Time-Traveling!

So, this past Saturday, I time-traveled. I lived 7pm-2am on a plane, going over Scotland, Greenland, Iceland. I watched Austenland (very funny movie, FYI) and Iron Man 3, napped a bit, and ate lunch and dinner...and then I landed in Toronto, Canada, and it was 7pm all over again. And I got to live my evening all over again, this time by running through the Toronto airport, flying over the US in a 48-seat Air Canada plane, a shaky landing to bring me back into my home city, and then...an empty international baggage claim. Empty in that my family wasn't there. And for this, I blame a well-meaning but completely out-of-her-mind customer service lady at Air Canada. You see, I didn't have a working cell phone with me because I had been using a Turkish cell phone during the past 4 months. And so my parents called Air Canada to make sure that I had made it onto my connecting flight, since I had an extremely quick turn-around of 50 minutes and US Customs in Toronto to get through. Well, thank God, I did make it to my flight, was the 2nd person to board that tiny plane in fact. But the Air Canada customer service lady evidently doesn't know how amazing God is in working things out. So she told my parents that there was absolutely no way that I was on my flight home, and that at that moment she was booking me a flight to Atlanta for the following morning. So my parents, disappointed and sad, decided to go to sleep and go to the airport in the morning when I should arrive after my long journey. And they were just falling asleep when I called, having borrowed a phone for a few moments, and told them the news that, yes, I was at International Baggage Claim in Atlanta, waiting for them. So that's how my homecoming was. I mean, no one was hurt, everything turned out all right in the end, and I'm all fine and dandy. But I do hope that Air Canada lady gets her act together so no one else has the same unfortunate experience :)

Even with that rough start, it's been a great few days back in the States. I could make a whole long list of things that I miss in Turkey, but that would be pointless because when you live a full, well-traveled life, wherever you are there will be places and people you miss. But here are the things I am thankful for today, right now, where I am:

1) My family. They truly are amazing. I am so blessed. I got hiccups within the first 24 hours of being home because my sister is one of the only people that can make me laugh that hard. I have enjoyed talking about everything with mom, and having daddy&daughter time during my morning commute to the bus with my dad. Yes, I am blessed.

2) My Atlanta friends. I had an incredible welcome back to campus on Monday, including lunch with all my Tech chemistry buddies just like old times. They watched my back as I was pretty drowsy and sometimes scatter-brained in the afternoon (jet-lag is...interesting) and made my adjustment straight into 3 chemistry courses a fun experience. All the welcome-home texts and hugs have really made it great to be back.

I almost can't even write about Turkey right now. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around my life, how it was for the past 4 months, and how it changes (and can't change) as I settle into life in the States again. If you ask me how it was, I will probably say "Amazing." Because I have given up on trying to explain something that is inexpressible in words. But if you get the chance to sit down and chat with me (and I have a double teapot and Turkish çay at home, so I am looking forward to sharing convo over tea time with many of you soon), then I can try to share with you the aspects of the past 4 months that have made it a life-affirming experience that has helped me get a glimpse into what my path through life will look like and what God has in store for me.

Also, you all know that one of my favorite modes of communication is a good, old postcard :) So, send me your address! Would love to continue to keep in touch across the oceans (or just across town) in this way. Everyone loves getting some joy in their mailbox.

Until next time,
Your Faithful Nomad

Snail Mail Rocks!

I love getting and sending letters so much. It is just so special to write a letter to somebody on a beautiful card or on cute stationary, and then to receive letters and get to keep them for forever and read them again and again :) I've been sending snail mail since I was a little girl. I would write letters and color pictures for my Aunt Ev, who was in her 90s and lived in Florida. When I went and visited her, she would have my letters all up on her fridge or propped up in her living room...it made me feel like I really was brightening her day when she opened an envelope from me.

My favorite memories of receiving mail are from March of every year. I would always figure that two weeks before my birthday was right about the time that I should start receiving birthday cards. In our house, if your birthday is coming up, you have first rights for checking the mailbox. I would listen so carefully for the *stop, go, stop* sound of the mail truck (actually, I listened for it every day of the year...of course, not on Sundays, silly). Then, I would dash out to the mailbox to see if I'd gotten anything. Those birthday cards rocked! (and if you are taking notes, I still really love getting birthday cards, so send me one come March!). Even though my birthday and Christmas were the most ripe times for getting good mail, I always enjoyed getting notes from people throughout the year. There is just something so happy and cheerful about getting a note from someone saying that they are thinking of you. It really does make any day a little brighter.

My friend, Megan, shared this Buzzfeed on Facebook today, and I thought it was really cute (I'm not a Harry Potter fan, but everything else was pretty right on) - http://www.buzzfeed.com/tabathaleggett/reasons-everyone-should-start-writing-letters-again

I like sending mail so much that once-upon-a-time I made a ton of really amazing envelopes (for brightening up plain stationary...or the cards that I always can't find an envelope for) out of magazine and catalog pages.

All you have to do is take a normal envelope of the size you want, carefully unfold it, trace it onto the back of a magazine page, cut out the envelope from the magazine page, and carefully glue it together as a new envelope. Much better than just throwing away those already-read but beautifully illustrated magazines, right?

I also love how they mention sealing with wax on the Buzzfeed I linked to above. One of my great friends, Paula, gave me wax and a wax seal for my last birthday, and I have enjoyed sealing letters with my special seal ever so much :)

Anyway, my main form of brightening the world right now with snail mail is sending postcards from Turkey! So, if you want to receive a postcard from me (it may take a few months...actually, I might see you before you even get my postcard LOL), then comment below with your address. The comments actually get moderated through me before they get published, so I will write down your address and then not publish the comment... and no worries about the whole world starting to send you mail :)

And, hopefully after reading this post, you will go send some snail mail to someone else. Maybe be creative...send a message in a bottle, a matchbox, or think of something new. Just go brighten someone's day...you won't regret it :)

Comment below if you are sending out some snail mail today!

And, don't forget to follow me on Instagram because I'm always posting some sweet pictures of Istanbul @faithful_nomad and @k_rover_explores_the_world.