A Country Called Turkey

Turkey is the most amazing country I’ve ever been to. In the past three years, I’ve visited different countries for the first time, but Turkey is the one that stands out from the crowd. Simply, it is different from all the other places. I went to Lebanon for a visit with my family, travelled to Syria twice for work, and attended a conference in Egypt once. Except for the visit to Lebanon, I went to all the other places for work. Turkey was not different in that sense. I went to Turkey on July the 10^th to attend an orientation for the Fulbright program I’m part of. A sort of a pre-departure orientation for all the FLTAs - English teachers who were chosen for the program because they are distinguished in many different ways - fortunately, I was one of them!

What distinguishes Turkey from all the other places I’ve visited is something far beyond its beautiful nature, amazing scenery, delicious food, and good people. That existed in romantic Alexandria in Egypt, sophisticated Beirut in Lebanon, and the amazingly good-natured Damascus in Syria. What made Turkey different is that for the first time in my life I was completely and totally on my own. I didn’t have the comfort of having my family with me nor the security of travelling with a group of peers and friends and doing everything together. I remember in my past travels I never once needed to check anything. Everything was set and planned for by others. I didn’t need to know where we are having dinner because I was going there anyways. I never just wandered in the streets without knowing where I am exactly. It was safe and nice. But Turkey was fun! I had to plan for my day and had to figure out for myself how to make it happen. I never stuck to the plan, though. I got lost every single day of the four days I spent there; yet always managed to find my way back. I tried new kinds of food of which my favorite was rice stuffed oysters sold right on the street near the metro station- a thing I would have never tried anywhere else. That was my dinner for the remaining two days after I had discovered what those little, ugly, black shells really were.

Another thing that makes Turkey so special to me is the group of distinguished people I ever had the pleasure to meet and work with. FLTAs were chosen from around the world as representatives of their cultures, countries, and languages. The Arab FLTAs all met in Istanbul, Turkey for their orientation. I was blessed to meet the people I met, and for that I will always be grateful. I met, laughed, worked, talked, exchanged experiences, and created wonderful memories with many amazing people that I have the honor now to call my friends. They came from Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen, KSA, Oman, Lebanon, Algeria, Mauritania, Bahrain, and, of course, Jordan. The first day I was there, I met a very nice, very helpful, and extremely active young man, and we became friends immediately. Mutaz, from Egypt, was in Turkey before on a similar event. He knew where to go and how to get there, and he took us on a tour to Taksim Square. That was my first adventure. We started as a big group of twenty people, and I ended going back to the hotel on my own. You get lost very easily in Turkey. But you find your way just as easily. No one speaks English or Arabic there, yet you can have wonderful conversations with the people in the street.

The second day, Mutaz took us some place new. We were going to visit a group of islands by sea. Our group consisted of almost 35 people from different Arabic nationalities. We took the boat, and there was lots of singing and laughing. There was a lot of picture taking as well. During that, the boat stopped on what we learned later was the first of many short stops on the way to the intended island called “The Princesses Island”- where Princesses used to live. “We” didn’t know any of that, however. “We” thought we reached our destination and so got off the boat only to discover that “we” were stranded on a different island where no one spoke our language while the rest of the group remained on board. We refers here to myself and 7 other people. We were lost together and none of us had been to Turkey before. There was no Mutaz anymore. Nonetheless, we managed to take the next boat to the island, and we had the greatest day ever. We went back to the hotel at around 2 in the morning tired but laughing. Taoufik, Mohammed, Zahir, Sami, Heba, Nadia, and I became very close friends from that day.

In Turkey, there were so many classes and workshops that we had to attend for the orientation. I learned a great deal. But the most useful and interesting thing I learned was not related to those classes. And the thing I treasure the most from this trip is actually all the friendships I’ve formed and all the good memories. I did learn a lot on my trip to Turkey. I learned things I could never have learned any other place. And I’ve gained things I could have never found anywhere else. But I’ve also lost things there. I lost my sense of fear and dependence. I lost my need to sit back and just wait for things to be arranged for me. I lost my fear of being lost and now I welcome it. For all these reasons and more, Turkey is, and will always be, the most amazing country I’ve ever been to, and there will always be a special place in my heart reserved for that great country.