Back home!

I have been home for all of 24 hours, and I have given some thought to what I missed when I was in Turkey, and what I miss now that I am home:

What I missed when I was in Turkey:

• Cold milk to have with cereal. The milk they serve is tepid.
• Having a washcloth! They do not provide those in hotel rooms.
• Air conditioning!
• Having the freedom to wear what I wanted.
• Having set prices for items. It was tiring to bargain.
• My pets....not just mine, but knowing that cats and dogs are cared for as pets in the US, and not just running around around with nobody to care for them.
• Beds that were higher than my knee. I don't know why all of the hotels had low, low beds.

What I miss now that I am home:

• good canned ice tea. Here we have Nestea, but in Istanbul, they have marvelous canned Lipton tea, in all sorts of flavors.
• the amazing pastries and desserts.
• All of the recipes that had eggplant in them. Yummy!!
• being able to walk down any street and see people just "hanging out" together, playing games, just talking.....everywhere. There is never an empty street.
• The kindness of the Turkish people - it's amazing how welcoming and generous they are to Americans.
• All of the recipes that had eggplant in them. Yummy!!
• The amazing views. During my trip, I took 1200 pictures. Areas of Turkey are so beautiful that I just kept taking pictures to try to capture that beauty. The great thing is that we are lucky to have amazing places in the US also - the Grand Canyon, the Carolina coast..

What a great opportunity I have had. I am thankful for the support I was given by UCPS and the World Affairs Council. Not only do I get to share my trip via the blog, but I was also provided the means to purchase items from Turkey to share with students in a "culture kit". This kit includes clothing, music, arts and crafts, historical information - all sorts of things that children can look at and study and gain more of an insight into Turkish culture. I look forward to sharing all of this with our students!