Rafting, Theatres and A Surprise

I have been waiting for quite a while to write this one because there is a surprise at the end. If you’re too impatient to read the entire post, at least read the bold sentences before scrolling all the way to the bottom.

At the end of August James and I decided we were bored and knowing our next big trip wasn’t until October we decided to book an excursion with Outdoor Recreation here on base. We chose an adventure trip to Antalya to go canyoning, white water rafting, cliff jumping, bridge jumping and camping. It was cheap, it was going to quench our need to camp and it sounded like a blast.

It was a long weekend so we woke up early Saturday morning and parked at the Outdoor Rec. building, loaded onto our bus and headed to the Adana airport. Ok, so imagine taking a cooler full of food to an airport and using duct tape to secure the lid….and having security accept it as baggage. Only in Turkey.

Blurry but we are actually walking to our plane!

Our flight was painless and we were in the air for only half an hour and then we were in Antalya. We hopped on another bus and drove on narrow, winding roads (some dirt, some paved) into the mountains. Our driver was this tiny old man and he drove that bus like he was the king of the road and you better not mess with his sparkling bus. We got to our base camp and had a delicious Turkish breakfast complete with chai, sausage, amazing bread, veggies and soft Turkish cheeses. We waited around on these platforms that were covered with rugs, had straw pillows to sit on and use as back rests with a table in the middle. Shoes were forbidden and it turns out that laying around on an outdoor patio floor can be pretty comfortable if you do it the right way…the Turkish way. All of a sudden these buses started arriving with hoards of Europeans, all there for the same reason we were, to go whitewater rafting through the mountains. They briefed us on the proper way to sit in a raft, how to row and the different commands and then our guides looked at each other and said, “Well, you can take a kayak if you want instead (2 people per) and it is a lot more difficult and you will feel the waves a lot more. Who wants a kayak?” James and I didn’t even have to look at one another before our hands shot up. And there we were, getting ready to go white water kayaking. They loaded up our rafts and drove to the launching point to drop off the rafts and we took the bus further up river.

Our guides giving us the run down.

A loaded truck and trailer. They fill the cab with three men then two or three more sit on top of the cab. The ropes course is in the background and is where everyone set up their tents for the weekend. 

We started off doing some canyoning (literally just walking through a canyon) and got our feet wet in the little creek that ran through the canyon. The further we walked the more water there was and the deeper it got. We finally got to a faster moving section of the river and we all stood there while our guide warned us to “get ready”. I stuck my feet in and I about passed out. I have never felt water so cold in my life! All I had submerged were my feet and it felt like needles piercing my skin. How were we supposed to put our entire bodies in this water?! We all had the same thoughts…is there another way back to camp? At this point I was pretty thirsty and I figured that this Turkish river water was moving fast enough and was ice cold just the way I like so I started gulping it down. Let me tell you, maybe I was just thirsty but it tasted amazing! We all jumped in and floated down river to a rocky area where we were able to get out and dry off a bit. Then we began hiking up this cliff and finally came to a stop. Our whole group was standing on the plateau and we looked over and our guide told us to tuck our arms and put our hands on our helmets; and then he jumped directly towards the rock that was beneath us. He popped up out of the water and swam to a large flat rock about 30 yards away, looked up at us, smiled and waved. Without warning the biggest man in the group jumps off the cliff and barrels toward the water. I knew I had to do it too. There was a little ledge about 3 feet below me and for some reason I felt more comfortable jumping from 37 feet instead of 40. I tried climbing down and grabbing a bush that was not as secure as I thought and my foot slipped and I just about went over the edge. That got my heart pitter-pattering. I regained my footing, looked down at the turquoise water and jumped off the cliff. My butt hit the river bottom, I kicked toward the surface and popped up with a huge smile. I forgot how alive a burst of adrenaline makes you feel. James said that all of the men at the top literally groaned when I jumped and were upset that now they had to jump. It took a while to coax the group down but just about everyone ended up jumping. It was a great way for the group to come together and encourage one another and feel a sense of trust and community. Being a recreation major, it was really cool to see and is what recreation and leisure is all about. Anyway, so now we float…and float…and float. There were all these other raft companies with people getting ready to start their adventures and here we were bobbing up and down in the middle of the river. Remember this water was FREEZING, as in 55 degrees and running and we were just-a-floating along. I knew I was cold but I had no idea how cold I truly was until I tried to get out of the water and my body was not reacting or functioning normally. I couldn’t get my legs to move exactly how I wanted and I had to steady myself by holding on to the rafts that we were walking next to. On top of that, it burned to put any pressure on my hands because they were so cold! We had these really strange pickle sandwiches waiting for us and I tried really hard to eat it but that pickle was just too much for me.

