It's all mine.....

The good thing about Americans being scared of Muslims is that I feel like I have this great secret and I get to have Turkey all to myself. I think Turkey needs a good PR person because so much of what you would think the country would be like is wrong. They have a secular government just like ours so prayer in schools is not allowed- no, people are not dropping to there knees 5 times a day to pray-yes, they have paved roads, running water, electricity and even E! Entertainment Television. I think most people would be surprised at how similar it really is to America.
I think it's strange that no one ever would think of being scared to travel to Spain(where they have bombings by the ETA about every month) or Greece but I often get asked about my safety while I'm here. I'm going into my 6th month in Turkey (total), I've been to 5 different cities, spent most of that time on my own and have NEVER been whistled at, been made to feel uncomfortable, felt like I was in any sort of danger, talked to in a rude way or otherwise made to feel badly for being American or a woman. The weather's awesome, the people are unbelievably polite, the men are cute, women are treated just like they are in America, the food is good, all the things from the US can be found here (except Mexican food) and there is a really low crime rate! Okay, they do have a small problem with censorship.... maybe I should be there PR person. Or maybe not because then they will all start showing up here and it won't be so cool (i.e. Costa Rica). As my friend Christopher would say, I'm very protective of my Turks.