from Liz--about the girls

Mandy and Ali at the Bosphorus

Randa and Liz at the Bosphorus

Hi!
And welcome to another of addition of, "Updates from Liz". Right now I am going to tell you about all of our adventures from the past 24 hours. Yesterday morning Randa, Mandy, Ali, and I decided to rise at the crazy hour of 4:30am in order to watch the sunrise over of the Bosphorus. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but as Mandy roused me from my sweet sleep, I began to doubt whether it was worth it. As the four of us left the house and headed down to the water, the city of Istanbul was just beginning to stir and the sky was already a blaze with color. We finally found a spot right next to the water and we all sat down, now quite content with our decision to leave our beds. You can see in the pictures below some of the amazing color,but always it was better in person:). While Randa, Ali, and I were busy taking pictures and watching the sky we discovered that Mandy was busy talking to a colony of jellyfish she had spotted near the shore. She proceeded to point out which was the Mama, Papa, and little Squirt. Apparently when she was younger she had wanted to be a marine biologist and the desire still pops up every now and then:). Later that day Randa and I happened to see a plethora of kids wearing tee shirts with a picture of Max, who as of late is the character on all our favorite ice cream bars. We immediately wanted to know where they got the shirts and if we could have one too. Soon after a nice family pointed us in the direction of the soccer stadium,and before we knew it, we found ourselves in line to enter the stadium! Much to our delight we were handed a free shirt on the way in, and now I am the happiest girl in all of Turkey! Plus Randa and I got our pictures taken next to Max which made the day even more amazing. So that my friends is just another day in the life of Liz Gross. I miss you all very much and cannot wait to tell you all my stories in person!

from Bob

Luke and I went to Kisirköy today, The purpose of our trip today was to survey some cities, towns, and villages. Kisirköy is a small village in Istanbul on the north eastern side of Europe. It is beautiful there. However, most of the houses near the coast were rundown shacks with a few exceptions. Below are a few pictures from Kisirköy.(pic 11, pic 12)

These are pictures of me and Luke by a statue of Ataturk.

from Bob

Hi family and friends. Everything is good. Sights are cool. Below are some pictures that have been taken.

This is a flower.

Peter getting excited about ice cream.

The guys playing ball with some of the locals.

Me, John, and Luke on a boat.

This is a picture of the inside of the Hagia Sophia.

This is a picture of Mandy. Choosing what type of ice cream to eat is a serious task for her.

This is a picture of Mandy and me in front of the Hagia Sophia. Mandy is smiling because she was able to eat her ice cream.

This is another picture of Mandy. She is using her amazing music skills on a new flute thing she bought from some guy on the street.

from Peter

Today we went on a tour of the Bosporus. The ferry ride took us 1 ½ hour to get to the Black Sea. I took tons of pictures on the way up the Bosporus. Then we toured an incredible castle with a beautiful view of the Black Sea. I really enjoyed the views. The castle was basically in ruins so we had to climb up the sides of it in order to get to the top.
The last few days have been great for me. Looks like I will have a few meetings next week. The weather has been great here the past few days as well. The temperature did drop some so it is now a more comfortable 75 and sunny during the day. It’s a sacrifice, but someone has to do it.
We played basketball at a beautiful park for about 4 hours yesterday. I got a little worn out, but I really enjoyed it. Walking up and down the hills and playing basketball has put us all in good shape.
Thanks to all for keeping up on our trip. I look forward to seeing y’all soon.

Archaeology Museum Pictures

The flowers outside were so beautiful and had an amazing scent. I just had to try to capture the scene on film...or, er, pixels...



These two carvings beckoned me, but then they started fighting and wouldn't let me go!



Mandy and I in front of our new clubhouse. I wanted to climb up the stairs into his belly, but visions of the "DONT TOUCH" guard kept haunting me, so I refrained.



