Constantinople- Here I am

The lack of blogging in the past few weeks can be attributed to the fact that nothing eventful has occurred. Don't get me wrong, still having a great time in Copenhagen, but the general lack of sunlight, bitter temperatures, and daily precipitation has made the month blend together.

Friday night, however, was something different. A couple of my friends hosted a Vegan dinner party. For all those who know me know, I am not vegan. I am a proud steak loving american. But the high price of meat in copenhagen coupled with my aversion to germs has made a vegetarian by convenience. So upon being invited I thought easy, I can do vegan.

Not so easy. Do you know how many things they cannot/will not eat? Milk, okay. Eggs, in anything i.e. baking. Cheese. Now that is a challenge. I was going to make some bean based soup, but Friday I had my long run. I ran right after my last class, then picked up groceries and went straight home. I threw on a clean shirt and got cooking. I made crisp rosemary flatbread, hummus, and vegan oatmeal cookies. Everything turned out to taste amazing. You couldn't even tell the difference with the cookies. I altered the recipe on the back of the quaker oatmeal container, no big differences. Everyone else made great stuff as well, and it was a fun night.

Saturday I lounged around, ran, did laundry(I was out of everything), and packed, because today I flew to Istanbul. As I right this I am sitting in my hotel rooming waiting to use the shower. No problems with the flight. I slept, of course, for the duration of the three hour flight. We had to wait in such a long line to get a stamp through customs and then had to buy a visa(DIS bought it). We were bussed into the city, put our stuff in the room, then headed to dinner, which was amazing. Such great food. We had four courses, salad/appetizers, these doughy crispy things stuffed with cheese and spinch, entrée, and dessert. I didn't really eat the dessert, but everything was the right portion so I felt good not stuffed after dinner. Our teacher led a group of us back to the hotel, 30 minute walk. The weather is cool, but in the 50s. Not bad at all. The views crossing over were picturesque. Tomorrow we have meetings in the morning and then free time in the evening. Looking forward to it!