was left speechless! Along with seeing the Blue Mosque we have also had some opportunities to just explore Istanbul which has been equally fun and stressful trying to find our way around in a place that speaks no English haha. Basically everyone here has adopted carrying around a Turkish/English dictionary with us wherever we go :) While here we still have work duties and I am part of the food crew. So it is our job to come up with menu's and to do all the shopping...I am starting to get the hang of figuring out a grocery store where everything is written in Turkish haha. Oh and if anyone has any good recipe ideas that can serve 9 people that isn't crazy expensive send them to me at Ldnhappy22@hotmail.com Thanks :)

We have gotten to work with a group that makes jewelry (lots of fun) and we also got to go to a picnic with an English club and I got to chat with this really nice Turkish man for awhile :) Oh and yesterday my group met this really nice Turkish lady who spoke no English but got really excited when she found out I'm from California and invited us all to tea next Sunday at her house :D I'm pretty excited I hope that we get to go! Other than that we are still getting into the groove of things and starting to get a regular schedule. I can't wait to see what amazing things will happen :) I love and miss you all so so much...I really hope everything is going great for you back home!
-Kaitlyn