Istanbul, Constantinople

Here I sit in the Istanbul International Airport. My dear friend, Gretchen, is accompanying me on my first journey of Spring 2010 to Egypt and Israel. We left Amery on Sunday after two weeks of cleaning, sorting, and hard decisions. It is a huge relief to be able to go on this adventure and experience some of the places my parents loved so much. We arrived in Chicago Sunday night around 9 and stayed with a friend from Poland, Nikki. Nikki's mom had put together a snack for us, so we sat around the island in the kitchen eating and visiting. It was late before we got to bed, but another great evening of good company and good conversation. I slept in the next morning, since I hadn't been able to since Graduation. The day was spent lounging and mentally preparing for the 11 hour flight. We left around 9:30 and found ourselves on a very crowded plane. Gretch and I had the middle seats towards the front of the plane and got to sit next to Sara, a student from Stanford. She was on her way to Tanzania to do Master's work on water systems in rural villages. Basically, I knew I had found a new friend. We chatted more than I ever have with anyone I just met on the plane. Gretchen, Sara, and I synced our individual movie screens, so that we would laugh at the same spots and not be out of place. We arrived in Istanbul without delay and began our long layover. I can't help but think of Mom and Dad as we wander through the airport looking at the Turkish goods for sale. They brought back so many cool things that were around the house when I was growing up. I now see similar things and can't wait to see these great places. Gretchen and I are super excited to get to Egypt and begin the journey.