Turkey on Xmas

I am writing this on our trip from Istanbul to Gallipolli. I am a little sleepy, the residue of last night’s festivities and my friend’s snores haven’t left me fully rested.. But even in my semi aroused state, I cannot seem to close my eyes to this beautiful new world around me.

We departed our hotel early this morning, before the moon and the sun exchanged places. Sitting on the bus, taking in the serenity of  the day taking over Istanbul was surreal. The glow of the full moon and three majestic mosques with their towering minarets gave way to the first rays of sunlight. The fog slowly covered the city with its many straits and flowing bodies of water, as if, to gently awaken the city with its soft light and dewy caresses. As we left the city center and ventured into the greater reaches of the city, our landscapes changed every ten kilometers eventually giving way to rolling green pastures and peaceful lakes. Finally, a little over an hour into our journey, we see an orange sun peak through and signal to the world, that yes, the day has begun. 

I am in awe of my good fortune this morning. I have seen the sunrise over the Andes Mountains and the sunset in the Sahara desert. I have eaten with the french, and danced with the Egyptians. I have swam in the Mediterranean sea, and sailed the Pacific Ocean. I have walked along side a tiger, and rode atop the great elephant. I have  prayed  in countless cities, under countless gods. I have been so incredibly blessed to have met hundreds of beautiful souls, that have opened my eyes and heart to worlds outside my own. 

We were touring a palace yesterday. Within the palace, there was a whole section for the sultan’s harem. Almost four hundred women confined to a section within a (grand) palace for  the duration of their life. Never allowed to leave, never allowed to talk to others outside of the harem... only allowed to peak through the windows to the world below.  They called it the golden cage. I couldn’t  help but think of how utterly depressing that existence must have been. To never see what lies behind your four walls, to taste the many sights, sounds, and delights of the greater world around you. As i was feeling bad for those ancient ladies, I realized their are people still living in a golden cage (many times,  not even golden). There are large populations of the world who do not have the means to travel. They struggle to make ends meet, and put food on the table. The luxury of travel is a distant thought. And then there are people who truly live in a golden cage. The have the means and the time to travel, but can’t seem to see beyond their own palace walls. They don’t want to see what flowers grow in some one else’s garden. They don’t want to know what outfits they wear, or what they sing, or how they love. What a sad, sad existence. 

I cannot help but wonder if some of our world’s problems would cease to exist, if people just took the time to understand and appreciate each other on deeper levels. To understand that across the world, almost everyone has the same frustrations... traffic, government, expenses, millennial  lol. To know that for every difference, there is a counterpart similarity. And that, good lord, there is some delish ass food and bomb ass music all around the world. Why the hell would anyone want to pass on that?! 

Anyways, we are about to stop soon, and that means there is banging Turkish coffee in my future soon, so i am going to wrap this up soon, but a couple of quick bullet point notes on the trip so far! 

1. Survived my first solo international travel alone! (Though not going to lie, was definitely a little nervous being in turkey alone initially) 

2. We toured a couple of beautiful mosques and historical sites yesterday. Lollll had to cover up my scandalous self during one of them, see pic below for my trip couture! 

3. Ate amazzzzinnngg lunches and dinners over looking the bhosphorpus and marmais seas (spelling them wrong, but whatever you can google them to get the right names if you wish!) #iamonabus

4. Revelation: it is cold AF during winter in turkey 

5. Got a sim card for the first time during my international travels... best decision ever. 

6. We stayed up hella late last night, having the best conversations. I love my friends turned family ❤️


Disclaimer: i am writing this on little sleep, hella shaky bus, and without spell check (real talk: i can’t spell for the life of me #englishismysecondlanguage) so bear with me :)






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