I made it here in one piece, legs and knees only moderately sore after being trapped on airplanes and in airports for a day and a half. My right leg fell asleep completely on a number of occasions, but some improvised calisthenics at 30,000 ft. saved me from the certain fate of falling on my face during deboarding. I am exhausted, tired to the bone, so tired I feel nauseous and dizzy and weak and tired, 36 hours removed from my last wink, almost too tired to sleep.
My exhaustion only serves to heighten the surreality of finding myself here, finally here at the outset of my journey, boots on the ground in the first country on my itinerary, Turkey, getting ready to crash in Constantinople, the only city in the world to straddle two continents, Europe and Asia, East and West. From our drive in, I'd have to say that Istanbul reminds me of California, probably most reminiscent of San Francisco. Mediterranean climate with palm trees and conifers, the Bosporous cutting into the city just like San Francisco bay, red shingled houses scattered across the hills; it is a beautiful city with ancient, old and new architecture standing side by side, remnants of the Ottoman empire rising next to the newer buildings of Boğaziçi University.
We are currently housed in the Superdorm on the residential campus of Boğaziçi University, about a half hour walk from the main, south campus where we will take our classes for the next three weeks or so. Tomorrow we have a full day city tour, which is sure to be fascinating, and guaranteed to be too long for me, considering the amount of travel fatigue I still feel on my first morning here.
Well I just wanted to let everyone know that I made it here safely, without any major problems beyond sore knees and jet lag. Still can't believe that I will be traveling for 4 months, a time away 8X greater than any time I've ever been away before. I know that I will miss all of you back home immensely, but I know that this time away, on my own, will make me a stronger, wiser person for all of you. I had intended this to be a short post, but clearly my long wind is blowing. Take care all. I'll talk to you soon!
Love,
Luke
Hosgeldiniz (to) Turkei! I'm glad you made it--sorry about the knees. You'll get over the jet lag soon, and the city tour is awesome! I'm sure you'll love it.
ReplyDelete-Annika
p.s. You should totally try to keep up with the individual blogging. It'll make your family really happy. (Or at least stop them from harassing you like mine do about the fact that I only made 5 entries.) haha