We wanted to go down and see this place, but the gate at the top of the stairs was locked and since we (I) had already gotten yelled at for touching the stone tablets earlier, we decided not to go any farther...



Painted carvings of lions like this lined the streets where the Pharoah would walk down towards his palace. Or something like that. Mandy was afraid this one was getting a little hungry.

From Mandy and Ali

Our day at the Archeology Museum...
This afternoon, Alyssa and I followed a tip about visiting the archeological museum. I LOVE history and we agreed that it would be extremely interesting to see. We were definitely not disappointed - the museum was fantastic and it definitely exceeded our expectations! A little tip when going to museums in foreign countries: Just because there is not a sign saying, "Do not touch the artifacts." does not mean that you can touch the artifacts... You would think that with both of us being Seniors in college we would have some sort of common sense regarding these things, but, meh...we found out soon enough. Apart from that, we had a great time. We got through almost half of the museum in the two hours that we had left before it closed. It costs only five lira as opposed to all the other museums that cost twenty lira to get in; so, we are definitely going back to finish the rest. Well, I hope you enjoy the pictures...
from Mandy

Yes, Mandy and I had a fun time combing through the museum. Now, if you know me, you know that I'm not really that much of a museum type girl. But I love history and Turkey has some of the best, so I thought it had promise. It was pretty interesting. In the main building of the museum, we walked into this room that was labeled "Cult of Graves" or something like that. It had so many really old tombstones that had engravings and inscriptions. Some of the ones back in the early hundreds were in Greek, so I had a good time reading them. I didn't know what it meant, of course (except I did find "adelphos" and matched it up with the translation "brother"...that was way cool). We also read the story of Psyche and Eros. It was actually pretty sweet for Greek mythology! Made me want to read Metamorphises. We also found a mini Trojan horse which made me want to read Homer. I also enjoyed walking through the labyrinth of old stuff, reading about the history of Uskudar, Sirkeci, and several other places in Istanbul. There were intermediate pictures on the walls with the information about the excavations next to them. That was pretty fascinating.
~Alyssa

at Bogazici University

This is one of the many picturesque views of the Bosporus as seen from Bogazici University campus. -Mandy

More pictures

This is actually in the courtyard of the Blue Mosque. Can you see the shapes? It's the Turkish flag.

This is in Taksim Square. You can see two Turkish flags and a giant portrait of Turkey's great leader Ataturk. I have grown to love Ataturk. The Turks revere him and you can see pictures of him in almost every shop and house you visit as well as a statue of him in every park, on many street squares. He did much in shaping Turkey into the country she is today. The tents you see were set up for the big celebration on the 19th of May. This holiday is called Youth Sports Day and Ataturk instituted it.

update from Mandy

Hello, again!

It is amazing to see how quickly the weather changes here! One minute it will be cool and then the next minute you're hit with a blast of heat and humidity. Today's weather, however, was gorgeous! The high was about 67 degrees and there was a cool breeze all day long. It was a nice break from the heat and humidity.

Anyways, this morning, Sam, Alyssa, and I went to Bogazici (Bosporus) University to see if we could make any more contacts. Now, for those who know me, you know that I do not have the best sense of direction; so, in our wanderings, we got a little lost, but we ended up finding the Early Childhood Education Center that is on the campus. We were able to take a brief tour of their facilities and to learn more about the educational systems of Turkey. It was extremely fascinating!

Another note about food: Last night and tonight, some of us needed a break from the traditional doners (a giant rotisserie stick with a whole bunch of meat [usually chicken and beef] stuck on it - very, very common) and decided to make an American meal that is near and dear to all of our hearts: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! Never have I ever tasted a sandwich so delicious - yes, I know, I'm weird. The food here is extremely delicious, but sometimes, you just need a break - well, from everything except the ice cream which is definitely still a necessity.

Hope you all are doing well. Love and miss you all - well, those of you that I know, I mean.

