I am the first person awake in the house this morning, besides the house keeper. We just smile and nod to once another as she offers up tea. I am staying with a very entertaining family. The host dad has a gold and currency exchange business and mom makes sure the kıds are where they need to be. They have a 16 year old daughter and an 11 year old son, both speak a bit of english. I am convince this family has learned more English in the past few days than I have Turkish.
Yesterday we visited a local university, a mosque make of only wood, an archeological museum, and a modern mall. We have very busy yet relaxed days. Relaxed in that, no one is in a hurry to transition from one location to another. It has challenged our American ways which I appreciate.
Time to eat breakfast. The family is waiting.
Back in a flash!
Erin
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
End of Day 2 in Kastamonu - Katy
10:30pm at the end of Thursday. We had another good day in Kastamonu. The theme (or rather key survival skill) for this city is ‘go with the flow’. Since our arrival, the details of our daily agenda have been very sketchy. We start everyday at 10ish (which means somewhere from 9am for Dave to 10:30-10:45 for the rest of us.
Today we headed off to tour the city, and more or less, we don’t know where we are going until we got there. We tried to ask for more specifics, but that doesn’t really get us very far. We did find out today that on Saturday, we are headed to a village/town on/near the black sea that is on the World Heritage (?) list for historical places. We’ll stay in a hotel near there on Sat. pm and then head back to Kastamonu on Sunday. Monday, we are off to our next city, which will be a 8-9 hour bus ride from here.
One thing that happens when you have to ‘go with the flow’ is that you completely lose track of what day or date it is. We spend about 5 minutes every day debating what day of the week it is.
On our ‘Mystery-at-Every-Turn’ tour of Kastamonu today we stopped at a Helva shop, visited a 600 year old mosque, hiked the hill to visit the Kastamonu castle that was built in the Byzantine era and is mostly now rubble following an earthquake in 1943, visited a center where women weave beautiful cloth and rugs, checked out a ancient gravesite that was built sometime in the BC’s (amazing and not really protected), stopped in a Turkish version of a Boys and Girls Club for some complete chaos with the kids, had our 20th cup of tea, and then separated off for the night to our respective host families.
Helva is a Turkish pastry of sorts. It is made with boiled sugar, flour and butter (how can you go wrong?!). It is kind of a cross between cotton candy and a Mexican wedding cake. We’ve had many different versions since arriving in Kastamonu: plain, covered in chocolate, mixed with coffee, nut-flavored, etc..
The stop in at the Turkish Boys and Girls Club was pretty wild. When we first got there the kids were off playing badminton, so we had a peaceful (but lonely) tour of the club. Then 25 sweaty kids appeared and chaos erupted. We were individually corned by groups of kids shouting ‘Hello!’, ‘What is your name?’, ‘How are you?’, and then they had no clue what we said when we responded. [Kind of like us when we try to speak Turkish.] They were very cute and so excited to meet us. We have to slowly extract ourselves from the masses and pull Dave away from the Foosball table; it was a great way to end the afternoon.
Today we headed off to tour the city, and more or less, we don’t know where we are going until we got there. We tried to ask for more specifics, but that doesn’t really get us very far. We did find out today that on Saturday, we are headed to a village/town on/near the black sea that is on the World Heritage (?) list for historical places. We’ll stay in a hotel near there on Sat. pm and then head back to Kastamonu on Sunday. Monday, we are off to our next city, which will be a 8-9 hour bus ride from here.
One thing that happens when you have to ‘go with the flow’ is that you completely lose track of what day or date it is. We spend about 5 minutes every day debating what day of the week it is.
On our ‘Mystery-at-Every-Turn’ tour of Kastamonu today we stopped at a Helva shop, visited a 600 year old mosque, hiked the hill to visit the Kastamonu castle that was built in the Byzantine era and is mostly now rubble following an earthquake in 1943, visited a center where women weave beautiful cloth and rugs, checked out a ancient gravesite that was built sometime in the BC’s (amazing and not really protected), stopped in a Turkish version of a Boys and Girls Club for some complete chaos with the kids, had our 20th cup of tea, and then separated off for the night to our respective host families.
