Cappadocia Plus the Bitter Sweet Ending

Hello and Merhaba for the last time!

My last week in Turkey was a busy one and I wanted to spend it doing what I wanted to do and hanging with my Turkish friends rather than blogging. But now I have kind of a bunch to blog about because I have to talk about our Cappadocia trip plus my last week so here it goes.

Cappadocia
We left on a Friday night to get to Cappadocia Saturday morning and of course started our tour right away for our last weekend trip. I would say the following photo from my friend Ross's Blog would sum up Cappadocia in general. I left the memory card of my camera at home so I have to steal pictures from my friends.

Cappadocia is a region of some really soft rocks that have a bunch of plume-shaped structures and dwellings carved into the rock. The plume-shaped formations are formed through four ways of erosion. The horizontal erosion was due to water because back in the day (even before my mom was born...just kidding mom, I know you're still 29) there was a bunch of water in the region that caused the rock to soften and erode horizontally. The second form of erosion was due to freezing and thawing which caused vertical cracks. The third type was air erosion which caused the cone shapes at the top of many of the structures. It sounds crazy that air could cause so much erosion but it really is a soft type of rock so the wind was able shape these cones. And the fourth type is a mystery because I can't remember. I could've sworn the tour guide told us there were four types but I can't remember now.

It's really difficult to describe Cappadocia because it's a ton of scenery. I would imagine it's like visiting the grand canyon but not quite as grand and many more churches built into the rock. But I'll do my best to describe it.

We went to an open air museum for a while and first saw some chuches that are probably the size of a bedroom and did not have frescos. They did not have frescos because the churches were formed in the iconoclastic period where they wouldn't allow images to be in churches because they believed people would worship the images and not the actual God. I will probably remember this fact for a long time because our tour guide repeated it at least six times. They did have some patterns painted onto the rock with red dye from the clay in the river I believe but no images or scenes were painted.

Later we visted some churches that did have frescos which means they first added plaster to the wall and then painted various biblical scenes or images in a wide variety of colors. Looking back on it these were pretty cool because they've lasted so long and so many people are looking at them now but I hate to say at the time we were tired of seeing so many churches (and mosques) by the end of the trip (and it was pretty toasty that day).

We then had a pretty tasty lunch that had the works: bread (of course), soup, pilaf rice, couscous, vegetables, potato things, a special kebab made in a clay pot I believe, with some ice cream and watermelon for desert. A nice refreshing meal.

We later went to a winery that most of us weren't impressed by because it wasn't as cool as the one in Ephesus and then headed to a pottery place that was really cool. We went to a workshop that was literally in a cave and had a tour by the owner who was something like a fifth generation pottery-maker. We saw how they could easily make plates, bowls and vases from either red clay from the local river or white clay which was more durable. We then watched the painters hand paint the intricate designs and then two of us got to try to actually make something. We found out Qianqian was not very good at pottery and it was pretty comical while Sean seemed to be a bit better but should still keep his day job.

The stuff they could make

I think we then went back to the castle where it was just a huge formation (that must have been a castle one day) and witnessed a beautiful view. We then headed to our hotel, had one of the best naps of my life, ate a pretty good dinner, and headed out for Turkish Night!

Turkish Night was nothing like we expected because we were sitting around a circular stage in stadium-like seating but were also served small snacks and unlimited drinks. They performed a wide variety of traditional Turkish dances which were awesome to watch, they had a belly dancer which the boys loved and then had more Turkish dances. One of the guys from our group, Noor, actually got picked (or volunteered) to go down with the belly dancing lady with about eight other people and did some random belly dancing stuff she told him and the others to do. It was a ton of fun to watch and over all we had a great time. I would definitely look for some sort of "Turkish Night" if you decide to go to Capadoccia.

Day Two
We woke up, had my favorite breakfast by far of all the trips (had dippy eggs and gözleme and fresh fruit plus more deliciousness), and went to an onyx factory of some sort. They showed us how there are four types of onyx which from worst to best is black, green, brown, and white. He then showed us the difference between various semiprecious stones which included turquoise which is especially found in Turkey. There's the turquoise color that we're familiar with which we can find in Mexico or Arizona but they also have a Turkish Turquoise which is a deeper blue with gold specks in it. I got my mom earrings and a pendent in this Turkish turquoise (+10 in mom points) and a nice bracelet for my sister in the same stone. They also served us chai (Turkish tea) of course like they did in the pottery place the day before because that's how all Turkish people welcome guests.

Then we went to look at more things carved into rocks and were honestly ready to get home. But we did learn that people lived in these dwellings carved into rock until the early/mid 1900s when the government decided it was not safe enough for people to live there due to the risk of the rocks collapsing.

