Mondays Can be More.

We've all heard of it. And felt it. 

"Monday blues."

When did it become normal to expect this day of the week to be dark and crabby and horrid? Why do we feel as though going back to work and school should be the pits?

Let's give "Monday blues" the boot! Mondays can be more. 

They can be an exciting start to a fresh week. Whether you are back to your desk, or class, or taking care of your home, this is a day that the LORD has made. Let's be glad in it!

Love this encouraging verse? Send notecards with this image at this link.

Need some ideas to push the rain clouds away? I've got a few below. Use hashtag #mondayscanbemore when you do one of these uplifting things, or if you think of something else. Share how your Monday is more with us!


#1 - Try out a new gym class.

I joined a gym near my home recently, because the weather is too cold and rainy to run outside very comfortably. Gym classes are fun because you just show up and follow along! Plus, on a cold winter day, they really get your blood pumping and will make you feel warmer for the rest of your Monday. 

#2 - Send a faraway friend a card to say "hi."

Sometimes it is really easy to forget to stay in contact with friends. And, let's be honest, everyone likes snail mail. So, choose today to be intentional. Send a cute card, or write a letter about how much you appreciate their friendship. Let them know how you've been, and show that you wish to stay in-touch. Don't know their address? Facebook, DM, or text them and ask! I do this all the time, no one ever thinks it's weird, they are just excited at the prospect of a handwritten note showing up in their mailbox. 

Don't have a faraway friend? Sign up to send a postcard to someone around the world at postcrossing.com. An added benefit is that for each card you send, you will receive one back! Yay for mail!
(Want to get a postcard from me? Check out this post and follow the instructions). 

#3 - Check out a new book from your local library.

Sometimes, it can become draining to just watch TV or scroll Instagram before bed. A good book can make your evening more relaxing, while expanding your mind and imagination. Pick up a new book, put it by your bed, and choose to read it a bit each night and finish it by the end of this month. If you aren't sure where to start, ask the first librarian you see. That's what they are there for. 
Share your favorite reads with #mondayscanbemore to give us ideas!

My favorites (click images to take a peek on Amazon). 


#4 - Take 30 minutes to soak up nature.

Walk outside or to a local park, and sit down with a piece of paper and a pen. Give yourself some minutes in silence. Then, completely fill the paper with observations of the sounds, smells, and feeling of the world around you. Every tiny detail. Use all the descriptive words you can think of to capture the moment. Many times, we forget to actually experience the world around us. Let this Monday be the day you start off the week seeing God's Creation with open eyes. 

#5 - Choose a day this week to meet a friend for coffee. 

Often, we wait for our friends to keep our relationships afloat. Be the one to be intentional today. Text and schedule a coffee date. Put it on your calendar, and look forward to that quality time together. 
Meeting at Starbucks? Check out how to drink vegan there. 

#6 - Memorize a verse of encouragement. 

This past week I read Psalm 34 with a friend. It is chock-full of verses confirming that GOD is there for us in all our times of need as well as times of plenty. Finding a verse to use as you praise GOD and give HIM glory this week will not only bring you closer to HIM, but will also give you HIS eyes on the situations and challenges you face this week. 

Use #mondayscanbemore to encourage your friends and family to turn around the bad rap of Mondays and instead let them be more. Share in the comments below, or on Instagram (@faithful_nomad) what you are choosing today.

"How we spend our days is how we spend our lives."

Seeking to Know HIM

Sometimes, I feel as though I have been in a relationship with GOD for so long, that I couldn't possibly learn something brand-new about HIM.

Wrong.

Very, very wrong.

GOD has used this book to open up my eyes about something very deep in our relationship that needs to change.

                                               
                                                  Read on Kindle:

                   


Here's the thing:

I need to be seeking GOD with the goal of getting to know HIM more. Period. 

So many of my prayers in the recent past have started like this:

Dear God, Please open up your Word to me today. Show me how it applies to me. Tell me what I should do in order to glorify YOU with my life. 

Do you notice how many "me"s there are in that prayer? Before, I thought that I was totally on the right track. I want to glorify God with my life, right?

The problem: I've been wanting to read my Bible and learn more about God in order to know what to do in my life.

What I should be doing: Delving deep into learning more about GOD and HIS character simply to know HIM more. That is the greatest thing I can ever do in life: Get to know my GOD better. Spend time with HIM, over coffee or while lying awake at night, while talking to friends or listening to a sermon.

HE created the world. HE created me. HE has created more then I will ever know actually exists.

WHO is HE? I want to know. And HE is so huge, so complex, so amazing, that even if I spend every minute of every day learning about HIM, I will still not know HIM completely.