Helva is a Turkish pastry of sorts. It is made with boiled sugar, flour and butter (how can you go wrong?!). It is kind of a cross between cotton candy and a Mexican wedding cake. We’ve had many different versions since arriving in Kastamonu: plain, covered in chocolate, mixed with coffee, nut-flavored, etc..
The stop in at the Turkish Boys and Girls Club was pretty wild. When we first got there the kids were off playing badminton, so we had a peaceful (but lonely) tour of the club. Then 25 sweaty kids appeared and chaos erupted. We were individually corned by groups of kids shouting ‘Hello!’, ‘What is your name?’, ‘How are you?’, and then they had no clue what we said when we responded. [Kind of like us when we try to speak Turkish.] They were very cute and so excited to meet us. We have to slowly extract ourselves from the masses and pull Dave away from the Foosball table; it was a great way to end the afternoon.
Photos on the blog - Katy
Hello. I've posted some pictures from our travels so far. I know that it is kind of a pain to keep scrolling down the page. I recommend navigating the pictures by using the blog archive on the side to see each of the different series. Please keep those comments coming when you can, even if they are short; it is fun to know that people are following what we are doing. Thanks, Katy
Pictures from Kastamonu - Katy
View of Kastamonu from the clock tower.
Our friend Mustapha, as we are being serenaded by this Turkish man in the park.
Vivian and I during one of our many stops at our Kastamonu headquarters.
Our visit to the specialty meat shop in Kastamonu.
Another picture of us at our headquarters.
Our friend Mustapha, as we are being serenaded by this Turkish man in the park.
Vivian and I during one of our many stops at our Kastamonu headquarters.
Our visit to the specialty meat shop in Kastamonu.
Another picture of us at our headquarters.Pictures from Adapazari - Katy
Pumpkin dessert, unique to the Adapazari region.
Our lunch spread.
The other Levent @ lunch.
Our tour of the local TV station.
The mosque @ Sakarya University.
Our lunch spread.
The other Levent @ lunch.
Our tour of the local TV station.
The mosque @ Sakarya University.Pictures from Spa in Sapanca - Katy
The jet pool.
The 'ice well'.
Vivian lounging in the Turkish bath.
Picture from the porcelain shop.
Our friends and wonderful hosts Levent and Crystal.Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Kastamanu - beautiful cıty and people -Dave
We have contınued to receıve a warmth the Turkısh people every where we go.Efe, my hosts son (14 yrs old), enjoys talkıng wıth me and lookıng up words ın hıs dıctıonary. Hıs school ıs close and I hope to go to school wıth hım tomorrow or Frıday as the actıvıtıes for the team start about 10:00 am (Turkısh tıme). We went to a couple old homes that have been turned ınto museums...very ınterestıng. As we walked along the streets, people are very curıous and also very frıendly. The team has mıxed wıll wıth the cıtızens every where we go.
The streets are very narrow and shared by merchants, pedestrıans and vehıcles. Horns are very ımportant, even on a two wheel cart pushed by an elderly man, wıth a bıcycle horn. Two shops made an ımpressıon on all of us. A man dıd "water painting". He made hıs brushes, hıs paınt and paınted ın a pan of water by sprınkling paınt colors an the water and lettıng it settle to the bottom. He used the end of the brush to create a pattern after erasıng anythıng he dıdn,t want wıth a pıece of newspaper, lettıt soak the paınt very quıckly. The tank was about 18 ınches by 30 ınches wıth maybe an ınch of water.
