I have officially and successfully packed up my home and left for my Middle East Walkabout (as my former boss dubbed my upcoming adventure). Thank you to everyone who gave me support, advice, love and their time during my final weeks.
MY TRIP
If you don't know what my Middle East Walkabout is, let me tell you in a nutshell. I decided after years of wanting to do a trip like this, that the time had come. So I quit my job at CMES, packed-up my house, sold my car and bought a ticket for Istanbul. In addition to living a more spontaneous, less-structured and exciting life, I'll be doing a combination of traveling, WWOOFing, visiting friends, and exploring future research opportunities in the Jordan River valley.
My first stop is Boston, to spend three days visiting my friend Becky (good friends since high school) before I leave on Thursday 8/12/2010 for the Middle East. Second stop is Helsinki Finland, where I'll be staying the night with my friend Heidi's brother & his family one night on the way (not on the way exactly, but a cheaper way!) to Istanbul, Turkey. I'm set to arrive in Istanbul on 8/14/2010 around noon local-time (10 hours ahead of Tucson, AZ). I'll be staying with my friend Didar's sister-in-law, Sevtap in Istanbul until I leave to travel around Turkey and Greece with my friend Noel. After that, I'll be in Turkey WWOOFing, before moving on to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel/Palestine, and Egypt. So as you can see, this will be an extensive journey and I do not have a solid schedule nor do I know when I'll be returning.
MY BLOG
In general, I will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible. At the very least, every 2 weeks I should have an opportunity, but during my first few months it should be more frequent. Stay updated on my whereabouts and shenanigans by clicking on the "Follow" box on the upper right-hand corner of the website. Then you'll get an email when I post anything new.
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BOSTON
After an emotionally goodbye, and sleeping a compounded 4 hours in 48 hours, I flew into Boston on Monday night. My friend Becky's (we met at University High School) Ben picked me up from the airport and after getting some Indian take-out, we arrived at their new flat in Somerville.
Becky of course had everything spic-and-span, candles lit, pineapple-caramel upside-down cake on the table and champagne chilled. Their new place is SO NICE. Two of the rooms are already painted nice colors (Lilac Lace and Salsberg Blue) and Ben has been busy organizing closets and hanging handy hooks and shelving. The most AMAZING feature other than their beloved Rumba (vacuum robot) is their enormous and well-equipt kitchen.
Can you believe this place? It's a temple to the food-goddess that Becky is.
Tonight we went to The Elephant Walk, a fabulous Cambodian-French fusion restaurant in Cambridge and tomorrow I'm hoping to see some other friends who are in the Boston area as well as get some final errands done. There's also a possible trip to Cape Cod or Walden Pond.
Much love,
AMS
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