And that is exciting.

A side-effect of getting to know GOD more is that I will learn more about who I am. I will start to see why HE created me. How much HE loves me. And that is beautiful.

Have you read this book by Grace Thornton? Let me know what you think and how it has impacted your life. I have read her blog for years and have been so excited to see her share about what GOD has taught her with us through her writing.

What's Up, Culture? Why Differences DO Matter in Life

"Wow, you really like our traditional desserts." My native friend watched as I ate a piece of baklava before our meeting began. 

"Yep, they are really good." I licked my lips, savoring each bite of yummy syrup and flaky dough.

"I can tell." And he motioned towards my stomach and chuckled.

I felt gut-punched.

What? For clarification, I am not fat. Not a bit. We laughed and walked off to join the meeting, but this comment sat heavily in my stomach a lot longer than the baklava did. I was so offended. 

Why had he been so rude to me? 

Or, had he actually been rude at all? 

Was I being too sensitive?

You live around people from different cultural backgrounds. If you are like me, you may even live completely inside of a culture other than your own (welcome, expat readers!). We hear a lot about cultural differences through the media, but many times we think that they are over-stated and don't really make a huge impact on our day-to-day relations.

Well, that's wrong.

They make a HUGE difference in both relationships, jobs, and every-day interactions.

Take my example. This isn't the first time that someone in this Central Asian/European culture had mentioned my weight. Sometimes, if I see someone after a long absence, the very first comment they make to me is based on a, sometimes imagined, change in weight. Either good or bad. "Wow, you've lost weight" or "You've gotten fatter." Now, when I first started living abroad, this really caught me off-guard. In American culture, weight is very taboo. If a guy tells his girlfriend that she is looking a bit chubbier, he can pretty much write off the whole relationship. We are quite sensitive when it comes to body image. However, that isn't the case in a lot of Central Asian cultures. People talk about weight and a host of other body topics quite freely, without the risk of offending each other. It's considered normal.

There are a heap of other situations where I have realized that culture makes a difference. In Western culture, we are very particular about our space and privacy. We don't like to "intrude" on others or be intruded on. Case in point: If I am going to have a friend sleep-over, we will plan this at least a week in advance. Friends don't normally ask to sleep over because they don't want to impose on hospitality; they will wait until invited. My guest will bring her stuff with her, and I will have made sure that her staying-over fits in with my other plans. HOWEVER, Central Asian culture is completely different! If I go to a friend's house for dinner, she will most likely insist that I spend the night. She will give me a pair of her pajamas to wear, and I'll just wear my other clothes again in the morning. I will most likely sleep on a fold-out couch, which is a must-have in every home here because guests are so frequent. In other situations, if I'm visiting a city in which I have a friend, it is a given that I will stay with her or her family. In this culture, it is completely accepted that I can ask to stay at others' houses without being accused of imposing on them. "Mi casa, tu casa" is a real thing, and it isn't spoken with a hint of bitterness; generosity is currency.

Phone conversations. Wow, can they be different. If I'm talking with a friend in America, I might ask her what she has been up to, because this leaves room for her to choose how much she shares; but I won't call her and say "What are you doing?" - this would seem really intrusive. When people call their friends and family here, they will literally ask "What are you doing?" In addition, they might have called them to ASK JUST THAT. For me, when people first started asking what I was doing, my knee-jerk reaction was to answer, "Why do you need to know?" or "What's it to you?". I felt that they were intruding on my privacy. This was a cultural clash, and one that I had to become aware of and adjust myself to.

So, what do we do in the face of these cultural clashes? We live in a multi-cultural world, and it is imperative that we are able to deal with these situations with consideration to ourselves and our friends.

#1 - We must realize that our culture is not necessarily right and their culture is not necessarily wrong; they are both just different.

#2 - Think about the situation or the exchange of words from their perspective. If you felt offended, do you think that they meant to offend you from their cultural perspective? Analyze how you should take the action or comment from their culture's lenses.

#3 - Take a deep breath and move on. Culture can be a great thing, but it can bring about misunderstandings. We don't want to let these situations cause rifts in our friendships; it's not worth it.

In the case of my "baklava" situation, I realized that from the cultural perspective, the comment made to me was in jest and wasn't meant to offend me at all. Although I personally felt offended, I knew that holding that bitterness would only spoil the friendship. In some cases, I would have felt it appropriate to let the person know that I was offended because of the cultural difference, but I didn't mention it in this situation. I took a deep breath and let it roll off my back.

Just because my culture says one thing doesn't mean that it's essentially right and other cultures are wrong. They are just different, and learning to live with these differences and taking them into consideration is important for building lasting relationships and having good communication.