We didn't have a waterproof camera so we couldn't get any pictures of the actual canyoning or rafting. This is from our base camp.

This is what ALL of the young Turkish boys (river guides) drove to get to work. In fact in Adana (where we live) you will see entire families on these...with a goat on the handlebars. You think I'm joking. 

After lunch we got in our rafts and kayaks and started down river. As soon as we turned the corner we hit our first rapid and we spun halfway through the waves and just about got dumped. James decided that he was an expert kayaker and told me to paddle the opposite of what he was and since he was in the back, he would be responsible for steering. (I swear to you every couple that wants to get married should have to raft together. It will point out all the flaws in one another and if you still like each other after the ordeal then you have permission to get married.) We started clanking oars and going every direction except where we wanted to go. Then in true James fashion he blamed me for the clanking and the misdirection. I literally pulled my paddle out of the water, leaned back and enjoyed the scenery. I couldn’t lean back for long though because even though James was sort of being…a jerk…I knew he was going to need help through the rest of the rapids and I really did not want to get dumped into that freezing water. At one point we hit a rapid right behind one of the large rafts and they had all of their weight in the back, the nose of theirs went straight into the air and almost flipped on top of us. Our kayak pretty much folded in half but somehow everyone managed to stay in their rafts. We pulled up to our base camp and it was time for lunch.

These are the lounging platforms that are used to socialize. We slept on the closest one to the camera. The old man was our bus driver and he slept on the same platform. He noticed I had a little pillow so in the middle of the night he offered me his. 

Everyone walked their rafts up to camp and we rinsed off and I headed to the eating area for lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around with one another, cooling off on the river bank and watching all of the European tourists. For dinner we had hotdogs and salad and watched our very own USA vs. Turkey volleyball game. If you didn't already know, August in Turkey is hot and humid. James and I were supposed to share a one man tent because they ran out and it was so hot and sticky we literally stripped down hoping that would help. Nope, it didn’t. We ended up getting dressed and sleeping on those lounging platforms that we had been people watching from.

The next morning we got up had another great Turkish breakfast and I chowed down on their unpasteurized salty cheese, hardboiled eggs and bread. At the base camp they had a three level high ropes course. In college I took a class that certified me to be a challenge course facilitator and I had forgotten how much fun they are! Again, it was really great to see everyone come together, encourage and help those that were having difficulties or were overcoming their fears. We did that for a while and then everyone went back down to the river bank to play in the water and cool off. The water tasted so fresh and was so cold, I couldn't help myself, I filled my water bottle and enjoyed every drop. The base camp had these big metal cages down on the bank and my lunch came directly from those cages. Turkish trout was on the menu and it tasted pretty dang good. After lunch our guide asked if we had flashlights and about half of the group did. He said he knew of this really cool cave down the road and even though it wasn’t on the itinerary he would take us if we wanted. Of course, this was an adventure trip so we all hitched a ride on these random jeeps and they drove us up to a bridge where we got off. We followed our guide along a trail and all of a sudden we ran into a big herd of mountain goats. The goats and tree branches were blocking the entrance to our cave. We tried to move them but their big yellow eyes creeped me out! I left the herding to everyone else. We walked into this cave and all I could think of is, I’m inhaling goat and bat poop. I had a head lamp on but with everything being stirred up in there the visibility wasn’t great. There were boulders to climb over, sharp ridges to balance on and overhanging rocks to dodge...all in the dark! You pretty much just felt your way around and everyone helped as much as they could. We got to this point where there was not more rock, just soft, deep sand. From there we walked down, down and down while the sand engulfed our ankles and filled our shoes. We took a few group pictures at the bottom and then started up the sandy hill. We literally had to run to try and keep from slipping! I was at the front and I knew we were getting close to the entrance because I could smell the goat and bat poop again. I looked over a rock and saw two glowing eyes staring back at me. I told the person behind me that I didn’t want to be in the front anymore and they could take on the goats. We emerged from the darkness and headed back to the bridge we were dropped off at.

At the very bottom of the cave. James and I are on either side of "Batman."

Our stubborn goats. 

