Hello! I have been having so much fun in Turkey that I have hardly had time to blog! Here is a glimpse into our last couple of weeks!
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| This is my "excited for Kizkalesi" face |
Two weekends ago, Jordan and I adventured off base for our first weekend trip! Our final destination was Kizkalesi, on the Mediterranean. Our friends, the Ijames', were coincidentally also going to Kizkalesi, so we caravanned with them. We rented a car, and this was Jordan's first time driving off base. He did fantastic! There aren't as many traffic rules as there are back home. Ok...there are hardly any traffic rules. It seems as if the only rule is that the bigger vehicle has the right away. The Lord protected us on our journey, however!
Our first stop was Tarsus! Yes, we live forty minutes from the birthplace of Paul the apostle! Both Jordan and I loved Tarsus! It was a beautiful city, and full of so much history!
Our first stop was St. Paul's well, which is said to be near the house where Paul was born. There is also a house right next to the well that is supposed to be there Paul was born. I don't know about all that, but it was sure amazing to be in the birth town of Paul!
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| Just chillin' next to an old pillar |
We walked everywhere in Tarsus and it was very hot!! Our next stop was an "Ancient Road". This was my favorite! The road was unearthed in 1993. It was so insane to see something SO old right in the middle of the city!
This is us at Cleopatra's Gate. Aren't we cute? This gate was built for Queen Cleopatra in order to woo her. Jordan's lucky I'm easy to please. =) It was right smack in the middle of the street on a round about. See the modern apartments to the right? Funny.
This is St. Paul's church. It was dedicated to Paul and was founded in the 17-18 centuries A.D. (seems like a pretty big range of time to me...) We were super hot and tired and thirsty by this point and didn't pay to go inside it.
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| Our humble hotel room. |
When we were finished with Tarsus, we jumped back in the car and headed to our final destination...Kizkaleci! We stayed in a matchbox hotel that was clean, but tiny! Here's a picture of our room...there was a small bathroom too...but that was it! Our shower flooded the whole bathroom, so we had to have someone come fix it. Then when we went to go to sleep, all we had was that silly waffle blanket with no sheet. My loving husband braved the language barrier and called down to the front at midnight to get us a sheet. Then we were happy!
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| The outside of our cute little hotel. |
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| The Castle in the Sea! |
The beach was absolutely beautiful! Kizkaleci means "the madien's castle" and as you can see, there is a castle in the middle of the sea! There were paddle boats that you could rent to make your way there...but Jordan and I decided to swim instead (his idea)! The water was bath warm and crystal clear the entire swim! It probably took us about 20 minutes to get there. Then we explored the castle barefoot in our swimsuits. There were no barriers or anything, so we walked along the very top. The view was incredible! Us girls were in heaven just laying on the beach reading. The boys started playing volleyball and soon there was a whole multicultural group playing! It's so cool how people from all over the world can just have fun together without using words to communicate. Then Jordan hired a blind Turkish musician man to come serenade me and he was very kind! The only English he knew was "Tank you!" It made me smile. That night Jordan and I sat on the beach, drank some wine, and talked about how much God has blessed us! It really was a perfect weekend!
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| Another castle...not IN the sea, but on the sea! |
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| This is the life!! Chillin' on the Med with a castle behind me! |
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| Volleyball with the locals! |
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| Enjoying the perfect weather! |
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| Joseph, Chad and Jordan admiring the view at sunset! |
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| My handsome hubby and the gigantic mosque in Adana. |
Last weekend, Jordan and I decided to brave the city bus...also known as a "dolmus". The bus in Turkey is funny, and it doesn't really have any set stops. It will pick you up if you wave your hands frantically, and you can hop off pretty much any time you want! We rode the bus to the mosque. This mosque is about 10 minutes from our house. It's so beautiful, but every time I drive by it I am reminded at how lost the people are here. Our destination was a delicious restaurant we went to with some friends a couple weeks earlier. We were able to find our way there on foot and we were so proud of ourselves! We had a delicious dinner and doddled in the park before going home. We were even able to figure out how to catch the bus back to base! Dolmus success!
This was the last day the pool was opened for the summer. Jordan was innocently reading and I took this stealth picture of him because he looked so hilarious! It still makes me laugh every time I look at it. I love this guy.
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| This is a beautiful sunset at the soccer field! |
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| The sky was so pretty this morning! I was begging those clouds to dump some rain on me! |
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| Mmmm caramel ice cream!! |
I celebrated my 27th birthday on Wednesday! Jordan had to work, so my friend Katherine took me to Adana for the day! We had so much fun spending time together! We got some delicious ice cream before lunch! The ice cream here is made with goat's milk and it is SO incredibly delicious! We both got caramel ice cream.
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| Yes, this looks like a perfect place for our guests to dine. |
Then we headed to a yummy Turkish restaurant for lunch! We didn't let those dangling testicles ruin our appetite! All I could think about is how my mom would be puking all over if she was with us.
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| My birthday cake complete with dinosaurs!! |
I went home after Jordan got off work and returned to a surprise birthday cake!! He even added dinosaurs to it! The T-rex's head accidentally caught on fire when we lit the candles. Haha! We had cake, ice cream, popcorn, and beer for dinner while watching Jurassic Park! My sweet hubby knows just what I like! =)
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| Homemade mint and vanilla ice cream cake with oreos! What!! |
There is a group of us girls that gets together every Friday to play cards. Even though it was 2 days after my birthday, Katherine made me a delicious ice cream birthday cake for the occasion!! It was perfect in every way! And I also whopped them at cards.
Well, I got my wish for rain! It's been raining all day today. We have been spending most of the day at Starbucks listening to the thunder! We are enjoying a lazy weekend together! Please keep my Uncle Rick in your prayers! He has been having a difficult time with his health and fell and broke his hip yesterday. Until next time, friends!
