bethany grace

//Costa Rica now, for a couple months! (June 2014)

//I am now in Istanbul, Turkey! I'm pretty excited about being in such a diverse and exciting place. I have a lot to learn in regards to history and hope to do so in my year here. Looking forward to meeting new people, learning about a new culture, and exploring a new place! Cheers! (May 2011)

//I am about to begin my year of teaching in Cheongju, South Korea! I am very anxious for it to start so I can see what this is all about! I am hoping to be able to travel to as many other parts of Asia as possible. (March 2010)

//Greetings! I am taking off to South Africa in about a week and a half to study abroad. I will be studying at Stellenbosch University. I am from Puyallup, Washington but I go to school in Lynchburg, Virginia. After studying in South Africa, I will have just one year left- finally a senior. I am studying elementary education and hope to teach overseas. I love to travel but wish I could do it more. I have been to London, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Uganda, The Bahamas, and Canada eh. I love Africa and would go any chance I get but I'd also like to see India, Greece, Croatia, and Norway. (January 2008)

My brother Chris and sister Lacey are off traveling too. Here are their links:

http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Loo-Loo/

http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/devriecd/

Hamam

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul » Sultanahmet June 15th 2011

Luxury

bethany grace

A few of the other girls and I met up today to go to our first Hamam. A hamam is a Turkish bath and it's definitely on every list of things to do while visiting Istanbul. Lacey had been anticipating her first trip since she read a blog by one of the World Traveler Interns who hilariously documented her experience here in Istanbul. There are many different hamam's you can go to, some are known for the buildings, some for the bath. We started early, leaving around 9am to trek to the other side of the city for a bath at Cemberlitas Hamam. We took a bus for about 30 minutes, walked for 15, and then took a tram for about 15 more minutes, before arriving. Istanbul is huge if you haven't caught on to that ... read more

Cappadocia continued

Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Cappadocia » Göreme June 12th 2011

Blue door

bethany grace

A couple things about Cappadocia: It's mentioned in the Bible twice by Peter. The early Christians trying to escape the Roman Empire built numerous churches underground and in the caves and mountains here. The crazy formations are the result of volcanic eruptions a long time ago. If you want to know more you can look it up! Lacey and I loved it and definitely want to go back as soon as we can. We're going to look into flying next time (1 hour as opposed to 25/26)! There is so much more to explore in this area. It is probably most famous for its hot air balloons. If you google Cappadocia you will certainly see tons of balloons floating in the sky. We would obviously love to do this but they take off around 5am for ... read more

Cappadocia

Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Cappadocia » Göreme June 10th 2011

Goreme

bethany grace

Lacey and I matched up our off days this week and took off on our first big adventure. Almost as soon as we decided we were coming to Turkey, we found out about a place called Cappadocia. Ever since then we've been determined to go. Because of our schedules we knew we wouldn't have a lot of time but wanted to make it work before the kids are out of school next week and our schedules are full. We left our houses at 8:30pm Wednesday after working. We took a city bus to the area where we would get on the shuttle to get to the real bus. Lots of transportation! We waited and the shuttle was about 15 minutes later than we were told it would be but it finally came and we drove about ... read more

1st Day Exploring

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul May 16th 2011

Ortakoy Mosque

bethany grace

I was just beginning to write about how incredibly quiet it is. I am sitting outside looking out at the Bosphorus and the only sounds I hear are the chirping birds and the constant humming of the cars crossing the bridge into Asia. Before I could even write all that the 5 o'clock prayer began, blasting through the minaret speakers. I don't mind hearing them throughout the day, sometimes I really enjoy it. There is always so much going on down below me, the streets are full of traffic and pedestrians, the Bosphorus Straight has hundreds of boats passing through all day and night. Fisherman line the straight. But from up here, it's surprisingly quiet and peaceful. The view is amazing, especially with the sporadic purple trees sprinkled across the water on the hillside. There are ... read more

A week in Turkey

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul May 8th 2011

First picture from where I live

bethany grace

Happy Mother's Day to the moms! And Happy week in Turkey to me :) It's hard to believe it's already been a week! It only took me a day to realize that I need to learn Turkish. I've started learning but I get easily overwhelmed when it comes to languages and then need to take some time off. I'll be motivated again soon :) Check out Lacey's blog for a closer look inside the language. http://www.mytb.org/LJoy I don't have many expectations when traveling, but part of me did think there would be more English around here. Compared to Korea there is substantially less written English. Maybe it's because the alphabet is nearly the same as English, where Korean was totally different. I previously got the impression I would see it more often simply because so many ... read more

Should be sleeping!

Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul May 3rd 2011

Heathrow

bethany grace

Jetlag. At it's finest. It's almost 1AM and I was extremely tired all day...now is the time for me to be sleeping. But I have no desire to sleep! I feel that as the days pass I will forget more and more things and I've been wanting to blog for days. So here I am :) I'm in Istanbul! I'm in my new home for a year! I am not in my bedroom yet, but I am here. And I like it! It's pretty great, actually. But let me rewind: I left Seattle Friday night. The flight was an hour delayed but no big deal, I got to write a blog. The flight was 9 hours and I can gladly say that I slept most of it. When I woke up to breakfast being served there ... read more

Coming and Going

North America » United States » Washington » SeaTac April 29th 2011

Orting's new sign!

bethany grace

Here I am again in Sea-Tac about to take off. I am gaining a slight bit of bitterness towards this airport since I don't really want to be here right now. Usually, it's a pretty exciting place but today kind of snuck up on me. I am about to board a 9 hour flight to London, hang out there for about 6 hours, and then board another flight to Istanbul. For a year. Yikes! I just enjoyed a fish sandwich in the airport, which is a pretty random choice for me, and may sound gross, but with my lack of an appetite the last few days, I bought it immediately once I realized it sounded good. And it was delicious. As much as I love traveling, I really do not enjoy travEL. The process of getting ... read more

Nyrie and Jersey!

North America » United States » New Jersey » Somerset April 20th 2011

Korean bbq

bethany grace

This is going back a few weeks but I'm determined to finish my blogs about my east coast trip! I met up with Nyrie in NYC and we headed back to her home in Jersey. I hadn't seen her for nearly a year and a half so we were definitely excited for a reunion! Her and her husband were moving into their new place they just bought while I was there so I got to help with that. It was pretty funny when we realized that Jake was the first person to stay the night in their first place (when we visited for the wedding 2 years ago) and I got to stay with them the last night in their first place and the first night in their new place! Confused? Ha ha Our train from ... read more

Beaudoins and NYC!

North America » United States » Connecticut » Southbury April 17th 2011

Drew & Olvia

bethany grace

I arrived by bus on Wednesday night in Newtown, Connecticut. I was so excited to see Shelley waiting for me when the bus pulled in! Jason had just gotten back into town and was at home with all the kids. They were all hiding when I got there and one by one I found them, they screamed and giggled, and we hugged. I love those kids and it was so fun to see them! They kids were off to bed and Shelley, Jason, and I ordered Chinese food and hung out for a bit. They moved to Connecticut in December and have been buried in snow the majority of the time. They have a beautiful home with creaky wood floors and 2 acres of yard! It was so fun to just hang out, relax, and play ... read more

Rhode Island

North America » United States » Rhode Island » Providence April 13th 2011

Providence

bethany grace

I can't get Dumb and Dumber out of my head when I think about Rhode Island...so that's been fun. My friend Courtney (pronounced cawtney) picked me up from Sarahs house in Arlington. Unfortunately the weather is horrible. It's a blustery Wednesday if I've ever seen one which made driving lots of fun. It was about an hour and a half from Sarahs house to Courtneys house north of Providence. Sorry for the lack of punctuation...I'm on the iPad. I met Courtney in London on our way to South Africa. She was definitely one of my closest friends on that trip. She's laid back, determined, hilarious and so much fun. This June, her and her older sister are riding their bikes across the country! Starting in Washington state. They are raising money for UNICEF so if you ... read more

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