Written a week ago

ok, these are in the oppostie order, this is one of te main fountains at Topkaptapi Palace:

This is the entrance to the first court of the palace, Sandy, Sara, Tanya, Jenny, Emily:

Me in front of the Second courtyard gate:

This is the church where the Second Ecumenical Council met:

This was one of my favorites, the underground cistern, isn't it beautiful?

This is in the Hagia Sophia at the front, this is the niche for the Muslims and then above it are Christian mosaics and stained glass:

Emily, Tanya, and Jenny huddled over our faithful tour guide, Rick Steve's:

The interior of tha Hiagia Sophia:



The interior of the Blue Mosque:

The Hagia Sophia:
The giant Egyptian obelisk, it's 3600 years old!!!

The Blue Mosque:

Hey!!I'm a little tired so please forgive any bad grammar or misspellings. :) God has been SO good, there really is no where else I would rather be right now.(I do wish all of you were with me though) These past few weeks have simply been insane, I've been in 4 different countries, visited some of the most famous places in the world, and have made some incredible friends.If I could describe Istanbul in one word it would be overwhelming. Standing in the Hagia Sophia or in front of the church where the Second Ecumenical Council met was absolutely incredible. I almost fainted, that was a strange experience. But it's like all of the sudden you are face to face with everything you have read or studied about the church and history and it's just there right in front of you, you can almost imagine how it must have been centuries ago, how they debated about whether Christ was god or man,how many people fought and died, how fragile life is, how short life is, how only what God says matters, how great HE is. Now imagine all of that times ten running through your mind at once, that's why I nearly fainted (and teared up twice). It really was overwhelming. Then there was the traffic...riding in a taxi felt like you were a video camera on the hood of a nascar racer, it was insane, though everyone does pay attention to the traffic lights. No one drives in the actual traffic lanes, so a road that is supposed to be 3 lanes is at least 5, and they just all swerve in and outgoing whichever speed they wish, I think they have to get their brake pads changed a lot too. School started this week, that has been a little stressful because theyschedule classes so differently here. I'm taking International Relations,Intercultural Communication and Philosophy, Dutch Art History, and Spanish5. It's been really fun so far, philosophy is definitely going to be myfavorite, that teacher is brilliant, he speaks seven different languages andteaches in 3 on the day he teaches us. Yeah. And I feel ridiculous onlyknowing one language well and one ok. Everyone here speaks at least 3.Ok I need to run to class, last couple of things, I love the people I amhere with. We had an EMP (early morning prayer) this morning, it was sogood. I am going to Berlin this afternoon/weekend. I'm meeting up withShannon on Saturday night and then church on Sunday. :) Next weekend we're flying to London, the plane ticket was 10, that's right 10, euro. Life is beautiful!