We stopped along the river just below the bridge, I was dying of thirst and I didn't have anymore water so I found a nice fast running area and started gulping river water. We cleaned the dirt and grime off our hands and faces, cleaned our feet and shoes and we looked up to find several men from our group climbing over the ledge of the bridge getting ready to jump. They jumped and for a split second I thought, I would take the leap myself, until I saw their faces when they got out of the water. The bridge was high and the water was cold...no thanks. I'll let you enjoy all the misery. All of a sudden we heard BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Our group stopped and we all looked around, saw a white car going over the bridge and heard another BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! It was the sound of a shotgun. We threw our shoes on and quickly walked back to base camp while constantly looking over our shoulders. Our guide who was Turkish immediately called the Polis, but we were all very uneasy about the situation. Once we got back to camp we cleaned up for dinner had amazing chicken tava for dinner and enjoyed the last hot and humid evening sleeping on toe jam encrusted platforms. (I'm being dramatic, they were actually VERY clean!) As we dripped with sweat while trying to fall asleep we heard more gunshots but this time they were further down river. It's strange how your surroundings will dictate your reaction to a situation. At home if we heard gunshots we knew it was probably kids shooting snakes and rabbits and didn't give it a second thought. Gunshots in Turkey make you think about your escape route should things get a bit hairy.

At the bottom of the bridge there were men fishing. Their lunch couldn't be much fresher. 

Our last day we got up had our customary breakfast and I especially enjoyed the Turkish cheeses this morning. We loaded up our bus and made the drive to Aspendos Theatre. Aspendos was a large and bustling city during the Roman Empire. The theatre still hosts shows and performances that you can attend hundreds of years after it was built! It was incredible, amazing and is really breathtaking. Behind the theatre there are still ruins from the town so I went ahead and did some exploring while James stayed behind. We loaded back on the bus and we headed down the Apendos Aqueducts. This aqueduct transported water from the Koprui Cay River (the one we had played on all weekend) to the town of Aspendos. We all took some pictures and once we got back on the bus, I thought I was going to die. We didn't have any water, I was dying of thirst and I could not get my body to cool down. We stopped for lunch and had a meal that was probably worse than the pickle sandwich we'd had earlier in the trip. Finally we got to the Antalya airport, boarded our flight, drove back to base and we were home sweet home.

Amazing Aspendos Theatre

Entrance into Northern Apendos City

Up on the hill where the northern part of Aspendos City once sat. 

A portion of the Aspendos aqueducts. 

We haven't seen a cactus since we were back home...almost a year ago!

The story doesn't end quite there. About three weeks later I was eating breakfast at home and felt so nauseous that I gave half of it to the dog. During this trip I ate unpasteurized cheese, drank 2nd world river water, jumped off cliffs and inhaled animal poop, all while being 4 weeks pregnant! If this baby can survive an adventure like that at 4 weeks then we've got ourselves a trooper.

All-in-all this was an awesome trip and I so glad I didn't know I was pregnant at the time because there is no way I would have allowed myself to go! 

The golfer and the airman are having a baby!

It's True, Americans Have Accents

 Cyprus

A few weeks ago we made our first solo trip in Turkey and headed to Cyprus for a weekend of tanning and relaxation. Cyprus is an island just south of mainland Turkey and it is divided into the north and south sides. South side is governed by the Greeks and is the more touristy side with more resorts than we wanted to see. We stayed on the north side which is governed by the Turks and is more laid back with more of a local feel.

Our trip started with us getting to the Adana airport and as soon as you walk through the doors you are greeted with security officers with metal detectors and x-ray machines. We followed an older man through the scanner who pulled out a knife and put it through the machine to be scanned....the security officer didn't bat an eye, just picked it up and removed it from the belt and stuck it in his own pocket. The man said "tamam" (OK) to acknowledge he understood he couldn't have the knife back. So then we get up to the counter to get our tickets, handed the guy our passports and all he did was look at us, then our pictures and printed our tickets. Not a word was said. We turned around to see we had to go through customs before we could get to the terminal. We walk up to the "Other Country Passports" counter and again the agent just stared at us. He turned around and yelled at other agent who yelled back in Turkish, he then proceeded to stamp our passports without saying a word. Then we were met with the "other" agent who looked at our passport pictures, looked at each one of us up and down a few times, looked at our passports again and just stared at us without saying a word. We quickly grabbed our documents before they decided that we were international drug smugglers. We threw our things on the x-ray machine and went through more metal detectors and finally we got to sit in the terminal and wait.

Somehow we made it through and we didn't have to say a word!

Everyone knows that airports are the best places to people watch. I promise it's even better in a foreign country! The only strange thing about people watching in a foreign country is that you are foreign to them so you tend to get stares right back. James and I tried to guess who was Greek and who were Turks. Our plane was late but as soon as it landed the passengers were rushed off and we were rushed on. American companies could learn a thing or two about quick turn a rounds. We sat down and a traditional older woman sat next to us and started speaking in Turkish. We giggled and smiled and said, "hayir Turkyie" (no Turkey) and figured that would be the last thing she would say to us. Nope, she wanted to have a conversation! We just kept giggling and saying tamam (ok).

We walked from this building to our plane.

