Merhaba -- Istanbul so far!

Hoş geldiniz (Welcome) Well where do I even begin? I am a little late on writing this, but for the past ten days that I have been here I have been nothing but busy. Even though these days have gone by so fast I realized that I've already done so much more then I had expected! From the dolmuş' to the beautiful city of Taksim, I must say that Turkey is something I never could have imagined. The first day we arrived here in Istanbul, we walk outside to freezing weather and drizzling snow.. not prepared for that one bit! We came to the  campus of Koç University (pronounced coach) and I instantly fell in love; it was like no other school I had seen before! We settled in and headed to Sarıyer, which is a small area with shops, restaurants, and anything else you can think of. After a long day of traveling, I was one of the few that was still full of energy so we decided to go to Taksim and check out the nightlife... let's just say that nothing can compare to the bars and clubs that they have here! For the next week we had orientation which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, it was a chance for the exchange students in our group to bond and learn each others personalities. For Kaitlin's 21st birthday the group got ready and we went to Taksim for the night! We had shots at Montreal Shotpera, which is a tiny bar where you're able to order 30 or more different shots of anything you want! After we had our shots we went to a rooftop bar and danced all night long, looking through the glass windows at an indescribable view! The next couple of days we had little things to do around campus and then finally all of the exchange students gathered and we headed to the old city called Sultan Ahmet and walked around all of the historical places. Walking through the city we had lunch, visited the one and only Grand Bazaar and tried the most delicious drink called Sahlep, a milky taste but hard to describe what was actually in it! Ten days I have been here and all I can say is that things definitely worked out for the best! I had my heart set on going to Egypt but to be honest I couldn't imagine being any where but here in Istanbul! Like Mike Rhima would say, "I am living the life" -- It has been a dream to do everything that I have done and things can only get better from here! Thank you for keeping up with me and I hope you continue to hear more about my journey, xoxo!