First, I'll start with a school update. I, surprisingly, love school. Turkish school is set up a bit differently. I am in the Math IB class (I think I've previously explained what IB is) with about 15 other students. We stay in the same classroom the whole day while the teachers switch instead. And we also don't have the same classes everyday, but we do have multiple hours of one subject a day. The one and only time I switch classes is when I have business and management class (students in IB can choose either business, economics, or art). I really love my business class. Maybe I should consider a career in business? Who knows. But my favorite day of the week is Monday because I have 3 straight hours of business class. Besides business, I also really like English class. It's kinda funny, because whenever the students and teacher (who also teaches my cooking club) argue about English, they all turn to me, like I have all the knowledge about English, expecting some profound enlightenment on the subject. Haha. But usually during the other classes I either go to the library to study Turkish or I sit at my desk and study. {{okay, quick rant, but I'm really sad that my language course got moved to starting in November instead of October. I NEED to learn more Turkish than what I can teach myself.}} Also, I've made a lot of friends at school. One of my friends, Hazall, posted this on Instagram after we had a biology lab the other day. I just thought it was sweet :)
Inbounds! (L-R: Camila from Argentina, Luana from Brasil, Arthur from Brasil, and Hailey from Wyoming USA) 
Map of the Grand Bazaar
Çay (tea) glasses. I'm definately bringing some of these home to the US! 
We really like selfies.
Lamps
Moving on to this last weekend.
Saturday, I went with some inbound friends to the Grand Bazaar! It was so fun! Here are some pictures.
Ferry Boat
Decorative pots and pans
Also, I'd like to mention that coming home from the Grand Bazaar, I found my own way home, that includes using a tram, ferry, and bus, and I did that all while it was dark and raining! Plus, I was wearing a neon yellow rain poncho the whole time so that just added a dash of attractiveness to the whole situation. I feel like I'm, finally, gaining back my independence. {{Just sayin', Istanbul is a huge city. It makes Chicago look like a lazy farm town. No wonder it took me almost three weeks to go out on my own haha}}
Sunday:
I went over to my host aunt and uncles for a family brunch! My adorable host cousin, Naz, was there, plus my host grandma, another host aunt, and my other host cousin who happens to also be a rotary exchange student! Naz played the piano for me too! She is so good, even just playing at the beginning level. Some songs she played were: Old McDonald, "Glad you came" by: The Wanted, and of course The Star-Spangled Banner! 
I've mentioned how many stray cats we have here in Istanbul, right? If not, here is some proof for you! The stray cats here live very exciting lives. They wait for buses and drive cars! Who would have thought they'd be so talented?!
And, finally, to end the post I'll leave you with a snapchat selfie of my host mom and I. Güle güle! Xoxo mags
Your exchange just keeps getting better than ever. The bazaar looks amazing. Keep finding new things to explore.
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