turkey teaser

i'm back from turkey! 

and it was the best week ever. 

ask my dad, though, i am the queen of the "best {blank} ever" statement. i always use it, and he makes fun of me. but i dunno, i have like, 85 other people to back me up on that statement. 

i definitely am officially dubbing turkey the best kept secret ever. i love that i would probably never go to turkey on my own if it weren't for this study abroad. but it was one of the most memorable vacations/beautiful places i've ever experienced. 

the only downside of going to turkey is that i've been back a day and i feel like my life is a little out of control, which is the worst feeling ever. my room is a mess, i have no clean clothes, and i have so much reading to do this week.....some of which i should have done last week....

so i can't really blog for the next few days because i need to get back in the swing of things. you know how it is after a vacation. that first day back hits you hard. especially when you have to read all of leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy for old testament class the next day...but who's keeping track? 

anyway, i'll give you a little teaser of the trip and start at the end....

our flight back to israel was last night at about 1 AM and we were so tired. i slept the whole flight (which never happens) and woke up right when we were descending. it was like, 4 in the morning and i felt like i had been slammed in the head with a ton of brick. let me preface this by telling you that the ben gurion airport is probably the most highly secure public airport in the world. they are psycho about security. and the directors of the program have told us probably 5 times exactly what to say if you get asked at customs what you are doing in israel, because if you say the wrong thing, you are worse off than an egg on jerusalem pavement in august. 

so i am the first one to customs and i hand the lady my passport and she looks at me, and at my passport picture, then back to me, and then the passport picture and says in a suspicious  voice "what are you doing israel?" 

"i'm here as a tourist. i'm a student in america who is here with a program from america." 

she looks at me and tells me i can't be a student here if i don't have a student visa. i tell her that i'm not a student here, i'm a student in america and i'm with a program. she asks me how long i'm staying and i tell her 4 months and then she starts flipping a lid in my face. 

"you cannot enter the country! i don't believe you. you can only stay in the country as a tourist for 3 months. what are you really doing here? woman! hello! answer me!" 

and i am so freaked out at this point because all i have been told is the script that i rehearsed in my head and am totally not prepared for this, partly because i am half asleep. 

and then she starts interrogating me. "what was your flight number?" i tell her i don't know the number, but i give her my ticket stub. she asks me the address of where i am staying, and i don't know that either, but i try to explain to her where it is and she just rolls her eyes at me so rudely. she asks me my exact itinerary and i explain to her what we are doing, but that just makes her more suspicious of me. at this point, pretty much everyone is watching us because she is raising her voice at me and making all these phone calls that i can't understand. seriously lady, can i just go to bed? it is 4 in the morning and i have no idea what to say to you to make you happy! 

she gets off the phone and then takes this other boy in our group into a room to ask him some questions. i walk away and my heart is pounding so fast. you know that scene in how to train your dragon where hiccup walks away from toothless and he falls down because his legs are like jelly? that's how i felt. it turned out fine after the most stressful 10 minutes ever. but i was over it the second i sat down on the bus to drive home and fell asleep again. 

want to read my official guide to having a good time in turkey? stay tuned.