Recent days

Hey again! So I've been super busy getting ready for my mom's arrival, the up coming Rotary trip, and preparing to move to my next host family. Here are some pictures of what I've been up to recently: 

Ortaköy with Gabi and Daffne

With Maria from Italy 

Daffne and I 

We played UNO on the ferry! 

You two can always make me laugh :)

Island picnic with friends :) 

Gabi and Luana at the picnic

Group hug! 

Picnic spot

Picnic spot 

But we all ended up getting a sort of poison ivy at the picnic! Haha we have the best luck. 

Beautiful street art in Kadiköy 

It even tells you where to stand for the best picture

Ferry boat

Hailey and Gabi 

Our new friends from Spain

These people are strangers, but the sunset was too beautiful 

In Moda seaside 

Salep

Luis at the picnic hahaha 

Anyway, tomorrow my mom arrives so I'll post soon about her time here too :D 

Maggie 

Random post of stuff

Hello again! 

Okay so I know I haven't posted in almost a month so I'll just put some highlights from the past weeks.

I'll start with some of the really good food I've had recently so you all can get an idea of what types of food people eat here in Turkey: 

Thai noodles

Asian food from my Rotary meeting

Jasmine tea

Waffles and Starbucks

Pink Cola (just the can was pink)

Hamburgers

Hot Chocolate and Turkish Kahve

Typical breakfast

Pide (Turkish Pizza)

And we even found a Pizza Hut! My inner American was so happy when we came across Pizza Hut :)

** Okay so don't think that all we do here is eat, even though it might seem that way. These pictures are from a span of 3 weeks or so. ** 

We've been doing a lot of exploring since we are getting tired of the same old places. Here you'll see Gabi, Laura, and I asleep in a cafe. Arthur took the picture from my phone. What can I say, exchange students have a special talent for falling asleep anywhere at anytime since we are always tired.

Here is a group picture from a resturant we went to the other night

Here is all of us at the birthday party of Luis, a boy from Mexico

There was also a soccer match between some of the male Inbounds/Outbounds/Rotex 

I went on a walk in Taksim (a place on the European side) and I found these beautifully colored steps!

Here are two of my most recent Instagram posts about my exchange (@maggieblackwell_) 

And... 

Also, here is a cute picture of a dog I met on our last rotary trip:

Anyway, I'll update again soon. Until then, XOXO Maggie 

Spice Bazaar

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while... 

Okay, anyway, last Saturday I went to a Spice Bazaar with two of the other exchange students Gabi and Laura, who are both from Brazil. Here are several photos I took of the Bazaar:

Typical Shop

Different spices for sale

Lokum aka Turkish Delight; so delicious!

Gabi eating Baklava at the Bazaar

Different teas and Lokum 

More spices

We ate so much free Lokum and dried fruits that I was about to explode. At Bazaars like this one, if you use a lot of charm with the shop owners, they are more than likely to let you have a piece or two of Lokum (or whatever sweet they are selling) for free. So I used all the Turkish I knew, and then some, to communicate with the sellers. They invited us into their shops, we chatted for a little bit then as I start I walk out, I'd ask "Ah, what's this?" and since I'd seem interested, they give all three of us a piece or two. Or if you are buying something from that store, know that the price they are asking is never the final offer. With enough charm, you might be able to knock the price down by a few liras, which is good for a poor exchange student :)

After all that sugar, we decided to go for actual lunch. We found a Pide, Turkish Pizza, resturant and ate there. The funniest part about Turkish restaurants is that they are normally 3 or 4 levels high (level 1 being where they make the food, and the rest are areas for eating) compared to only one huge dining room in the US. Once we got our food, we started for the wooden, steep, spiral staircase that leads to the seats. I was the first in line to go up, but I saw this little boy cleaning dishes out of the corner of my eye and so I stopped, looked at him, and asked, "Nasılsın?", which translates to "How are you?". He gave me the hugest smile and replied, "Ben de Iyiyim, Sen nasılsın?", which means "I am good, how are you?". I replied with "Ben de Iyiyim, sağol. Iyi günlar!" which is "I am good, thanks. Have a nice day!" I love using my Turkish whenever I get the chance to. This little boy was just so happy that someone aknowledged him enough to ask "How are you?". (Keep in mind everyone behind me was sort of angry because I was holding up the line for the stairs...)  

Once we finished lunch, we headed to a cafe for a Sahlep, which is a milk-based hot drink that has cinnamon sprinkled ontop of it. The three of us really love the cinnamon part so we ALWAYS ask for extra of it :) Here is our order at the cafe. Çok çok çok Tarçınlı = Extra extra extra Cinnamon 

After the cafe, Gabi left for home and Laura and I went to Kadiköy to meet Daffne. Once there, Laura and I walked around, drank a çay/coffee, and talked for about 3 hours. Laura is such a sweet girl and I'm so glad I had this time to hangout with her! Then Daffne met us for dinner at a resturant called "Makarna" which means "Pasta". So we got pasta, salads, and iced teas. Laura left for home around 9pm but Daffne and I stayed to talk until 11pm. We took a minibus back home afterwards. 

Folk dancing starts now every Sunday... 

Maggie