18 May 2011

Another Turkish day has come and gone. Our days in Turkey seem numbered now. We leave in three more! I hate to say that. I am not excited to leave such a beautiful country, but at the same time, I am. I want to go home to the Jerusalem Center. I miss breakfast. I miss my bed. I miss my pillow without lumps. I miss air conditioning. I miss contact with my family. It is so hard being away from them. I don’t know how everyone else can handle not communicating with them each and every day. It is so hard for me. I am worried about my mom and my dad and my siblings and my niece. I am sure they are doing great, but I can’t help but worry! I love them so much! J

We had another day that involved more bus rides. I just love riding buses. It is more fun than I can say! We began by driving to the small village of Behramkale which faces the Gulf of Edremit. The view over the gulf was beautiful! Located at the top of this village is the ancient site of Assos, where the famous Temple of Athena – built in the 6^th Century B.C. – is located. The panoramic view of the Gulf from the top of the acropolis is breathtaking and the remains of Assos, surrounding the acropolis, are beautiful. We had very little time at this site, as was the case at nearly every site that we visited, but I made the best of my time through photographs. You can only write so much. Photography must make up for the words that can’t be said.

We headed out from Assos to drive to Pergamum, the capitol of the large and powerful pre-Roman Kingdom and one of the Seven Churches of Revelation. The Acropolis of Pergamum, built by the Greeks and later expanded by the Romans, boasted one of the largest libraries in the ancient world. We visited the ruins surrounding the acropolis: the Theater, the Alter of Zeus, and the temples of Tragion and Athena. It was an amazing site. The theater is built directly into the hillside and his huge. Like Assos, words can only go so far when it comes to explaining the beauty of this ancient site. The stones were some of the whitest that I have ever seen. They were beautiful.

We left Pergamum to stop at the Asclepion, the world’s first health center, a sanctuary to the God of Medicine, Asclepios. It began raining while we were there. It felt so good! There were a few people who screamed and ran for cover, but I stayed in the open as much as possible. Warm rain is one of my favorite things! We left the Asclepion to make a quick stop at a rug factory. The rugs were beautiful! If only I was a millionaire. The owners of the shop did give us complementary sour cherry juice. That stuff is delicious. It will be a sad day when I leave the Middle East and can’t find it anymore!

We stayed overnight in Kudadasi, where we all enjoyed a buffet dinner. Kymberly and I were at a table of four. Only, two of the girls kept leaving us so we just looked like pigs because of all the food we had! We assured everyone that we just knew how to work the buffet. None of us felt the need the leave this hotel; mostly because it was right on the beach! Rather, we went down to the beach and walked around in the moonlight. I thoroughly enjoyed it; however, a hand to hold while strolling down the beach would have made it even better! Overall, it was another day jam-packed of happiness, goodness, smiles, and more!