it’s raining mud! May 20, 2007
Posted by gse2turkey in Good Folks, Sightseeing, Tasty Food.2 comments
I suppose that since I am the only team member at a home with an Internet connection, I should make a post to let our loved ones and friends know that we are alive. Tired, but alive. Jet lag does not seem to have hit the team, although Dick asked today, “what day is it? Friday?”
We are staying with host families in Kuşadası (“bird island”) right now. I am staying at the home of Oğür (team leader for inbound 2440) and Meryem. Oğür is stıll in Pennsylvania, so I am getting to know Meryem and her son, Sarp.
After approximately 36 hours of travel, we arrived in Menderes Delta Airport in Izmir, tired and missing our large box of host gifts. We have since retrieved it, battered and beaten, but everything inside ıs fine, fortunately!!
Things are moving incredibly fast. Schedules change on a whim. Even though things that we saw and did yesterday felt like a week ago!!
Last night, we found out that the Kuşadası RC moved their usual Thursday dinner meeting to Sunday morning just so that we could present to them. We found out late Saturday night. No problem–everything went well and the club was very hospitable.
Some of the sights we have seen so far include: Çesme (Chesmey) Thermal Springs; the Virgin Mary’s last house; Ephesus (Efes) ancient city; a national park; several Aegean Sea beaches; a Turkish carpet “farm”; a water park/spa/resort; Kuşadası, and several bazaars.
I suspect that Turks have caffeine for blood (just kidding!). Turkish kahve (coffee) and çay (tea) are both offered everywhere–they consume it like Germans drink beer. I’ve had so much that I am starting to tell what is the good stuff, but I’m not yet good at determining the right amount to send me bouncing off the walls. Kahve is interesting–it’s actually thick. The coffee grains are boiled and reboiled and served in a tiny cup with a piece of candy on the side. Diet Coke ıs called Coca-Cola Lıght. Pepsı exısts here but they do not care for ıt. We have also tried the licorice-flavored rakı (a liquer), and one sip was enough for me. Bleagh!
Most of us have vowed to eat more sensibly during the remainder of our trip. Everywhere we go, we meet wonderful hosts and we are offered large amounts of food and drink. It is greatly appreciated, but our stomachs rebel after the third or fourth meal of the day. I’m craving a big bowl of cereal, but I have yet to see any.
The weather has also been strange: yesterday it rained MUD. A hurricane from Africa carried dust to Turkey and it came in the form of brown rain. This is not common here, and even the news media reported on this odd event. Today was bright and sunny, but you can still see the dried mud all over the city. Bad news for tourism-related businesses, great news for the car washes (which I have now been through three times with hosts).
Turkish keyboards are tough to use! This post took me a long time to type. Tamam (OK), more later!
-Jenda (Canda, as the Turks call me)
