ABOUT TIFFLES IN TÜRKIYE
An American, two cats, and an unexpected life in Ankara
Merhabalar! I’m Tiffles.
I’m an American who first came to Türkiye on what I thought was a short adventure. Somehow I ended up building an entirely new life here.
Welcome to Tiffles in Türkiye, where I write about that life: the beautiful, confusing, hilarious, and occasionally bureaucratically exhausting parts of it.
How Did I End Up in Türkiye?
My story began in 2022, when I visited with my mom. Ten days of traveling, exploring, eating, and discovering a place that felt unlike anywhere I had been before turned out to be enough to change my plans.
On September 27, 2023, I left the US for Türkiye.
I arrived only days before starting school, with 9 checked bags, a carry-on, a personal item, and my two cats, Stormy and Smokey.
Subtlety has never really been my thing.
On October 2nd, I began my MBA at Middle East Technical University (METU), better known as Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi (ODTÜ).
At the time, I thought I was coming to Türkiye to earn another degree.
I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.
2022: My mother and I visited Türkiye.
2023: My first visit to the ODTÜ campus.
2026: I earned my MBA
I Came for an MBA. I Found a Life.
The next three years changed me in ways I couldn’t have anticipated.
There were classes and exams, wonderful friendships, unsuccessful Turkish lessons, campus dogs and cats, cultural discoveries, and countless moments when I realized that the way I had always done something was not necessarily the only way to do it. And, oh yeah, a lot of tears.
The difficult days helped me learn what it feels like to navigate a new culture when you don’t always understand the language or know exactly how things
work. I experienced loneliness and homesickness, made a lot of mistakes, asked for help, and slowly became more comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Somewhere along the way, though, Ankara stopped feeling like a place that I was just studying. It started to feel like home.
In August of 2026, I completed my MBA at ODTÜ. It was an accomplishment that marked the end of one enormous chapter of my life and the beginning of another.
I came to Türkiye thinking I was here to earn a degree.
I never expected to find a community, a sense of belonging, and a life I wasn’t ready to leave behind.
Turns out, the degree was only part of what I was meant to find here.
So What Is Tiffles in Türkiye?
This isn’t a website about experiencing Türkiye from the outside.
It’s about what happens when you actually try to build a life here.
I write about Turkish culture and traditions, Ankara, learning Turkish, travel, food, friendship, ODTÜ, holidays, everyday discoveries, and the strange little moments that teach me something about this country and continue to teach me about myself.
Sometimes these lessons are profound. And sometimes they involve Turkish grammar. But hey, we take wisdom wherever we can get it.
I will never be an authority on Türkiye. In fact, one of my favorite things about living here is realizing how much I still don’t know.
This blog is my experience of Türkiye: my observations, what I learn, what surprises me, what makes me laugh, what challenges me, and what makes me fall in love with this place over and over again.
It’s part travel story, part cultural exploration, part personal journal, and occasionally part *What on earth is happening and why does everyone else seem to understand it but me?*
A Little More About Me
Before Türkiye became part of my story, I had already lived in a few different places that shaped who I am.
I grew up in West Michigan, spent eight years in Louisville, Kentucky, and, before moving to Türkiye, another eight years living in or around Boston, Massachusetts. Each place left its mark on me in different ways—Midwestern roots, Southern years, and New England seasons all woven into the way I see the world.
But that is only part of the story of how often I have had to start over in a new place. Before settling in Louisville, I traveled across the country working in the field on political campaigns. Every campaign season brought a temporary move to a new city, where I would live for three to five months before packing up and starting over somewhere else. The work was fast-paced and unpredictable, and it taught me how to build a life in a new place—only to dismantle it almost as quickly. Between campaigns, I returned to Michigan, where I worked as a substitute teacher for a local school district.
Tiffany enjoying a colorful, glowing swing at The Lawn on D in Boston, MA.
Tiffany and her sister Alyssa following Tiffany’s graduation with her MPA from the University of Louisville.
My academic path has taken a few turns. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Michigan and a graduate degree in Public Administration from the University of Louisville before eventually deciding that two degrees were apparently insufficient. This is when I decided to move halfway around the world to earn an MBA from Middle East Technical University.
I have worked across the nonprofit, government, and private sectors, and my interests have always wandered happily across disciplines. I’ve had many jobs, but have never felt like I found a career.
I’m still searching…
A Few More Things To Know About Me
Outside of school, work, and figuring out life in Türkiye, I’m drawn to anything that helps me better understand people-and myself.
I’m especially interested in mindfulness and meditation, behavioral economics, culture, travel, writing, journaling, and the strange, fascinating ways humans make decisions, build habits, and try to make sense of the world around them.
Curiosity is a constant for me. I like learning new things, asking questions, noticing small details, and finding meaning in moments that might otherwise slip by unnoticed. A summer night in Ankara with a beautiful full moon? I’m definitely dragging you outside with me to admire it. Walking down the street and seeing one of the many beautiful Ankara skylines? I will always stop to admire it, and maybe take a picture.
I’m also a member of the Ankara Toastmasters club, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in May of 2026. It’s a space where I get to practice public speaking, improve my communication skills, and connect with a supportive community working toward the same goals. The people I have met in Toastmasters are among the most wonderful I have had the privilege to know, and many of the members I now consider family.
And then there’s food.
Also: Vegan
I’m vegan, which has made living in Türkiye a culinary adventure in its own right.
I enjoy experimenting with plant-based versions of Turkish dishes, adapting recipes when familiar ingredients aren’t available, and figuring out how to recreate some of my favorite American comfort foods with what I can find here.
Sometimes it comes together perfectly.
Sometimes not so much.
But either way, I always learn something new.
Meet the Management
And then there are Stormy and Smokey.
They moved across the Atlantic with me, adjusted to life in Ankara far more gracefully than I did, and have remained completely unimpressed by every academic milestone I have achieved since.
Stormy is the more adventurous of the two and can often be found investigating the balcony, keeping an eye on the neighborhood, or making sure absolutely nothing happens without his knowledge.
Smokey prefers a more relaxed management style. Her specialties include finding the best patch of sunlight, supervising from a comfortable distance, and reminding me when meals are running even slightly behind schedule.
Together, they have been my constant companions through all of the biggest moments of my life in the last 15 years.
They have also made one thing very clear:
As far as they’re concerned, I am still primarily employed in food service.
Honestly, they may be right. For now, at least.
Why “Tiffles”?
It’s a nickname that somehow stuck. Honestly, I love it. It’s hard not to smile when someone calls me Tiffles.
It’s a little quirky, a little unexpected, and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Which, now that I think about it, is a pretty accurate description of both me and this blog.
The Story Continues
When I started Tiffles in Türkiye, I was documenting what it felt like to leave the familiar behind and begin again in a country I was still learning to understand.
I’m still learning.
I’m still discovering.
I’m still really struggling to learn Turkish.
But Türkiye isn’t simply the place I moved to anymore.
It’s where my life is happening.
So whether you’re planning a trip, thinking about moving abroad, curious about Turkish culture, looking for a vegan life in Türkiye, learning the language, or simply enjoying stories about humans trying to figure things out as they go, I’m glad you’re here.
Hoş geldiniz. Welcome to Tiffles in Türkiye.
Come explore with me.
I can’t promise I’ll always know where we’re going.
But I can promise there will be a story to tell.