Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
So it's about the end of the first week and what a week it's been. After sporadic power naps and some questionable airline food, I arrived in Istanbul on Monday evening 13.5 hours after leaving the US. A few friends and I took a taxi from the airport to Galata Tower and walked to our hostel from there. The rest of the group came a few hours later.
It seems like I've been here for a long time since I've done so many new things since being here. On the cab ride from the airport to our hostel, there weren't a lot of things that were obvious markers that I was in Istanbul. Besides the cab ride itself (which I'm not used to taking), the only two things that I wasn't used to seeing were the mini soccer fields that people could play pick-up soccer in and some really old buildings and things like that. On our first full day, we went on a scavenger hunt around the city and, once again, there wasn't a lot that was super different from how things are in the US. We have to take public transportation to get around which is weird to me as a Southern Californian. Other than that Istanbul is just like any other major city but with a lot more history and awesome things.
We had our first few Turkish language classes this week, which has definitely been an experience. We're only doing those classes for the first two weeks so we'll only have to focus on that. Learning a new language has been more difficult than I'd like to admit but I haven't had to do it for a while so it makes sense that I'm having some trouble. Also, we've only been learning Turkish for 3 days so I guess I shouldn't expect to be fluent in it by now. I digress. Although it's difficult, it is really cool trying to use what we learn while we're walking around the city and interacting with people.
In terms of the cohort, I don't really know anyone on the trip that well, but after these first few days, I'm excited to get to know them. It's been really fun exploring the city with them and I'm excited to see what wonderful things will come from these new friendships.
Overall, I love this city and my cohort. This semester will definitely not be without its fair share of challenges and struggles (if not more so than other semesters), but there are so many opportunities for growth on this semester and I can't wait to see what the Lord will do with me on this trip. I know a lot of this has been pretty general/vague/cliche but there's been a lot to process so it's kind of difficult to articulate.
As always, blessings upon you, my friends. Thanks for reading.
In Christ,
Ethan
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