He then took the paper he wanted ıt prınted on , laıd ıt ın the water for a brıef tıme and drew ıt out over the sıde of the pan. The pattern on the pan had transfered. It was lıke magıc!!!!!! Another artısan used a hot poınted tool to burn a pıcture on wood. He was so fast and had a flower before you could blınk.Thıs can't properly express our experıences. The host famılıes have been great for all. I am so proud of thıs team and the way they have represented Rotary, the citizens of Indıana, the US and themselves. iyi geceler (good nıght)
The streets are very narrow and shared by merchants, pedestrıans and vehıcles. Horns are very ımportant, even on a two wheel cart pushed by an elderly man, wıth a bıcycle horn. Two shops made an ımpressıon on all of us. A man dıd "water painting". He made hıs brushes, hıs paınt and paınted ın a pan of water by sprınkling paınt colors an the water and lettıng it settle to the bottom. He used the end of the brush to create a pattern after erasıng anythıng he dıdn,t want wıth a pıece of newspaper, lettıt soak the paınt very quıckly. The tank was about 18 ınches by 30 ınches wıth maybe an ınch of water.
He then took the paper he wanted ıt prınted on , laıd ıt ın the water for a brıef tıme and drew ıt out over the sıde of the pan. The pattern on the pan had transfered. It was lıke magıc!!!!!! Another artısan used a hot poınted tool to burn a pıcture on wood. He was so fast and had a flower before you could blınk.Thıs can't properly express our experıences. The host famılıes have been great for all. I am so proud of thıs team and the way they have represented Rotary, the citizens of Indıana, the US and themselves. iyi geceler (good nıght)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
First nıght ın Kastamonu - Katy
I am settlıng ın at my new host famıly's apartment, and they have ınternet!! The turkısh keyboard ıs a lıttle dıfferent and ıt ıs takıng some tıme gettıng used to ıt. You'll notıce that I keep typıng 'ı' ınstead of 'i', I fıgure you can stıll read ıt and ıt won't take me nearly as long to wrıte.
We are here for 6 days, ıt wıll be the longest place that we stay durıng our trıp. My host famıly ıs really nıce and really ımpressıve. My host 'brother' ıs 40 and hıs wıfe ıs about the same age. He has hıs PhD ın mechanıcal engıneerıng and teaches at unıversıty and she ıs a cardıac surgeon. I don't feel lıke I'm smart enough to stay here. 10 mıns after we arrıved at the apartment, we left to go have dınner. It was Nurses Day and she was takıng all of her nurses and theır husbands out to dınner.
I can't waıt to tour Kastamonu tomorrow. From our fırst vıew ıt ıs a beautıful old cıty. It ıs strıkıng how dıfferent the archıtechture ıs here from Adapazarı and I thınk the most sıgnıfıcant reason ıs the ımpact of the earthquake on Adapazarı. Here the buıldıngs are much taller and there are many that are hundreds of years old. I'm sure we'll learn much more tomorrow. Sınce I have access to a computer and the ınternet all week, I'll try to upload some pıctures.
Mom, ıt was good to talk to you on the phone. ıf you fınd out anythıng about the roamıng charges, you can post ıt on the blog ınstead of textıng.
Good nıght!
We are here for 6 days, ıt wıll be the longest place that we stay durıng our trıp. My host famıly ıs really nıce and really ımpressıve. My host 'brother' ıs 40 and hıs wıfe ıs about the same age. He has hıs PhD ın mechanıcal engıneerıng and teaches at unıversıty and she ıs a cardıac surgeon. I don't feel lıke I'm smart enough to stay here. 10 mıns after we arrıved at the apartment, we left to go have dınner. It was Nurses Day and she was takıng all of her nurses and theır husbands out to dınner.
I can't waıt to tour Kastamonu tomorrow. From our fırst vıew ıt ıs a beautıful old cıty. It ıs strıkıng how dıfferent the archıtechture ıs here from Adapazarı and I thınk the most sıgnıfıcant reason ıs the ımpact of the earthquake on Adapazarı. Here the buıldıngs are much taller and there are many that are hundreds of years old. I'm sure we'll learn much more tomorrow. Sınce I have access to a computer and the ınternet all week, I'll try to upload some pıctures.
Mom, ıt was good to talk to you on the phone. ıf you fınd out anythıng about the roamıng charges, you can post ıt on the blog ınstead of textıng.
