Bayram

This past week, due to the sacrificial Muslim holiday, we enjoyed a 5 day weekend! Since the holiday fell right before payday, and everyone was low on funds, we stuck around in Ankara.

On Saturday, some friends (Rachel, Amy, and Jilly) hosted a Halloween themed party. The night before we were mistakenly informed that we could only purchase liquor that evening, so we rushed off in our pajamas (as if we don’t stand out already) in search of supplies. We were, obviously, over eager to celebrate one of my favorite holidays! Randi, also, spent much of that evening making a lady bug costume out of a sheet and tissue paper. I, the less creative one, dressed up as a cheeky kitty! We had a lot of fun celebrating Halloween and afterwards went out dancing, minus the costumes!

During our holiday we spent quite a bit of time shopping, watching movies, reading (we’re in a “Game of Thrones” unofficial book club!) and exploring the city with friends. On Sunday, after Randi witnessed our neighbors slaughtering a cow from our window, we decided to remain indoors.

Randi and I visited our first Hamam, a Turkish bath. We were surprised by the lack of modesty amongst the Muslim women, but I guess amongst other women their levels of exposure are far more relaxed. Good thing we’re not too modest! I am pro-boob lifts after the experience and there were some sights I wish I hadn’t seen! While lying on marble platforms, we received body scrubs. I have a phobia of dead skin. I can’t even be around friends who are peeling due to sunburn! So having dead skin shaved off of my body and then having to turn around and lie in it was an issue for me. After that ordeal, we returned to the main room and rinsed ourselves off with bowls of hot water. Next, we received a bubble (bath soap) message. This was much more enjoyable for me, except for the part where the lady got soap in my eyes and threw buckets of water over my head. Randi found this a little less enjoyable as she had to grasp the edge of the marble platform for fear of being shoved headfirst onto the floor. Still, Randi intends to go every month; I’m thinking one or two more times before I leave. Next time I won't wear my contacts, which should help with the unfavorable views and the soap in my eyes.

~ Stacy

Cappadocia, Turkey

After being in Turkey for almost two months, Stacy and I were finally able to get away and see more than just malls and city streets of Sincan.  We spent the past weekend in lovely Cappadocia, which is about a 4.5 hour bus ride from Ankara.  We made the trip with five other teachers, who all happen to be girls, it was a lovely ladies weekend.  We all met up at the bus station and caught a late afternoon bus.  This worked out beautifully as it was dark by the time we coasted down the mountainous, curvy, road into the city.  We left behind the city lights and arrived back in time, even with substantial fake lighting it was still breath taking.  Goreme is the main city in Cappadocia and lies in a valley surrounded by the unreal rock formations which take you back to the Stone Age.  As one of my teachers quoted "It’s like the Flintstones" and that is exactly what it looked like!  Seeing all the formations lit up, gave Goreme a slightly haunting look, this was very much appropriate as Halloween was just around the corner.  We successfully found our hostel and lucked out with a dorm room “cave” with seven beds.  I of course made a bee line for a bed next to a heater.  We then made our way to, what we were informed as the only pub available, Fat Boys.  There we enjoyed the company of fellow travelers and also relished in not being judged with drinks in our hands.  We all had a lovely evening and some of us even joined a game of pool, while those of us, me included, preferred to just watch. 

The next morning was our only full day in the region so we booked a full day tour, including a descent into the underground city.  I should also mention Cappadocia was quite a bit colder than we had anticipated, this is why in the first half of the photos most of us are hunched together trying to stay warm.  Though we were a pretty large group on our own, we were also joined by five other people.  We began our day by heading to a lookout point that gave an amazing view of the city, where we were informed how Cappadocia came to be.  Having never been very good at geology here is very brief description:  due to numerous earth quakes and the geology of the area, this unrealistic world was created by numerous volcanic eruptions and earth quakes.  The underground city was created to harbor fleeing Christians from religious persecution by the Muslims.  They created the city underground because of how easy it was to form the rock that was unearthed during the volcanic eruption.  A very extensive city was built, spreading a good 10 km with separate colonies.  We were actually very surprised to learn the Christians were only forced underground for about five months seasonally; many of us had thought it was a great deal longer.  During the underground tour we visited the graves/morgue, wine cellar, school, church, confessional, baptismal area, and also the area where enemies were crucified. Underground was very well lit and much more spacious than the Cuchi tunnels of Vietnam, I did a lot better this time around while being underground.  After emerging from underground, we were all very happy to see the sun and noticed the lovely change in temperature.  We made our way to Ihlara Valley, which is the second biggest valley next to the Grand Canyon and the only one hike-able by people.  We then began a 3.5 km hike through the valley, surrounded by rock formations, many with visible windows and doors.  It was a lovely walk and very surreal to look up and see all the old homes.  Lunch was next on the agenda, followed by a relaxing car ride through the city.  Our last stop was the monastery Selime Kalesi.  This did involve a bit of climbing which is not my strong suit but I am happy to report that no injuries were incurred.   We spent our second night at Fat Boys once again and were able to rise early enough to catch a noon bus home.  All in all, we had an amazing weekend with some truly awesome people.  Though it would have been nice to have had one more day to see the rest of the sites and do a little more exploring it was a very successful first weekend getaway!

~ Randi