1 Year Anniversary

1 year ago today I arrived in Ankara, Turkey, to study for a semester at Bilkent University. Looking back at the entire experience, I cannot believe that it was only for 4 months. 4 months seems like such a short time in the big scheme of life, but at the time, it felt long, at times in a monotonous way and at times in an exciting, vibrant, full of life way.

As I continue to reflect on those 4 months of living in a different country, I am amazed at how much I did get to experience in such a short time and how much I got to see and learn. From the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, from the plateau of Cappadocia to the rivers near Pamukkale, from the Hittites to the Ottomans, I love Turkey with all its history and natural beauty. I feel so blessed to have been able to call it home for 4 months. It will always have a special place in my heart.

Over the next few days/weeks, I will be posting highlights from the trip that my family and I took last May through Turkey and Greece, as I never let you experience the joy of traveling with my family. Stay tuned for many laughs and beautiful pictures!

4 Month Anniversary

As I was looking through my blog today, I realized I wrote this post but never published it! Might as well do it now. Enjoy!

Monday marked my 4 month anniversary of being in Turkey. Sorry I didn't post anything for it, but that day I took my last final, so I was a bit busy. So I finished my last final, which means I have officially finished my semester abroad at Bilkent University and am on summer break!

It feels so strange to be finished. Now I have three weeks of traveling around Turkey and Greece before heading back to America. After looking forward to these blissful weeks of travel for so long, now that it is here, I am so excited to embark on it, but at the same time I am saddened that my experience of living abroad has just about come to a close. I don't want it to finish! Even though it has been hard at times and I have been homesick, family sick, and friend sick, I will truly miss Turkey and the experience of living abroad. I will also miss all of the people I have met while in Turkey: my professors, my Turkish friends, and my international friends. I keep thinking that next semester I will see all of them again, just like at ISU, but that is not the case for study abroad. We will all probably never be together again. It really is like living in two worlds; part of my heart will be in Turkey forever.

Well, here's a few things that I did in my last month of being in Turkey:

I traveled to Istanbul for 3 days at the beginning of May with 5 other international students. After those 3 days, I felt like I finally got the lay of the land, at least for the European side. After all, it is a city of 15-20 million people, so I am very thankful that I can find even a few things! We were able to see the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cisterns, Topkapi Palace, the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, and take a Bosphorus cruise. It was a jammed pack 3 days, but totally worth it. When you come to Istanbul, just accept that there will be many tourists at each of these sites, as people from all over the world want to see them.

My cousin got confirmed. I was unable to be a part of the celebrations as I was in Istanbul that weekend, but I did talk to her beforehand.

My sister graduated from college. I was able to watch my sister's ceremony via Skype thanks to my brother. It was hard to be away for these two major events, but I was certainly there in spirit for both of them.

I attended two more orchestra concerts. One with a violinist who also conducted while he played. The other concert had a double bass player play an extremely difficult concerto and he did it amazingly. I basically sat there with my mouth hanging open the whole time. The second half of the performance was a Broadway musical tribute, involving the voice students that attend Bilkent, including one of my classmates, singing songs from West Side Story, Grease, Les Mis, Once, Cats, and Rent. It was so fun to see two of my favorite things collaborate to produce a fabulous show. The audience did not want it to end, so they repeated two songs as encores.

I practiced. A LOT. More than I have ever practiced in my life.

7 Churches Tour - Ephesus Day 2

The next morning we did the main excavated Ephesus, with the Library of Celcus, the Odeon, where music would have been performed and the senators would have met, the site of the temple of Domitian, the bath house and toilets, the terraced houses, and the theater, which was the largest theater in the ancient world when it was at its largest. It could hold over 25,000 people.  I just think of the St. Louis Muny and how it holds 11,000 people and how that feels large to me, and then I go and sit in something more than twice as large. It’s hard to describe visiting a place that you have dreamed about going for so long, that when you’re actually there, it feels like a dream. Did I actually see those sites? I did. I have pictures! There is so much to see at Ephesus. Yet only about 10% of the city has been excavated in the past 100 years of excavations. The excavations are continuing, but, according to archaeologists, it will take hundreds of years to complete the excavation.

