I am home!

I just wanted to say that I am home. My trip back to the US was uneventful and I really enjoyed seeing tourists and different cultures together at the airports. I will say that Americans are loud. I knew this already, but it was made clear to me when we landed in Zurich, where I changed planes, and instantly I could hear the group of Americans several rows in front of me. Also, while sitting in the food court I witnessed something interesting. Turks do not pick up after themselves because there are people that come by and pick up their trays and clean the tables. Americans on the other hand take their trays to the cleaning people when they are finished. I don't know about people from other countries because I wasn't looking at everyone, but it was interesting to me.

On another note, I  got hit on by these two french men on the plane. At first they were being nice and it was cool practicing my French, but then they started asking me if I was married and saying they wanted to come visit me. And let me say that this was before we even took off! I started reading my book so that they would hopefully leave me alone and luckily they ended up switching seats because they wanted to be by the window. I was glad :P.

I had a wonderful summer. Even though it is for a short time I am going to fully take advantage of everything the US and Maine offer :). Sorry this post is so short, but I have SO much to do. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog! Farewell until my next adventure :)

Final Days

Last weekend my friend Danielle came and visited. It was SO great seeing her. We hung out and walked around Taksim and Istiklal and did some shopping. Saturday night was my friend's birthday so we all hung on the roof of her house and grilled and danced and had a lot of fun. It was great to have everyone together and it was a fun way to celebrate my last full weekend.

With Danielle

Everyone at the birthday party

the aftermath of dinner

This week has been pretty uneventful. On Monday I hung out with two of my friends from Samsun for the last time. On Wednesday we had people over and I said good bye to my roommate and her friends. They are away this weekend so we had to say goodbye early. I finally started to pack last night, but I have really been resting. It has been good to rest, but I have been doing a lot of that. Work is very relaxing because they don't give me too much work, so it is good. Tonight I am going to meet up with some of my friends after dinner so I'll probably pack before then. Today is my last day of work and I leave for the US on Sunday!!

When I left Samsun it was really sad to leave everyone, but I kind of knew I would be back soon. This time it is sad to leave my friends because I really don't know when I will be back. I absolutely love Istanbul and Turkey and my friends and the culture and the language and the food, but Turkey isn't the place for me right now in my life. I am so glad I came this summer because I learned a lot, but I have realized that I am not meant to be here right now. I haven't been home since march so I am truly excited to be with my parents in Maine. I'm not really looking forward to the sitting-on-a-plane-for-a-really-long-time part, but I am excited to be back in my home country.