Olympos - Seker Bayrum

Seker Bayrum - Bring it on!
(Please click on the photo to see the rest of my excursions in Olympos.)
This was my first trip away from Ankara, and it was perfect. I had only lived here a few short weeks, and then I spent a mere 12 hours on three different buses that took me down the Mediterranean. Totally worth it!
I went with about 9 other teachers/friends, and we had a blast - dancing the night away in an open air bar, sleeping in a tree house, taking a day long cruise sightseeing and dancing on the boat.
Enjoy!

Kapadokya

Can't wait to go back to Kapadokya!
(Please click on the photo to see the rest of this album.)
This was an amazing, fun and fact filled weekend with other new teachers. Two of my friends in this photo are standing on a salt lake - in the winter it fills with water, but in the summer, all the water evaporates and all that is left is TONS of salt. The salt lake was a stop on our way to Kapadokya - which is about 4 1/2 hours by bus away from Ankara. In Kapadokya, we stayed in cave rooms (still somewhat questionable as to whether they are actually made out of natural caves) and during Saturday and Sunday, we went to an Open-air Outdoor Museum, a Turkish carpet maker company, an Underground City, and we hiked through Imagination Valley and the Fairy Chimneys. Enjoy!

Walking tour of Roman ruins in Ankara

Enjoy these photos from our walking tour through Ankara of Roman Ruins. Click on the photo to see more photos :)

Fabulous outdoor fruit/vegetable market in Umikoy

Hello friends and family,
Please click on the photo to see a few other shots from my trip to the Umitkoy market.

The back seat of a taxi

My new friends - Kim, Christina and Charity. We shared a taxi after a shopping trip (there will be a whole lot of this in my shopping future I think). There is a large grocery store (similar to Target or WalMart) as well as a movie theatre, a Home Depot-like store, and much more a short 20 minutes walk from my lojman. However, the walk back up will not be so pleasant with lots of groceries or moving in materials - like paint, bookshelves, etc.

Dikman Park

Our trip to Dikman Park - one of the first trips the new teachers took during our orientation week. The week was full of introductions to the school, as well as small trips around parts of Ankara. The weather this week was extremely hot, but there's no humidity here which is wonderful. After we strolled through the park, we sat around and ate Dondurma, which is Turkish ice cream. It was delicious, but the texture was unlike any ice cream I had ever had. It was almost like melted marshmellows, but cold. Quite interesting and delicious!

It's only been 3 Weeks!

I am so happy to be here!

I feel like I've only blinked and 3 weeks have come and gone. The first week was full of orientation information for the new teachers, consisting of trips and meetings. To state that the first few weeks seem like a blur would be pretty accurate. I arrived in Ankara around 11:30 pm on Sunday evening, to then get my bags and pick up Dylan from the oversized luggage area, and then head outside to meet Jon, one of our orientation guides. The trip to Bilkent (my school) took about 45 minutes, and by the time I arrived at my lojman (my very own apartment for Dylan and me - and we love it so!), it was almost 1:30 am. I then had my first orientation meeting with new teachers at 9 am later that same morning. From that moment on, there was always something going on, a meeting or trip planned. During that first week, I met and made great connections with other new teachers, and we have been having a blast together so far.