Welcome to "I was in Turkey"

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a very special concert in Izmir. “Egen’nin iki yakasindan esintiler: Turkiye-Yunanistan Dostluk Konseri”, which translates to “Aegean’s two breezes on the Seashore: Turkish-Greek Friendship Concert”.  Combining the traditional musical styles of both cultures, the night was capped off with musical pieces sung together in both Greek and Turkish. After having discovered about the concert from the Greek Consulate in downtown Izmir, I was excited to tell...

The chaotic combination of yellow taxis, tourist buses and bustling passengers was a far cry from the horse and cart I was expecting, complete with mosques, crumbling buildings and sand dunes. As I stepped out of Istanbul’s airport, anticipation of the unexpected was fluttering in the pit of my stomach like a trapped butterfly. Considering my knowledge of Turkey was based on horror news articles (only the very worse make it international) and old movies...