It was soon food time where we had another delicious meal similar to the day before but better. Oh, then we went to this underground city that was super cool. It goes down seven stories but we only went down four. It's incredible to imagine that thousands of people lived in this huge cave and cooked food, pooped, must've made babies, and whatever else because things must have been pretty tight.

That's Mike taking a picture of Ross taking a picture in the longest passage way we went through

Our trip ended with a walk along a small stream in a deep valley. Even though we were ready to go it was actually quite tranquil. Our bus met us at the end and then we had to reflect and say, "Wow, that was the end of our weekend trips in Turkey." We had a wonderful time and couldn't thank Mehmet enough for all the work he put in to making all of our weekend trips an absolutely wonderful time! 

The rest of the week

Monday: went to our last free beer del mundo day and I'm not sure what else but not many of the guys came out because most of them had a final the next day (party poopers)

Tuesday: I went shopping. And boy did I shop a lot. Or at least more than I usually would in one day by myself. But I found out I got a scholarship that I didn't expect and the clothes in Turkey are a ton more cheap there than here so I went on a spree. I found a cute little store that had only one-of-a kind stuff and then went to another store on a mission to buy more patterned pants. I would've shopped for jewelry on the streets too but then I had to go to the bathroom really bad and didn't know where else to go besides the mall.

 Store with unique stuff

 Store where I got more patterned pants

Street where a bunch of shops were on

Then I was in the mall for what seemed like hours. Looked at some stores for things I/my friends would like, looked for shoes (good thing I knew how to say 39 and 40 in Turkish for the sizes), had to look for four more pairs of underwear because I didn't want to do laundry just because I ran out of underwear, and then had to find a suitcase to fit all the new stuff I bought in. I was successful in all these things and found a good suitcase for only 90 TL (about $50 or so). Then we laid low because I guess there was some holiday relating to Ramadan and Bar St. was closed. Oh, and I "studied" for hydrology.

Wednesday: Took the hydrology test which was a piece of cake, went home to work on stuff I think, ate one of my favorite dishes (izkender) and then started preparing for our last Up n Down Karaoke Night. It was a bitter sweet night because James was leaving that night and the Ryans were leaving in the morning. Mike had a great idea of making everyone finish the rest of his vodka only if they signed the bottle and I stole his idea (with his permission) and did the same thing but forgot to bring it home. Then we danced, sang a song, danced a little more and then had to set our alarms for our transportation final the next day.

Last day of school pic

Thursday: Transportation final was fine and I just found out yesterday that I passed the class so that's good. Then I took a nap, went out with Agne, Qianqian, and Ross to help Ross find some colorful jeans for his girlfriend. Then us girls went to a cheap but cool jewelry shop where I spent a ton of money but don't regret it. Bought oodles of earrings, a few necklaces, a few bracelets for my mom and aunts, and new hand-made leather purse that the worker said has a lifetime guarantee I guess. We then later went to del mundo to hang with everyone and say good bye to many of our friends because they were heading home for their holiday. Ramadan stopped on that Saturday which marked the beginning of a three-day holiday that everyone goes home for to be with their families. I would say it's similar to our Christmas except they don't necessarily give gifts and eat tons and tons of sweet things including baklava. It was super sad to see our good friend Baris, Pinar, and Ozan leaving but I told them they were always more than welcome and always had a place to stay in America.

Friday: Was our last day and had a bitter-sweet feeling overall. Went out shopping with Mike and Ross to help Mike pick out a shirt for his sister and Ross buy the jeans he knew he wanted to get for his girlfriend. We then packed up, went to del mundo for happy hour, I had to print my plane ticket and other stuff and then three of us plus Hakan had dinner at one of our standby places, Cafe Late where we all ordered tasty kebab meals. Later we met with our friend Gulse where she gave me some awesome things that her mom made for when she gets married. I felt bad for taking these things but I guess she didn't worry about it because her mom will just make some more things. Then we had to say goodbye which was super sad as well. Another friend named Baris who's in animation also gave me a small painting that looks scary but I'm super excited to hang it in my room.

Then it was time to go to the bus stop and say goodbye to my good friends Baris, Mustafa (Sarı), and Hakan. I was sad to start my journey back to America but was also a excited to come back home. The bus we rode back to Istanbul was super comfortable though so that made the trip just a bit more relaxing. Waiting in Istanbul's airport wasn't too bad and then the flight was also fine with delicious meals and a boat load of movies available. Then we picked up our luggage, went through customs super easily, said goodbye to my new awesome MSU friends and went on a flight to Detroit with Alex from my group. Then I got to see my mom and sister, went straight to my aunt's lake and relaxed for four wonderful days.