Have you experienced a "clash" of cultures? How have you dealt with it? Did it help you perceive your friend's culture in a new light? Comment below! I really would love to hear about your experiences as we get better at living in this exciting, multi-cultural world.

Oh, what 1 year can hold...

Today marks one year since I flew to Istanbul on a one-way ticket, knowing that I was going to learn Turkish and not knowing much past that. The first time I was here, I stayed for 4 months as an exchange student. This past time, it was with more long-term in mind. It has been an amazing year, with lots of blessings and unexpected surprises. Here's the run down of what this year has had lots of. 

>>>----------> Lots of visits with friends.

I started off the year celebrating my best friend's wedding both in a small village and then in the big city. I literally danced my feet off at both of these big events (in my mind, looking just like a Turk, but I know they were all just being kind). Months later, during the summer, I was invited to celebrate one of the holidays with a great Turkish friend and her family in Konya. And then, a trip to see my sweet friend Emily (of Emiloid on YouTube) became my first mini-roadtrip with my sister. We loved spending time with Emily and discovering her new city! Here's to hoping and praying that the coming year involves even more visits to see and spend time with my besties :)

>>>----------> Lots of learning.

My road to being bilingual has many more footsteps on it than a year ago. It has involved hours and hours of classes, watching foreign films, and getting up the courage to talk to strangers in a strange language. It's funny to even see that you have a different sense of humor when you speak in a second language. Learning another language definitely gives you a new insight into the culture and life of another people group, and even into yourself.


>>>----------> Lots of coffee. 

If you haven't figured it out, coffee is my comfort food. And maybe my love language. I love sitting down with a warm mug, whether it is with a friend or my journal or a great new read. My parents brought me my very own filter coffee machine (yes, that is a special thing here), and I love cuddling up with a warm mug on the weekends. To be quite honest, I had 3 pumpkin spice lattes...in the first 4 days of October. Yep. #pslatte #whyamihashtaggingmyblog #becauseitsthepslatte


>>>----------> Lots of friends from every nation.

I am blessed to call people my friends who have intersected my life here in Turkey but who began their journeys in many different places. Some came here to seek a new experience. Others were forced to flee their war-torn homes to seek freedom and opportunity. I'm so thankful for our friendships and also for how they help me understand reality better.

>>>----------> Lots of tears.

It would be wrong to act as though life is a walk in the park. It's not. Being on the other side of the world from my family is especially rough. To be honest, every time I say goodbye to them, I go through weeks of withdrawal: depressed spirit, lack of motivation, even loss of appetite. I would have a hard time going on if it wasn't for...


>>>----------> Lots of knowledge that I'm where God wants me to                          be.

Life may be far from perfect, but that is expected - it's not heaven yet. But this life with God is certainly good. And HE promises so much to those who chase after Him. It is worth it. It is all worth it. HE proves it to me day after day.

"God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 

God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called children of God.

God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 

Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."

Matthew 5:3-16 

(New Living Translation)

Thank YOU, GOD, for a great year. Here's to many more.

~ Faithful Nomad

Getting ready to head back to college?

Here are my Top 5 tips for college students to have the best school year yet, save some $ along the way, and make a ton of life-long friends:

#1 - Get your list of school books from the college bookstore, along with their ISBNs, and then order them as used books from Amazon or Half.com. Click the banner below to get free shipping!

Better yet, at the end of the semester, sell your books right back to other students at your college bookstore during Buy-Back, or on Amazon or Half.com. You'll end up having paid close to nothing for your books. Way to go!

#2 - Look up the events happening around campus during the first week back. You'll probably be able to score free food every day of the week, plus meet really cool people who are involved on campus and get involved yourself! My first week on campus at GA Tech, I wrote on my calendar all of the free events I could find. My favorite from that week: I got a free BBQ dinner at BCM one night and made new friends on campus.

*How do I do this? Look up the events calendar on your school's homepage, keep an eye out for flyers and signs, and ask the kids in your classes if they are involved in campus organizations. Make sure to hit up the campus gym as well and see if they have events planned.

#3 - Sit at the front of the class. No, really, I mean it. It may seem so much easier to just slide in at the back, but I had the best experiences when I sat front and center. Your teachers get to know you and you definitely will pay more attention in class because they will notice the second you doze off. Plus, those teachers who now know your name and that you pay attention in class? They make great job references :)

#4 - Get involved in stuff outside of your major.

Quick sidebar: I read an article today about how many STEM (Science, technology, engineering math) majors don't actually end up in STEM careers. Is this a bad thing, like, did they waste all that education? No way! I firmly believe that you should get educated in STEM fields for the pure enjoyment of learning more about the world around you. Who cares what you end up doing? But, getting back on focus..

