travels in turkey

After finally and officially leaving Morocco after 27 months of service, you could say it was time for a vacation. I needed some time to adjust to the departure, to miss morocco like crazy, and to really feel ready to come back to the States.

My friend Mandy and I thought that Turkey would be a great place to end our Peace Corps chapter, and begin our new one.


Turkey is a pretty incredible country. It's 99 percent Muslim, but it's secular government creates an entirely different atmosphere. I always thought Morocco was pretty liberal, and in a way it is, but it has nothing on Turkey. In Istanbul especially, you could have convinced me were in in the Middle of Western Europe.


This is me at the Topkapi Palace overlooking the Bosphorus River. Istanbul is located on 3 different banks, and is the bridge between Europe and Asia. It's no wonder this land was so highly sought after throughout history. And you can see remnents from just about every empire somewhere in Istanbul or throughout the country.

In the Grand Bazaar i found the most similarities to Morocco. Merchants yelling for us to buy things and trying to pull us in to their shops. And of course the bargaining. I'd like to thank Morocco for my great skill at this and for the good prices I received here!

This is the front of the Aya Sofia. It was built a Church by the Emporer Justinian (i think) and later converted to a mosque by a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Now it is a museum and the inside is just as incredible as the outside!



Wow! I've always wanted a Genuine Fake Watch!!





This is a shot of the Blue Mosaue, another incredibly famous building in Istanbul.



Inside the Blue Mosque. This mosque is actually still open for prayer. Tourists wait until after the time of prayer to go in and look around. so beautiful!



This is probably the best meal i ate in Turkey. It was incredibly good! I know what you're thinking, it looks so simple! This was eaten upon our arrival to the beautiful Selcuk in southwest Turkey.



In Selcuk you can find the tomb of St. John located in the ruins of his Basilica. The story goes that after the death of Jesus, St. John and Mary came to the ancient city of Ephesus to spread the gospel. We're pretty convinced that this dog (nicknamed Dudley) is actually the spirit of St. John still around to stand gaurd at the tomb.



These are the ancient ruins of Ephesus. A once thriving city during the Roman and many other empires. It was pretty incredible.



These are the toilets of the ancient city. Apparently they weren't very shy.

This is the incredible well preserved facade of the Library. It's absolutely huge and once held 10,000 scrolls. We took shelter here when it started to downpour.

After the rain we walked to the remains of Mary's church. I have never seen such an incredibly brilliant rainbow in my life.

This is the alter of Mary's church.

This region is called Kapadokya and is located in the center of Turkey. Due to volcanic eruptions, the entire region looks like it could be the moon and people once lived inside the rocks. Our hotel room was a cave built into the side of one.

This structure was once a Monestary. Complete with kitchen, church, and tons of other rooms.

Here we saw the Whirling Dervishes, and some traditional turkish dance.

During my two weeks in Turkey I took over 500 pictures, so obviously this post doesnt do it justice! But I hope you enjoyed a small taste of the incredible things I was lucky to see.

As for now, I'm back in America and ready to enjoy the Holidays with friends and family after missing two during my service. Then the job search really begins and where i'll end up....who knows.

some time away

As opposed to trying to write the past few months of my time here, i thought i could do a little picture diary. I left my site on June 24th and traveled around the north for a few weeks before spending a week in the capital for a little relaxation. I'm now starting my third week at summer camp!

Hope you enjoy the pics.


I did a tour of the northern part of the country, and this was my first stop. We'll call it beatiful coastal town number 1!



This is the main square of the same town. The entire north has tons of spanish architecture and i fell in love!



Coastal town number two has the cleanest walled city i have seen in this country. Spotless! Here are some villas with views of the ocean.



The same city, from where i sat and waited for the sunset.



One of the most incredible sunsets i've seen. no obstructions to my view, amazing!



Coastal city number 3 is a real city and a place i could actually live. It had a really relaxing vibe and made me feel like i was in a whole different country!


In the old city, a great people watching location.


Most cities turn old palaces into museums, and this was one of the best i've seen.


This is the garden in the American Legation museum. There are letters here from George Washington from the Sultan. Did you know that this country was the first in the world to recognize America as a country when the Declaration of Independence was signed?


People sell stuff all over the place, but only in the north did i see these crazy hats. They were everywhere and many extremely festive!


A kid in the old city near a cool stoop. I tried waiting for him to leave, but i guess he was pretty happy with his spot.



A short ride from city number 3 took us to the Northern most point in africa on the atlanic ocean. here it is!



In the same area, we find the "cave of hercules." Mythology claims that this is where hercules was when he separated Africa and Europe into two continents!



This is me, with my feet in the mediteranian sea! It was the first time i'd ever seen it, how exciting!

Spices for sale. doesn't it seem like it would just all topple down if someone bought some?

