This week has been normal. I've gone to school, woken up early, not wanted to wake up every time, spoken Turkish, etc. But this week I started noticing the little things about Turkey that I have become accustomed to, the things I didn't notice myself becoming accustomed to. A teacher asked me a few weeks ago what the weirdest thing for me in Turkey is, and I couldn't give an answer. The thing is, is I've been here for three and a half months. If he had asked me two months ago I would have an answer ready immediately, but even the Turkish toilets (squat toilets for those who are not familiar with the term) aren't weird for me now. The food that was new and interesting at the beginning is an every day occurrence for me. My host family sometimes asks me while cooking if we have a certain food in America, and as I say no, I realize that I can't imagine life without this food. Dürüm, lahmacun, çig köfte, ayran and others that I eat without thinking about it. Food is only a part of my life though. Living without the crazy traffic, the old men wearing their little hats, the horse drawn carriages being driven down the streets, taking off your shoes in every house, the shop keepers yelling at you to go in, right now, with five and a half months left, it seems unimaginable. Without even realizing it I have taken in parts of this culture and welcomed them into my everyday life. Today I was watching a TED talk, where a woman was speaking in Arabic about preserving your mother tongue (with english subtitles of course), and I recognized two words that are similar in Turkish. The word for letter and the word for idea. It's not a huge accomplishment, but the fact that I picked out those words specifically, and matched them with a language I started learning three and a half months ago warmed my heart. This culture, this country is my life right now. I have complaints about some things, I have moments where I miss the U.S., where I miss being in my comfort zone, but then I stop and look around. I look around at the people who have welcomed me into their hearts here, I look around at the culture I am slowly learning, the people I impact by being here, the new things I am learning, and I realize I don't have time to miss the U.S. It will be there in five and a half months, more or less the same. School will start, and it will be the same. There will be no new culture to learn, no new people to meet and impress with the amount of Turkish I know, no yummy Turkish food to eat during lunch, no friends in class to hug and kiss every day, no Call to Prayer giving me an idea of the time of day, none of it. These little things about Turkey are what I love the most. They bring happiness to my days when I'm feeling down, they make the hard parts worthwhile, they make going home that much harder. Türkiye, seni seviyorum. I love you Turkey. And now, I bid you all farewell until next time! Iyi geceler!
Xoxo, Izzy
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