Day 1 Sightseeing in Istanbul

Last night we were the only ones dining at the nextdoor restaurant recommended by the owner of our hostel. It was about 20 dollars for a 3 person feast of salad and kebabs. While waiting after dinner for Nick, we sat outside and met fellow travelers from Germany, Italy, Belgium, Scotland, and Turkey
3 middle eastern looking Scottish young men were fun to talk to. They brought Scottish 'tablet' -candy to share with everyone. So we felt compelled to share our peanut butter Snickers chocolate Easter bunny with the group. Another family from Germany quizzed us on our languages we and sat outside on a pink couch drinking beer and listening to live music.

The musician was an osteopathologist--bone doctor who travelled all around the world but usually lived in India or Thailand. We were talking about how men hate shopping and would feel defeated if they left a store without buying what they came for. It was interesting to see a doctor who sold everything to travel.

Today,
We walked all day and were excited to tour the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Spice Bazaar, and to try many types of Turkish delight. It's similar to a marshmallow texture. Nick has this pole that he can hold my camera out with and take a picture of our whole group.. like Data from the Goonies. We made lots of people laugh including us everytime he got it out.

We're all exhausted and the only channel on tv is a turkish childrens station but Grant brought the big bang theory on his laptop ;)

Merhaba!

Well we made it to our little hotel in Istanbul. Probably should have taken a taxi or bus but thought that taking the subway would be a good way to see the city.
About 20 kms and we hit the red blue and yellow lines, caught glimpses of the haga Sophia, blue mosque, and some beautiful bosphorus views. We're eventually going to find each of those and take better pictures

My pack only weighs 27 lbs but it feels like I'm carrying a hobbit around.  I don't know how we found the hotel, but they heard us coming

We have no towels but there is a window squeggee..
My carry on handle tried to protest and jump ship but has been reattached with needle thread and momma bear sweat.
Moms wheels are losing their shells. Because the roads were pretty rough.
Only fast enough to get the first leg through, I half hurdled a turnstile at the subway.
We're using the hair drier and these wash cloths to take showers.
This for sure is going to be a Roughing it Ressel vacation

At least we have a Dental expert to provide free consultations and a variety of toothpaste + toothbrush

Launchpad update

Buongiorno! If you're interested in hearing about my experiences this summer, you're welcome to follow this feed and send me questions or topics to write about. Particularly if you want me to find out how to cook something, I accept that challenge. Just let me know what, and I will figure it out and maybe make it for you when I see you next.

So for those of you that want more details, this is what is going to happen.  My family is in route to Turkey. We are headed to Istanbul first, followed by Ephesus, Marmaris, Rhodes, Crete, Santorini, Athens, Istanbul. Then I have to say see you later :( to my family and I will be on my own.

I always wanted to live in a different country. Largely inspired by my older brother Nick who lives on Germany and is so happy with his girlfriend Steffi and his engineering role. Started looking at programs and found one through Interexchange to Teach English in Europe.

After the application and screening process finalized, I found out I was matched would be living with the Corradini family in the Le Marche region of Italy for about 7 weeks.

So we've all been in the process of planning this vacation for a few months and then on top of that I start trying to learn Italian, figure out how to make lesson plans to teach these two children English.

This is not a program through Disney but I still get to stay with Casting and go back to my job when I get back. I'm extremely thankful for having supportive friends, family, coworkers, managers to be able to go out on a leap like this.

My coworkers threw an ice cream social and took me out to Qdoba for lunch on my last day.
My friends prayed for me several times and also took me out for dinner plus more icecream and helped me get to the airport.

My leader thinks I'm going to try to stay in Italy..but I tried to keep reassuring everyone I would be back before they knew it.

Hoping to use this time to grow closer to God and gain perspective of the world and my purpose.
On a simpler level, I want to learn Italian, show love to the family that I will be teaching and set them up for success in their English pursuit.
Eat lots of gelato and cappuccino , learn how to make pasta, tiramisu. Learn as much about Italian culture that I can.

Ciao!
Lauren

November Edition

It's November 1st and while that means many are excited about no shave November, Thanksgiving, classes dwindling to an end,  the release of twilight and the muppets, the end of the world series (go Cardinals)...I'm mostly excited because the first of November means Disney will let me know within 2 weeks if I can work for them this Spring. 


I know Professional Internships are hard to get, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up. It's been a month and a half since I interviewed. A month and a half that has gone by surprisingly fast, so these 2 weeks shouldn't be a problem. 


