Turkey day 1

I got to Skype with my family the morning of my birthday! I LOVED talking to everyone that was there! Tiff and Mike and Steve and Mindy and all my neicews were there, along with Mom and Dad! I love my family so so much! I am SO blessed to have such incredible people in my life! 

I went back to sleep for a little while and then woke up, and when I came out of the shower,  my roommates had decorated our room for my birthday! They put sticky notes everywhere with hearts and 21 things they loved about me! It was the cutest surprise EVER!

There were balloons on my bed! And a present that consisted of two incredibly delicious Bueno bars!  

My roommates are the sweetest girls EVER! I'm so grateful for them and the happiness that they bring me every single day! They made my birthday feel like home away from home :) P.S. this is like, 6 AM. Don't we look lovely?


So the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv has these motivational posters of athletes as you walk to the terminals. They make me laugh every single time I walk by them. So I decided to accept the motivation and become an athlete myself.

I call this sport...soccer, maybe? Disc throwing? I don't even know.

Weightlifting? I do it EVERY DAY at school.

Yes, I can be graceful as I dance with ribbons flowing from my backpack.


Someday I might be as good at tennis as this guy...

Ping pong. The fiercest of the sports. 

While we were waiting in line for our bags to be checked, I entertained a large audience with Dan's lovely video, "Saving Gordon." Look at how many people thought it was hilarious. :)

The airport has lots of really cool stuff for sell. Like giant mentos.

And giant lollipops.

And in Israel, there are kosher hamburgers for sell. Sniff. That means no cheeseburger for me...

After a delightful flight through which I slept soundly, we arrived in Istanbul, Turkey!! Happy Birthday to me--let's go to Turkey to party it up :)

Our first bus ride in Turkey included authentic Turkish delight!! This is a picture of me before I ate the first piece, looking like a normal human. Erika is my seat buddy :)

This stuff is SO DELICIOUS. I turned into an animal and ate LOTS. Maybe I finished off the box and didn't actually pass it back to the rest of the bus. I kind of went crazy for it. :)

Gas prices. I forgot that vehicles need fuel. So 4.25 lira is like....$2.38? That a good gas price? I can't remember :)

This is the lovely view we had from the bus! Lovely body of water that I cannot remember. :) Istanbul was already an incredibly beautiful place, and we'd only seen a little bit of it!

Another view of that incredible water. So so blue!

When we got to our hotel (conveniently located in the 'red light' district of Turkey, of course) we got a few minutes for some free time.  Uber sketch. :)

I found a store that sold tons of Turkish Delight...I didn't buy any, because I figured once I started buying some, I wouldn't be able to stop.

We went to dinner at the Develi Samatya Restaurant! My birthday dinner was so yummy! They gave us delicious fresh bread, chicken and lamb kabobs, and much more! I got to sit by my lovely roommate for Turkey, India Hendrikson! She's such an amazing girl! :)

Birthday dessert--baklava. BEST baklava I've ever eaten. Man, things taste so wonderful in their native country!

We then went back to the Hotel, and I promptly fell asleep. Wonderful day spent traveling and coming to one of the most incredible countries I've ever seen! :)