This has been a bittersweet time of year for us. We love getting to know such amazing international students and families, but inevitably, they return home.
Last month, one of our host daughters, Maryse, finished her master's degree at OU. I had the honor of sitting in on her thesis defense and witnessing her brilliance. Yesterday, we had to say goodbye to our Turkish host daughter, Merve, and our "honorary host daughter," Gizem. And tonight, we said farewell to the Ahmad family, as they depart for the UAE for new job opportunities.
A bright spot in our week, though, was our Tuesday night dinner with Merve and Gizem. Since Merve was only here for one semester, we did our best to fit as many fun activities as possible into four months. In December, she and GP Christmas-fied our house and baked some delicious pumpkin bread to get us all in the holiday spirit.
Tuesday was a blast! Merve and Gizem cooked us a delicious Turkish meal of manti, followed by Turkish delight and Turkish coffee. We then set off on an adventure to help Merve purchase an iPhone from a Craigslist seller (success!) - and, as no Norman experience would be complete without Rusty's Frozen Custard, we made a detour for some dessert.
On Wednesday morning, we had to say goodbye. We know that Istanbul is lucky to have them back, but they'll be missed.
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