Good nıght!
Thoughts from Vivian
I am going to back track a little. I am writing this during our 4 hour bus ride to kastamonu. Our vocational day was wonderful. I didn’t expect that we would see so much but we all agreed that we also were never rushed. The university for me was exciting they have accomplished so much in so little time. The earthquake museum was wonderful in a horrifying way. The pain of the people is palatable in the museum. We sat in a room and we experienced a simulation of the 1999 earthquake. My heart was racing and my breathing stopped for a moment. Just imagine this happened in the middle of the night. The thought of waking up to walls crumbling.
At the media group, I received something of a job offer. (Julie if you are reading this I didn’t accept). Apparently I have a nice voice for TV. The people there were generous with their time and true to all the photos and information that they took, we were in the newspaper today. (We all have copies we will show when we return). Monday was or first run thru of the presentation. Earlier in the day, we had scrambled to shortened our program since Levent the president of the group would have to translate. Afterwards, was music. Shake your groove thing in Turkey is an understatement. Young old we were all in the meeting space dancing to the music. The club presented each with us with a tea set from the local porcelain company and of course a picture of Atatürk. After the meeting we continued on to local bar/club. We took over the whole place. Music was blasting and all of us (sadly minus Katy) were shaking it up in Nero. Dave shocked us all. He was dancing inviting some of the local ladies to join us as we danced to the exciting Turkish music. As Sarah kept saying, every song is a shaky shake your hips song. We sampled the current in drink. A gin fizz. It was refreshing to watch men dance who enjoy it. The men also demonstrated the local male dance moves. I just followed and copied what the ladies did. We finally left and closed down Nero at around 12:45 or so. I got home. My shirt once I took off was able to stand up on its own due to the excessive of amount of dancing we had done. I still had to pack. I finally crawled into bed at around 3. I leave off now. Someone else will let you know of our bumpy bus ride and first day in Kastamonu.
At the media group, I received something of a job offer. (Julie if you are reading this I didn’t accept). Apparently I have a nice voice for TV. The people there were generous with their time and true to all the photos and information that they took, we were in the newspaper today. (We all have copies we will show when we return). Monday was or first run thru of the presentation. Earlier in the day, we had scrambled to shortened our program since Levent the president of the group would have to translate. Afterwards, was music. Shake your groove thing in Turkey is an understatement. Young old we were all in the meeting space dancing to the music. The club presented each with us with a tea set from the local porcelain company and of course a picture of Atatürk. After the meeting we continued on to local bar/club. We took over the whole place. Music was blasting and all of us (sadly minus Katy) were shaking it up in Nero. Dave shocked us all. He was dancing inviting some of the local ladies to join us as we danced to the exciting Turkish music. As Sarah kept saying, every song is a shaky shake your hips song. We sampled the current in drink. A gin fizz. It was refreshing to watch men dance who enjoy it. The men also demonstrated the local male dance moves. I just followed and copied what the ladies did. We finally left and closed down Nero at around 12:45 or so. I got home. My shirt once I took off was able to stand up on its own due to the excessive of amount of dancing we had done. I still had to pack. I finally crawled into bed at around 3. I leave off now. Someone else will let you know of our bumpy bus ride and first day in Kastamonu.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Day Two in Sapanca & Adaparzi-Katy
End of our first ‘working’ day in Turkey. My host family’s home is beautiful and they have been extremely generous. My father’s (baba) name is Cevat and my mother’s (anne) name is Esma. They hosted our barbeque the first night in country, which was quite a party. One small problem, they speak NO English. We’ve gotten by enough with hand gestures and one word sentences. It is so hard because they are the nicest people and I’m sure they have fabulous stories to tell. It also just makes you feel like an idiot.