We made up time and were in the air for about 20 minutes before landing. We were herded off just like we had seen earlier (I should mention that we walk on the flight line to get on and off the plane!) and were stopped by a customs desk. They checked our passports again and finally we were in Cyprus! Our hotel arranged a taxi pick-up for us so when we walked outside there was a tall Turkish man holding a sign with my name on it. We shook his hand and he turned and started walking, we followed him to his car and not a word was said. He punched the gas and we zoomed over the mountain, zipped in and out of cars, illegally passed, honked at all the other drivers, passed while going up hill and around corners and played chicken with several other drivers. Mind you that the a/c didn't work so the windows were down and my hair was blowing in my eyes, up my nose and in my mouth. I was sure that my hair would block my view of the accident that we were sure to end up in. Finally we turned down a dirt road with trash on either side. James and I looked at each other and knew we were thinking the same thing; "Dakin booked this hotel and if it's a dump it's her fault." We pulled up and it is definitely not your typical hotel or grounds. It was a small family run place with only 20 rooms and was built on a long narrow lot. The further toward the water we walked the prettier it got. Basically the buildings were sitting in the middle of gardens. We checked in and were starving so we had lunch on the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. They finished cleaning our room and we threw on our bathing suits and headed to the sandy man-made beach and took our first dip in the Med. We read and napped on our loungers and decided to take it easy that night and eat dinner at the hotel. James had chicken shish which is just a chicken kabob and I had chicken guvech which is a traditional Turkish dish. The food was AMAZING and we ended up eating most of our meals there.

Our taxi driver made us a little nervous.

Lunch on the terrace after we arrived.

James' chicken shish. The Turks grill these green peppers with everything! I love them and have been making James grill them at home for me. 

This was my chicken guvech. It's basically marinated chicken with veggies and some cheese and rice baked in a terracotta dish.

The following day we went to Kyrenia Harbor for our day of exploring the fort and people watch. It was only about two miles away so we opted to walk. It was hot and humid but was really cool to see the main drag of town. We got to the harbor and there were men fishing off the walls, British tourists eating fish and chips and guys trying to get us to take a ride on their party boats. We LOVED it! The entire harbor is situated around a fort which of course we had to explore. Once we were finished we headed back to the hotel jumped in our suits and headed for the beach. We read and napped the rest of the afternoon.

Fisherman fishing off the harbor wall.

Part of the harbor.

Inside the Kyrenia Fort.

Our last day there we spent the morning reading on our balcony and laying on the beach. We had seen a few other guests walk up the coast a little ways and turn up a street so we checked that out around lunch time. It turns out they were going to a little restaurant called The Terrace. It was really cute and is where I tried kofte for the first time. This one was a traditional Cypriotic rendition and made with herbs and shredded potato shaped into ovals and deep fried. I licked my plate clean. Even James liked it which really says something. We finished the afternoon with, you guessed it, laying on the beach!

Me getting ready for my kofte at The Terrace restaurant. 

The life.

The next morning we got up and our taxi driver picked us up and though he didn't drive like a psycho we did see a cement truck driving up the mountain and dumping cement on the shoulder to lighten his load so he could make it to the top.

We went through security 2 times and of course customs again just in Cyprus. Oh and James lost his boarding pass and blamed me. He found it quickly but I think I'm starting to see a trend with who he tends to blame.  We landed in Adana and went through customs again and security two more times. As we were leaving we saw a woman open a suitcase that was full of produce! She had peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, parsley, she had a rolling farmers market. Anything goes in Turkey…except knives in an airport. That’s a no-no.

Overall our trip was exactly what we were looking for. Laid back, friendly, good food, a beach and a whole lot of sun.

Our  dinner view of Cyprus each night of our trip.

Side Note: It turns out that Cyprus is a destination for old Brits and Americans are not a typical sighting on the north side. We were the youngest people at our hotel by about 45 years and everyone kept saying they loved our accents and asking where we were from.

James Bond Bridge

The newest James Bond movie takes place in Istanbul, Turkey and at the very beginning of the movie there is a fight scene on top of a train that is going over a bridge, which is now nicknamed the James Bond Bridge. (Although the movie takes place in Istanbul, the bridge is just outside of Adana.) We have wanted to see it so when Bryan and Leigh invited us we jumped in the car and headed to the mountains with them. As we were driving into the little town at the base of the mountain, I noticed what I thought was a dog laying on the front patio of a store. As we got closer I realized that there was a pool of blood around where the head should have been. It turns out it was a headless lamb laying on the front patio of a butcher shop. It kind of reminded me of the movie Napoleon Dynamite, when the farmer shoots the cow just as the bus full of kids drives by. 