When you get involved in clubs, organizations, ministries, and activities that are totally un-related to your major, you give yourself a chance to broaden your interests and get specialty experience in other areas. Say that you are a chemistry student who loves going to the gym and training for races? Maybe down the road, you'll end up being able to interview for a company that makes products for runners, and you'll have that special interest that gives you an edge to get the position. You get my drift? Stuff like working at a restaurant, volunteering at the local school, becoming a regular at Zumba, and learning to play an instrument can all help you in whatever your future career ends up being (and it makes your life so much more fun along the way). 

#5 - Do a study abroad or an exchange program. Your time in another country will broaden your perspective on the world, life, relationships, and your future. Don't worry that it will set you back in your plan to graduate; there are so many programs that you will definitely be able to find one that allows you to take the classes you would normally be taking at your home institution for that semester. Money holding you back? Make sure to check with your International Education office to see what scholarships are available. At Georgia Tech when I did my exchange program, they had so few students apply for the study abroad scholarships the first time round, that they opened up the applications again after the deadline. I was blessed to unexpectedly get a scholarship that more than paid for my plane ticket and many of my expense (thanks GT Class of 1968!). Take the leap - you won't regret it!


After a hard day of work at school, ever want to just sit back and watch your favorite TV show? Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime by clicking below!


Have any other tips for getting the most out of college? Comment below! Make sure to follow Faithful Nomad by email as well :)

You know you live in Savannah if...

#1 - You get stuck behind a horse-drawn carriage every time you try to drive into downtown.
#2 - One of the most popular destinations is the local cemetery, and people walk around every evening on twilight ghost tours.
#3 - You wake up to the sound of explosions and fanfare (thanks, Hunter Army Airfield...it's a pleasant enough sound at 6:30 in the morning...)
#4 - There are more indie coffee shops than Starbucks's...and there are a lot of Starbucks's, so that's saying a lot.
#5 - Everyone has tattoos...well, except for me, so maybe I should say almost everyone.
#6 - You have a love/hate relationship with free street parking.
#7 - Just saying "Foxy Loxy" evokes sighs of longing from every coffee-lover in site.

#8 - A walk in the park may involve running into drum circles, tropical birds, and college students dressed as genies.
#9 - Your long-distance friends mention having thunderstorms and you know that they ain't got nothin' on a Savannah monsoon.
#10 - If your brain correlates pink houses with delicious cuisine.
#11 - You have mistaken piles of Spanish moss on the road for small animals and have almost caused an accident...*raises hand*
#12 - Paula Deen is the local butter-bakin' celebrity.
#13 - The local baseball team is named after the very-annoying local pests...and the mascot has fangs!

Gnate the Sand Gnat!

#14 - Almost everything is named after the founder of Georgia, James Oglethorpe. There's an Oglethorpe Square, Oglethorpe Mall, Oglethorpe Road, and an Oglethorpe House, to name only a few.



Please leave comments below with your additions to the list! Remember to "Follow My Adventure" by putting your email in the box at the top right of my blog :D

5 Books that Every Girl Must Read!

Now, if you are a girl, stop right here, click this, and print.... Ok, now you can keep reading :)

I've been doing some thinking lately (I know, a dangerous pastime) about the books that have shaped my life. Some have been fiction that have filled my imagination with wonders and fueled my passion for adventure. Others have been stories of people who have walked the roads less travelled, learned lessons from experiences that I may never personally have, and written chronicles from which I have snatched bits and pieces of wisdom. I've loved them all, even when the lessons that I've learned have been eye-opening and soul-searching.

Now, back to that doc I had you print up. These are 5 books that have filled my life with joy and helped me keep my eyes on the purpose for life. I hope you will read them and enjoy them, and I hope that they will impact your life in the same way that they have impacted mine.  And I hope you will come back and tell me what you think about them :) Let me know if there are any more books that you would recommend adding to the list!

Now, here's the run-down.

#1 - The Bible
 I've heard people refer to it as the Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. But I personally don't think there is anything basic about it. It is the greatest adventure story, love letter, thriller, and guidebook in the world. While we're on the topic, here is one of my favorite verses:

"God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Acts 17:27 (NIV)

#2 - Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott

Fiction

I went through a stage when I was younger where I read almost all of L.M. Alcott's books. She is one of my favorite authors because she wrote characters into being who "lived simply so that others may simply live" (yes, I just stole that quote from Elizabeth Seton). Although Little Women may be her most famous book, this one is my favorite. I just re-read it recently and was reminded of many things, one of which is that when I am having a bad day, I should make sure to do something to brighten someone else's. And Polly always reminds me that it is okay to have one good black silk dress (yeah, you may need to read it to figure out that one).