I am also waiting to see what the schedule looks like for the week of Black Friday  (as the retail world labels it). 
Black friday-the day before the infamous kU vs. MU football battle.. Also the weekend of my birthday (11/27)
a day during which Kohl's thinks it's necessary to open @ 12am. Are you kidding me?
     That means management has to come in at 10pm and likely will stay well into the morning. 
      If you live 4 hours away from your home town, how could you possibly spend the holiday at home and be back in time. 
      Yet, all requests off must be approved by the store manager. 




Anyway, onto brighter topics.. great sports weekend for Missouri. Cardinals won the World Series, Rams beat the Saints, Chiefs became No. 2 in their division, and Mizzou beat ranked Texas A&M. For those of you counting, that's MO 2, Texas 0. 
...to be continued, as we play Tx the next 2 weeks also (Baylor then the longhorns)


This weekend, I'm going to St. Louis for the Delta Sigma Pi Career Prep day. On that note, I was excited to find Alumni organizations for both Alpha Gamma Delta and Delta Sigma Pi located in Orlando. I also found some churches to look into. 


Things I'm looking forward to: 
11-11-11... might have to make some wishes if I haven't heard back from Disney yet
Kyle visiting next weekend -sushi and trops :)  and maybe exploring some new places 
The MU vs kU football game
going home for Thanksgiving/birthday
Christkindlemart in Chicago around Christmas time
Spending time with the Annens in Valparaiso- hope it snows! 
More episodes of "Once Upon a Time"
Hikes with Kristi and Kayla 
The first frost... seeya allergies. 

Lauren Lately, September Edition

Much has been going on lately, mostly regarding life after graduation.
Where will I live? Missouri? Florida?
What company should I try to work for?  ... Hopefully Disney
      Not Retail... I want a life where I can spend holidays with my family and not have to move every 2 years.
When should I do graduate school and what degree/ school combo is best?
   I really like Webster's global MBA, and Purdue's MSHRM
What makes a good birthday present for your Dad?
How do you make a good first impression during an interview?

There's so much I want to learn more of:
-Spanish, Excell, Access, Video editing, Photoshop, Web design..
Where is the time going?  That I do know: recruiting for Disney, football, reading and writing for class, and way too much time on FB and Newly reclaimed Twitter page.

That's what's going on in my head these days...
I'm also really excited for Kyle, for getting soooo many job interviews :-)
Cross your fingers for a big upset this weekend. Goooo TIGERS #95

UP inspiration

     There's something about the movie up that is so inspiring to me. This old man has just had fed up with the changes going on around him. He realizes that he and his wife didn't get to do the one thing they dreamed of together. So he takes it into his own hands and gets the heck out of there. 
     Something about that mental process.. just deciding to go for it. I love it. 
     Wouldn't it be awesome to take the house you lived in all your life.. all the good memories..  and just say the heck with work/school/gas prices... while heading to the destination of your choice. Where would you go? 

     

The beginnings of a bucketlist

"If you're bored with life or you don't get up every morning with a desire to do things, you don't have enough goals. "

Places/ touristy things

• go camping
• go sailing for a weekend and sleep on the boat
• visit a renaissance fair
• go white water rafting
• ride in a hot-air balloon
• skydiving
• climb a mountain
• sleep in an overnight train
• ride a camel in morocco
• swim with dolphins
• go on a safari in Africa
• take a boat out on Lake Tahoe
• ride an elephant
• Victoria Falls
• Galapagos Island
• watch the northern lights
• See a show at the Sydney Opera House
• Chinese New Year
• Thai Lantern Festival
• Visit Disneyland California 
• Hawaii
• Oktoberfest in Germany
• party in Las Vegas 
• live in a foreign country for 6 months
• The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam Holland
• Great Wall of China
• Taj Mahal
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Greece-Parthenon, coast
• Florida Keys

Accomplishments/other

• design a home 
• help build a house 
• grow beautiful flowers around it
• be a Girl Scout leader
• read the whole bible
• Learn Spanish, German, Italian 
• Take cooking lessons from a renowned chef
• Sew a beautiful dress
• Paint an intricate design or mural on a wall 
• master the skill of homebrew 
• plant an orange tree, avocado plant, or other fruitbearing plant
• Build houses with habitat for humanity or work at Disney-move to florida after retiring
• Start a company 
• take a cake decorating class
• stay friends with people from grade school and college  
• get a dog... hopefully a labradoodle