It’s the 4th of July! This is my second year abroad during the 4th. I called my grandma’s house earlier. I spoke to her, my aunt and my dad. I could hear everyone else in the background and really wished I was there. My cousins and the rest of my relatives are all really great.

This morning I thought a lot more about leaving Istanbul. Honestly, I think that’s the decision I’ll most likely come to. One way flights back to NYC are really expensive during the time it’s likely I’ll need one. That sucks, but it’ll work out.

I went into work today so that I could go back to the doctor. The doctor visit went fine, but then I got sucked into time with the DoS of my school. I’m overwhelmed with this job and not sure I can put in as much time and effort as will be required to do an adequate job. I could try to coast, but I wouldn’t be able to do that to the students and not being prepared for class would be incredibly stressful. I’m not good at winging it. I’m hoping to see an improvement in teaching and my current work situation in the coming weeks, but if I don’t I’m going to bail and probably head home. I suppose I could go somewhere else first for a couple months, but we’ll see. Actually, volunteering somewhere could be pretty cool. Maybe I could find a place in Nepal or something.

I looked at 2 more places today. One I really liked and I got a great vibe from the guy who would be renting me the apartment. It’s also on a quiet street and it’s near a park – two things that would be awesome. I can walk to the metro or take buses from Besiktas. The room itself wasn’t totally great, but it had a huge bed and I think I’d find it comfortable enough. I plan to look at one more place tomorrow and then hopefully move in the afternoon. I feel like I’m kind of moving out in the middle of the night which is a bit of a dick thing to do to my current flatmate (who will be expecting me to pay rent again really soon). Unfortunately that’s just the way this is going to go. Done.