~ Mandy

Pictures from the Blue Mosque and Surrounding Area

This is me (Alyssa) near the Blue Mosque in front of an interesting looking rock pit of some sort. This area of town is SO historic! It is right near the Hippodrome which was a Roman horse track. The circular area you see behind me could very well be over a thousand years old! You can see one of the six minarets of the Blue Mosque in the background. The Blue Mosque is the only one in the world with six minarets. There is a story behind it, but I will save that for another day.

This is the inside of the Blue Mosque, named for the beautiful blue tile you can see that covers the entire interior of the mosque. We girls were given coverings to wear over our hair and cover our arms as we went in. While this is a working mosque, it was interesting to see some people going through the prayer rituals while tourist tours were going on at the exact same time. The inside of the mosque is almost overwhelming, with it's grandeur and opulence. An array of stained glass windows let in a colorful glow of sunlight.



This is the oldest piece of history in all of Turkey. It is the top third of an obelisk that is ... I forgot exactly how old. But it's really old. Like probably 2,000 years old or something impressive like that. I'm not sure what all the hieroglyphics mean, but the top says something about Thutmose the Conqueror being great...that was all Dr. Bennett could read. He is a very smart man. :) This obelisk is in the middle of the Hippodrome, on a pedestal that stands in the old Roman road. It is right in front of the Blue Mosque. From the standpoint of the viewer, the Blue Mosque is to the left, across the street.

update from Liz

Hello Folks!
Well, tomorrow we hit the being-in-Turkey-for-two-weeks mark, it definitely does not seem like we have been here that long! We are growing accustomed to life in Istanbul: the sights, the people, the language, and the food. Today we stumbled upon a fruit market with incredible looking fruit with even more incredible prices! I bought a kilo (2.2 lbs) of delicious strawberries for 3 Turkish lira (roughly $2.50). I was tempted to pack bags of the tasty berries in my suitcase until I was kindly reminded by Randa that that type of behavior is frowned upon. Oh well . . . Hmm, looking at the other blog posts and the references to food you probably think we are Turkish food obsessed:). Not really, only a little. Another highlight has been that in the last few days we girls have been able to visit several dress shops, which has been an amazing avenue in getting to know the women. A few of us were invited to one of their houses for this coming Sunday afternoon, so we are very excited about nurturing that friendship and all the possibilities it might hold.
I miss you all at home and can't wait to tell you of all my adventures!

Pictures from Hagia Sophia

This is a mosaic of Alexander. Dr. Bennett mentioned that he was looking for it because whenever it is mentioned in books, the location is never given. I took that as a personal challenge and set off to find it. It was pretty easy once I found the marble table on which was carved a map of the entire museum! :) I quickly located the mosaic, took a few pictures, and went to find Dr. Bennett. I showed him the picture and asked how much it was worth to him to see where it was in the building. He only had a few lira, but I conceded to show him where it was. When he saw it, he said I could have an A back in History of Civilization my freshman year--hm...with that grade changed to an A...I think I could have pulled off Summa Cum Laude! Maybe he and I should go chat with the Registrar's Office...


The museum has the most beautiful architecture on both the inside and the outside.

Here are some ruins we saw in the courtyard outside the Aya Sofia. They intrigued me because of the Greek writing on them.

from Ben

Life is great here in Istanbul, I've been eating balik and ekmek (fish and bread), and meeting so many new friends at the universities. The days can be difficult at times because we don't exactly have a 'set' schedule. Please lift me up as I seek new friends and build upon the relationships that I have established. I'm taking lots of pictures and have stories for you all, so just be a little patient, k?

I love you all,
Love,
Ben

from Bob

Dear Everyone that is interested,

I am having a great time here. Everything is going swell. I have been encouraged to journal each day. Below are some of my journal entries.