Turkey was an incredible experience and I'm sure I'll remember it for the rest of my life. I couldn't have asked for a more interesting and awesome experience and I'm looking forward to my next world travel where ever it may be. I already miss my Turkish friends and hope they're able to visit soon or maybe we can meet halfway in England or Spain someday.

Anyway, that sure was a long post but I hope you didn't get to bored. Thank you for taking the time for reading through all my posts and I hope you've also had a great summer.

Now it's time to pack up some stuff and get ready to move back to MSU tomorrow. Go Green!

The Taste of Turkey (the country, not the bird)

Today's the day. I finally have found the motivation to write a blog post about food here so here it goes.

BREAD
I have to talk about bread as the first thing in this post because there's oodles of bread here. I can only think of a few meals where bread was not somehow involved.

There's a ton of bakeries here and they all pretty much have the same goods. You can get fresh loaf of bread or some pita bread or if you want more of a snack you can get simit or a buttery, flaky pastry with a tiny bit of feta-like cheese in it (my favorite).

Simit is pretty much like a sesame seed bagel with a larger hole and is more tough on the outside and softer on the inside. Pretty much everywhere you look you can find simit because they sell it in the bakeries as well on the streets in little carts. The max you should pay for simit is 60 cents I think.

And this is my favorite although I don't know what it's called. Mehmet, I know you're reading this so can you please tell me the name of this next time I see you? haha But its kind of flaky, soft and has a bit of some good feta-like cheese inside. It's also cheap, two of these I think was at most one lira.

Besides stuff you can get at the bakery bread is always served with meals or there will usually be a large bread basket near by.

Turkish Tea AKA: Çay
Çay (pronounced chai) is unique unique to Turkey and is very common to drink. Usually you drink it after your meal when you're with your friends and just want to relax some more and talk casually. Or if you're visiting somewhere like someone's home or have a meeting somewhere they will usually offer you çay. You then usually put sugar in it, mix it up and it's served in a little cup (always the same shape glass shown below). I will miss having çay when I leave because I think it's tasty and I like how simple of a tradition it is. People will meet up at night just to go to a restaurant and have çay and chit chat for a bit. And of course it's also super cheap with it usually being no more than one lira.

Ayran

Turkish people love ayran. Americans hate ayran. It's pretty much yogurt mixed with water with some more salt and people drink it here. I found out yesterday that yogurt is actually a Turkish word so they have the real yogurt here which is pretty nasty for us Americans. It's very strong and is served on or with many things. I can barely smell the drink without wanting to puke and can only take one small sip just to show the Turkish people how I can't stand the taste. And they really don't understand at all because I don't think they've ever met someone who doesn't like ayran let alone hates it. I would describe it as a mix between sour cream, yogurt, a bit of sour milk and a spoonful of salt. It is the one thing here I cannot have. Alex wins the award though for drinking the most ayran out of all the Americans shown below:

 

Adana Dürüm

Dürüm means roll but I would translate it to wrap because if you order a dürüm it will be a very long, kind of skinny wrap. Adana dürüm is my favorite because the meat is a tiny bit spicy. Where I eat it they also serve it with tomatoes and very spicy peppers on the side along with a small dish of what seems like spicy salsa. Adana I guess is a place in Turkey so it must be their signature dürüm.

İskender

İskender (which means Alexander in Arabic) is probably my favorite meal here. It is actually a kebap which doesn't mean it's served on a stick like most people in America would think but just means it was cooked on a long stick while roating (I believe). The meat is smothered in a tomato-y sauce and is over some thick pita bread. To eat it you cut a piece of the meat, a portion of the bread and then dip it in the yogurt on the side (which I actually like this combo of yogurt) and enjoy the tastiness.

Gözleme

Is kind of like a very large, thin pancake/pita bread with stuff on the inside. I had it with potatoes, cheese, and spinach on the inside and it was delicious.

Köfte

Köfte translates to meatball and that's pretty much what it is. Some sort of seasoned meatball in a disc shape and is pretty tasty.

Menemen

This is what I had for breakfast this morning. Just some eggs, lots of cheese, peppers and tomatoes in it.

Kumpir

Kumpir is a baked potato with a ton of random stuff inside. Mine had corn, hot dogs, ketchup, mayo, tomato, carrot pieces, peas, pickles, and probably something else. It wasn't as tasty as I was hoping because there was just too many weird things in it. I like my grandma's twice baked potatoes more.