We’ve gotten on a new eating regime; they have us on a schedule of feeding us, what feels like, every 60 minutes. Breakfast consists of eggs, toast, jam, olives and the staples that show up in EVERY meal: sliced tomatoes, cucumber, and big slices of a feta-type cheese. Today we visited the University of Sakarya, the earthquake museum, the local TV station, a company that manufactures cheese-processing machines, an art opening, and then the rotary meeting in the evening. Minus the earthquake museum, we were given tea @ every meeting. So each meeting is followed by a restroom break. The tea has grown on us quickly and we beg for Turkish coffee when possible. The problem with this mass consumption (other than the fact that mass consumption isn’t a good thing) is that it makes me very sleepy!! We were meeting with the Dean of the University and the Turkish conversation was lulling me to sleep. I kept blinking my eyes very rapidly in order to stay awake; not a good thing, especially at 10 am.
The earthquake museum was really interesting. I vaguely remember the news about a severe earthquake in Turkey several years ago, clearly our Turkish friends in Adapazari haven’t. Adapazari is roughly the size of Fort Wayne. The earthquake happened on Aug. 17, 1999 and Adapazari was the epicenter. It killed approximately 26,000 people here, and 90% of the town was leveled; most of the buildings that we see have been built since 1999. There have been several major earthquakes here and they predict there will be more. They’ve limited the height at which a building can be built.
There were many other wonderful people that we met and things that we learned. The head of the largest local media company is a woman and she runs a very tight ship. While there is smoking everywhere in Turkey, so doesn’t allow smoking in her building. One of the largest costs of doing business for the manufacturing company is stainless steel because all steel is imported into Turkey.
We are all doing well; trying to pick up as much Turkish as we can. My family doesn’t have internet, so I’m typing this on my laptop and hoping to post as soon as I can. We are here for a ½ day tomorrow; we are going to hang out and shop in the morning and then off to Kastamonu. We have absolutely NO idea what we are going to do there, but are learning to go with the flow. I do have cell reception, but no clue of how much it costs. I’m limiting myself to a text message to Mom every couple of days.
We’ve gotten on a new eating regime; they have us on a schedule of feeding us, what feels like, every 60 minutes. Breakfast consists of eggs, toast, jam, olives and the staples that show up in EVERY meal: sliced tomatoes, cucumber, and big slices of a feta-type cheese. Today we visited the University of Sakarya, the earthquake museum, the local TV station, a company that manufactures cheese-processing machines, an art opening, and then the rotary meeting in the evening. Minus the earthquake museum, we were given tea @ every meeting. So each meeting is followed by a restroom break. The tea has grown on us quickly and we beg for Turkish coffee when possible. The problem with this mass consumption (other than the fact that mass consumption isn’t a good thing) is that it makes me very sleepy!! We were meeting with the Dean of the University and the Turkish conversation was lulling me to sleep. I kept blinking my eyes very rapidly in order to stay awake; not a good thing, especially at 10 am.
The earthquake museum was really interesting. I vaguely remember the news about a severe earthquake in Turkey several years ago, clearly our Turkish friends in Adapazari haven’t. Adapazari is roughly the size of Fort Wayne. The earthquake happened on Aug. 17, 1999 and Adapazari was the epicenter. It killed approximately 26,000 people here, and 90% of the town was leveled; most of the buildings that we see have been built since 1999. There have been several major earthquakes here and they predict there will be more. They’ve limited the height at which a building can be built.
There were many other wonderful people that we met and things that we learned. The head of the largest local media company is a woman and she runs a very tight ship. While there is smoking everywhere in Turkey, so doesn’t allow smoking in her building. One of the largest costs of doing business for the manufacturing company is stainless steel because all steel is imported into Turkey.
We are all doing well; trying to pick up as much Turkish as we can. My family doesn’t have internet, so I’m typing this on my laptop and hoping to post as soon as I can. We are here for a ½ day tomorrow; we are going to hang out and shop in the morning and then off to Kastamonu. We have absolutely NO idea what we are going to do there, but are learning to go with the flow. I do have cell reception, but no clue of how much it costs. I’m limiting myself to a text message to Mom every couple of days.
