Ancient city remains near Karatepe....

     We had another spectacular excursion yesterday to Karatepe where there is a group of women who operate a rug-making cooperative.  After a very long bus ride whose last leg was down windy, dusty roads we arrived at a small compound where long tables were set up outside ready to serve us a traditional Turkish lunch under the trees.  Our guide picked fresh peppers for us to eat with our stew, bulgar and salad, and a rooster kept crowing nearby.  Inside one of the buildings, rugs were stacked everywhere, draped over benches and hanging on the walls.  An adjacent building held the big looms and then yarn dying was in another area.  We shopped and then got back on the bus to drive up to walk in the through the woods overlooking a gorgeous lake and check out the lion's heads and other stones that were discovered in the 1940s and excavated.

Ogling rugs in the rug room with Nicole

Up the hill at Karatepe Park

More gorgeous rugs

Cody, Athena and Nicole at the top of the trail.

Snake Castle--look closely for the Turkish flag at the top

One of the Lion's Heads


Lots of sweating and walking later we were back on the bus headed for the ancient city and remains of Snake Castle.
Anyway, it was quite the epic trip.  Extremely hot and humid and our first experience at just about every stop with the not quite so lovely Turkish-style bathrooms.  Even at the rest stop along the highway we had to squat and make it work! Now another week of teaching and then it's off to the beach next weekend.  Peace and love from Turkey!

The remains of a 2,000 yr. old amphitheater...mostly in tact.

     A group of us went out and let off some steam at Oktoberfest in Adana on Saturday night.  Wonderful variety of German food, a band playing German music (and then some recorded American music thrown in) plus Becks beer in addition to the local Efes.  We danced and sweated in the very humid night and I even drank some raki, the strong, local anise-seed liquor, with our headmaster, Mr. Hanna.

Stacey, Anissa, Mira and Kerry

   





School continues to be a whirlwind as I try to teach the very cute and highly energetic Turkish kids who are gradually picking up some English words.  I've taught the first graders to say "Good Morning, Ms. Proffit!" and they also sing along to the "Greeting Song" and some can say "Nice to meet you".  Many know how to ask to use the bathroom in English, but otherwise chat away in Turkish to me, while I look perplexed.  Here are a couple of the charmers from first grade.

Baran

Ekin

I continue to take Turkish lessons each week and we now are learning the names of different vegetables and fruits.  Luckily one can get along with just pointing at things, asking how much and saying thank you!

The basketball stadium in Tarsus with a mosque in the distance.  Scooters are common--often with entire families riding!

View of a Castle 

The Cisterns

Hi All--Here are some pictures of our tour of Istanbul and dinner cruise on the Bosphorus that I neglected to post earlier.  Can't believe it was only a few weeks ago!

New foreign teachers in front of the Ayasofia

Inside the Ayasofia

Well, I made it through the first week of school and the parent meeting, so am thankful!  Lots of singing, coloring (by students) and teaching of expectations, colors and learning names. They are definitely going to keep me on my toes!  Had two tennis lessons at the Tarsus Tennis Club, which was both a great de-stresser and a great workout.  Finally figured out how to get a bus card, and how to take the bus despite lack of schedules or regular bus stops.  One just waits and flags down the bus needed!

On the Bosphorus dinner cruise

The Hagia Sofia or Ayasofia in Turkish

Here are some more photos of Tarsus I took when walking home from school the other day...Cleopatra's Gate, and a local tea house.

Cleopatra's Gate

Met some of the kinder and first graders on Thursday and Friday when they came for a half day.  Some of them know some English and I took their picture to help me learn their names and also played with them in their homeroom so they could get used to me a little bit.  They are super cute and full of energy.  I think I'm going to have my hands full!

On top of the mountain at Camliyayla

Today the new teachers were taken on a trip up to the mountains outside of Tarsus where the school has a cabin.  We hiked up to the ruins of an old castle in the heat, which had a gorgeous view of the countryside.  As we walked across the top of the mountains, the call to prayer echoed up from the village below soothing us. After we hiked back down, some of the school staff had prepared a wonderful lunch for us with grilled meat, salad, eggplant, cheeses, yogurt, etc,  and we ate out on the veranda overlooking the valley.

The remains of the castle

Tarsus and school campus

Well, Tarsus is pretty spread out and we haven't explored too much as we generally get picked up and dropped off after school.  It's also been incredibly hot and there are no street names really, so venturing is a little challenging.  Lots of little markets, green grocers, tea houses, etc are scattered about. (Several markets are right by our apartment building.)
Right by the school is kind of the "downtown" of Tarsus and there are lots of restaurants where one can get tantuni...Turkey's version of a burrito but with no salsa, sour cream or cheese. Pastry shops--some just for baklava--and bakeries are everywhere as bread is indeed a big deal.  And it's not just any bread, but is stuffed with cheese, olives, or meat. (At the school canteen one can get 'tost' for about 1.50 TL or about .75, which kind of like a round grilled cheese sandwich)  Olives and cheeses are also big and lots of corner markets have a large variety of both.
There are lots of ruins in Tarsus like Cleopatra's gate and St. Paul's Well, and many statues of Ataturk, (Father of the Turks) who radically changed Turkey to make it more Westernized.

Govt. bldg in downtown Tarsus

Teachers on walking tour of Tarsus

Kiskalesi

When we went to Kiskalesi (Maiden's Castle in Turkish) a little beach town, there were ruins everywhere.  Most spectacular was the remains of a castle out in the ocean that one can swim to. After the heat of Tarsus, and all the settling in, meetings, orientation and language classes, it was lovely to relax on the beach and swim in the beautiful, warm Mediterranean!

First post

Well, wanted to show some of the pictures of life in Turkey...school campus, Tarsus, Mersin, Istanbul so all of you can see what I've been experiencing here. This was our first trip to Mersin to go shopping at the Forum, which is the big mall.

New teachers at the Mersin Marina after lunch