#3 - The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Nonfiction
You may think you know the story, and you may have seen the movie, but you really need to read Corrie's own words in this book. Reading The Hiding Place has challenged me to look out for the interests of others over my own and totally trust God, even when the world is falling apart at the seams. Read it once, read it again, give it to a friend...you get the picture.

#4 - The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Fiction
Now, L.M. Montgomery is really famous for Anne of Green Gables and the Avonlea Chronicles, but whenever a friend of mine introduced me to this gem I was hooked. It is one of those feel-good stories that is really pure and lovely.And it will make you want to go have a cuddle with nature. 

#5 - Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis
Nonfiction
I started reading this book while at my favorite coffee shop in Savannah. I started tearing up before I had even finished the Foreword. God has really used this story of obedience to work in my life. More on that later, but in the meantime, you should really pick up a copy and read this beautiful chronicle of a girl who has given her all for God. It's really amazing.

Let me know in the Comments section what you think, if you have already read some of these books, and any suggestions that should be added to the list of books every girl should read. Feel free to share this list with friends, daughters, sisters, moms...all the books are appropriate for all ages!

 Happy reading!

A Time for Everything

Last week I was at a memorial service for a dear friend. Her brother-in-law read from the book of Ecclesiastes. It's one of my favorite books of the Bible, although before this time I would have had a hard time explaining to you why. "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the sun: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,..., a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,..." (Ecclesiastes 3). As I was reading my study Bible this morning about the book of Ecclesiastes, it noted that this book of the Bible reads like a personal journal. And I realized that this may be why I like it so much. It reflects what I feel in my own life. I go through times where I can see God's plan so clearly. Other times, the daily tasks seem monotonous, and I'm left asking God what the point of all this is. Is life meaningless?  My study Bible puts it so well:

"According to the Teacher [author of the book of Ecclesiastes], life doesn't make sense outside of God; it will, in fact, never fully make sense to us because we are not God. But God has also "set eternity in the human heart" (Ecc 3:11). We feel longings for something more; pleasures that will last forever, love that won't sour, fulfillment in our work."

When I think about how I would be surviving this part of my life if I didn't have God, the picture of a drowned rat comes to mind. I don't think I'd make it, at least with any ounce of sanity left. I've lost many close friends and family over the last few months. Saying it has been hard is an extreme understatement. How do you do normal life again when this world is missing vital parts of it? This is where I find comfort in these verses. Life isn't always going to make sense. It will never fully make sense. But I know the Truth that runs this world, and as long as I keep HIM as my focus, it will all be okay. Although happiness can be hard to grasp, joy is plentiful through Christ. I know that HE died for me and felt more pain than I can ever imagine. And I know that HE overcame death because HE is more powerful than death. And I know that HIS kingdom is where I long to be. That is what gives life sense. It's all about HIM, and for HIS glory. 

If you've been wondering about life, get a Bible and sit down to read it. I've heard John is the best place to start, but anywhere will do. Just read it. I pray God shows you the Truth through it and that the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart. If you want to talk about it, let me know. If you would like to comment below with questions that you have had, or things that you have found in the Bible that you would like to share, please do. Everyone wonders about life, its meaning, why we are here. It is your job to make sure that you search for the truth. Your life depends on it.

Growing Roots and Sprouting Wings

^This has been on my mind a lot this week. Roots. Wings. Roots to me means living somewhere where one of the first questions people ask me is not "So, how long are you here for?" or "When do you fly back home?". Roots is making friends that I don't have to worry about missing in a few months. Roots is getting to actually decorate my room. Roots is looking out the window and knowing that I will be able to enjoy this view indefinitely. I have not grown roots. I'm not really sure how to start. Because to grow roots, you have to pick a spot. And picking a place is that much harder when you aren't sure where God is leading you.

But that isn't to say that I don't have the wings part down pretty solid. I know how to find an adventure if I want one. I know how to make friends on a moment's notice. I can find temporary housing, and pack my life into my blue rolling duffle bag (although it still scares me to see my life wrapped up in one large tote).  I know how to look at the view and think, "I'm going to think back on this moment and remember it for the rest of my life." I know that making more friends and having more experiences makes life that much richer, but it also gives you more to miss later on.

