two days til NY!

     Today is Sunday and I leave early Tuesady morning for NY. I don't really know how to feel right now; I am a mix of excited, nervous, anxious, sad, happy, and looking forward to whatever may come. My suitcase is packed and I'm pretty much ready to go. I am so excited to be back in Turkey, I absolutely love it there! I can't wait to eat the food again (it's probably my favorite type of cuisine), see the sites, learn more language and mostly meet my host family. I have been trying to converse with my host sister on facebook chat, but it is a little difficult since I don't speak much Turkish and she doesn't speak much English. I'm sure once I get there though everything will be much easier. As much as I am excited to go though, I am glad I still have 2 days at home. The fact that I won't be coming home for 10 months is making it even harder to leave. I am trying to soak in all that I can of Maine before I leave. Earlier today my mom approached me to ask me a "huge favor." Since she wanted to spend as much time with me as possible, could she take a nap on my bed while I was in my room. I thought it was an interesting request, but she is sleeping on my bed right now. I recently figured out how to add pictures here, so I decided to add the picture of my spankin new converse! When I took the picture, I hadn't even worn them out of the house. Converse are extremely popular in Turkey and they are what all the teenagers wear. Hopefully they stay clean for a while :)

Samsun!

     As of today the countdown is 23 days until I go to NY for orientation and then onto Turkey. I recently found out about where I am going to be and it is Samsun, Turkey! It is along the Black Sea in the North of Turkey. This will be a completely new place for me to visit and I could not be happier. I found out about my host family and I have a mom, a dad, a 14 year old sister and a 10 year old sister. I will be sharing a room with the 14 year old. I can't wait to meet them!

     I also received my flight information :). I leave on August 31 from Portland and fly to NY. There I have orientation and on September 2 I fly to Istanbul. I will be traveling for about 36 hours... it is going to be a long trip, but definitely worth it.