Bir, Iki, Uc Stallions....

So this is my second update since arriving in Istanbul. Things are going super well here, really starting to settle in and make it home. So if you didn't know already, I am here playing football for the Stallions. It has been really great so far. They guys on the team are some of the nicest and funniest guys I have ever met. Me and my roommates are really trying to fit in with the guys and mesh well. Micah is playing TE, WR, and CB and doing a really great job at. We don't have enough helmets just yet so me and micah are having to share so that has been kind of interesting. Stuart is playing RB, WR, and S. Stuart is probably one of the quickest guys on the team and is very strong for a smaller kind of guy. Roy is playing Center and DE and totally dominating the line; he is by far one of the toughest hitters. I am playing Qb and really enjoying it. We have practice T, Th, and Sun and that is definitely the highlight of our days. We are really meshing well together as a team and we are excited to see what happens these next few months.

Istanbul!!!!!

Merhaba Amerikan's!!!

Well if you are not sure what this means, it means Hello Americans in Turkish! It has been a fast pace couple of days getting everything set up! Istanbul is a massive city, there are around 15 million people and Istanbul is located in two different continents (Asia and Europe). Me and my roommate Roy live on the Asian side and Micah and Stuart (two of my friends from SE) are on the European side. The Bosphorous Straight separates the two continents, and is the most traveled area by boat in the world! Today was our first day of Orientation and today we had a scavenger hunt that consisted of us going out into the city and finding random things by ourselves. So you just need to imagine yourself and 5 other people going out into a city of 15 million people knowing only about 3-4 words of that language and trying to get around.

These events occurred in real time:

So we took off walking down the street and one of things we needed to find was a statue, so me and Stuart posed like the statues. I have no idea what the statue means but we did it anyway! This was the beginning of the journey, around 5 minutes in. At this point I think we were lost, but we also may have been lost the entire time.

Ohhh! Starbucks ...ummmm ....yes plz! I guess that I haven't actually had any yet, but I am excited about dominating some coffee. There are quite a few Starbucks around where we live and in the malls and its definitely a hit here. Me and the roomie are soon investing in a French press and buying coffee soon. We are both avid coffee drinkers, so blessed to have a roommate who enjoys the same things.

So we eat a whole lot here I feel like. This is a typical Turkish Dish (Lamb and rice with salad). It is absolutely incredible, Lamb really is one of the best things I have had in a long time. I think I have had lamb kebabs or a lamb wrap everyday since I have gotten here. If you didn't notice, there is also Coke Light which is the American version of Diet coke. It makes a good day go even better!

Well there is much more that happened, but its late here and we have another full day tomorrow! Will update more soon! Thanks for reading and being apart of my life. Love you all!

-Ryan McMillan