Traveling to Turkey

It's hard to believe that already a day has passed since my feet left US soil.

My journey began yesterday (Friday). Since Dad and Molly had a snow day due to the storm that passed through Friday morning, everybody accompanied me to the airport. After stopping for a family dinner along the way, we arrived at Logan International Airport with plenty of time to spare. The family decided to kill one of the two hours before my flight with me, so Dad bought me my last American latte and we spent our last hour together in a little cafe in the airport.

My first flight was 9 hours overnight to Munich. It was very uneventful. I watched take-off, and then promptly fell asleep. I didn't wake up until breakfast was served. After breakfast I had just enough time to watch an episode of Two and a Half Men on the inflight entertainment system before we landed. As we de-planed, the man sitting in front of me noticed my UMaine sweatpants and remarked, "You're a long way from Orono." Turns out he's from Brunswick. It was nice to know that I'm not the only Mainer on this big continent.

After changing clothes and grabbing something to eat, I boarded my plane for Ankara, Turkey, my final destination. This plane ride was equally uneventful since I slept again. As we came in on approach, and I looked out and saw the city below with the domed roofs of mosques scattered throughout, it occurred to me that I am now the furthest from home I've ever been. That was a daunting feeling. It quickly dissipated, though, when I stepped into the airport.

Going through customs and baggage claim was painless, and once I had completed these tasks, I stepped out into the main entryway to see a group of excited Turks holding a Bilkent University sign. I went over to say hello and they directed me to a cafe where all the other international students that arrived today were waiting (As a side note, Brittany Spears was playing over the speakers in the cafe.). I was the last of about 20 students to arrive in this particular shuttle group. While waiting I met a boy, Andreas (I'm going to butcher the spellings of all of these foreign names, but I'll do my best), from Austria, a boy, Baha, from Pakistan, and a girl, Carly, from Fresno, California. The bus from the airport to Bilkent was about an hour long, but we got to see part of Ankara.

Once on campus, our first stop was the International Office where we got our student IDs and room assignments. After finding out where everyone would be living, we loaded up on the bus again and were delivered to our various dorms. I am living in a coed dorm, which means that I share the lounges with the boys, but we have separate halls. I'm rooming with 3 other Turkish ladies, but they're not here yet since classes don't start for another week, but their stuff is here.

My bed is the top bunk. 

I went to dinner with some other ladies that I met during our time at the International Office; Dani from Germany, Kasha from Poland, and Taylor and Leigh from Georgia. We ate at the only restaurant on campus that is open this week, and we had a sort of Turkish pizza. It was yummy, but nothing super exciting.

Now I'm going to catch up on sleep because I have plans with these ladies tomorrow to explore the city, find a store where we can buy all the essentials that we forgot, and celebrate my 21st Turkish style.