Hammam - Oh my! - Sarah
I can't imagine a better fırst day!
However, for me at least it got off to a bumpy start-- new travel alarms should be tested once before you use it! I was very embarrassed but my host family was gracious.
The brekky was amaziıng-- cheeses, olives, meats, vegetables, and much much more! And try to tell a Turk you are full-- it takes a LOT of convincing! :)
After breakfast, Vivian and Erin and their host families joined us for our very first Turkish coffees before we all met up with Katy and Dave et al next to Sapanca Lake. We enjoyed a beautiful, sunny Sunday as we had even more tea and coffee while getting to know everyone's host families.
Next, it was time for quite a treat! We went to Güral Sapanca-- an AMAZING fıve star hotel and spa. It ıs owned by the same people that make the famous Kütahya Porselen. We were instantly surrounded by beautiful tea sets and tiles-- it did not take long for us to figure out how these stunning and intricate designs earned their reputation!
Just when we thought it could not get any better, we left for the spa area! While the hotel is among several of the best five star resorts, the spa is rated #1 in ALL of Turkey-- how lucky are we?!
Like the rest of the hotel, the spa was opulent, stylish and visually amazing-- but it was the treatment that really blew us away!
First we went to a large, sunlit pool with every type of jet imaginable. There were bubble jets for your back, feet, calves, shoulders, whole body and so on! There were even two waterfalls that you could stand under and let the splash massage your neck, scalp, head and shoulders.
Next-- HAMMAM-- the Turkish Bath!!!!!
You start by going into a warm room and rinsing yourself with pans of warm water. The room is hot and steamy as well and your muscles ınstantly begin to feel better. I have not felt this tension free in years!
Next, you lay on a warm marble platform with your head and feet elevated. An attendant begins by again rinsing and splashing hot water all over your body.
Next, they exfolıate you with a hand mitt and scrub and massage your entire body. Ahhh.
Now it's time for the bubble pillow! It looks like a towel and the attendant flips it through the air like filling a pillowcase with air. The entire puff is actually rich, luxuriant bubbles that they then squeeze off the towel onto your body-- it feels like foamy silk!
Again, the attendant washes and massages your body--paying attention to every single muscle: even fıngers, toes, forehead and stomach. Soooooo nice!
Finally, they wash your hair and massage your scalp and face again.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.................................
The relaxation is so deep and complete there are no words to do it justice!
After some time relaxing and lounging in the anteroom in large, fluffy towels we decided to be adventurous and experiment with the other treatments. There were:
Adventure Showers: sound, light, smells, varying temperatures and water pressures-- always a surprise!
Shock Showers: Pouring a bucket of icy water all over yourself.
Fınnish Bath: A sauna- complete with window to the heavenly grounds and aromatherapy steam.
Ice Rain: Ice that rains and collects ın a stand for you to rub on your body- brrr!
To end the perfect day, we went to a BBQ at Katy's host famıly's house-- complete with all our family and friends. What a feast! All the families brought delicious dishes-- spectacular Turkish food!
We tried everything including Raki-- the (in)famous national drink!
Finally, it was time to head home-- tired and blissful. :)
However, for me at least it got off to a bumpy start-- new travel alarms should be tested once before you use it! I was very embarrassed but my host family was gracious.
The brekky was amaziıng-- cheeses, olives, meats, vegetables, and much much more! And try to tell a Turk you are full-- it takes a LOT of convincing! :)
After breakfast, Vivian and Erin and their host families joined us for our very first Turkish coffees before we all met up with Katy and Dave et al next to Sapanca Lake. We enjoyed a beautiful, sunny Sunday as we had even more tea and coffee while getting to know everyone's host families.
Next, it was time for quite a treat! We went to Güral Sapanca-- an AMAZING fıve star hotel and spa. It ıs owned by the same people that make the famous Kütahya Porselen. We were instantly surrounded by beautiful tea sets and tiles-- it did not take long for us to figure out how these stunning and intricate designs earned their reputation!
