While my Study Abroad was only a Maymester, I still was able to visit two countries for a considerable amount of time. We had scheduled ten days in Dublin, Ireland and ten days in Istanbul, Turkey. While I was super excited about Dublin, I was not sure what to think about Istanbul.
After 10 amazing days in Dublin, it was time to make the trek to Istanbul. As soon as we got on our flight to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines the culture was different. It was much more Middle Eastern than the Western European we were used to. They brought us Turkish tea on the plane, we were not expecting that nor did we know what it was.
The first thing I noticed in Turkey was that nothing was ever set in stone. The price on the menu might say 15 Turkish Lira but our professor could get them down to 10 Turkish Lira consistently. Or a meeting might be scheduled from eight until twelve but we would actually be there from 8:30 to 2:15! For me, this was a major adjustment. I like the rigid scheduling of actually staying on time. Then the major downfall of Turkey I realized the treating of women. The women on the trip were constantly cat called and treated in a manner that would be unacceptable here in America.
However, Istanbul was amazingly beautiful! It is probably the most beautiful country I have ever visited. While yes, it had some downfalls, the amazingness of the beauty there made up for it tenfold!