Kendra Bruce

TravelK

Kendra Bruce

Traveling the world, meeting new people, having amazing experiences, and interacting in new cultures is my passion!

I was once a cog in the financial machine handling mutual funds and derivatives, but gave it all up to be poor in the Peace Corps...Albania. Albania lit the fire for my unquenchable thirst for travel and new adventures. So, after recovering from a broken ankle...I highly recommend breaking yourself only in developed countries...I flew off to be an English teacher at a public elementary school in Busan, South Korea.

After that I applied to USAID to become a general development officer in Afghanistan to help "win hearts and minds," by developing sustainable living projects and providing opportunities to the local Afghans. While I've been wading through the very long process....I've been hanging out in Abu Dhabi, UAE with my mom who is living here as a teaching consultant. Now, that my training date is set, I'm off to Albania by way of Istanbul, Bulgaria, and Macedonia.

Sofia, Bulgaria - Day 2

Europe » Bulgaria » Sofia City » Sofia April 18th 2011

TravelK

Woke up early this morning to a bunch of rowdy Brits who had apparently had quite the drunken, debaucherous night. One guy had visited a prostitute, but seemed embarrassed enough about it that he didn't want it discussed while I was in the room. However, the second I was not visible in the shower room, though very well within hearing, he spilled. Apparently, it cost about 100 Euro and he wasn't on his A game...his friends joked the second he was out of the room that she kicked him out the second he was done, and he was sad they didn't get to cuddle. So cute! The funniest thing was just how much shame he felt about it, he made each of his friends swear that they wouldn't tell a soul and mentioned that they weren't ... read more

Istanbul, Turkey - Day 3

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet April 18th 2011

TravelK

After waking up at about 2:30PM in the afternoon, I rolled out of couch and became semi-functional. Sibel was coming down with a cold, so she was pretty much out for the rest of the weekend. But, Tufan was hanging out on Ikslik street at his friend's Japanese shop. So, I eventually wandered over there to have a coffee with him and his friend. Tufan makes a mean coffee. In fact, the Turkish coffee that I was used to having in Albania is not at all like the Turkish coffee that I've had in Istanbul. There are no coffee grinds and it is more like American drip, then espresso. It's also kind of fruity...it's hard to explain. His friend didn't really speak English, so it was mainly Tufan and I chatting. I find the attitude and ... read more

Sofia, Bulgaria - Day 1

Europe » Bulgaria » Sofia City » Sofia April 17th 2011

TravelK

The taxi at the bus station knew exactly where Hostel Mostel was located (right down the street in Makedonia square). He had a meter and knew where he was going, so I figured I'd go for it. But, the meter basically just kept running at .02 leva every 2 seconds it seemed and didn't pause when we stopped at the lights. So, I was pretty sure it was sketch. The hostel posted that a fair price would be 6 leva from the bus station. It ended up being 10.08 leva. The thing is I was already planning on giving him 10 Leva, because I had heavy bags etc. So, I feel like these guys would be so much better off if they didn't cheat people. They'd feel good and the visitors would feel good and they'd ... read more

Istanbul, Turkey - Day 4

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet April 16th 2011

TravelK

My last day in Istanbul, and finally I went to do some sightseeing! I started my day off in the Topkapi palace, which was 20 lira to get in and 10 lira for an electronic guided tour thing. The guided tour wasn't really worth it, becasue the info was a bit blah and the numbers to hear the related info were often hard to find. The palace is pretty and located right on the water with lot's of pretty green spaces and flowers. But, the palace didn't seem all that spectacular. Some of the items in the treasury were pretty cool. There is this gigantic diamond called the school master's diamond that was traded for some small everyday things. It is pretty spectacular. But, overall, it wasn't at all the glamorous palace that history books led ... read more

Istanbul, Turkey - Day 2

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet April 14th 2011

TravelK

Booked a tour the day before, starting at 8:30 AM...they were late...pretty much every mode of transport that I took while I was there was late. The guy at the hostel called the tour person to ask if all of the numbers listed on the route would be available, and he said they would be. They weren't. I asked on the tour bus to make sure this would be the case, sure enough we would not stop at any of them. Only the places indicated with a picture on the tour map. So, we went to Chomera (I have to check the map for spelling) museum/church/mosque. It was pretty and had some interesting pics. Something of note was that the older pictures were fairly detailed and looked like they had been done more recently than the ... read more

Istanbul, Turkey - Day 1

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet April 13th 2011

TravelK

Cold! The first thing that hit me as I got off the plane from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates was the cold air. It was fresh and moist and cold. We got off the plane and took a shuttle to the airport. I didn't have to fill anything out for customs and quickly got a $20 visa before exiting. There was no wait for the baggage. In fact, all around Turkish airlines was pretty good. Though, we left a bit late fromt the Abu Dhabi airport. The flight was supposed to leave at 2:45 AM, and I don't think we took off until about 3:30AM. We were supposed to arrive at 6:30AM (Istanbul is one hour behind Abu Dhabi), but actually arrived a little after 7AM. From the airport (out the front and a bit to ... read more

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