Istanbul

I wanted to blog about my homestay week before I went on to blog about the travel component, but it's going to have to wait. I'm too excited to tell you about Turkey.
We arrived here on the 1st of November. The flight was only 2 hours or so long, and pretty uneventful except that I sat by two awesome MESP friends and had good conversations. Random thought.... After they gave us our food (fish.mmmmm) I was thinking about what it means to bless the food before we eat it (lately I've been doing that.. instead of praying for the food I think about why I should pray for the food. I'm not going to do it if my heart isn't into it) and I became enlightened by the words from a song... "This is my Father's World". I've been reading about how the world is God's and everything in it, and it occured to me on the flight, that if the world and all good things therein are God's, anything we enjoy and benefit from in the world, everything that blesses us, He allows us to have: He gives us. We deserve and truly possess nothing, yet He provides us with enough from His huge stock of everything. We thing things are ours, but they're not. They're GOd's that He's giving us. We don't tithe because God needs our money for His church. He has more riches than we could ever give. We tithe to show that we are love Him. So anyways, I thought about not only the food I was eating, but the friendship I was enjoying and the clothes I was wearing and the journey I was making.... They are a gift from Him, and my heart was truly thankful.
We arrived at about 2:00, and I could tell from the beginning right in the airport that there was something very different about Turkey. It's very modern and not as backward-looking as Cairo. It's not dirty and it's not crowded. Thank God. There's space to breathe. We got our bags and headed out. Cold. Oh, the chill was AMAZING, it felt so fresh and clean and freeing. I wore my sweet black coat and my dark red comfy scarf and I felt SO good. I was in my element. It's been chilly here but not enough to not want to go out side or for it to snow, though it's rained a couple nights. I'm so glad it hasn't rained during the day, preventing us from exploring the city. We rode in the bus for about an hour and a half till we came to the sea. It was beautiful. This place reminds me A LOT of Germany. So much. It's so European. The way people dress (classy, darker colors, Paris-ish), the architecture, the people, the way they view and practice their religion (there are mosques but the call to prayer isn't overbearing and I haven't heard it once since I've been here. People arn't praying on the corners and there are much fewer head scarves, at least here in Istanbul).
I have to go soon because I need breakfast before our first speaker this morning.
Being in Istanbul has been so amazing, and so realiving. I feel like the moment I stepped off the plane I left certain things I was struggling with in Cairo, back in Egypt. I feel like a new leaf has turned and finally I have found relief from those inner conflicts. Other issues have come up to take their place, of course. We're never without burdens on our mind and heart. But here, things are different, and I am happy. I've gotten over this wall that was so hard to climb, and now I have relief. This is going to be one of my favorite cities I've ever been to. I havent felt so happy in a long time.