So we got to the top of the mountain and there was a palm covered lean-to, which is a common thing to see in Turkey and it said “sikma” on a hand painted sign. I had been raving about sikma on the way up so I was excited for everyone to try it. Sikma is like a super thin tortilla stuffed with potato, tomato, cheese, basil, anything really. This particular one was stuffed with feta and basil. The girls loved it and the boys gave us theirs to eat. After speaking with the little Turkish girl for a while and eating some fresh cherries we were ready to walk across the famous bridge! There is only so much you can do at a bridge so we took a few pictures and then headed back down the mountain.

Our lean-to restaurant. 

Our delicious feta and basil stuffed sikma with the bridge in the background.

We had heard about a really pretty canyon not far from the little town we drove through so the boys drove and drove and were on the verge of calling it a day. That is until I told them which way I thought we should go. The boys still say they got us there. Anyway, we got to the trail head and we were surprised that the trail followed a stream and it was green with trees and brush! The trail was nicely developed with guardrails and sturdy bridges. We were pleasantly surprised. The pleasantness dissipated when we came upon the campground we had been told about. The whole concept of this campground was awesome; raised personal platforms, restrooms, community fire ring. Unfortunately, it is hard to see all of this because of the disgusting amount of trash. Eastern Turks are not known for their clean streets but this was pretty shocking. I think the boys suggested at a meeting to get a group together for a service project and clean up the campground. James and I are planning on doing some camping here once we clean it up and it cools off.

James and Bryan

This mountain was covered with sunflower fields that had already been harvested so we stopped and grabbed a few to try and plant in our yards. 

Can you believe there is the color green here!?

The Turks are very proud of their country and you will find Turkish flags any and everywhere. 

This is the campground with covered platforms. The water runs right next to the site and there are bathrooms around the corner. In the middle is the community fire ring that is currently taken over by trash. Awesome concept though. 

As of now we don’t have anything trips planned for the immediate future but we will make sure to keep y’all posted! Love and miss you and make sure to send me pictures to decorate our walls with!

Uzgunum! Sorry!

I can't believe my last post was about Cappadoccia! Keeping up a blog is hard work! So, this will be the most random and haphazard entry (hopefully) you’ll have to read from me.

Some really great things have been happening for us...sorry family but no, we are not pregnant. You may or may not know that before we left Utah, I had started going back to school to get a second degree, this time in dental hygiene. Obviously, it is a hands on type of program so online is not an option, which means that while we are overseas school had to be put on hold. It took me a little while to realize that jobs here are scarce and it takes a while to get picked up for one so I decided instead of keeping idle, I might as well learn about the dental industry. There is a program that gives military spouses scholarships to further their education. I applied and was granted some money to start an online dental assisting course! I am currently learning the administrative side (not exactly enthralling) and soon will get to learn about chair side assisting.

Even with this program I still had a lot of free time on my hands so I decided to start working at the bowling alley until something more suitable came along. Then I was offered a job at the youth center which is more suited toward my degree field and it is Monday-Friday and I am off work by 1730 each day! You have no idea how amazing it is to have a schedule that isn’t totally all over the place! It’s life changing.

So now comes the randomness.

James and I went to a store on base that sells handmade carpets. James was in love with a super dark, manly one that had shapes that reminded me of video games. I’m the kind of wife that doesn’t mind if he plays games but their characters will not be displayed in my house. There was one that we both loved and it was a small doormat, we left without it but the next day James came home from work with a surprise… he had gone back on his lunch hour and bought our first handmade rug! The blues and oranges remind us of home sweet home, the southwest.

Our handmade doormat!

There is not a ton in Adana but one of the things you must see is the Adana Mosque. We didn’t have our car so we hopped on the dolmus with Brian and Leigh and our shawls in tow. We got there and there were quite a few people around and some tried to get us to “hire” them to show us around. We are too cheap for that and we felt pretty confident we could figure it out. Once we walked up to the Mosque we didn’t know what to do! We knew we could go in but weren’t sure where to enter and we definitely did not want to offend or upset anyone so we made a couple of passes in front of the area we thought we were supposed to enter from. Finally a man said we could come in but needed to take our shoes off and put them in a bag and the women needed to cover their hair before entering. We followed directions and were amazed when we walked in. It’s something you can’t really explain but you can feel how important their religion, culture and customs are when you are in the mosque. A kind man explained that the Arabic writings on the walls were scriptures from the Koran and each one had a number. Because Turks don’t speak Arabic there was a “key” on one of the walls that translated each scripture into Turkish. There are 6 minarets (spires) which is where the man sings the call to prayer from multiple times a day. There was marble and gold, large chandeliers and people praying. If you ever get the chance to explore a mosque or any other religious building for that matter, go with an open mind and an open heart. It will be an eye opening and beautiful experience.

Adana Mosque from across the Seyhan River.

Leigh, Addison and myself, respectfully covering our beautiful locks.

