In Ephesus in front of the partially reconstructed library

On the boat after cruising from the Europe side to the Asia side and back, delicious dinner and an exciting belly dancer.

Met up with my Dad in Istanbul over Spring break.  Wonderful weather and loads of gorgeous tulips in the square near our hotel which had a beautiful view of the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorus.  We went on a dinner cruise down the Bosphorus, hit up the Grand Bazaar with its 4000 shops, and exciting Spice market, went to two palaces, rode the crowded tram around the city, and spent the day in the ancient city of Ephesus.  An incredible week!

View of the Blue Mosque from our hotel.

On the grounds of Topkapi Palace

Luxor Temple with statue of Ramses and maybe his sons? Our bus departed from Luxor.

On the boat with Donna showing off our gorgeous henna 

Posing with the tiny towel man that our cabin cleaner, Allah, made for me. He also made me an elephant, swan, crab and hearts!

After a crazy bus ride with an Arabic driver who yelled at the passengers, (in Arabic of course) but smiled and offered Athena and I these sort of curry-flavored breadsticks, we arrived at the bus station in sunny Dahab.  Athena eventually and luckily fell asleep on the bus and I sat up reading and praying as our driver swerved from one side to the other and drove with his lights off periodically through the long night. A movie in Arabic and whining Arabic music filled the bus of sleeping Egyptians to bursting. And I thought I might never be able to sit down again having spent the night curled up like a taco and trying to get comfortable in the tiny bus seat trekking across upper Egypt.  Little did I realize that the all-night hike up to the summit of Mt. Sinai would just about equal that night on the bus.

At Penguin Village in Dahab

At the massive temple of one of the queens near Luxor.  Three levels that are literally carved right out of the mountain.

The streets were packed with these beautifully-decorated carriages. Four of us rode in one! 

Here I am at the temple in Memphis. We rode in a beautiful, little horse-drawn carriage from the boat.

                                            After a night of hiking up the mountain and climbing 752 steps to the summit, I somehow am still awake! The sunrise was worth it.

Watching the sun rise after hiking for 3 and 1/2 hrs in the dark up to the very windy summit

Athena getting henna at the Nubian house

     

It was wonderful to float down the Nile and enjoy sun and wonderful Egyptian food on the boat.  One night there were drummers and dancers that came aboard from the Nubian village to entertain us. Pretty awesome! One of the guys picked me out of the audience to come up and do a traditional stick dance with him. :)  We visited various temples before Luxor...lots of statues of Ramses II who apparently had over 50 wives and some 120 children! (Wow!)  He really is revered in Egypt as he lived to be in his 90s and did a lot during his reign. We also visited his tomb in Valley of the Kings where King Tut's tomb is.

Statues of Ramses II and Nefertiti in Valley of the Kings

One of the temples we saw in Luxor has a gorgeous obelisk and I believe, 134 columns. It is also on 60 acres, so is quite impressive in both size and beauty. I will post more pics in my next blog.

This is one of the places where I wished we'd had more time instead of having to rush off to get on a bus for 16 hrs! Honestly! Dahab and being on the beach will be coming up next.

Inside the Nubian house on the island.  The platforms are the sleeping area

At the temple built for Alexander the Great near Aswan. Big Greek influence in the architecture

In the botanical garden on an island

 From the White Desert, we travelled many hours back to Cairo...only breaking down twice in the middle of the desert with a driver who only spoke Arabic. (Yay!) To our dismay, we had no time to shower before getting on the sleeper train to Aswan. (Traffic and a closed bridge due to a demonstration prevented us from going to the hostel).
Saw wonderful temples in Aswan and enjoyed a real bathroom on the boat! Also went to the botanical gardens on an island and went to the Nubian village where we visited a traditional Nubian house, had henna done, and went to the spice market.  Then back on the felucca boat to our cruise boat where we set off in the middle of the night for Luxor. More pictures of the awesome temples in Luxor will be forthcoming!

Back at the Baria after our night in the White Desert. We transferred to a mini-bus and headed back to Cairo.

Arrived in Aswan after taking the overnight train from Cairo

At the High Dam in Aswan

Getting on the cruise boat in Aswan....finally!

Here's the relaxing I was talking about!

Donna, me and Athena warming up after a very chilly night in the White Desert. The rocks looked like ice cream cones.

