Tax Dollars Well Spent

I'm leaving Turkey tonight, and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed this summer. I came in with no specific expectations, and I'm coming out with a wealth of knowledge concerning Turkish language, culture, and maybe (?) even some of my own plans for the future. I'm really going to miss a lot of things about this place. And not just the food! :)

Due some logistical difficulties, I had to leave my host family a bit early (yesterday afternoon) and I've spent the last day with my friend's family in a different part of Ankara. To recover from the program's going away/end of the summer party last night, we went to a Hamam this morning in a small town about an hour outside of the city. It was exactly what I needed. We swam in the thermal bath, sat in the sauna, and scrubbed ourselves squeaky clean in preparation for our departure. Afterward, we ate some fresh pide (it's like a Turkish pizza, with minced meat) before heading back to Ankara to help my friend do some last minute gift shopping.

I've spent the remainder of the evening at her apartment, with her host family, trying to pack all of her things before we head to our program coordinator's house around midnight. We're leaving for the airport at 3am, so she thought it best for most of us to meet with her beforehand. I'm not particularly looking forward to the 27 hour trip back to New York, especially the 5 hour layover I have tomorrow night in Washington, D.C.. It will also seem strange to spend 3 hours in Munich tomorrow morning when I know I'll be back in Bavaria in just a few days time. But I'm excited to go to New York, even if it's for only two days, and I'll forget about the whole ordeal once I'm settled at my grandmother's house next week.

So to the State Department, to our good friend Hillary, and to (most of) you, the lovely American taxpayers, I say thank you! You've helped a lazy graduate postpone the realities of the working world for a few months' time, and with a vacation in Turkey of all things! I don't know when I'll be able to come back to Turkey in the future, or how I'll be able to use Turkish in my personal or "professional" life. And I'm afraid I won't have all the answers to the end-of-program survey and narrative report I'm supposed to complete in the coming weeks. But hey, I'm only 21. Do you really expect me to have a 5 year plan? :)