One of the many areas to wash your feet before entering the mosque. You will find these all over Turkey.

The men are standing in front of what we were told is basically the link to Allah. This is also the direction you face when praying. On the right you will see some stairs, this is where the "preacher" gives the week's sermon each Friday. 

James and I in the mosque.

It was a glorious day when our household goods finally arrived! At 0900 some Turkish men stopped by to pick up our loaner furniture and by 0930 another gaggle of men arrived with large crates in the bed of their truck. All of our boxes had a sticker with a number on it and we had sheets of paper that had a description of each number which we used to cross check to make sure everything was there. The movers were annoyed with us because we made them stop at the front door with every box so we could check the number. Everything seemed to be in almost perfect condition including our 7x4 foot mirror! We were sure it would be shattered by the time it got here but somehow it made the journey. We were unpacked and organized within 3 days. I’ve got to say though, with only two bedrooms and 1 bathroom, we are stuffed to the max. The house is small but cute and with our own things hanging on the walls and stuffed away in every corner, it feels like home. I did a tour of our home so you could see what our neighborhood looks like and where we call home! Click on Our Turkish Home and then click on the Youtube link.

I turned 25 in May and James and I celebrated by buying carpets! We looked at all of the beautiful handmade carpets but opted for a few machine made ones for now. This way we won’t have a coronary if something spills or the dog pukes on them. The next day we went to dinner with our friends, Bryan and Leigh and their adorable daughter, Addison. Remember that restaurant our sponsor took us to when we first arrived? Well, that’s where we tried to go. Neither of us had a car yet so we decided to take the dolmus (mini bus used as public transportation) which we had taken before which drove right in front of the restaurant. We got on and the driver went into Adana but never went near our destination. He tried to ask us where we were going but sometimes that whole not knowing English/Turkish makes communication difficult. He pulled up to another dolmus and that driver told us to get on his bus…we stuffed (ironic because dolmus in Turkish means “to stuff”) ourselves onto our new ride and we broke out the phones for Google Translate. We didn’t know the name of the restaurant just that it was in the furniture district. Our new driver acted like he knew what we wanted and began driving and we sat/stood while we had 20 sets of eyes on these goofy Americans. The driver turned down the street we needed and we could see the restaurant at the end of the road so we pointed and said “tamam (OK), evet (yes).” All of a sudden a man behind us began yelling at the driver and pointing at us. The driver started yelling back at him and everyone’s eyes that had begun to shift away during the drive were back on us. We can only assume that this wasn’t the regular route and the man was upset that the driver was deviating for the stupid Americans. I stood up and said, “Lutfen dur, teshekular (please stop, thank you)” and we walked the rest of the way to dinner. During dinner we saw about 10 more dolmus’ that said Incirlik (the ones that stop in front of the base) drive by so we really don’t know what the man was so upset about! Dinner was great and afterward we walked back to the corner that we had been dropped off at and we stood there and waited for a bus…and waited….and waited. The dolmus’ had stopped running! Lucky for us a taxi driver had followed us from the restaurant and was sitting across the street. After a while he walked over to us and asked if we needed a ride. Luckily we got home in one piece!

Leigh and I after my birthday dinner. 

We finally got our car! Unfortunately, it didn’t pass the mandatory Turkish inspection. What the hell?! If you saw the kind of cars on the road here, you would have the same question. When James picked the car up from the port he said it started up and it looked fine but when he started driving it and the brakes weren’t working properly. When your husband calls you and says your car brakes aren’t working you tend to freak out, especially if you have to drive in Turkey. Seriously, we thought Utah drivers were bad but they ain’t got nothin’ on these Turks so brakes are kind of important here. We took the car the next day to get inspected and we pulled up and a man opens our back door and hops in the back seat and starts speaking/yelling to us in Turkish. We just stared at him. He started pointing past the inspection station to what looked like a mechanic garage and yelling the word ergos. James kept pointing at the inspection station saying we need to go here. I told James maybe he knows something we don’t so we went to the garage. Turns out it was the safety and emissions testing area and they didn’t actually test our car, they just passed us and made us pay for the card that proves we had it tested. Then we headed back over to the inspection station with this man in the back of our car who speaks zero English. He had us pull through some gate in front of a crowd of Turkish men. We parked and I stayed in the car to wait while James got out and followed our random tour guide. I didn’t feel unsafe, I was just the only woman there and I didn’t feel like being stared at by 100 men. I was reading my book and James walked in front of the car and our car horn went off. Turkish men literally ran to our car and demanded to know why we would do that. James looked at me, then at the men and then pointed to me and raised his shoulders as if to say she did it and I have no idea why.

James' face when the Turks asked why he honked his car horn.

