1/08/2010

Well I guess it has been a while. Went to Sofia, Bulgaria and Bucharest, Romania. It was a great trip, with frustrating moments. That was at the beginning of December though. We got back to Istanbul on the 1st. The only downside was almost getting attacked by a pack of street dogs in Bucharest. My traveling had slowed down after that trip due to midterms, projects, and even some finals.

I played a total of 4 football games, we went 3-1, I really became involved in the last 2 games, which was really fun. It was great to get to know some of the players on the team; they are great guys. I'm done with football now, I made it without getting hurt! So I played football for 6 and a half years and never once got hurt while playing. So for those of you who think playing football equals get injured, I proved that wrong (and I'm not that big). Haha

Miran has now come and gone. She was here from Dec. 28th until January 7th (well she left at 5:55am so not really the 7th). It was great to show her around. We stayed in a hotel in Sultanahmet (old town) for the first two nights, then crashed at my friend Joe's house for a few nights, went to Troy (have a story about that trip), and for the last 3 nights stayed in the Istanbul Budget Hostel in Sultanahmet. We managed to see the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Galata Tower, Basilica Sistern, and the Grand Bazaar….all on the first full day! We slowed down after that, but really enjoyed her time here.

I just finished my last final and turned in my last essay so now I am officially done with school until late March!!!! The final was interesting, I had talked to the teacher about taking it early and he said, "January 8th and 5pm in my office." I was ok with that and planned my day accordingly. I woke up this morning at 10 and checked my email to find that my prof had moved final to 10am because he was sick. So I rushed down to his office, made it there by 10:30 and was done with the final by 11:15. Turkey keeps you on your toes!

I still have a lot of traveling to look forward to, 5 major cities to be exact. I am going to Cairo with Brandon and Olivia (2 other international studies from the US) from the 11th to the 14th. I will be meeting up with Evan Yount (from Psi Upsilon) in Amsterdam on the 18th and traveling around Europe to Berlin, Prague, Paris, and maybe Brussels. I am very excited to see all of those cities! But it will be sad to leave Istanbul. It already is semi weird as a lot of international students have gone home.

Now I'm actually watching the Penn State vs. LSU Capital One Bowl! Going to work out with Steven (friend from Rotterdam, Netherlands) later today.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and new year, I can't believe that we are in a new decade!

Love, Clayton