Just when we thought it could not get any better, we left for the spa area! While the hotel is among several of the best five star resorts, the spa is rated #1 in ALL of Turkey-- how lucky are we?!
Like the rest of the hotel, the spa was opulent, stylish and visually amazing-- but it was the treatment that really blew us away!
First we went to a large, sunlit pool with every type of jet imaginable. There were bubble jets for your back, feet, calves, shoulders, whole body and so on! There were even two waterfalls that you could stand under and let the splash massage your neck, scalp, head and shoulders.
Next-- HAMMAM-- the Turkish Bath!!!!!
You start by going into a warm room and rinsing yourself with pans of warm water. The room is hot and steamy as well and your muscles ınstantly begin to feel better. I have not felt this tension free in years!
Next, you lay on a warm marble platform with your head and feet elevated. An attendant begins by again rinsing and splashing hot water all over your body.
Next, they exfolıate you with a hand mitt and scrub and massage your entire body. Ahhh.
Now it's time for the bubble pillow! It looks like a towel and the attendant flips it through the air like filling a pillowcase with air. The entire puff is actually rich, luxuriant bubbles that they then squeeze off the towel onto your body-- it feels like foamy silk!
Again, the attendant washes and massages your body--paying attention to every single muscle: even fıngers, toes, forehead and stomach. Soooooo nice!
Finally, they wash your hair and massage your scalp and face again.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.................................
The relaxation is so deep and complete there are no words to do it justice!
After some time relaxing and lounging in the anteroom in large, fluffy towels we decided to be adventurous and experiment with the other treatments. There were:
Adventure Showers: sound, light, smells, varying temperatures and water pressures-- always a surprise!
Shock Showers: Pouring a bucket of icy water all over yourself.
Fınnish Bath: A sauna- complete with window to the heavenly grounds and aromatherapy steam.
Ice Rain: Ice that rains and collects ın a stand for you to rub on your body- brrr!
To end the perfect day, we went to a BBQ at Katy's host famıly's house-- complete with all our family and friends. What a feast! All the families brought delicious dishes-- spectacular Turkish food!
We tried everything including Raki-- the (in)famous national drink!
Finally, it was time to head home-- tired and blissful. :)
Travels Thus Far - All
Sarah – Whew. I’m sitting here on the plane waiting to taxi to the runway. The chaos of the day (and all of my last minute preparations & delegations) is behind me. What a mad dash – total Sarah-style, sprint to the finish! A huge thank you to everyone that chipped in and helped out – I’d still be strapped to my office desk without you.
Now there’s time to get excited! What a great adventure before us.~
Katy – Tired…so tired. Hungry, and a little numb. I closed on my 1st house yesterday & now we’re off to Turkey today. I’m tired of my bags already and we haven’t left Ft. Wayne yet (that’s a bad sign). Love to everyone! See you in June.
Erin – ‘Merhaba’ (Hello). Reading up on “conversation and essentials.” Why didn’t I bother learning a little of this language? I have been a bit busy. Felt slight panic and a new found freedom when I went to check my cell phone. Left it at my apartment intentionally. No cell phone responsibility! Matt, I love you. Dad, hope surgery went well. Mom, thanks for helping with all of the details. We are flying folks!
Dave – Team is blending very well as we share more time together with layovers and meals. Travel has gone very well and we look forward to meeting our host families after this last flight from London to Istanbul. We share “luggage watch” time while others take a power nap or walk. Thanks for all your prayers & travel wishes.
Vivian – We finally arrived in London Heathrow – sleepy, hungry. There were dreams of seeing the city. This soon faded after our 10 minute walk from the plane to the bus that would take us to the brand spanking new British Airways Terminal 5. The excitement hasn’t faded yet. Maybe things will sink in more, once we get to Turkey. Wish us luck by the time we get to “our” beds for the night, we will have been traveling for 24+ hours.