Looking out a window of an old palace, the view of the mountain side town in gorgeous!

This is the hotel i stayed in, beautiful and perfect location. only 6 dollars!

An alley stairway in the blue city

Now we move to Summer English Language camp. I will spend a month here working 2 sessions. this is AbdelAli, one of my favorites who returned for a second year! He is one of the most talented people i have ever met.

Me and Mohamed, the cutest little thing ever. He won my library reading race.

We had an "american games" night and they loved the dizzy bat game!
Some girls show off the traditional clothing of their region
Hmza, such a sweetie!

Habiba, such a beautie!

And little Ayoub, the cutest of all.

And life goes on

According to this little blog here, i havent posted since March 6th. How does that happen? i mean march 6th was almost three months ago. You guys must think i'm really busy over here. And i'm happy to report that i actually have been.

Here are the highlights.

The first week of march i traveled 4 days up north to reach my Spring Language Camp. I was the coordinator of this camp and was in a very small way responsible for its success. We had only 4 volunteers, and 120 students. Needless to say it was not a good ratio and we were a bit overwhelmed. In the end, it was a good camp and the students had fun. Nothing too exciting to report about that.

Following camp, i circled around and traveled down the eastern edge of the country. On my way i was able to do a camel trek into the Sahara with some friends. Now i think most of you know how much i love water. fountains, lakes, waterfalls, oceans. you name it, i love it. So going into this desert trek i was excited, but not too much so. I mean how cool can a place be that has NO water?

I'm happy to report that the answer to that question is: EXTREMELY COOL. I really can't even describe how amazingly beautiful the desert is. it's a mesmerizing ocean of sand. And look i'm not even a good enough writer to make it sound half as wonderful as it is.

We started the trip with an hour and a half camel ride into the desert. We arrived on a day when there was a sand storm, so it as a bit crazy. We couldnt see very far, and our ears, eyes and mouths were filled with sand. When we reached our camp, we ran up the dunes despite the storm, and a few digital camera's suffered the sand's wrath. That night we laid out under the stars, and can i just say that there is no more incredible view of the night sky then in the desert. If only i was better versed in astrology....

The next morning we woke up at 5:30 AM to the most beautiful clear blue skies. All was calm and we ran up another dune to take in the sunset. Again unfortunatly words just cannot do it justice. It was one of the most incredible things i've ever experienced. We could see for miles, just rolling hills of sparkling sand. Yowza. Then we rode the camels back to town, and in a flash, it was all over. If anyone EVER has the opportunity to do this, you must not turn it down.

Once home, i had a few weeks of normal life with classes and lunch with friends and all that jazz. Then the madness started up all over again.

On May 5th i traveled 4 hours to the big city in order to pick up my first American visitors. After 20 months of being on my own, i was both excited and nervous. I mean will i be a good tour guide? will they like it here? So many questions ran through my mind as i waited at the airport. And then i saw them! My dad and sister walking over to the baggage claim. Hooray! they made it!

I can talk about my experience in this country, doing this job, until i'm blue in the face, but sadly, most people just dont get it. and it's not their fault. it's impossible to "get it" without actually seeing it. That was what i was most excited about. Actually showing my dad and sister where i live, the people i see, what i do. Even how it is to travel and just walk the streets.

After a night in the city, we traveled (very authentically) to my site. The next four days were spent hiking, eating at the homes of my favorite families, going to classes and just hanging out. They were lucky to come just before the current heat wave that is melting me at this very moment.

We then traveled around the southern half of the country and i think they were able to get a good taste of what this place has to offer. Aside from a small sick spell, the entire trip was a big success. It was very interesting for me to watch them take everything in. My dad was fascinated with which brands of automobiles are here. I mean, this is just not something i've spent very much time thinking about!After a week of traveling, my sister and I sent dad off to the airport, and headed south to spend some quality time at the beach.

We were total beach bums for three days and loved every minute of it. She was then able to spend 3 more days at my house before she too had to fly out.

The very day my sister left, i traveled 4 more hours in order to pick up a friend from college. My crazy vacation month was not over yet. Talat was here for only 6 days (not nearly long enough!) but she was also able to get a taste of this culture as well as a glimse into my life, and i really appreciate the effort it took for her to come.

So i guess this is a good time for a big thanks to all of my wonderful visitors. I really appreciate you all coming out!

So that brings me to now, where once again i am all alone in the sweltering heat. But it's a good alone. After a month of constant companionship, i'm happy to say that i am very much enjoying having my apartment back to normal, and just being a very lazy girl.

I have six months left here. I can hardly believe it and my mind is filled with thoughts of the next step. The next three months look like they will be some of my busiest yet, so i'm trying hard not to get ahead of myself.

And please dont ask me what i will do when i leave.