"Home" safely and Michigan

After 4 flights (Traverse City to Detroit, Detroit to Baltimore, Baltimore to Heathrow, Heathrow to Istanbul), I am back to my neighborhood in Turkey. I left Michigan Tuesday morning and arrived here Wednesday late afternoon. Awesome. Then I had to finish moving into my new apartment. It's an okay place, I haven't been here long enough yet to make any judgements but I think it could use a big sweep and scrubbing. But no mold though! And I actually have a view of nature (and of course people's windows in the distance) rather than a cement allyway and screaming children. The weather is surprisingly cool, there was a huge rainstorm yesterday before I arrived so maybe that brought the bearable weather.

While I was only in Michigan for two and a half days, it was wonderful as always. It really is a special place, maybe because it is like a second (or third?) home, a place I have visited every year of my life. The weather was great and I spent most of my time reading, eating, cooking, and not helping clean up. I wish I was there when more family was around, but I'm lucky to have even made it there.

As far as returning to Turkey after being in America, it hasn't been bad so far but we'll see how I feel when I go back to work tomorrow. I am a little worried I might be kind of braindead but I am looking forward to seeing the staff and students. The constant struggle of the language barrier is so normal it really hasn't been hard. Phew!

Here are a few pictures from Michigan:





I wish I could capture how incredibly blue the sky is up there. Amazing.







Such clear water!