A Turkey Thanksgiving

Today I had the most unconventional Thanksgiving of my life to date. It started with a trip to the Grand Bazaar in the morning, where we saw a number of over-priced Turkish goods and even more pushy salesmen. This afternoon we went on a boat cruise (number five of the semester) of the Bosporus, which is the straight running down the middle of Istanbul that divides Europe from Asia. This evening, we had a big "Thanksgiving" dinner of Turkish food at a nice restaurant. It certainly wasn't conventional in any way, but we did go around our tables listing things we're thankful for. After dinner a handful of us went out with our professors to see the "European District" of Istanbul, which is an upscale touristy area that blends a European-style city center feel with traditional Turkish shops and goods. Once we got back to the hotel, a few friends, the professors, and I ended the night with an old Thanksgiving episode of "The West Wing", a favorite TV show of ours, which provided a nice dose of both Thanksgiving and America.

With my friend Lauren on our boat cruise

A view of the Hagia Sophia from the Bosporus


About to eat a Turkish dinner on Thanksgiving

It was a wonderful day, even though it was so different. I'm very thankful for our Europe Semester community and our makeshift "Euro-family" celebration. Of course I miss my real family and have been thinking of the celebrating that's going on in California. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at home! I'm thankful for you and am looking forward to seeing you in the next couple of weeks!