For the first time in a long time, something momumentally good happened. I applied to study abroad in Turkey last month, and finally got my decision over Spring Bread. The trip only had space for fourteen or fifteen people, so I was concerned about my chances. I checked my application's status multiple times a day for a month, desperately wanting to know whether I had been accepted.
And I found out that YES, I'm going to TURKEY!
Although I had already started prepping for my trip logistically (which would have made a rejection hurt more, but I was too excited), my acceptance gave me full license to look into everything from what the weather is like is Istanbul in June to the vaccinations I need to summer clothes. I've looked up airline ticket prices even though I have no control over which flight we take and started a mental list of things I'll need to bring. Logistics are how I show excitement, in case you hadn't noticed.
This news comes at a time when I most need to jump out of my own skin. The past year has been difficult beyond belief: loss of faith, loss of important people, anger, confusion, loss of general sanity. I feel as though I haven't had a breath of fresh air for a year, that I've been suffocating and unable to scream. I need this trip not to run away from problems, but to step outside them for a time, to step away from the hurt and the anger and experience something beyond myself.
Why Turkey? It's beautiful, if nothing else. Turkey's population is 98% Muslim with a rich history connected to the Middle East (the Ottoman Empire, for instance) that complements my major in Middle East Politics. I'm going there to understand Islam better (we're going to study Sufism, or Islamic mysticism), which will help me when I go to the Middle East to live and work. In going, I get to hear the Muslim calls to prayer, visit mosques built by the Ottomans, and LEARN. That's been my biggest struggle in taking classes on the Middle East: I have NO experience with the culture or the religion or the history (since America doesn't think the history of regions other than itself and Europe is important enough to teach in schools), yet professors are asking me to have opinions on issues and write papers on topics that I've only just encountered. I'm going to Turkey to absorb this culture I'm trying to understand.
I'm really excited. This trip is my chance to experience the part of the world where I want to live and help and love. I'll try to update this blog with stats about Turkey and steps in my preparation for leaving. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access when I'm there, but hopefully I will so I can tell you all what I'm doing there, too.