The keys were in James’ pocket and his chapstick hit the horn button and yes, he knew it was his fault. Once I realized he was blaming me, I asked why he would do that. You know what his response was? “Because I didn’t want them to be mad at me.” Thank you husband of mine for throwing me under the dolmus. Anyway, our car didn’t pass the inspection. The inspection guy also didn’t speak any English and just kept saying yok (no). We felt kind of helpless because there was no way to communicate as to what was wrong, how to fix it, where to fix it and how long we had before we could have it re-inspected, etc. We took it back to that ergos garage place and the man was no help either. I had googled some things about the cars “symptoms” and we were pretty sure we knew it was the rotors not the brakes. It turns out that while the car was on the boat the moisture in the air rusted the rotors so when the brakes tried to grab it, it couldn’t catch. We had to have the rotors shaved down. There is a little mechanic garage on base that is more expensive but we were willing to pay a little more to have the convenience of the English tongue! The following week James took the car back to the inspection station and it finally passed. I still cringe every time I hear him tell me how much is cost for us to get our car here. It think it was worth it though.

About ready to drive through the bay to have the car inspected for the first time.

So, we’re on a Turkish base so obviously there are Turkish nationals that work here. One of the nationals that works with James invited us to her wedding a couple of weeks ago. OMG. What an experience! We thought it was going to be traditional with women on one side and men on the other, long dresses and no alcohol but we were totally wrong. Everyone dresses very modern and it seemed like all of their friends were gorgeous! Anyway, there were two wedding at this hotel but we didn’t know it at the time so we walked down a flight of stairs and we were met at the bottom by a wedding photographer. She motioned for us to pose and took a picture of each couple that came down. We sat at the bottom of the stairs for quite a while waiting for someone to walk down that we recognized. I looked down the hall and realized we were waiting at the wrong wedding! We walked over to the other room and again there was a photographer waiting for us to snap a picture. I hope the other couple enjoys their picture of the Whitmers at their wedding. We sat down at the “American” table (other people from the squadron) and munched on the food that was already on the table. There were waiters coming around and filling our glasses up with Raki (Turkish liquor) and local wine. We were all visiting when the room when black and the loudest music of all time started bursting through the speakers that were directly behind us. The giant doors at the front of the room opened and a spotlight lit up the beautiful bride and groom! They walked down the “isle” and stopped at a table with a cloaked woman (officiant) and two high back chairs. I don’t know what the woman said but both Begum and Mert said, “evet" (yes) and as quickly as it started, the ceremony was over and we were on to the party. It was nonstop dancing from then on. James wouldn't dance with me because he was embarrassed so I sat back down and a woman from the dance floor started pointing at me and motioning for me to come and dance with her. How can you pass up an opportunity to dance with a Turkish woman? I got up, danced a bit and then we had to leave so we could make the base curfew. I sure hope we get invited to another Turkish wedding. Click on Quick Wedding Video and then click on the Youtube link to watch a snippet of what the wedding looked like. Click on this Wedding Entrance link to watch the bride and groom's entrance. It will be black at first but you'll soon see the flashing of lights and the beautiful couple!

I know it's red and hard to see but this is the bride and groom in their high back chairs with the officiant in the robe. They are signing their marriage documents. 

If you got to the end of this post it’s probably because you are family and you felt obligated to read everything! I love and miss y’all and I will be posting about our trip to Cyprus very soon!

Our Turkish Honeymoon

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. James and I got up at the crack of dawn to walk in the dark to the sunrise church service. I had asked James earlier in the week if he would go to the sunrise service at 6 with me and he said yes. The night before I double checked the time and when I reiterated 6 am he literally squealed, “You tricked me! You didn’t tell me we were going that early!” I didn’t realize that a sunrise service wasn’t self-explanatory. After church we came home and I got the pot roast ready for dinner (which was my first delicious, not dry, roast!) and then met up with our friends Bryan and Leigh for brunch at the club. When we got home we stripped off our church clothes (wait till I finish the sentence) and played video games and napped the afternoon away. I’m sure you can imagine who did what.

Ok, so I promised you I would tell you all about our Turkish honeymoon! In the center of Turkey there is a place called Cappadocia. It is known for the strange rock formations and cave dwellings. I first heard of Cappadocia from my grandpa, Dusty. He lived in eastern Turkey in…I don’t know exactly when but it was before I was born so I have an excuse not to know. While we were home for Christmas last year he said we had to see this place. He broke out all of his pictures, trinkets and mementos he had acquired while living here. He even gave me some traditional woven “good luck” socks that hang from your car mirror. 

