Our Last Hurrah

One of Barry's biggest selling points for SPEA in Turkey was the boat tour of the Bosphorus at the end of the program. I thought (even though I had the syllabus the entire time) that the tour was at night with dinner. Well it turns out that dinner was too expensive, so instead we had an afternoon tour. On a private yacht. With our tour guide Sibel and the manager of the company coordinating all of our excursions, Emra—whom we affectionately called "Leo" because he looked just like Leo DeCaprio in "Gangs of New York":

Afternoon on a yacht was definitely better. The weather was lovely, we had çay and kahve, and we reminisced on an amazing month getting to know one another in two wonderful cities.

On the off chance you're reading this trying to decide whether or not to go to Turkey with SPEA, you should go. Bilkent in Ankara has incredible faculty, and it's amazing to become an expert on Turkish history and politics in such a short time. And Istanbul is an unbelievable city. The pictures and videos don't do it justice. You will get to know a city that has been the capital of several civilizations for thousands of years, is bigger than New York City—and Germany—and is full of all kinds of people and cultures.

On my very first blog post after arriving in Istanbul, I wrote about how one of my professors once said Istanbul was the greatest city in the world—and she had been everywhere. After hearing such a bold pronouncement, I wanted to go. But at the time of that first post, I wasn't sure how I felt about the city. After living there for six weeks, however, I agree with my professor. It is undoubtedly the most incredible place I've ever lived, and I can't wait to go back.

XXOO

Julia