Bayram

Hello!
I believe it is time for another update! The last couple of weeks have been a crazy rollercoaster ride that has brought me to so many nice places and encounters.

First of all, I got to spend the Bayram holiday with a Turkish friend of mine whom I have several classes with. She spontaneously invited me over to her house at the outskirts of Istanbul and make me experience the real local life. Bayram is actually just Turkish for holiday, but in fact it is the Muslim Sacrifice feast (Yeah, the one that was at the same time as World Animal Day in the Netherlands haha). In the early days the slaughtering of the animal would just happen in the backyard, but luckily for me, this is now done in special places. I just saw cousins of my friend bringing big bowls with fresh meat. Next to this, it’s all about being together will family and friends and enjoying yourself. My friend’s family was very hospitable to me; they wouldn’t let me help with any of the jobs in the house and gave me plenty of gifts. We had huge breakfasts that consisted of cheese, cheese, more cheese (for the people who know me: yes, I ate it anyway), tea, tea, more tea, even more bread than cheese and tea, olives, peppers, tomatoes, eggs, jam, Nutella (!!!!), and lots of more food. Traditional lunch and dinner were also part of the deal. Very nice!

At the last day of Bayram I went to the Fenerbahçe – Konyaspor soccer game. What an experience, the Turkish fans are crazy! It was in the Fenerbahçe stadium so of course we were dressed up as real fans. It became 0-1 before half-time and Fenerbahçe got a red card against. The way the supporters jeered at the referee was not half as bad as they do in Holland during Ajax – Feyenoord. In the end, they won 2-1, which made it a very good match anyway. Great fun!

I also have visited Budapest for a couple of days with two friends. If you ever have the opportunity, go there! It’s a fantastic city, with a very relaxed atmosphere. We stayed in one of the local’s houses, thanks to Airbnb, and discovered the city from there. During these days we did our very first escape game (Google tip!), saw a ballet performance, visited one of the old spa’s, went to numerous nice coffee places and bars, visited the World Press Photo exhibition, went to the Hungarian baking festival, and just strolled around the city for hours. It was a great time out of the busy Istanbul life.

After just three days of being back at school there was the next exiting thing on the agenda: the visit of my boyfriend Jasper! As a surprise, I wanted to pick him up from the airport. I left at 17:30 and had around 3 hours to get to the airport. And, I didn’t made it on time. This gives an indication of the craziness that can be called Istanbul traffic. So I had to send him a message: ‘Please do not go anywhere, I’m on my way!’. Our time together was really nice and before I knew it, he had to go back to the Netherlands.

This might all sound as if I am not doing anything else than just having fun, but this is not the case. It is all great fun, but that won’t be possible if I wouldn’t be planning all my school work way in advance. Not a week goes by from now on that doesn’t have two or more deadlines or tests, so it is actually pretty hard work. But I’m totally enjoying it still!

Love,
Fleur

On the pictures you see: real Turkish coffee made by me during Bayram.