"By the time we boarded to leave for the JFK I was physically drained.I had been up for over 24 hours with E-Mergency [a vitamin energy booster which help me get through college] flowing through my veins. Luke and I went to BK for our last all American Burger. A Whopper w/no onion, no pickles, w/ extra ketchup and a large fry cost me $6.70! Ridiculous! Right before boarding for Istanbul I took two gel capsules of equate NightQuill. Let's just say that by the time I sat down on the plane and put my seat belt on, I was out."

"After the Hagia Sophia, we went to the Grand Bazaar. This is a huge market of various items. I loved it....it was worth it in order to barter with the shop owners. I did not buy anything, but I now have a good idea of what things cost next time I go. We then went out to eat, headed home, stopped for Baklava [amazing dessert], then went home. Great Day!"

"Luke is always willing to give valuable mathematical information after a calculation has been made. Thanks Luke."

from John and Sam

Dear Mom and Dad Voorhis and Graham,
Boy we are having a great time. You might not recognize us when we get back because of all the baklava we have eaten! We love you and miss you. Thanks so much!
Love, John and Sam

from Luke

I have enjoyed Istanbul several times over. A highlight has been the Hagia Sophia, which was staggering. Its historical significance is incredible. Despite what Tim says, the Dolmabache Palace was not even in the same league as the Hagia Sophia. Another fun time was when I became retarded for a brief spell. We met a man from an English school on a Friday. He was from the States. Saturday, we met a lady at a different English school. She told us she had learned English at the school and stayed on to teach. Later that afternoon, we returned to the school we had visited on Friday. While we talked with him, I decided I'd ask him how he learned English so well- if he had learned it at the school like the lady had. Mustering my courage, I dove in, and before it was completely out of my mouth I realized what I was saying. Everything went into slow motion- my speaking, John and Bob's facial expressions. The man's response jolted us back to real time, when he shouted, "Are you STUPID?! I mean... I don't mean to be rude, but that was a DUMB question!" I turned red. We left soon afterwards. That was a neat time. I love all the people I love back home. I hope you're all doing well.

Peter Posing

Peter and his ticket in to the Hagia Sofia.

from Matt

I’ve only been here eleven days, and the trip has already been an incredible learning experience for me. The culture and subcultures in Turkey are vastly different from anything I’ve ever experienced on an overseas trip before. The Turkish people have been friendly and very willing to aid us in the formation of our ethnography. Lance did an admirable job in covering just how amazing the food is, and the city’s majestic setting on two continents is almost unrivaled. I feel like I’m compiling a reference similar to those found on the jackets of bestsellers, but I speak (or type, rather) the truth when I say that Turkey is definitely a candidate for further work for many in our group.
Due to unreliable Internet connections, I haven’t been able to communicate very much with my friends and family back home, so consider this your shout-out. Mom and Dad, Jon and Summer, Ginger and Dead Flappy, and my dearest Bethany Lynn, I love you all and miss you more than Wendy’s Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers. Keep it real ‘til I return, and no, Mom, I haven’t died yet.
More to come!

Matt Thompson

Istanbul at Dusk

from Tim

Family&Friends,

Turkey is one amazing place to be. The people here are so friendly and willing to help in whatever capacity needed. Meeting people and building relationships is our major goal while being in Turkey. We have already made thousands of memories, and taken hundreds of pictures. Now the fun will begin as we go on our journey of writing an ethnography on the Turkish people and their way of life. Since the internet has not been working remarkably well, I would like to take a moment to tell my mom, dad, and family a quick hello and that I love them a ton. Mom, I will send you another e-mail as soon as our internet is working. Hope everything is going remarkably well in the U.S. I am thinking of you all and am looking forward to seeing family and friends in the coming days. Love you all and have a wonderful day.