This week I met an amazing group of Istanbullus, ex-pats and Turkish natives who love Christ with all of their hearts. They were so loving and opened up their homes to me this week as we had Bible study together and spent time building our friendships. God has really been speaking to me through the story of Moses, which we discussed this week and which I have been studying on my own in our Beth Moore Bible study guide A Women's Heart. Moses had an amazing childhood, I'm sure, as he was raised as a prince of Egypt. He had all the splendor, had all the wealth, had all the comforts, and had a loving family. But God led him into the desert, which was a far cry from the comforts of Pharoah's palace, and used him to rescue the Israelites from the country he had called home. An action, an event, that changed history forever. Moses had roots, but God called him to have wings. God called him to live a life that wasn't comfortable, but that was full of love and purpose. God used Moses.

I want God to use me too. But I don't know if that means growing roots or keeping my wings. Because I have seen this past week how amazing it is for Christians to join together in a permanent community and grow roots in their city. Where they can go through life together and not have to worry about planning good-bye parties every few weeks or months. Where they can reach those around them and really build every-day relationships that will last a lifetime. 

I would really appreciate your prayers as I make plans and try to make sure I am following God's will for my life. I am trying to graduate this spring, but right now that is up in the air because of my courses I have left for my degree. And I need to figure out what I will do after graduating so I can start applying to the right things (roots or wings part). Thanks! 

Miss all of you in the States and hope you are having a wonderful autumn...appreciate the red leaves and fall-decorating for me :) Friends in Turkey - thanks for reading :)

Your faithful nomad, 

Kaelin

You know you live in Turkey if...

#1 - You hear the Islamic call to prayer 5 times a day.

#2 - You forget that there are lines on the road because nobody actually uses them. 
#3 - All meet & greets include touching cheeks (at least once on each side) with your friends and new acquaintances. And you ALWAYS say goodbye to everyone in the group before leaving. No sneaking out of the party here!

#4 - You have bread and çay with every meal. Yes. E-v-e-r-y meal. 

#5 - You know that real men have tea parties. Well, they wouldn't call them tea parties, but they are. They sit outside of cáfes with çay and a cigarette in hand and talk for long periods of time. Tea parties.

#6 - You don't think twice when you see 20 cats and dogs on your way to school or work. It is a well-known fact that they are legitimate neighbors, deserving of your extra food and loving kindness. 

#7 -  You spend half of your life on some mode of public transportation.

#8 - One of the most important decisions you make is what futbol team you support. Go Fenerbahçe!

#9 - A simit cart is never more than a few steps away. 

#10 - you are a girl and you don't go anywhere without a scarf. I mean, they are the best fashion accessory ever! And they are great for if the weather turns cold all of a sudden :)

#11 - You can't buy granola bars at the grocery store...but there is a whole aisle dedicated just to cookies.

#12 - You eat olives with your breakfast. And tomatoes. And cucumbers.

#13 - You don't normally shop at huge stores or supermarkets. Everything you need can be found at one of the tiny Mom&Pop places on your street. I think this is directly related to the fact that most people don't go driving to run errands, and so there are more options for buying within walking distance of everyone's houses and apartments.

#14 - Coffee = Nescafe or Turkish coffee. Which means that it is either 'fake' (as I like to call the instant stuff), or as thick as coffee mud (but utterly delicious). Unless you go to Starbuck's or Dunkin Donuts, where you will pay much more money for your American-style cup of joe.

#15 - You know that drinking water is not ever free. You pay for each bottle of water you order at a restaurant, and you drink bottled water at home as well. The tap just doesn't make the cut here.

#16 - You read "c"s as "j" sounds. Jacket = ceket, jazz = caz, etc.

#17 - You have a huge appreciation for being near large bodies of water, and you love being near the seaside.

#18 - If it's nice weather, you would never imagine eating inside! Actually, even if it is bad weather, you will still sit outside under an awning or inside a temporary shelter with blankets and a heat lamp provided by the restaurant.

#19 - Images of cigarettes and alcohol use on TV are fuzzed out.

#20 - You have a habit of haggling for everything you buy.*

#21 - Entering a mall means going through a security checkpoint.

#22 - When you talk about breakfast, you get a dreamy far-away look in your eyes.**

#23 - You call cake "pasta."

#24 - There is intermission at the movie cinema...and they always pick the MOST intense part of the movie to cut at. You're all like, "Say whaaaat?" 

#25 - If you don't see mountains on your horizon, you're probably not in Turkey anymore.

#26 - All of your friends' names mean something, like a certain type of flower or wheat, heart, sky, angel, light...

#27 - You add "yaaaaa..." to the end of most of your sentences. And you know you do it just to sound cool. 

#28 - You say "yes" by winking both of your eyes at the same time, and "no" by jutting out your chin and "tsk"ing your tongue.