The main road in Ephesus

The Temple of Hadrian

Ephesus was also a major port city in ancient times. Constantine thought about making it the capital of the Roman empire but chose the site where Constantinople (now Istanbul) is instead. The river that feeds into the harbor at Ephesus is a very fast river and carries a lot of silt with it, thus filling in the harbor. The city has been moved 5 times to try and keep it close to the water, but to no avail. The city that we know today as Ephesus was the 3^rd rebuilding of the ancient city. Today, the ocean is about 5 miles away from these ruins.

The Library of Celcus

The Theater

The body of believers in Ephesus included many names you will be familiar with: Paul (who spent 3 years here on his second missionary journey), the apostle John, Mary, Jesus' mother, Timothy (who was the pastor/church leader here), Aquila and Priscilla (who traveled with Paul from Corinth to Ephesus and remained here), Apollos (who only knew about the baptism of John and did not know anything about Jesus. Aquila and Priscilla shared with him about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and he became a great evangelist). In the letter to the church, God praises the them for being a very active group of believers, doing many activities. Their problem was that they had lost their first love, meaning they lost the proper motivation for the work they were doing. The church body had their regular routine of activities without any reason behind it, creating a rut. The message is: Remember your love and excitement for the Lord when you first heard the Gospel. If you have all of this motion without the right motivation, your work is not helping anything. Do things not out of obligation or tradition. Do things out of your love for the Lord.

We had lunch at a local restaurant called Bizim Ev (our house), and then went to the Bascilica of St. John, where John is actually buried. This Basilica was built by Justinian and his wife Theodora. They also built the Hagia Sophia. The Basilica of St. John was the second largest, second most grand basilica after the Hagia Sophia during the Byzantine era. Unfortunately, it is in ruins now, but you can still get an idea of how massive it would have been in its glory.

The Basilica of St. John

What the Basilica would have looked like

The view from the altar

Afterwards we went to take a few pictures of the remains of the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient world. There is only 1 pillar left. According to tradition, a man by the name of Herostratus, wanted to become famous, so her set the temple of fire on the same night that Alexander the Great was born. Maybe more of the temple would have remained if this guy would not have had this horrible idea. Regardless, I was still excited to see it, as it is a continuation of my dream to see all 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Temple of Artemis

7 Churches Tour - Smyrna, Ephesus Day 1

Thursday morning we departed for Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey (after Istanbul and Ankara) to visit the ancient city of Smyrna. As with Philadelphia and Thyatira, the current city was built right on top of the old, so only small parts of the old city have been excavated. We went to the ancient Agora, where all of the shopping, selling, and bartering would have taken place. This Agora is unique in that it ascends up the hillside, making 3 tiers or levels of shopping instead of a flat shopping area. Many of the archways have been reconstructed to give the viewer an idea of the beauty of this Agora.

Smyrna was one of the most important cities of the ancient world. It had about 200,000 inhabitants and was a port city. They had a close relationship with Rome at least 100 years before the Roman empire conquered Anatolia (Turkey) as part of their empire. They built temples to Roman gods and emperors to honor of the city of Rome. The Christians in Smyrna were persecuted due to their different beliefs. as they only wanted to worship the One True God. Because the Jewish people had contributed in many ways to the success of the Roman empire, the Roman empire allowed the Jews to only worship their God, so they got a "get jail out of free" card on this issue.

The church body in Smyrna was being persecuted from all sides. Rome persecuted Christians not for what they believed but because the Christians did not worship all the other gods and emperors. Rome wanted to create a vast body of gods for all their subjects to worship, which would unify the empire. They wanted Jesus to be added to this collection. The Christians would not agree with this, thus they were seen as a threat and as traitors to the Roman empire. The Jews wanted to be the only "special" group in the eyes of Rome and did not want to lose their privileges, so they persecuted the Christians.  The Jews in Smyrna would reveal the Christians in Smyrna to the Roman government because they did not like them and what they were teaching. The Lord says to the church in Smyrna “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of Life.” God knew that many Christians in Smyrna would be martyred and wanted to encourage them to remain steadfast in Him. He also tells them that there will be 10 days of persecution. This could be 10 literal days or it could reference something else. It’s fascinating that there were 10 emperors of Rome that were ruthless in their reigns to Christians where persecution was horrible. These include Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimus Severus, Maximum, and, worst of all, Valerin. Eternal death is worse than physical death. Hold on to your faith even in the face of death.

