It's a new decade

Izmir, Turkey



New Years in Istanbul....

I have to admit, there wasn't much too it! A group of five of us headed into Taksim where we went to a restaurant, had a pretty good meal along with free (bad) alcohol. Unfortunately, the place Sedef's friend had picked was more or less empty. There wasn't much of a party or anything like that, we just hung out at a table and talked and drank. That said though, the company was good, the temperature was in the teens and I had a great night. Just lower key than Sedef and I had expected.


As far as other matters are concerened, this is likely to be my last post from Izmir. Well, for a number of months anyway. As usual, I don't know what the future holds, but I do know this:

Within the next week or so, I will catch a plan to Riyadh, the capital of Saudia Arabia where I will teach english for a while. I say "for a while" because I don't know how long. I'm excited to see the true middle east and finally get a true perception for what it is. Everyone I tell I am going there seems to think I am some brave fool or something but that's not the case at all, and bravery has nothing to do with it (although foolishness.....). I'm not worried for my safety or anything like that. People are people are people, no matter what country you are in. They change a bit with religious and culture differences but in the end they generally want to help you and not the opposite. I don't see any reason why Saudi Arabia should be any different.

Still, I will be away from Sedef for a number of months and that will be hard. I'm really not sure about how I plan to end my trip at this point. I will think heavily about it when I'm ready to leave Saudi and know more about my money situation and what kind of a plan Sedef and I come up with. In the mean time, things will continue their freeze as my bank accounts return to the black again :) i only have a one time entry visa for Saudi so unlike my hopes I won't be able to explore a lot of it's neighbours while I'm there. But I am thinking afterwards I will take the long route back to Turkey by ground and check out some of the neighbourhood.

Anyway, will write again soon. For now it's just a short one.