Anyway, Mike and Nilifer drove us to Cappadocia and boy, did it start out with a bang! Just outside of town we stopped at an underground city that once housed Christians fleeing persecution. There were up to 10,000 people living in this underground rock city! It had ventilation, water sources, areas for cattle, food storage, bathing areas, anything you would need to survive, they had thought of.

Disregard the hideous face...Lutfen (please). They used these giant stones to block intruders from entering. 

The church just above the underground city.

After the underground city we went to our hotel to check in and drop off our bags. Mike pulled off onto this narrow gravel road with farm equipment on one side and the mountain side on the other. The mountain side had homes half inside the mountain and half outside. It was as if they their caveman ancestors lived there and the cave was passed down from generation to generation and they wanted to keep the family home so instead of building a new contemporary home, they just “added on” to the cave. I don’t know if even the best author could really describe this scene! Take my word for it, it was pretty cool to see. We got to the end of the road and parked in one of the two spots. We walked through a gate with a sign over the top the said Utopia Cave Hotel. O.M.G. You would never believe there was a beautiful hotel here! The receptionist showed James and I our room which was very nice and then Nilifer and this man began speaking in Turkish. Obviously, we had no idea what was being said and the man looked at James and I and said that we were changing rooms. He showed us to our new room and it was incredible. Like, how much extra do we have to pay beautiful. 

Where is our hotel, Mike?

Our honeymoon cave

We left for the afternoon and climbed into our first caves, was told by a man dressed up as Aladin that he would make all of my dreams come true if I took a virtual magic carpet ride and took about 1,000 pictures of fairy chimneys.   

First neighborhood we explored.

Supposedly that is original paint. I stuck my head in the window and I'm pretty sure it was a community bathroom. There were long benches carved along the walls with holes in the tops of them.

These are the fairy chimneys.

I feel like they should be called...mushroom chimneys instead?

 When we got back to our room there were rose petals strewn all over the entryway, bed and Jacuzzi tub along with kissing towel swans on our bed. Apparently Nilifer was trying to tell the receptionist that they had stayed at the hotel for their honeymoon and he thought she was saying it was mine and James’ honeymoon! I’ve got to say, this place was a lot nicer than our actual honeymoon. Look what a little misunderstanding can get you. 

Were they trying to tell us something?

Our jetted cave tub...sounds ridiculous.

We woke up the next morning and started our day off with a traditional Turkish breakfast. Let’s see, there was such an assortment of things; lots of bread with different jams including rose jam, olives, cheese, a light (and small) omelet, cinar borek (cheese filled roll up), french fries (I’m not sure this is traditional), hard boiled eggs and chai. It was nothing like our heavy and greasy breakfasts. After we ate we went to a place where they made terracotta. In the southwest, we are used to seeing terracotta but this was ‘ricotta with lipstick. Every piece in the building was hand painted, some nicer than others, but all tedious work. They demonstrated how to form the pieces for the famous Turkish wine decanter. It is in a shape known only in Turkey and I looked at James and said I had to have one. He responded with, “happy early birthday!”

Servants would wear the decanter over their shoulders so that when they would bow to the king, wine would pour into their goblet.

After spending way too much time at this place we left and went to an area near the fairy chimneys. This is the first place we’ve seen in Turkey that developed for tourists to view the area but not destroy it! We paid our fee (we don’t mind paying for these things if it helps maintain and preserve for future generations) and when we walked through the gates it was a whole valley full of homes, churches/mosques, stables and graves! James and I both felt like we were in a fairytale walking through this place. It was a strange feeling, almost like an out of body experience, like where the heck am I and is this place real? 

This is what you see when you walk through the gate.

Roped off homes

Amazing church. You can see where they held the holy water (the hole in front of the camera), the crosses at the back of the church and the holes on the right of the picture are graves.

These caves were actually inhabited until the 60's when the government condemned them saying they were not safe to live in. The inhabitants were ordered to move.

This is an areal shot and you can't really tell but this particular grouping of homes is HUGE. We weren't able to climb in these ones for safety reasons.

Mosque

We spent most of our day here and then went to Love Valley to view some more rocks standing…erect.

A structure at the bottom of Love Valley where we stopped and had chai.

Top view of Love Valley

After this we made one more stop at Pigeon Valley where thousands of pigeons live and fly directly overhead. How we managed not to get pooped on, I’m not sure. 

Doesn't this look like it's from a fairytale?

After our long day pretending to be cave people we headed back to the hotel to relax in our cave beds. I find it funny that our ancestors lived in caves and would have loved a “real” home and we have “real” homes and want to live in caves. Again, when we walked into our room to a surprise which consisted of the driest wine I’ve ever had and a fruit basket. All-in-all this was an awesome little trip. It was great to have a personal chauffeur and tour guide (Mike and Nilifer) so that when my parents come, we’ll know all of the good spots to take them.