Wow. I have learned so much from studying abroad in Turkey! Although I was unable to use the WaterBobble due to a lack of background information on the efficiency of its bacteria removal, I was able to bring back lots of knowledge on environmental issues abroad. It is impossible to recount my experiences perfectly but I can attempt to share what I learned with pictures and words. Here are the most important conclusions that I developed from this trip:

1. Studying abroad is possible even for people of limited resources! Scholarship funding from organizations like the Turkish Coalition of America, Fulbright Scholarship, Rhodes Scholarship, grant proposals, and scholarships specific to your school contribute to students who want to broaden their scope. Click on each scholarship opportunity to find out more about it.
2. While we explored the countryside of Turkey I noticed hundreds, maybe even thousands of solar cookers from my previous post on rooftops. Sometimes a condominium had five or six solar cookers all crammed on one rooftop. I thought it was amazing that even in very poor neighborhoods efforts were made to conserve energy and harness solar power.
3. Environmental solutions like wind and solar power have become more frequent in Turkey, but some issues continue to arise due to new projects like the 3rd Bosporus Bridge and highway project as well as air pollution due to open fires and disregard of the inversion layer. Since Turkey connects multiple continents, it is a crucial land crossing for many species. Large industrial projects hamper the ability of species to migrate to other parts of the world.
   

   

   

   

   

   All pictures taken by me.