Turkey - April 29th 1914

Diary entry from April 29th 1914

In this entry Isabel describes leaving Constantinople in 1914. She appreciates the beauty of the evening and allows it to distract her despite the concerns still churning in her mind regarding the prospect of taking a teaching position in Constantinople.

Isabel admits that she had not had time to consider the beauty of the city until this point, having been distracted by more practical pursuits until now. It is only upon leaving that Isabel allows herself to appreciate the more aesthetic elements of the place. This, she notes, is due to the feeling that she is now moving in the ‘right’ direction: that direction being home. Isabel’s great attachment to her home is once again making itself known here.

Transcript: "The leaving on Constantinople was resplendent. It was the most glorious evening, brilliant yet without a touch of hardness, & in spite of all the big thoughts & problems – Ought I? Can I? How? If not – what? which were filling my head […] yet the beauty claimed a great part of me. In the joy of feeling that thetrain was actually moving, and in the ‘right’ direction, I had to give the beauty of the place its due, - (a thing I confess I have scarcely been able to do all through my visit. Can you understand?)"