Samsun Part 2

Going to Samsun was a great decision. It was so good seeing people who know me and it was exactly what I needed. Saturday was a very busy day and I enjoyed every minute. During my gap year, there were 3 other Americans on my program and I became very close with one of the other host families, especially since they took me in while I was in the process of switching host families. Saturday morning my host mother, host sister, and I went to their house for a large pide (kind of Turkish pizza) breakfast. It was good food, good people, and a good time. After breakfast we went to the new shopping center which opened a few months ago. After walking around and eating ice cream on the terrace we went ice skating. I hadn't gone ice skating in years and it was a lot of fun :).

host families eating ice cream

 

After saying our goodbyes I met up with a friend and we caught up on everything that had happened during the past year. I saw him last summer so it was great seeing him again. Since we had woken up early after going to be late, my host sister and I napped for a few hours. We woke up to go walk around and meet up with my new host dad after he got out of work. We got lahmacun, one of my favorite Turkish foods, from my favorite lahmacun restaurant in Samsun.

My host sister Ceren

New Host Father

Sunday morning, after a delicious breakfast, I met up with one of my friends who I went to high school with. She now studies in Istanbul, but she had returned to Samsun for the summer so it was great that we were both in the same place at the same time. My host mom cooked my favorite meal that she makes for dinner and then I got on a plane back to Istanbul.

It was REALLY good going to Samsun. Even though I just summed up what I did, it was truly what I needed after a lonely week last week. Although my host family/friends and I live such different lives because there is such a big difference between Samsun and Istanbul, so imagine between Samsun and Washington DC, it was SO great seeing everyone. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I saw them. I am so glad I was able to go.

The traffic in Istanbul is awful and luckily it didn't take me that long to get home from the airport. When I arrived home it was great to see my roommate because we hadn't seen each other all week - she had been out protesting. It was great to swap stories and she filled me in on everything that was going on with Gezi Park and the protests. Things are much more calm now because the police aren't as aggressive, mainly because they haven't been going out. The protestors have barricaded every entrance into Taksim square so the police have no way to get out and they have been peacefully protesting together by creating a free library, doing yoga, and chanting together. It is incredible how everyone has come together. Erdoğan spoke on TV several times over the weekend, but nothing changed. I am really curious to see what will happen because I don't think the protestors will back down until something changes. Hopefully things will change for the better because I love Turkey and I would hate to see something bad happen to the country and the people I love.