Tim Manion

from Peter

Blog from Peter

Istanbul is an amazing city. The sights are beautiful and the history is rich. Crossing over the water every morning shows the beauty and joy of great things that are ahead. And crossing over the water during sunset and dusk refreshes us after a long day.
Life has been great here. Gorgeous weather and sunshine comes every day. I have enjoyed getting to know the city and exploring. But more importantly I have enjoyed getting to know the citizens and learning about their culture. Many differences exist between the ways we live. I have enjoyed getting to learn a new language and a different way of life.
I have taken almost 700 pictures already and I’m excited to share all the stories and pictures when I return. Every day brings a new adventure. Much has happening since we’ve been here. We were able to enjoy somewhat of a day off. I have also enjoyed playing basketball at some of the parks here. Playing sports has given us chances to get to know people better as well.
I hope to be able to research the universities here more. We have visited a couple of different universities here and possibilities exist for further education here. I look forward to learning more about the business side of the area and seeing what is available.
Thanks for following our trip. Dad, thanks for all your help. Mom, you’d be glad to hear that we figured out how to use the washing machines. Jo, congratulations on your awesome graduation. I’m very proud of your hard work. You definitely deserved the honors you got. Sam, I hope that you made it back without much difficulty. I’m glad you were able to go. The rest of the summer is going to be awesome for you. Tom, keep up the hard work. I can’t wait to get home and catch some games and work with you. Tell everyone at work I say hi. Suz, from what I remember I think you’re almost done. You did good this year in school. I’m proud of you as well. You have impressed us all. Grandma and grandpa, I was very glad to hear that you made it to Jo’s graduation. Thanks for all you’ve done for us. And to the Brice’s, thanks for following for our trip. The more people the better. And to everyone else, I say a very grateful thank you.
Rachel, I love you! You did great in summer school this year. Work this summer will be fun. Of course the end of June will be amazing. The iPod you got me has worked great. And of course the camera has been put to good use. I love you and I can’t wait to talk you again.

Love y’all very much.

Peter d.

from Lance

Dear patient blog readers,
I have had a wonderful time here as have my compatriots. We are busy, so these posts may be few and far between. Nonetheless, I feel it is my duty to relate the extreme positive vibe I have received from the food here in Istanbul. Meat is plentiful, vegetables are rare, and the tea is amazing. I believe I have already eaten more bread in the last 10 days than in the last 10 months and, for those who know me, that’s actually pretty substantial. The Turkish individual seems to enjoy a small sandwich stuffed full of meat, French fries, lettuce, tomatoes, plus a variety of sauces, peppers and cheeses. Their soup is, as John V. puts it, “The Real Deal!” They also have fantastic desserts. Baklava is all it’s made out to be and more. There is also an exquisite collection of other pastries and ice creams. In short, none of us will starve. Please continue to think of us as we stuff our faces and loosen our belts.
Lance

from Mandy

Hola and Merhaba!

Well, I must say that I will never be able to eat regular ice cream again.... The ice cream here is AMAZING (kind of like gelato, but with extra sticky goodness). All of the food is wonderful and we are all greatly expanding our palets - yes, Dad, I'm talking about food once again... Anywhoo, Istanbul is so beautiful and the weather has been great, especially with the cool breezes from the Bosporus in the mornings and evenings. We are having such a wonderfully fantastic time here. I was sick for just a couple days; but, I'm feeling much better thanks to Bob's tender loving care and Alyssa's prompt attention - we all have each other's backs. It's been so much fun bonding with everyone. Tonight we had a fun girl party and did home pedicures and sat and gabbed and now the boy's flat smells like nail polish remover (heeheehee). Oh, and to end the already fantastical evening, Bob surprised me with beautiful flowers because he was glad that I felt better and because tomorrow is our 7th dating monthiversary - Mom, you can stop crying now, remember, deep breaths... :~) Hope all y'all are doing well and we'll ttyl!!!

~ Mandy

Saturday night

Yay! Mr. Trainer returned this evening!! We've been looking forward to his coming all week. He arrived at the guys' apartment after we finished supper and dessert.

