Istanbul, Turkey
Travel Blog-
I cannot believe that I’m here… well almost. Today is my first day traveling to Turkey! I’m currently sitting at the airport in Germany waiting on my connecting flight 😱. First off, this entire blog is a TESTIMONY OF WAITING ON GOD. So there is no way that I will go through it and not scream his praises. Each day I’ll write down a blessing lol and you will get to see it with me. But before I go through each day…
Let me first tell you why Turkey?! Most of you know I am currently in my grad program at George Washington receiving my Global MBA. One of the benefits of this program is the “CAP” portion or Consulting Abroad Project. For the entire semester, I worked with a team of 4 other students and consulted with a business located in Turkey on certain deliverables agreed upon at the beginning of the semester. At the end of the semester (now), we present our findings to the business in person. Hindsight, I can clearly say that God picked my location (there were two other options), my team!, and the project that I would work on (there were several projects that you had to apply for and be accepted to)!
So…
GROUND RULES :
Go with God, sis.
This trip was entirely Christ looking out for me the whole time! I bought the ticket when He told me to. I received a scholarship that reimbursed the money spent on the ticket… PLUS travel expenses until it is all spent up. This means my Uber to the airport and my bus ride to the hotel PAID FOR.
I am going with a group of 20+ students for this trip. We were assigned to have roommates and if you wanted your own room, you had to pay an extra 1000+ dollars to secure a single room. I asked God if I should pay and heard to be still. I received an email the Thursday before leaving that I would have a single room. FREE (I left on Monday). It does not matter how long He says to wait… He is faithful.
Don’t run with the crowd
So… traveling solo can be scary, especially when you have not done it before (I’ll write a blog with some tips that I think would’ve been helpful to think about). I think this was the best option! And I know it’s what God had for me, because he told me what ticket to buy. So regardless of what the masses are doing (unless God says different) getchu some you-time on a trip lol
Don’t let travel interrupt your Jesus time
I had to shake myself right before travel. Just because your location changes, does not mean you get out of character. Your Bible goes with you, your prayer goes with you, your fasting….your devotion. JESUS GOES TOO. He is your covering, your joy, your peace, your blessing, your protection. And you DARE not get out the country, in foreign territory and not have your whole armor on! Whew Chile….thats a no for me.
Wear your mask 😂 PERIODT
Okay… I’m here for 2 weeks, so the blessings may be long lol but …here we go!
Day 1:
I made it to the airport in Istanbul. I was a little worried because my wifi wouldn’t work and I couldn’t reach anyone to figure out how to navigate the airport or get to the hotel. So it was me and Jesus. Y’all I found my bag instantly, and I found the bus so easily, you would think I knew where I was going. Blessing number one. We out here Solo doló with Jesus forreal.
Day 2:
Today was tour day. Istanbul’s history is thousands of years old and they couldn’t talk about history without Christ. Like… time itself is tracked by him:
-AD “Anno Domini” meaning the year of our Lord
-BC Before Christ
-AC After Christ
It was amazing to hear the books of the Bible be told in history in other countries…no matter their belief or religion. Jesus Christ is ALL OVER! I also had a Toffee nut coffee from this cute little shop 😍
Day 3:
This day we had a business talk with Stephen Kimmel who is a Political Risk and Business Intelligence Consultant. When you hear how people got to where they are in life, it makes you reflect on how God opens doors for you in ways that men would tell you are silly. Mannnn imma stay goofy 🙃. One of my favorite scriptures is:
1 Corinthians 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Day 4:
We went to Princess Islands. This entire moment was a yes!! Boat ride was beautiful, food was excellent, and I found the prettiest dress from these two ladies who were so kind. I love people.
SN: So the trip got really busy and I did not get to finish my daily blessings! from this point it will be past tense lol
Day 5:
This was a Saturday, and at one point we went to a village in a countryside setting. My favorite part about this day was the food and the lunch conversation. I always look for ways to insert Jesus into a conversation! We talked about marriage from some of the mans perspective and when they asked for my take… I told them my belief (which is entirely scripturally based) lol.
Day 6:
Sunday, we could explore on our own. It was a wonderful day of shopping and walking around a cute area called Galatia. There was a “list” that was provided to us by the friend of someone who lived in Turkey…We did not deviate from the list! it was absolutely breathtaking, the places it took us.
Days 7-10:
The remainder of the trip was business. We went to different Turkish businesses each day and spoke with high level executives and business people about the current economic climate or their expertise in their field. It was remarkable to hear the speakers take on business. I didn’t realize the level of prestige my professor held in the Turkish community until this week. We were walking around shaking hands with the richest and most knowledgeable people in Turkey.
SN: God will put you in places you never would have even imagined for yourself.
Days 11-12:
The last days we were there, we presented our recommendations to our partner businesses to conclude the consulting project. God blessed me with a remarkable, hard working team. I was truly grateful to them for how the report was concluded. ALL GOD though.
This experience still gives me chills and Ive been home for a week. When I look at my life…God took me from St. Pete and moved me to DC within a 3 week timeframe, PAID MY BILLS and continues to pay them, took me through my first year of grad school with honors, and then allowed me to travel to Turkey for 2 weeks…ALL in the middle of a world pandemic, record number inflations, war breaking out between Europe and Russia. You can’t tell me nothing about my God! HE is faithful!
Okay…
Things that surprised me about Turkey!
YALL….The smoke. Like maybe its because I have not been to Europe yet. They smoke cigarettes like it’s healthy for you. It’s everywhere, so prepare your lungs and noses.
Its on 2 continents: Asia and Europe (but all Turkey) which was kinda cool.
The food…absolutely excellent! but there was SO MUCH BREAD. I have more recently in my late 20s tried to slow down with my bread intake and didn’t realize how much bread I was eating until it was difficult to process the bread through my body (like literally painful…I was so concerned at one point that God had to tell me it was the bread because I didn’t know what was wrong with me)
THE CLEANLINESS! Y’all, there are so many people in Istanbul. Like billions I’m sure, but the streets were so clean. The US should be ashamed of themselves. I mean like you would see cleaning trucks come through scrubbing the ground at least 2 times a day. The water in the Bosphorus had Dolphins!! I mean that close to everyone you would think it would be polluted, but no. CLEAN.
These families be OUTSIDE. Yesss, I am a granny. I had to shift my schedule lol. Families with babies and kids running around at like 1 am…like its bedtime!
If you are not a walker…Turkey is not it for you. Cab drivers turned us down several times. They would say 26 minute drive…20 min walk, walk is better for you. LOL The HILLS (not the show) the LITERAL HILLS. I would scream out “Alright nah, Lean forward!”. Thats just how steep. and just because google says 1 mile, does not mean it will be easy. .8 mile will be an uphill trek (This means bring comfortable shoes!)
Hair plugs and plastic surgery is HUGE! You will see men walking around with bandages from the surgery or a bunch of tiny punctured holes all around their head…or women with their noses and faces all tapped up. (Try not to stare…this is normal to them, people travel to have it done).
There will be an all call for prayer at like 4:30 am...Meaning the entire Turkey will ring the alarm for prayer time at the Mosques. If you are a light sleeper, it will wake you up. It will play for a minute too. Depending on the location of your stay, it might be louder.
I’ll leave it here! If you ever get the chance…100% go to Turkey!
With love,
SOS