Blogging
From Abroad

Last week the gals from Turkey hosted me for a traditional Turkish dinner followed with tea. It was wonderful. I?ll never forget their warm hospitality.

But Turkish tea reminds me of a dear friend back home, Alex Ebsary. Alex and I have to have one of the world?s most random meeting stories and I wanted to share it with you for kicks.

Here is the story:
In front of the student union (aka the ?Lair) in Morgantown there is a bus stop that runs to Towers and other apartment complexes in the city. It?s one of the worst locations to wait for the bus because as you?re waiting for the Mountainline bus to arrive, 100?s of cars pass and you know that they?re going in the _exact _direction you need to go. If hitchhiking were legal everyone would just hitch a ride to the Evansdale campus but instead you?re forced to wait for the bus. It?s horrible.

Ever since I waited for that bus my freshman year I vowed that if I ever had a car I would always stop and ask if anyone needed a ride as I drove from campus to campus. Once last semester I stopped outside the Lair, rolled down my window, and asked if anyone needed a ride to Towers dormitory. When I ask, I always get weird stares. Everyone is at first hesitant (?Didn?t my mom teach me never to get in a car with strangers??) but eventually accept my offer.

One night, Alex Ebsary, volunteered for free transportation to the other campus. Our conversation started out normal, where are you from, what are you studying, yada yada, but then Alex mentioned that he recently got back from studying abroad in Turkey. My response: NO WAY! I JUST GOT BACK FROM STUDYING IN HONG KONG. ISN?T IT AWESOME TO BE OVERSEAS? By the end of the drive we were BFF?s and Alex asked if I wanted to try some Turkish tea. You bet!

Now (I promise this story has a point) Alex is returning to Turkey this summer and is blogging for WVU. I just wanted to encourage everyone to stay tuned and check out his posts. :)

Alex- I’m wishing you 100’s of Turkish teas this summer as you return to your favorite country in the entire world. :)