The food of the evening was interesting. We--the girls--were not able to locate spaghetti sauce, so we improvised by adding random (but purposefully chosen) ingredients to a can of tomato sauce. Feta cheese was the substitute for Parmesan. I don't know how to describe the garlic bread. We made sure there were plenty of veggies in the salad. Still, most of the food was eaten! The boys provided dessert - baklava and lokum (Turkish delight) - which was quite good. They also brought some kind of gummy candy on a stick that didn't impress anyone very much. We saved it for Mr. Trainer.

Our other events of the day included sleeping in rather than going to class. After cleaning our "homes," we walked down one of the busiest streets in Istanbul to find places that teach English. The guys had several good meetings with teachers, and the girls were able to meet with a manager for a while. She told us a lot about what is necessary to teach here, where the other good places are, and how they work with their current teachers.

We also found a great book store on the same street, and plan to go back there when quietness and AC is especially desired.

Our favorite part of the day was definitely having Mr. T. back and swapping stories with him from this last week. Now our team is complete!

From Ali

Hi everyone!
Sorry we are so lacking on pictures. The website has been giving us a little trouble with getting them uploaded, but we are trying to get some more up so you can see all of us having fun in Turkey!
Today we had Turkish lessons for a while in the morning (we can now say "Turkce konusuyorum" which means "I am speaking Turkish" and "Istanbul'a gitmek istiyoruz" which means "We want to go to Istanbul"). We also studied a Turkish menu, so now we know what we're getting at the ordering stage of our meals!
We split up into groups after that and us girls went off for a VERY yummy lunch with Luke while Sam and John went to have a "romantic meal" by themselves. The girls were all going to meet up and visit the Spice Bazaar after lunch.
It didn't exactly happen that way because we were really late getting to our meeting point and we just missed catching Sam. So we rode the TramVay over to Gulhane which is where the Spice Bazaar is and walked around in there for a while. We sampled tons of Turkish Delight! We got some souveniers and Mandy bought some perfume for a really good price. The man selling the perfume was telling us how to tell the difference between the real deal and the copy cat stuff, so he took one bottle, pointed to it, and said "Five lira" and spritzed it on Randa's arm. Then he took another bottle that looked the same, pointed to it, and said "Thirty-five lira" and spritzed it on Liz's arm. So Randa pretty much smelled like bugspray all day while Liz was smellin' good.
We went back to the boys' apartment afterward, hoping to catch Sam, but no one was there so we just sat outside. Eventually the landlord came by and was about to go in, but he recognized us and asked if we had a key (which of course we didn't). So he graciously went and found a key to let us in with. So we hung out there for a while, washed our feet because they were superbly dirty, ate some fresh domatestlar (tomatoes), watched some TV in English with Turkish subtitles. The guys finally came back (Sam in tow), so we sat around and talked and had a good time. We decided to make supper tomorrow night, so we worked out the details for that and started taking contributions for the "pot." The girls are fixing the main meal, and the boys are bringing baklava. I can't wait!

To friends and family:
I miss you all and think of you often.

More Pictures

The Girls trying on our new clothes.

Liz in her Turkish wedding dress.

The Blue Mosque

From Ali

Hi friends and family! I sure miss you, but I'm having a wonderful time here in Turkey. I could echo Liz and Randa's comments about the food being delish. It sure is. So far my favorite is pasarli pide (cheese pita). We also like the Algida ice cream.
Today some of the girls (Randa, Liz, two N-land girls Liz and Julie, and I) went over to Asia to Uskudar where there are a lot of wedding shops. We stopped in one where the shop keepers did not speak English, so it was a little hard to communicate. Liz tried on a gold Turkish wedding dress though! It was really pretty! Most of the other dresses in the shop looked like traditional American wedding dresses (white, lacy, sparkly) only a tad more modest than most American wedding dresses! The next place we went we found a girl about our age that could speak very good English and she was telling us about Turkish wedding customs and the procedures that you go through to get married. It was very interesting, and we're hoping to go back and speak with her again.
We'll try to get more pictures up soon. For some reason it doesn't seem to be uploading right.

