Our journey keeps changing! Surprise surprise!
Here is an update on our Turkey Tour and how it began.
We took six hour bus ride to
Ankara, the capital of Turkey and were just waiting in the station for
a really long time trying to figure out what to do. Our plan was to
stay at the bus station all night so we didn’t have to pay for lodging
or go hostel hunting that night. Turkey is expensive and we’ve already
used up two thirds of our budget. I was feeling really anxious. Actually, I
think that was the first time on this whole trip that I felt like I wanted to go home.
All I wanted was to see my amazing mom and dad and sleep in my big red room on my huge
comfy bed with a safe, secure roof over my head and be taken care of.
Ankara, the capital of Turkey and were just waiting in the station for
a really long time trying to figure out what to do. Our plan was to
stay at the bus station all night so we didn’t have to pay for lodging
or go hostel hunting that night. Turkey is expensive and we’ve already
used up two thirds of our budget. I was feeling really anxious. Actually, I
think that was the first time on this whole trip that I felt like I wanted to go home.
All I wanted was to see my amazing mom and dad and sleep in my big red room on my huge
comfy bed with a safe, secure roof over my head and be taken care of.
We didn’t know anybody
in Ankara or where we’d go or what we’d do. All we knew was that we had
to trust God. But it was hard. So very hard and so uncomfortable. We had
been talking about staying in smaller towns and hoping to camp out or
see some Turkish hospitality in action, but there we were in the bus
station of a big city, planning to sleep in shifts to keep watch over
our bags till morning until we could figure everything out.
in Ankara or where we’d go or what we’d do. All we knew was that we had
to trust God. But it was hard. So very hard and so uncomfortable. We had
been talking about staying in smaller towns and hoping to camp out or
see some Turkish hospitality in action, but there we were in the bus
station of a big city, planning to sleep in shifts to keep watch over
our bags till morning until we could figure everything out.
Then one
of my teammates had a random thought: what if we took an overnight bus
to a small town? Then we would have a place to sleep for the night and
we’d be travelling at the same time! Immediately peace washed over me.
We prayed about it as a team and then two girls went off to check and
see if there were even any night buses going to the smaller towns. A
few minutes later they came running back, telling us to grab our packs
because they bought tickets and bus was leaving right now!
of my teammates had a random thought: what if we took an overnight bus
to a small town? Then we would have a place to sleep for the night and
we’d be travelling at the same time! Immediately peace washed over me.
We prayed about it as a team and then two girls went off to check and
see if there were even any night buses going to the smaller towns. A
few minutes later they came running back, telling us to grab our packs
because they bought tickets and bus was leaving right now!
12 hours later after finding we didn’t exactly get the right tickets to the
small town (in fact, we overshot it by about 560 kilometers! Yeah, don’t really know how that happened), we arrived in the city of Diyarbakir – the place we were
originally going to go in the first place to do our ethnography!
small town (in fact, we overshot it by about 560 kilometers! Yeah, don’t really know how that happened), we arrived in the city of Diyarbakir – the place we were
originally going to go in the first place to do our ethnography!
We waited at the station for a few hours to figure some things out and get our bearings. After getting swarmed by a multitude of taxi drivers, we found a bus to take us into the city for free. Then we found a hotel to stay in for 15
Turkish Lira per person which was less than what we were paying for in
our hostel in Istanbul. So that was great!
Turkish Lira per person which was less than what we were paying for in
our hostel in Istanbul. So that was great!
Its funny how we ended up here
in the long run, even though we thought the door had been completely
closed to us. So we’ll see what will happen here in Diyarbakir! I think
we’re going to set up our guitars in the square and play music and just
see what happens.
in the long run, even though we thought the door had been completely
closed to us. So we’ll see what will happen here in Diyarbakir! I think
we’re going to set up our guitars in the square and play music and just
see what happens.
