Remember that time in Istanbul…?

This is a time capsule. This is a love letter to Turkey, buried not in dirt but in space. This is a tribute to the city I lived in, the places I visited, the people I met, the language I spoke, and the friendships I made. This is an attempt to preserve these memories, to put them in a safe place - a place accessible to us all - where we can retrieve them and call them back to mind whenever we miss that time we all shared in Istanbul.

I’ve been back in California for less than a week now, but as I notice my thoughts and impressions about the past year start to lose their sharpness and slowly begin to recede into that hazy part of the mind reserved only for memories, I feel a sense of responsibility, to myself and to my friends, to record some of what I thought and experienced during my time in Turkey. As a gesture to honor all the unforgettable things I’ve experienced and all of the gifts living in Turkey has given to me and my friends, I want to document some of what I’ve seen and felt over the last year.

What I took away from my time in Istanbul is different than what all of my friends will take away. My hope is that with additional reflections, photographs, anecdotes and stories all of you will contribute to this small testament to our lives in Istanbul. 

- Kenan



Note: The posts here are meant to be read in order from top to bottom, starting here and continuing onto the following pages.