Mom and Dad, I miss you! Hope you get back from Argentina safely! Make sure to tell me if you decide to move while I'm gone, okay? :) If you see Jared around, can you tell him the name of this website and tell him that I miss him.
Bill and Jess, miss you guys too! Make you "pwiss net" for my little buddy, okay? (aw, I sure miss him too).
Jess W., keep the homefires stoked. And I definitely love you more.
Meg, I was thinking of you the other day. I hope you get to Austria safely. I know you'll have a great time.
Kim, thanks for the comments. You make me laugh. Thanks for taking care of everything else too.
Rusty, Justina, Jacob, et. al., Miss you guys and hope to see you once I get back!

from Randa

Hello!
(I've been trying to upload pictures, but they may have to wait until tomorrow.) We enjoyed a very warm day in Istanbul. As Liz mentioned, today's excursion took us to the Blue Mosque. The architecture and tiles inside are beautiful! At the entrance, we were given bags to hold our shoes, and scarves to cover our heads (just the ladies, of course). Later in the afternoon, we decided to buy our own scarves, and practiced putting them on once we got back to the apartment. =) The girls in our group had several chances today to try the famous apple tea, and we REALLY like it!

I can't say yet what part of Turkey I like best. The food is great. The people are fun to talk with. Istanbul has many hills, so we're getting good exercise. The views of the Bosporus and evening silhouettes of the surrounding city are amazing! It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of our first week.

-will try to check in again tomorrow, perhaps with pictures.

From Liz

Hi Everyone!
Turkey is amazing. The end.
Just kidding, not the part about Turkey being amazing, but about that being all I will say, you know me.:)
Let's see . . . we've been picking up on the Turkish language, and I am proud to say that my repertoire of words is daily increasing.:) The food has been pretty tasty, I don't think everyday American food will satisfy anymore. We visted the Hagia Sophia a few days ago and the Blue Mosque today. It was SO neat! Now I will have real pictures for my history class someday.:) Our group traveled over to Asia the otherday as well, so now I can check another continent off my "to do" list.:) Last night, we watched fireworks over the Bosporus, which is the body of water separating Europe and Asia, quite cool.
To my family: Josiah, I hope your graduation party was super . . . I'm sad I missed all that tasty food . . . I mean you.:) Abby, don't watch too many Sue Thomas'.:) Mom, take a walk through the woods for me.:) And Dad, don't let them rip any shirts without me! I love you guys!
Aaron: Take good care of Adam and your grandma, and please be careful mowing all those lawns, no running over any flower gardens.:) Miss you!

team picture

Just after we visited the Hagia Sophia. (John invited his new friend to join the picture.) The Blue Mosque is in the background.

Pictures

Luke, journaling in the Chicago airport before leaving for Turkey.

On the airplane

The sunrise from the airplane window...

Our ride into Istanbul from the airport

Here are a few pictures of our trip so far. The cityscape is so beautiful and we've been having a great time bonding with each other and meeting people here.

Merhaba!

Our team has already had a wonderful time in Istanbul. We are so glad to be here and learn about Turkish history, culture, and language. Every day we pick up a few more words and the waiters at our restaurants have been very helpful in this area. As a team, we have visited the Aya Sofia (Hagia Sophia--Church of Holy Wisdom), one of the oldest in the world. The depth of history is almost overwhelming, especially because America has such a short history. Turkey is one of the, if not THE, oldest countries or regions ever to exist.
The team members will attempt to contribute to this blog regularly with pictures, notes about what we have seen and done, and notes to family and friends.
Thanks for reading!

We're Here!

Friends and family,
We arrived here in Istanbul this morning at 10:00 am (2:00 am Wisconsin time) and have now settled in and established internet ability. Please check frequently for updates.