Katy – We’re on our last flight, I think we have just past Budapest. Glad to know that the flying is almost over. There is nothing like that first terrifying moment when you get off the plane in a non-English speaking country and you realize you lost is significant amount of control and comprehension of your surroundings. Fortunately, all we have to do is make it through customs and we’ll be greeted by our Rotarian hosts. [Then we’ll be at their mercy.] Our layover in London was uneventful and agonizing. We’d scored seats on the plusher ‘benches’ took turns taking fitful power naps, while one person stayed up to watch the bags. I’m sure that many of our fellow travelers were wondering when we were going to get up and move on. We finally started rousing and slowly getting up to go, as the vultures started to descend. Erin had to block a couple from snagging the couch that she was trying to hold for the young mother and her two kids who were talking to Dave. Off to a great Asian meal (carbo-loading): yummy noodles, spicy soup, and fresh juice. We were all grumbling about having to pay on our credits and incur the international up-charge until we realized that Dave had figured out that they’d take US dollars, at which point there was a flurry as we busted out our 20’s and put away our plastic. Several restroom and Starbucks breaks later, we were standing in line to board the flight to Istanbul. The flight is not very full, for which we are all extremely grateful. We’ve all filled out our health forms indicating that none of us are suffering from Swine Flu, and are pouring over our Lonely Planets. The cute Turkish kids keep running up and down the aisle. Just a little time left…
Now there’s time to get excited! What a great adventure before us.~
Katy – Tired…so tired. Hungry, and a little numb. I closed on my 1st house yesterday & now we’re off to Turkey today. I’m tired of my bags already and we haven’t left Ft. Wayne yet (that’s a bad sign). Love to everyone! See you in June.
Erin – ‘Merhaba’ (Hello). Reading up on “conversation and essentials.” Why didn’t I bother learning a little of this language? I have been a bit busy. Felt slight panic and a new found freedom when I went to check my cell phone. Left it at my apartment intentionally. No cell phone responsibility! Matt, I love you. Dad, hope surgery went well. Mom, thanks for helping with all of the details. We are flying folks!
Dave – Team is blending very well as we share more time together with layovers and meals. Travel has gone very well and we look forward to meeting our host families after this last flight from London to Istanbul. We share “luggage watch” time while others take a power nap or walk. Thanks for all your prayers & travel wishes.
Vivian – We finally arrived in London Heathrow – sleepy, hungry. There were dreams of seeing the city. This soon faded after our 10 minute walk from the plane to the bus that would take us to the brand spanking new British Airways Terminal 5. The excitement hasn’t faded yet. Maybe things will sink in more, once we get to Turkey. Wish us luck by the time we get to “our” beds for the night, we will have been traveling for 24+ hours.
Katy – We’re on our last flight, I think we have just past Budapest. Glad to know that the flying is almost over. There is nothing like that first terrifying moment when you get off the plane in a non-English speaking country and you realize you lost is significant amount of control and comprehension of your surroundings. Fortunately, all we have to do is make it through customs and we’ll be greeted by our Rotarian hosts. [Then we’ll be at their mercy.] Our layover in London was uneventful and agonizing. We’d scored seats on the plusher ‘benches’ took turns taking fitful power naps, while one person stayed up to watch the bags. I’m sure that many of our fellow travelers were wondering when we were going to get up and move on. We finally started rousing and slowly getting up to go, as the vultures started to descend. Erin had to block a couple from snagging the couch that she was trying to hold for the young mother and her two kids who were talking to Dave. Off to a great Asian meal (carbo-loading): yummy noodles, spicy soup, and fresh juice. We were all grumbling about having to pay on our credits and incur the international up-charge until we realized that Dave had figured out that they’d take US dollars, at which point there was a flurry as we busted out our 20’s and put away our plastic. Several restroom and Starbucks breaks later, we were standing in line to board the flight to Istanbul. The flight is not very full, for which we are all extremely grateful. We’ve all filled out our health forms indicating that none of us are suffering from Swine Flu, and are pouring over our Lonely Planets. The cute Turkish kids keep running up and down the aisle. Just a little time left…
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