#29 - You NEVER wear your shoes inside a house...and they even give you plastic covers for your shoes once you enter the gym!

#30 - You have mad jaywalking skills, because it's not jaywalking here...it's called crossing the street. 

#31 - when a bus pulls up, you don't wait your turn in line. Instead, you push and shove your way to the front (but do give way to older people or those with children). Without this maneuver, you would never actually make it onto the bus. Like ever.

#32 - You give up your seats on buses and public transportation to those who are older/elderly, pregnant, or have children with them.

#33 - The public transportation advertisements involve reminding you to watch out for having too much body odor, not using other people's transport cards in order to get the discounts, and not falling over and sleeping on your neighbors. 

*Courtesy of Martin, a fellow exchange student in Istanbul

**Courtesy of Tara, a fellow exchange student in Istanbul

Turkish Breakfast, Hamamonu, and more... Ankara Part Three!

Ok, here's the last installment from my first trip to Ankara, the capital of Turkey. My Sunday started off at around 11am with the best breakfast ever...

A complete Turkish breakfast. Gozleme, french fries, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, fried eggs, bread, çay...the list goes on and on. I could get used to this. Just so you know, though, this was a special brunch-like spread at a really nice restaurant...Turkish people don't eat breakfast like this every day. They usually have a few of these things, not all of them. We decided to go all the way :)

Me enjoying this delicious meal outside under the trees on a crisp Sunday morning.

And my bestie!

We went to old-town Ankara, called Hamanonu. There was the most cute bazaar where all the ladies had hand-made a ton of jewelry. This lady was a real seller...we both got a bracelet from her, and she made us make a wish and then she put the bracelet on us. She was so sweet :)

Pelin and me at the bazaar.

The buildings and roads in this area are just gorgeous.

Nobody was at home... :)

Going to definitely make some of these for my room when I get home. They were so beautiful. And you know how much I love color!

After Hamamonu, we went to the mall and found an H&M (I know it sounds touristy, but it is really nice to go to a store where you know what you will find). Got dinner at the mall and headed back to Pelin's place. Not pictured is our awesome game of Okey that we played that night - you play with tiles just like Rummicub but it is a little different and the strategy is fun. I didn't win a game against the experts, but I will conquer next time. Stayed that night and then headed back to Istanbul early Monday morning. Really enjoyed Ankara and visiting Pelin's family! Can't wait to go back :)

Stay tuned...last night we went on Day 1 of Joost's "Istanbul Eats" food adventure and I will be blogging it up in the next few days. In the meantime, you should definitely see if there are any Turkish restaurants or cafes in your area (they are sometimes camouflaged as 'Mediterranean' places). Make sure you try kebap, durum, çorba (soup), mezzes (appetizers), and kofte! Comment and let me know what you think :)

"Save a Life" Saturday Challenge!

Good morning and happy Saturday! A lot of this blog is just me talking about things that I'm doing and sharing experiences, which is all great, but today I want to do more. I want us as a group of readers, parents, students, and friends to make a difference on this Saturday. You know I'm a pretty extravagant person with high expectations, goals, and aspirations, so I want to end out this amazing week right. You with me?! 


Today, I have a challenge for you and I. A challenge to change the world. A challenge to save someone's life. 

If you were walking along in your best tuxedo or dress, and someone fell into a deep pool and was drowning, would you jump in and save them? Even if it meant ruining your clothes and tossing lots of money down the drain? I have thought about this question many times, and I sincerely hope that I would react out of compassion and selflessness in a situation such as this. Well, today, I am challenging myself and you to do just that. I'm dubbing today "Save a Life" Saturday. If you've read this far, then you're in. You really do want to make a difference. So keep reading. Here's how it works:

1) Go to libertyinnorthkorea.org. Take a few minutes to read "Our Work" and some rescue updates to find out more about the North Korean crisis. Right now, as we sit at our computers in comfort, there are people half-way around the world living in slavery, starving and watching their families die of starvation or torture. Learn more about it. You need to know. 

2) It takes $2500 to fund a rescue mission for one person. What if this person was your sister, brother, child?? Just thinking about this gives me chills, because I am desperate for all of these people to be rescued so that they can experience freedom and liberty just like I have had for all of my life. $2500 is just 100 people giving $25. Such an easy gift can make such an amazing impact on a person's life. Join me in giving and we will make a difference together! In order for us to see how we are doing in reaching our goal, I have set up a fundraising page, so click here to go to it. I have no incentives for raising money through this page; it is just an easy way for us to keep track of our goal. I have faith that we can do it if we work together.

