Getting to Izmir...No Small Feat...

Under the blazing Turkish sun, three girls were walking down the crowded market streets in Izmir, Turkey; one Turkish, one Slavic, the other American.  Less than twenty-four hours ago these three girls were perfect strangers; yet they were now laughing and weaving their way through the crowded Market. How could it be that these girls happen to cross paths? Simple. AIESEC.

Coincidentally, I am the American girl in the aforementioned story. At 2 a.m. on June 26th, I was welcomed into the home of three gracious Turkish hosts and now, my Turkish story unfolds.

I stumbled upon Turkey for a destination in hopes of finding some kind of adventure; I can't wait to see what's in store for me over the course of my internship. Even just getting to Izmir was an adventure! I was in London for about a week or so with my mom hence I flew out of Heathrow airport by myself. That day I experienced something every traveller hopes never to face: "cancelled" flashing on the departures screen. Not only was the flight cancelled but the airline went bankrupt a few days earlier. I frantically called my dad, waking him up at 6:30a.m., panicking about what to do. $600 later I was on a plane destined for Istanbul. We left late out of Istanbul so I knew my connection to Izmir would be cutting it close. I was running through the airport to find the gate, only to realize I had to go through immigration. After waiting in line for what seemed like forever, I excitedly got up to the counter. "Miss, where is your visa?" AHH... I had less than an half-hour to catch the flight; so I ran to the visa desk. "15 Euros or 20 dollars,"all I had was a credit card. He looked at me for what seemed like eternity, "We don't take cards...there's an ATM over there." I honestly think the ATM was printing the money inside of it, that is how slow it was. If anyone walked by me, they probably thought I needed to go to the bathroom rather badly because I was prancing around the machine impatiently. Finally I passed through the golden gate of entry and started running to my gate. Has it ever occurred to anyone that big cities equal big airports? Istanbul is no exception and I felt like I was doing a track sprint in the airport. I was one of the last to get on the plane. Finally I had made it! Only to be informed we would be waiting on the run-way for 45 minutes...