Why did Constantinople get the works?

That's nobody's business but the Turks

Today is my last full day in the US but I'm not frantically packing or anything of that sort. I leave tomorrow night and I think the wait is actually the worst part. I'm checking two medium-sized duffel bags and taking a carry on. I didn't think I honestly had that much stuff to take but I'd rather be overly prepared than screwed.

I'm flying the whole way with another girl in my program which I think will be good. Strength in numbers, right? If we have problems in Turkey, we can just jointly yell in English to try and get our point across.

We're taking a smaller (my mother calls them "puddle-jumpers") plane to Dulles Airport (in D.C.) and then from there we're on one of those monstrous planes where I hopefully will get some sleep. Unfortunately, we weren't lucky enough to get a direct flight, but we only have about an hour in Frankfurt (Germany) so it really won't be too bad.

I'm pretty sure I've got everything packed and ready to go, but of course my mother will probably ask me 7-8 times and double check everything just in case.

Again, I will attempt to update this as possible but I really don't think that's really going to happen so I will apologize in advance.

See you in <48 hours, Istanbul!

Hoşçakal, America.