December
31, 2015 – January 3, 2016
Happy New Year everyone!! May the year 2016 bring good health and happiness to
you and your family.
New Year is one-of-a-kind holiday. It is special because it is celebrated universally, and it symbolizes many things: a new start, courage to let go of the past, strength to forgive and move on, and gratitude for being able to travel around the sun one more time. To me, a New Year is a mix of all these things. I look forward to what 2016 has to bring, while I smile at all what’s happened in 2015. I'm excited to let go of some of my past struggles and confront the new ones. For all the people that have hurt me or caused me anguish, I'm ready to forgive them and move on as a stronger person. And most importantly, I'm grateful to be alive for one more year, to spend time with my loved ones, and to live my life to the fullest.
I often use New Year's Eve as a time to reflect about the good and bad things that have happened in the last 365 days, while staying optimistic about what the next 365 days will bring.
New Year is one-of-a-kind holiday. It is special because it is celebrated universally, and it symbolizes many things: a new start, courage to let go of the past, strength to forgive and move on, and gratitude for being able to travel around the sun one more time. To me, a New Year is a mix of all these things. I look forward to what 2016 has to bring, while I smile at all what’s happened in 2015. I'm excited to let go of some of my past struggles and confront the new ones. For all the people that have hurt me or caused me anguish, I'm ready to forgive them and move on as a stronger person. And most importantly, I'm grateful to be alive for one more year, to spend time with my loved ones, and to live my life to the fullest.
I often use New Year's Eve as a time to reflect about the good and bad things that have happened in the last 365 days, while staying optimistic about what the next 365 days will bring.
As a recap, here are my 2015 milestones. I am grateful for all of these things.
- 2015 started with breathing in a sigh of relief after submitting all my grad school apps
- In March, I was selected for the Fulbright fellowship
- In April, I was accepted to the Tufts Fletcher School
- In May, I was offered the Pickering Fellowship, that brought me to tears
- In July, I left my work at Liberty Mutual with mixed emotions
- In August, I moved to Turkey, unaware of the challenges and opportunities that lied ahead of me
- Since August until now, I have been exploring Turkey, learning new things, making new friends, learning Turkish
Here are things I look forward to in 2016:
- Europe trip over winter break, if we can manage to plan it.
- Going home to America! Homesickness is real.
- Summer internship at the U.S. State Department’s Pakistan Desk.
- Moving back to MA for graduate school—brrr, hello snow again.
These are my three New Year’s resolutions:
- Drink more water. There is no better medicine than water. People drink a lot of Coca Cola in Turkey, and I plan to order su (water) at restaurants from now.
- Jog more and build stamina for running again, as I want to stay fit.
- Learn to read and write Urdu—Urdu is my native language and I can speak it fluently since I was born in Pakistan and lived there for 8 years before moving to the USA; however, I have lost the abilities to read and write this beautiful language. The alphabet is suppressed in my memory somewhere so I feel fairly confident that an intense summer course might bring me up to speed. Perhaps the State Department will allow me to study at their Foreign Service Institute (FSI) during my summer internship.
Traveling
to Istanbul
Alex
and I decided to spend New Year in Istanbul. We hadn’t traveled in three weeks,
and revisiting Istanbul seemed like a good idea—we would get to see the famed
fireworks and spend time with other Fulbrighters in Turkey’s historical city. We
had a rough start, however.
Our
administration failed to communicate to us that we had no speaking club classes
the week leading up to New Year’s Day, which was frustrating because Alex and I
booked an evening flight to Istanbul. Had we known we didn’t have afternoon
classes, we could have booked an earlier flight. To make matters worse, it was
snowing in Istanbul and there were an unusual amount of flights going to Istanbul,
both of which contributed to major delays. Those that know me well know that I
can be very impatient, especially during situations that do not have a logical
justification. I could not figure out why every flight to Istanbul was delayed.
Should the airport not plan for enough runways? This isn’t the first time
people are flocking to Istanbul to celebrate New Year’s, therefore shouldn’t
the airport officials and airlines plan for these types of situations ahead of
time? Whatever happened to data analysis? If I were still at my desk at Liberty
Mutual, I’d be slicing and dicing customer data like nobody’s business. Alas,
I’m in Turkey and this place is surely teaching me patience.
 |
| Headed to Istanbul on NYE with Toffee Nut Latte. |
Finally
at a little past 10pm, our flight began boarding. In less than an hour, we were
in Istanbul. Finally! But…it was snowing. We took a bus to Taksim Square. But
the clock was ticking, and I feared that we would ring in the New Year en route
to our destination. My fear came true. Alex and I counted the final minute of
2015 on an unusually quite bus. I couldn’t understand why everyone else was
silent. Weren’t they happy for 2016? In hushed voices, Alex and I whispered
“10, 9, 8, 7….” and then threw our hands in the air, and gave each other a hug.
And this is how I spent my New Year’s Eve, my friends. No pity needed, because at
least I was with someone I loved, Alex. Besides, all holidays are about being
with the people you love. “Plus, it’s not New Year’s in America yet, so we
really didn’t miss it,” said Alex, reminding me again to stay positive.
When
we got to Taksim Square, we called our Airbnb host who directed us to take a
taxi to the hostel. The weather was miserable; it was a blizzard as we got off the
bus. We decided to taxi to our hostel, which was 10 minutes away. The driver
made small talk with us and appeared to be very warm—but he turned out to be a
crook! He asked us for 100 lira, which I knew was a joke; and then tried to
tell us that he was giving us a concession and charging us only 50 lira. Which
is still SUPER expensive. The ride should have only cost 10 or 15 lira, but
instead we were forced to pay 50 lira. I begged the driver to give us 10 lira
back so that we could buy baklava or something. Feeling guilty for ripping off
two innocent girls, he smiled through the rearview mirror and handed us the 10
lira change. I expected rates to be high on New Year’s Eve, but this guy was a total
crook. I don’t understand people cheat others. It’s an awful thing to do, and I
don’t know how people live with themselves after having committed the deed.
Needless to say, being overcharged by the taxi driver was the icing on the cake
of our awful travel to Istanbul.
Hostel
Our
hostel was actually pretty sweet, unlike the first one which was super sketchy.
Four other girls joined us for this 7-bed hostel: Monica, Sara, Jessica, and Caitie.
There were three sets of bunk beds plus a lone one. The hostel came with
heating, towels, soap, shampoo, and slipper—I was super impressed. Felt like a
mini hotel, but for a much cheaper cost of course. The only downfall of this
hostel was the alley on which it’s located. Our host was also very hospitable,
constantly checking in on us and being available at all times. The living situation
was great, no complaints here.
Istiklal Street
Istiklal
means ‘independence.’ Istiklal Avenue is one of the most famous streets in Istanbul.
It is apparently visited by nearly 3 million people in a single day over the
course of weekends, according to Wikipedia. “Located in the historic Beyoğlu
(Pera) district, it is an elegant pedestrian street, 1.4 kilometers long, which
houses boutiques, music stores, bookstores, art galleries, cinemas, theatres, libraries,
cafés, pubs, night clubs with live music, historical patisseries, chocolateries
and restaurants.” There’s even a historic red tram that runs up and down the street.
The girls and I indulged in Persian food and sweets the night we hung out. I
ordered an awful dish at the Persian restaurant—something sweet with walnuts,
but curried in a dark gravy. Even though I didn’t enjoy my dinner, the cheesecake
we had afterward totally made up for it.
Dolmabahçe
Palace