Cafeteria Food

We only pay one lira for a cafeteria meal at school and they're usually pretty good. There'always soup, some sort of vegetable/salad plate (usually lettuce with some olive oil on it maybe with tomatoes), a side dish like rice, a main meal with meat in it, and a dessert that can either be fruit, pudding or an actual dessert. The one below is my favorite because there were mashed potatoes and the other stuff was good too.

Dondurma (Ice cream)

The ice cream here is different than home but I can't exactly describe the difference. It's less creamy, more elasticy, and I guess I would say there's more ice to it than cream but it's not like it's a slushy. Flavors from the stands outside usually include vanilla, a strong chocolate, caramel, cherry, strawberry, one with peanuts in it, chocolate chip, blue, lemon, pistachio and that's all I can remember. The soft server here is also a bit different with it being more ice-like and less cream like but still good. It's a great snack to grab on the way back from eating with one scoop being one lira.

Freshly Squeezed Juice

This is another one of my favorites by far. When I mean freshly squeezed it's the real deal. The most common around is portakal suyu (orange juice) where they take individual oranges, put them through a press machine by hand until your glass is full. I've also had freshly squeezed grapefruit juice which was amazing because grapefruit is my favorite fruit.

Grapefruit juice for 3 TL

Water (Su)

Every time we go out to eat we have to pay for su which is usually never more than one lira. And we also have a big jug of water in our apartment at home. I think the water tastes fine here but I'm drinking the bottled stuff just in case I guess. Looking forward to free, unlimited water back in the States and drinking from the tap at home.

Pizza

The pizza here has no sauce, no pepperonis (only things like hot dogs on top), and can have some weird stuff on top like corn. I never realized how much sauce adds to a pizza until I came here. There's a Pizza Hut and Dominos here but neither has sauce. The people here of course like this type of pizza but it's just not the same for us.

Fast Food

There's no drive-thrus here and is actually somewhat of a luxury. The most common around is Burger King, there's one KFC in the food court of the mall, and McDonalds is considered the most luxurious of them all I think because it's actually pretty expensive.

In other news

• Ross, Alex, Qianqian, and I will be on Turkish national TV I guess next Tuesday. They interviewed us with very simple questions and it'll be some sort of promotion for studying at Anadolu I think. Mehmet says he's going to try to record it so we can show it later although I don't think it'll be that cool because it was pretty short and we didn't have anything too exciting to say. They also took some pictures of us and they might be used in pamphlets that they'll hand out to people across the world so you know what that means...my face is going global so I'm one step closer to world domination.
• Went to our friend Gülse's birthday party and drank some sangria again. Agne and I gave here these sweet glasses for fun and she seemed to really like them.

Our friends  Pınar and Gülse

• Leaving for Cappadocia tonight and will be back Sunday
• About to go to a water park near by in an hour or so

Old Things, Beautiful Views, Buffets Plus More in Ephesus/Seljuk

Merhaba again!

We went on another fun weekend trip so this calls for another blog post.

We left Thursday night and boarded our familiar bus for an 8 or so hour bus ride to Ephesus (Turkish people say Efes though). Once we arrived we met our tour guide, had a bit to eat, and entered the area of old ruins. We got in with our museum passes that were only 15 TL (because we're technically Turkish students) and have gotten us in pretty much everywhere - Hagia Sophia, other Istanbul museums, the beach at olympos, and even this area plus more. If you happen to be a Turkish student, be sure to get one of these museum passes because they're a great deal.

So we entered the ancient city and first stopped to see ancient mile stone markers and then saw a huge theater that was mind-boggling in size if you ask me. I believe the tour guide said it could fit 24,000 people at one time. Oh, and all of these ruins were incredible because no one knew they existed until 1850s or so when some people from Europe (I think Britain) found a bunch of marble and realized there were a ton of ruins buried. We only saw 25% of the ruins that existed because they're still in the process of digging them out.

 Mile stones

Theater

We then walked past a ton more pieces of ruins and eventually saw what use to be a library that held I think 12,000 books made of parchment. This library was actually reconstructed by a group of civil engineers, archaeologists and other people to the best of their abilities. I liked the details in the structures the most because they were quite intricate and it just made me think of the person who must have spent countless hours on those details that people still appreciate today

 People who contributed to reconstructing the library

Inside of the library

I hate to sound like an uninterested young person but then we walked by more old stuff that all started to look the same. I might have been a bit more interested but it was hot and I was ready for lunch. But the two coolest things were the big theater and the library and there was also a smaller theater and some pieces of water pipes at the end that I found cool.

