Hi all....i finally made it.  It is 7 pm here in Istanbul....10 hours ahead of \los angeles.  i am absolutely exhausted...23 hours 30 minutes of travel.   I just love it when I arrive in a new city...it's scary, overwhelming, exciting, and gets my adrenaline going.  After leaving Rome...we flew over Italy, adriatic sea, croatia, and bulgaria...the scenery was dotted with dozens of little villages and i couldn't help but think that in each home is a family, a story, hopes, sadness, etc.  it's such a big world..and at the same time so small!

i arrived in istanbul and had to get my visa...i didn't realize that i needed one.  i then went through customs and my luggage was one of the first one off the carosel.  i then had to find a phone card and call Oktay...he is one of my contacts in istanbul.  i called him and he is getting off work and he told me to take a shuttle to Taksim Square and would meet me in an hour.  I will stay with him for the next three nights.   Once the shuttle got to Taksim I bought went on overload trying to cross the street...it's crazy...there are no rules...you just step out and hope for the best.   it was neat driving through the city at night with all the mosques lit up.  very beautiful...and the men are beautiful too!  we were driving through istanbul...which is very crowded and i couldn't help but think "my God...I'm in a country that borders iraq"...it all seems so far and foreign to me.

i do wish i spoke a little of the language as that is my biggest problem...i have no clue what is going on. but in someways that is good..it teaches me that when put into a situation you just adapt and go into survival mode.

Well, take care.  Tomorrow i will start hitting the streets with my camera.  I know tomorrow i will see  Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque.  It is so wonderful to stay connected to all of you back home.