And on this day a blog was born

An empty slate. My first online attempt at chronicling my life since the angst-filled days of Livejournal in early high school. Six years ago now, and so much has changed. One day soon, little blog, you will begin to fill up with quirky anecdotes of my year abroad in Istanbul.

Right now I'm still at home in Johnston, Iowa for two more weeks, still lacking an actual place to live when I get to Turkey. At least the frenzied mail-the-passport-to-the-consulate-in-Chicago plan worked smoothly and I now have my educational visa safely in hand. I'll be saying goodbye to my family on September 10th and landing in the Istanbul Atatürk Airport on September 11th. I can't wait!

My other little projects (currently under development) include a photo album and, most exciting to me, a personalized map of Istanbul that I'll be updating with favorite restaurants, parks, and other places to hang out. There are links for these at the top of the blog.

I'll update again once I actually figure out an apartment situation, inşallah (God willing) before I get off the plane over there.