 Old School Toilets

 Mosaic tile

The long path of old stuff. The library is in the way back

Then it was lunch time at a buffet for 10 TL which I wouldn't say was my favorite meal of the weekend but the watermelon was super tasty. After being recharged for a bit we went to where Artemis' temple once stood which is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. Now all that's there is a reconstructed column representing about how tall the temple was. Back in the good ol' days it would've looked like this with 127 columns.

Then

Now

We then hopped on the bus to see what once was a cave know as the "Seven Sleepers" where seven men stayed when they were exiled for being Christian (at least I think that's the story). There really wasn't too much to see so then we hopped back on the bus again on our way to Mary's last home.

Before we went up to The House of the Virgin Mary there was a huge baptismal which I found a bit interesting because I was raised baptist. Then we went to where Mary's house was but now it's a small church that still has Mass today. You could pick up candles in the church and leave them in a small box of sand and also leave messages or prayers on a wall and of course they had a gift shop and small restaurant at the end.

 Baptismal

Church

 Candles

Wall of messages

Then our tour guide we had a surprise for us and boy did he. We watched a leather jacket fashion show with legit models and everything. Then of course the models grabbed Ryan, Vince, and me to go back, put on a jacket and walk the runway for fun. I was laughing the whole time because I couldn't believe it was happening. They then tried to get us to buy some jackets of course but the issue was that it was real leather and we were college students. Even with the 40% discount they offered it was still way out of our price range.

Even though the boys looked good in the jackets none of them actually bought one

Then we got to our hotel on the beach of the Aegean Sea, grabbed a beer because we had free drinks until 11:00 and headed up to the pool on the roof. We then relaxed, had a massive tournament of flip cup and went to our buffet dinner. The food was pretty tasty and it was also on the roof so we watched the sunset as we ate. We ended the night on the beach drinking a bit more but passed out by midnight because we were pooped from the day.

 First beer at an all-inclusive place

Dinner time

Saturday
I'm getting tired of writing in details so I'll try to keep it more simple for this day.

Woke up, ate another buffet at the hotel with good eggs, went to a museum that was really cool because it showed some of the actual statues and some other pieces that were in Ephesus, and then went to a Turkish rug shop. I actually really enjoyed this because it made me appreciate the details in Turkish rugs. We first saw how they form silk from the cocoons, saw how Turkish knots are way better than Chinese knots and makes the rugs durable for three generations, and then saw a TON of rugs varying from cotton, wool, and silk rugs. I really wanted to buy a rug that was about the size you'd put at a door but it would've been about $250 so I decided I'll go back when I'm old and have a big girl job.

Then we went to St. John's basilica which was like a castle, saw the location where he was buried I think 7 meters below the ground, and then headed to another mosque. I hate to say it but at this point all the mosques/churches are looking the same now.

It was then lunch time, went to another buffet that was better than the lunch the day before and headed to an old Greek town known for its wine. We first saw a church then went to a wine cellar where we tasted a bunch of wine. I bought one bottle to share with my mom and aunts at my aunt's lake house and one bottle to share with my roommates. I wish I could've bought more because the bottles were cheap and good but I ran out of money and also I only have so much room for stuff going home :(

Once we were out of there we went back to the hotel, relaxed, ate buffet #4 on the roof, over the sea with the sunset in the background. Then chilled on the beach for a while, then the guys convinced me to go out to a club even though I wasn't feeling it initially, had a good time, when swimming in the sea at 4 a.m. and got to bed.

Sunday
Half of us managed to wake up at the time we were suppose to but there were still some that needed a few more minutes of beauty sleep/didn't set an alarm. After buffet #5 and one hour after the planned departure we got on the bus to go to Pamukkale.

It took a while for us to get there and we were delayed about 30 minutes because our two bus drivers were determined to get the best price on tomatoes after asking about six stands in a little market. We probably would've been a bit upset if we were in the U.S. and this happened but we just thought, "of course it's happening because we're in Turkey and things don't always make sense here."

We then got to Pmukkale which means "cotton castle" with our museum cards and was amazed with the site. I was looking forward to seeing it because I've "stumbled upon" it before on stumbleupon.com and was so happy to actually be there!

Then it was time for a 5-6 hour bus ride and we were back home in Eskisehir!


In other news:

• We had some delicious sangria before going out to Up 'n' Down last Wednesday
• Got my test scores back for my two tests and I wish I would've studied less
• About to head out to Del Mundo again tonight to get my free beer for showing my passport
• Excited to celebrate Vince's birthday tomorrow
• Hopefully I'll get on that blog about Turkish food but writing blogs takes way too long