What Went Right?

Hi all,
So here's a run down on yesterday...although the crappiness started the night before...

I was all stressed out about taking the alternate way home, so eventually it started getting way too late and so I popped a benadryl. I know, hardcore Steph, right? Anyhow, I knew it'd give me crappy sleep, and so I was pretty groggy waking up. I managed to get everything together and was outside for the shuttle on time, meeting up as usual, with my HD's friend/co-worker. However, the shuttle was out of seats when it arrived. Last time this happened, when we stopped at the gate they brought the bigger shuttle around and we switched, remember?

Not so.

We got off, and then proceeded to do what I can only call by its true nature: "hitchhiking". We waited 1...5...10...15 LONG minutes until a guard at the gate finally flagged down a random guy for us. Great. I hate being late. I was also taught not to take rides with strangers. Had I been by myself, I would've walked straight home. However, I was in good hands (thank God!) and the man dropped us at the farthest Metro station possible. So we had to go one extra transfer for me to get to class. Which I was 15 minutes late for.

Now, it was only the third day of class and it's a big class. So this means two things. One, I disrupted class coming in (still thankfully working on reviewing the homework), and two, there was only one seat left. It was pretty much flush with the wall, making 2/3s of the whiteboard impossible to see. The other 1/3 of the time the teacher was standing off to the side, obscuring my view. Not to mention she lectures with her back to the wall. So I had no helpful lipreading, facial expressions or gestures to use. Oh. And because she cancelled class on Monday, we had a whole extra hour. Luckily we switched rooms at that point, and I got a better seat, though displaced some classmates. I frankly didn't care at this point, which probably makes me a bad person.

One would think I would be exhilarated at this point. I survived (barely) class and had some extra time before I got home. However, I still had to find WHERE I had to be. I took the correct Metro/subway and got off at the same stop as Dolmabahce palace. Then I just kept walking...and walking. Pretty soon I was fairly sure that I was at the right place. Especially after I walked around the entire naval museum looking for it, only to find out that it's under construction. So it's mostly obscured by a temporary wall, which only has the Turkish version of the name. I also scouted out where I thought the stop would be. HM said it wasn't the seaside street, and that I had to cross the road. It would stop by where the Taxi's going in a certain direction would be stopped. So I burned the 45 minutes I had left looking over homework. With a half an hour to wait, I strode confidently to the spot. Only to read on the Taxi's the wrong name.

Oh, shit.

So I crossed the road, checking the other ones, which seemed to be at least going in the correct direction. I called HM and she couldn't really locate where I was in regards to the stop.

Even better.

She said "Blahblahblah is the road you need to find! Just find someone young and ask them!"
Sure, as I'm frantically trying to find the street on the map, and avoiding being swept away in the bustling crowd. Wait, aren't I supposed to NOT talk to strangers? Ok, just kidding on that one. But it was very overwhelming - I hate being lost more than I do being late! HM was getting impatient after I was hemming and hawing, and finally just said that if I couldn't find someone or the spot, to just come to the office. Determined, and armed with the fact that the road should be 100 meters PAST the museum, I trudged up the street, crossed an intersection and approached another Taxi/Bus area. I strode over to a non-threatening girl sitting on a bench and jumped right in.

Now, of course I'm a fast talker and being nervous doesn't help, but I tried to be mindful. God was smiling at me at that moment, because after a few moments of miscommunication the girl looked at the address (that HM so nicely provided for me!) and it turns out she was going there too! So, I got on the shuttle no problem and off as well.

During the day my anxiety level was through the roof and I was at tears of frustration on several occasions. I didn't lose it though, and today was much better. Maybe it doesn't seem too bad, but mix in some cultural shock/homesickeness and you get a better dimension. At any rate, I'm doing ok now, and really I'm ok with that!

Hope all is well,
Steph