Homes Away From Home

As I sit at this wooden table, in this perfect flat, with the never ending noise creeping up from the street below blending with the nonstop music we use to distract ourselves, I realize that this is now my home. It is home and in a few days I will leave it to find my next home. And then I will leave that home to find another. I have been cut loose and now I am drifting through this world in search of homes away from home. 

Istanbul is home for myriad of reasons. My daily ferry commute from Europe to Asia for school is completed by a salami and cheese toast that requires a fresh squeezed orange juice as the bread is so dry, yet so strangely satisfying. With ear phones in, toast in hand, and the wind on my face I find myself in a state of meditation. I watch the iconic landscapes slide past, here's the Blue Mosque, there's the Topkapi Palace, and I feel as if I have been here for years rather than weeks. I must admit that I find myself slipping into moment of self doubt as I gaze out onto the Bosphorus. Shame and fear grip me and threaten to pull me back to reality. But then, like clockwork, a bird cries or the wind picks up and I remember where I am. I remember that I am alive. I am alive and I am following my dreams. 

Istanbul is home for the street food, the feral cats, the constant cacophony, the daily self reflection, but most of all for the people I have met here. Martine, my sister soul, I love you to the moon and back. Without you I would be lost in this city and in my life. My ridiculous German neighbors, family breakfasts have made more of an impact that you will know. The food alone would make the world envious but when it's combined with weird tastes in music and your amicable nature those mornings (afternoons) will forever be in my heart. From  the men on the ferry who feed my lust for toast, to the man in the corner store who never judges the endless purchases of beer and almonds, to classmates, teachers, new friends, old friends visiting, I love you all for making this city home. 

Leaving home is never easy. It makes no difference if that home has been there for 20 years, 6 weeks, or just one wild weekend. My heart is preparing to break again as I leave this home behind in search of the next. And the next after one after that. Here is to homes away from home and the beautiful relationships and memories they help create. 

"Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey."    Tad Williams