Anna Elizabeth Mendlein
Cincinnati, Ohio [OH], USA
Walnut Hills High School

Ethnic dance competition- I thınk the best part of the competıtıon for a lot of us was the two enormous posters of Atatürk we saw once we entered the room. Besıdes that, ıt was pretty cool- you'd see an elderly man do some acrobatıc trıck that most of us youngsters couldn't.I thınk my favorıtes were Russıa and Czech Republıc (and Turkey of course. The costumes were amazıng. I'm pretty sure my camera dıed that nıght from overuse. For the entıre nıght, the only downsıdes were loss of hearıng (from sıttıng VIP, rıght next to the speakers) and a late arrıval home, especıally for those who lıved ın Tuzla and Büyükçekmece.
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Anna Gomez
Dallas, Texas [TX], USA
School for the Talented and Gifted

These past five weeks have been eye-opening and life-changing experiences that carry with them memories that are now forever engraved in my mind. Volunteering at the center for disabled children allowed me to witness such happiness and gratitude that I have never before seen. When we met with the disabled and had the opportunity able to interact with them, get to know them, and encourage them, I realized how little language has to do with showing someone how much you value and appreciate them. Aiding them with their art projects and conversing with them was such a treat. To know that they were truly excited to meet us and were so enthused brought me pleasure and a sense of thanks. What touched my heart was how the mother's of these disabled students showed their thanks to us by making us a banquet of Turkish food. Their hospitality was much appreciated and I will never forget this experience for it.

Arezu Hajar Monawer
Madison, Wisconsin [WI], USA
West High School

I really enjoyed going to the Aya Sophia, the Topkam Palace and the Sunken Palace. My only suggestion was to either seperate these tours or get a less talkative tour guide. I think the tour guide was not very useful. Everything she said was written on various boards in the places we were visiting. She could have been useful for answering questions but maybe only that. Instead of being helpful she cut our time in the places short by her long explanations. I'd rather read it myself and get to see more of the place. For example we didn't get to see any other floors of the aya Sophia and she was constantly rushing us (she even said "you are the slowest group I've ever had").
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George Thomas Papademetriou
New Brunswick, New Jersey [NJ], USA
Mainland Regional High School

The European Culture Festıval ın Istanbul ıs a great opportunıty for Istanbul to showcase the vast cultural and hıstorıcal value that ıt has. At the Dance Competıtıon, we had an opportunıty to wıtness and compare the dıfferent dances of Europe. Watchıng the Dutch, the Germans, the Czechs, and the Norwegıans was ınterestıng to say the least. However, when I watched the Turkısh performers, I kept thınkıng about how culturally sımılar to the Greeks. Even though we dıdnt have an opportunıty to watch the Greeks, theır cultural sımılarıtıes wıth the Turkısh people ıs ıncredıble.Although I have been to Old Cıty Istanbul before, no matter how many
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Sarah Rose Heyborne
Denver , Colorado [CO], USA
Saint Mary's Academy

I really enjoyed this cultural activity! I appreciated the freedom we were given to go out and explore in whatever manner we wanted to. My group rented bikes and explored the island this way. We went to a beach, shopped and got some food. I found that we used a fair amount of Turkish too since it was just us—we were kind of forced to use it more so than in other situations.
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Teo Lamiot
New Brunswick , New Jersey [NJ], USA
York School

Visiting the Ayasofya, Topkapi Palace, and the Cisterns were all as my list of things to do while in Istanbul. Going together with other students was okay, and the tour guide was informative, however the pace felt a bit rushed in places and I missed some things I wish I could have seen. Fortunately I was able to return with my host family. For next time I would suggest trying to do less on a single day to give people more time to explore, and encouraging students to explore some places
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