tour update from Liz

Greetings to all my amazing Family and Friends!
I find myself at a loss as to how I may adequately describe my last fews days here on the Seven Sights Tour. So sorry if this ends up sounding lame. :) As of today, we have visited all of the seven churches, along with several other significant cities. The library at Ephesus was stunning, and the camel I got to "ride" on afterwards was a dream come true. The thermal springs Randa and I waded into at Hieropolis were breathtaking, and the tasty ice cream that Mr. Trainer and I found was an excellent part of my day. The rest of my exciting adventures will have to be told in person, I suppose. The end.
Looking foward to seeing you all in just a few days!
-Liz

(The pictures won't load now, so we'll try again tomorrow.)

Apollo's Temple

June 12, 2008



Apollo, the fearsome twin,
Stands crushed by Nature’s whim.
The ancient columns crumble down
And see the fury of ‘Pollo’s frown.
Once standing straight, and firm, and sure
No longer steadfast and secure
Proclaim a dead religion’s dearth,
And languid earth returns to earth.

Team Update--by Ali

June 13, 2008
Just wanted to update you on what we are doing now. We are having a blast on vacation! :) Yesterday we visited Miletus and saw the harbor where Paul possibly stood. We also explored the ruins there. The area was silted by a nearby river and the ground is pretty marshy (lots of snakes). But we were all very careful and no one even saw a snake...we did see a lizard though.
Today was definitely a highlight for me, and I’m sure for many others on the team as well—Ephesus! The city is amazing. Still only about 10% uncovered of the original city, that 10% is a wealth of archeological gold. There were statues, wells, temple entrances, many columns and pillars, the marble road, two fountains, and my favorite-the library. We took a team picture at the library to show you what studious travelers we are! The library was...incredible...amazing...beautiful...stellar. Some of the columns display some ancient Greek writing that Ben and I were attempting to read...unfortunately we didn’t learn capital letters very well back in 1st and 2nd year Greek, so all we could really read and understand was “KAI” which means “and.” But it was cool reading that much!
After Ephesus we went over to the museum that houses a few of the smaller finds—some busts, hospital equipment, house decorations, statues (the one in the picture is Domitian). The story behind this statue is actually quite interesting. The people of Ephesus were put under his authority, but he was a malicious ruler and the people hated him. He commanded that they honor him by building something in the city and dedicating it to him. The people refused. Finally—after some arm twisting and a few deaths involved, the people built Domitian Square which was the resting place for this enormous statue. Because the people hated him so much, they depicted him as a very angry man, even going into the detail of putting some veins sticking out on his arm.
After the museum, we visited St. Jean’s Basilica, a very old, very cool church. After the basilica, we saw what was left of the largest of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World—Artemis’ Temple. All that is left is a column (which the archeologists piled up from several different columns) and a few stones sticking up out of the ground. But now we can say we’ve been there. :)
The team sends their love and thoughts to each family member and friend. We miss you, but no worries...we’ll be home in about 5 days!

Black Sea Escapade

Faithful followers,

Today is a day that will live in infamy - to quote FDR.
John, Sam, Bob, and I headed out to the Black Sea this afternoon for an adventure. We left the city and rode a bus for about an hour and a half and then walked along the beach for a little while. John and Sam decided that they were going to go explore for while, and little did I know what was waiting for me just around the bend. After John and Sam left, Bob and I took a walk up a hill to a cliff overlooking the Black Sea. Then . . . he got down on one knee and proposed to me in Turkish (then again in English)! Oh, and I said "Yes!" (of course). WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!! The story contains many more details, but they are so much more fun to tell in person; so, we'll save those for later. Enjoy the pics!

~ Mandy

update from Peter

Last week was amazing. We had many opportunities to spend time with some of our new friends. We were even able to spend the night with some of our friends. It has been great getting go to meet new people and learn a new culture. People here invest much more time in friendships. We have had a lot of fun spending time with these people. Whether we are playing basketball, eating dinner, or walking around at a park, we have built many friendships.

Today I went on a shopping spree. I'm a very cheap man, so spending money always hurts for me. But I enjoyed buying things and I look forward to giving them to people back at home. Just give me a list of things you want and I'm sure we can find it here somewhere. There are so many markets, and prices can be bargained pretty easily.

It finally rained for real the first time here in a while. Thankfully the rain cooled the temperatures down a little bit. We are suffering through mid to high 70s and sun with little clouds. It's rough, but I'm surviving.

I'm looking forward to the tour this next week. But I'm enjoying being here. It will be bitter sweet until the end. But I'm looking forward to being home as well. Thank y'all for all your support.


Peter

Ali's time in Ankara

I flew to Ankara on Saturday to spend a few days with my friend Burçak. On Sunday we went to her English class and then to Ankara Castle. It was the sweetest castle! You can see from the pictures that a lot of it is still intact. After the castle we visited two museums. The first one was so cool and we took a lot of pictures. The second museum was one Mandy would have loved to see--lots of history. It documented Turkey down through the ages. It was pretty neat. Sunday night the extended family came over for a ´barbecue´--they grilled hamburgers and we had a bunch of other Turkish food. It tasted so yummy (lezetle in Turkish).



I got a little sick last night into the morniıng, but Burçak nursed me back to health and I am feeling much better. Of course I miss the rest of the group in Istanbul, but I am so thankful to have the opportunity to spend some time wıth Burçak and her family as well as see Ankara. It ıs a beautiful city situated right next to a bunch of mountains. It is a very large city but not as crowded or fast-paced as Istanbul. I feel like I could drive a car here without fear...I don´t think I could say that about Istanbul!

To all my friends and family: I miss you all very much!



