Details!

     I have received more information recently! The Turkey-bound YES students will leave our home cities on September 4, we will spend one night in New York City for our AFS gateway orientation, and will officially leave the U.S. on September 5. Five is my lucky number, so hopefully this is a good sign :D The fact that I can now tell people when I leave is exciting (unless of course it is the wrong date). One of the other YES Abroad scholars said on her vlog that she has already gotten homesick, and I know EXACTLY what she means. The idea of not seeing my parents for a year is daunting, but only when I really think about it. Another development was a schedule for the conference calls. For some weird reason, I love these conference calls. They just make it that much more real that I will actually be going to TURKEY. For a year!!!
      I don't know if ya'll have kept up with what is going on in Turkey right now, but it's pretty fascinating. It all began with a protest to the Gezi park in Istanbul being turned into a shopping center, but turned into so much more. Apparently now it is a protest against the Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, who many people consider a dictator. There has also recently been a protest to a couple being admonished for kissing in the subway station. Numerous couples stood up for them and spent a few minutes kissing in the stations. Although I will not be able to involve myself in any protests while there next year, it will be amazing to see what is happening from within the country.
     I had my AFS in-home interview last thursday, and my AFS pre-departure orientation on saturday. There are only three students in our area going abroad. One girl is going to Spain for the summer, and the other girl is going to China with NSLI-Y for the summer. At least we have some people going!! I knew pretty much everything they were telling us, but it was still good to hear it again, and of course I will hear it again in D.C. in 23 days!
So that's all for today! Tesekkur ederim for reading (please forgive me for the complete lack of accents on the Turkish words!)
   xoxoxoxo, Izzy