      Just returned from two weeks in Egypt which was an amazing experience. Had no idea when we arrived in this vast country that we would travel by so many means of transport--plane, bus, train, boat,  taxi, jeep, carriage and mini-bus (which happened to break down in the middle of the desert). So much happened that I will have to post in sections, but here's some pics from the first few days.
Brief time in Cairo where the highlights were going to the Egyptian Museum (mummies and artifacts from King Tut's tomb) and visiting the Alabaster Mosque with a gorgeous view of the city. Going to the pyramids and seeing the Great Sphinx while riding camels was also pretty awesome!

Afterwards, we  were driven for 6 hrs out into the desert to the oasis where we met up with our guide, Mahmoud, who drove us out through the Black desert to the White Desert. Cold, yet full of gorgeous rock formations. Sleeping under the stars was incredible and we were treated to a beautiful orange moon rising over the rocks. Later, drumming and dancing by the campfire.

In the Black Desert

Our very skilled, sweet guide, Mahmoud, breaking down camp. He set up a tiny kitchen and cooked a traditional Bedouin dinner and breakfast for us.

In front of the Egyptian museum

View of the Alabaster mosque as we were walking up.

Inside the mosque where Donna was photographing the guy cleaning the lights

Leaning against the pyramid in the sun after riding both a horse and camel to get there. Wow! Hard to believe.

One of the pyramids and the Great Sphinx

Looking out over Cappadochia by the castle

      What a delight to visit Cappadochia and Goreme!  It felt like going back in time, what with the trip down to the underground city, the castle sprouting out of the earth, hot air balloons suspended in the distance, and then to Pigeon Valley, where again, so many cave-like dwellings just populate the place providing a shelter for the pigeons that swoop about.

In front of the castle

Coming into Goreme with a hot air balloon in the background.

       Goreme, there are dozens of these cave-like stone hotels that hug the hillside and seem as if they've been there forever.  Goreme is a lovely little tourist town where most of the people speak English, and there are many wonderful shops selling gorgeous rugs, mosaic lamps, handpainted pottery, beautiful jewelry, etc.  We enjoyed the shopping, great Turkish food, and the hamam, of course.  I don't know how I lived before without getting scrubbed and soaped down! There's almost nothing better!

Our group in the underground city. The rock we're on was a door for one of the tunnels.

The Whirling Dervishes in Goreme. Six of them spun with their eyes closed during the performance....just amazing and very beautiful. One hand up to receive God, the other pointed to the earth for grounding.

One of the trees laden with protection from the evil eye in Pigeon Valley.

Kneeling on the rug that I finally bought from the Sultan's rug shop in Goreme after two plus hours trying to decide!

View from the boat as we sailed in to Fethiye.  Gorgeous, isn't it??

        Hi all--Hard to believe that it's mid-November here in Southern Turkey where we are still enjoying the sun and about 70 degree days. It did pour down rain last weekend when we went to the Blues fest in Adana (which was thankfully inside at the Adana Hilton) but otherwise I haven't needed my purple rain boots yet! Nicole and I enjoyed great blues music, a 5 star hotel with a spa and hamam, and also hit up the huge outlet mall. (Such great bargains in Turkey!)
I played in the tennis tournament this past weekend at the club, and hosted a rooftop happy hour at our apartment on Saturday evening with a golden crescent moon shining and stars abounding. Such is the life here!

Posing with our tennis coach, Bedi after a grueling lesson.

Here are a few more pics from the cruise, and from the Halloween celebration that the English department organized as it is not something that is normally celebrated in Turkey.

Can you believe skiing on the Mediterranean?? It took a few tries, but I finally made it up!

At sunset in the bay our last night on the boat. 

In Fethiye with Sunny, our captain, at the end of the cruise. So hard to say goodbye!

Two of my 1st grade princesses all dressed up on Halloween!

My teaching partner in full cardboard-knight costume.

Well, it's not all fun and cruising here, and teaching continues to be challenging at times.  Yet, as Thanksgiving approaches, and foreign teachers plan to get together for an elaborate dinner, I feel that I have much to be thankful for!
Listening to the call to prayer as I walk across campus in the sunshine with my tulip cup of tea, I reflect on where I was a year ago and how far I've come. Hope to see you all in this beautiful, sacred place in the near future!