3) Most of these blog posts are read by almost 100 people, but make sure we reach our goal by sharing this message so that more people can get involved on this mission.

The goal is to fund 1 person's rescue by midnight Eastern time on Saturday, September 14th. We can do it! 

Please comment below as well with your thoughts on the North Korean crisis as you learn more about it through Liberty in North Korea and other sources. This is a crisis that has been in the dark for far too long. As I was reading The Hunger Games this past year, the crisis in North Korea kept coming to my mind. Living in Panem in the books by Suzanne Collins is portrayed as being very similar to North Korea, and yet people read it and think that some place like that doesn't exist in the real world. Does anyone else see the similarities that I see? After I had made this realization, I came across this article. I'm not the only one who thinks this, it seems...http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/04/opinion/la-oe-harden-north-korea-camps-20120404

Gunaydın!

Gunaydın (Good morning) for those just waking up in America. I am drinking çay (hot black tea) in my friend  Yeliz's office right now at Doğus University on the Asya (Asia) side of İstanbul. Got to sleep in this morning to recover from my 10 hour bus ride back from Antalya the other night. Yeliz (who I met at GA Tech last year when she was a post-doc researcher) has been so hospitable and shown me around İstanbul and let me spend several nights in her home. So many great friends...a real blessing from God!

Different herbal and spice teas for sale at the bazaar in Antalya. Yummy!

Yesterday, for the first time, I rode the bus and Metrobus by myself!!! And, even better, I didn't get lost!!! İf you have ever seen pictures or visited İstanbul, you will understand why this was so exciting for me. For one, everything is in Turkish and the bus drivers don't speak English. For two, İstanbul is a jam-packed city and very crowded and busy.Yeliz gave me very good instructions for how to make my way to the Asya side (which I had done with her twice before...my apartment is on the European side) and I was able to make my way fırst by a normal bus and then on the Metrobus. The Metrobus is special because the buses are much longer and they have their own lane down the middle of the highway and they run across the bridges to both sides of İstanbul. I think this Metrobus system is nice because it has the benefits of a rail system, but much less infrastructure for the city to build. Well, I made it, even after having a very confusing Turkish/sign language discussion with the busdriver, after which I thought he had gotten me lost but it ended up that he was very right and got me to the right stop :) I was able to see that right up the street from my apartment is a very fashionable street with lots of shops, ATMs, and even a Starbuck's (which I have been told is more expensive than in the US, but I may still treat myself sometime this week on one of my excursions...I haven't had coffee in a week...my US friends will know this is very unusual for me haha). I am feeling much more comfortable with where I live and getting about in İstanbul. Did you know that İstanbul is the size of a small country when compared with somewhere like Switzerland or Luxembourg??!! There are 15 million people living here! The population of Atlanta is around a half million!

My first American coffee after having been in Istanbul for 1 week. It was about $1 more expensive than in the US (4.50 tl ~ $2.25) , but it was very worth it. But, çay is so good that I have not missed coffee as much as I thought I would.

Earlier yesterday, I ventured out from my apartment in search of food (which is obviously one of the first things you must do when you move to a new apartment). I first went right across the street, where there is a small store. The selection was very small, though, and I only got bottled water and Nutella (an essential no matter where you live, and thank God a favorite of the Turkish as well). Then, I went walking, being very careful not to get hit because the drivers are crazy. I happened upon a small market right down the street, and they have everything I could need with a good produce section as well. Very blessed! A loaf of ekmek (Turkish bread. similar to a fat French baguette) was only 1 TL (approx. 50 cents). Now I know I will not starve :)

As I have been working on my Turkish, I have noticed some interesting things in İstanbul. Turkish is very nice in that it reads just as it is written...I believe this is a result of the written Turkish language in Latin letters being very young (it used to be written in Arabic letters, but Attaturk, the founder of the Republic, was an advocate of using our kind of letters). Well. several words look as though they are Turkish but in reality they are English but spelled in Turkish. For example, a Mango advertisement for a jacket said 'ceket'. The letter c is pronounced as a j in Turkish, so when you say it, it is pronounced just like in English. 'Taksi' is the sign on top of a taxi, etc. So, I make sure I read signs by sounding out the words in Turkish and I have an easier time with many of them. Knowing the different sounds is coming in handy (ç is a ch sound, ş is a sh sound, c sounds like j, etc).

Comment below with any questions you have about İstanbul or just to say 'merhaba' :) ALSO, I am continuing to build my bucket list for Turkey, so if you have any suggestions, please comment. I have already added camelwrestling, and hopefully I can find someone to take me this winter (youtube it!). Iyi gunler (have a good day) and make sure you put your email address in the box on the right to follow me!