~Alyssa

Field Trip Report from Liz

Hello Family, Friends, and other loyal readers,
Since our time here in Istanbul is quickly coming to an end, the last few days have been very busy as we are trying to fit in everything we said we'd do later. :) One of the adventures that Randa, Alyssa, Julie Brill, and I partook in was the Bosporus Tour.
The Bosporus Tour is pretty self-explanatory as you can imagine. You ride on a ferry up the Bosporus and eventually arrive at the mouth of the spectacular Black Sea. It was so fun and the scenery was, as I said, spectacular.
Once the ferry docked we climb a huge hill to what use to be a very strategically-placed castle. From the hill, we could see the Black Sea looming in front of us, and if one turned around, the Bospourous and the city of Istanbul could be seen through a foggy haze. The pictures we took don't give it justice and my eyes will never be content with Lake Michigan again.
I love you all very much and cannot wait to show you my pictures and tell you my stories in person!

Ali's Birthday

My birthday was so wonderful. I think it was one of the best birthdays I ever had. My friends were so secretive all day and I knew they were planning something, but I wasn't sure what. I saw Sam passing a note to Mandy during Turkish class, but apparently there were notes flying all over the room! They made an invitation for me to my suprise birthday party and everyone signed it. Then Mandy, Sam, and I spent the day together, found out some information about an American university in North Cyprus, took a nap at Sam's place, and they told me that the girls were treating me to dinner so I had to choose what I wanted. At first I thought it would be hard to decide because I'm a pretty indecisive person, but after about ten minutes of thinking about it, I decided I wanted pizza. So we got Little Ceasar's pizza and it was really yummy. We sat out on the balcony of the boys' flat and ate our pizza and had a great talk with Ata T. Then we were supposed to have a debriefing session at 7:00, so all the guys were gathering in the flat, and all the girls were already there, but we didn't start anything and the other girls were making real popcorn from scratch in the kitchen, but they wouldn't let me in. After a while they all came in the living room and sang to me and they brought out a huge box of baklava and my own little cake, complete with 5 candles. Liz made me wear her Max hat (Max is the ice cream character logo) as my birthday hat. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me when they brought out my little cake, then Bob sang a Chik-fil-a style birthday song (twice) and Liz captured it on video. Then Matt was also taking pictures and he was going to show Bob and me the picture he took of Bob singing to me, but the picture had disappeared from the camera face and gone back to capture picture mode. So all we saw was Matt's palm. It was pretty funny. We had a good laugh abuot it. I have the greatest friends! Then we did have our debriefing session and spent some sweet time in talking with our father. So all in all, it was a very good "first birthday in Turkey," as Ata T said.

from Matt

Biraz Turkce konusuyorum! I now speak a little Turkish! Life here is pretty awesome… I’ve put together a chain of several really amazing days. Pursuing friendships, playing b-ball with the locals… I even got to ride a sweet motorcycle. Pete and I are in a competition of sorts, trying to see who can snap the most photos during the trip. He’s up about 400 pics, but I think I’m still in it.
Hugs and kisses to everyone back home!

from Ben

Hi friends, family, loved ones, and those who are reading this who maybe have never met me. I have learned so much on this trip already. I've talked with staff on campuses about the possibility of students from my college coming to study abroad. This door is exactly what I believe many students will walk through in the years to come. I would like to be involved in helping students study abroad in the many, all English speaking, universities. Yes, it is difficult at times and I'm sure you've heard that more changes take place within your own life than the change you desire to see in the lives of others. I am thankful to have met some great friends on the universities. The three guys who you see in the picture invited me to their house after we played volleyball for 4 hours! We ate dinner together and talked about life. I believe I will be friends with these guys for the rest of my life. I am thankful for the many questions they have asked me about my personal beliefs, which has opened up the door for more conversations.
I am in the middle of making a lot of decisions, and I need wisdom to know what to do. I love and miss home a lot. Love, Ben

time with a friend

Alyssa, Liz, & I (along with two girls from N-land) had an amazing afternoon! We went to Uskudar to meet our friend Sena, who took us to her home for dinner. Her mom cooked a delicious Turkish meal - stuffed green peppers, yogurt, rice, beans, and of course, bread! We talked and joked for her family for a while, then she and her younger brother took us around town to a few of their favorite places. These favorites included more food. :) We now know that the best ice cream in the world can be found in Uskudar. Their mom didn't have time to make dessert (and aparently ice cream didn't count), so they bought "pon-pon pie" for us to complement the Turkish tea.
Imagine little cream puffs covered in fudgy pudding, topped with pistachios . . . our mouths were quite happy by the end of the evening.

Besides enjoying all of the tasty foods, we had a great time getting to know her better. Sena has told us a lot about Turkish culture and traditions. She is also studying classical guitar, so she played and sang a few songs for us (she has a lovely voice!). Her mother invited us to their house again this week for breakfast. We are so thankful for today, and are hoping to develop a real friendship with her in the next week or so.

Thank you for thinking of us during this trip! Learning about the people and their culture has been wonderful!
-Randa

from John and Sam

Dearest Family,
So I better explain John’s latest fashion statement. The purple paints he has on were given to me by a new friend named Ezgi I met on the plane. They are traditional farmer girl pants called “Shalvah.” We have spent our days eating baklava and gazing at the Bosporus. We are learning so much but are still far from mastering Turkish. The other day I tried to say hello to some one and I accidentally said “hiyar” which is “no” in Turkish. He gave me a weird look. Well we love and miss you and will try and write soon.

Love, Johny and Sammie

This picture was taken at one of our favorite restaurants. John and Bob eat there just about every single day and have a good relationship with the waiter Setil. We went to the restaurant for Ben's 30th birthday. As you can see, it was a serious affair.

~Alyssa