We then drove down to Selcuk, which is modern day Ephesus, and went to the Ephesus Museum, where they have many of the artefacts found at the site of Ephesus, including the famous Artemis statue, and the pieces of the huge statue of Emperor Domitian. It is a very nice museum where everything is being well preserved away from the elements. The hard part is trying to piece together what you see in the museum to where it would have been in the city of Ephesus.

Just to give you an idea of how big
he would have been

We went and had coffee/tea/ice cream in a local coffee house that is owned by a Turkish Christian. The place is called St. John’s coffee shop. I of course got ice cream with fresh strawberries. It was so yummy. The owner was so kind. I am so grateful for the Christian community all around the world. The Lord is indeed good!

Then, my dream came true. We went to a pottery store where they demonstrated how to make pottery on a pottery wheel. Then they asked if anyone would like to try. My hand shot up so fast. I have always wanted to try the pottery wheel, as it is one of the most amazing things to me. Let me tell you, it takes skill. The masters make it look easy. It is hard to control the clay and make it form the exact shape you want. In order to even have a chance, the wheel must be going at a very fast speed, which is hard to keep consistent while your hands are trying to be steady on the pottery. The master potter just spun the wheel while I attempted to make something. Ah! It was so neat! I really want to take a potter class now and use the wheel again. It was so incredible.

Lastly, we visited the House of the Virgin Mary. It is believed that when John came to live in Ephesus, he brought Mary the mother of Jesus with him as he was her caretaker now. John was exiled to Patmos, where he wrote the Book of John and the Book of Revelation. Once Domitian died, the emperor who exiled him, he was allowed to return to Ephesus, where he died. It is believed that Mary would have died here too. There is a house where she could have lived that is now dedicated as a chapel. It is a very reverent place, where I think monks and nuns live to take care of it. They have a tradition where people can write a prayer on a piece of cloth or paper and tie it up on a wall near the house. There is also a stream of fresh, clean, spring water where you can drink the water. I filled up my water bottle here and it tasted good. It is quite a neat site. And only 5 km up the road from the main site of Ephesus, so when you come, you should go and see it.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the chapel,
but this is a picture of what it looks like inside

The prayer wall

Beginning Turkish

In honor of my family arriving in one week, here is your beginning Turkish course, followed by some of my favorite phrases or words that I have learned. I attempted to sound them out for you as accurately as I could:

Hello - Merhaba (Looks like it sounds)
Please - Lütfen (Lewt-fehn)
Thank you - Teşekkür ederim (Te-sheh-kur eh-der-im)
Pardon/ Excuse me - Pardon
Good morning - Günaydın (Gew-nye-duhn)
Good night - Iyi geceler (Eeyee ge-je-ler)
How much is this? -  Kaç lira? (Kach lira)
Where?  - Nerede? (Looks like it sounds)
What time is it?  - Saat kaç? (Sa-aht kach)
Where is the bathroom? - Banyo Nerede? (Looks like it sounds)
OK - Tamam (Looks like it sounds)

Really, all you have to remember when reading Turkish is:
C makes J sound
Ş is SH
Ç is CH
Ü is EW like the German vowel in Für Elise
Ö is I as in "Bird"
I without the dot is like "Uh"

With these under your belt, you can read anything in Turkish, as it is a Phonetic language.

When someone sneezes, you say "çok yaşa," (choke yasha) which literally means "live long"
Anytime someone is about to eat, is eating, or just finished eating, you say to them "afiyet olsun"
(ah-fee-yet ol-sun) which is like Turkey's bon appetit
So-So - söyle böyle (shur-ley bur-ley) It's just so fun to say!
Mr. - Bey (Bay or Bae as my brother would say)

I know there are more, but this is a start for all those wishing to know a little bit of Turkish.

To my family, study hard!

7 Churches Tour- Colossae, Hieropolis, Pamukkale

Last week I had the opportunity to travel with a tour company to visit the 7 churches of the Revelation. This was supposed to be the first post detailing the trip, but somehow it did not publish. Whoops.

Monday morning I woke up very early to meet my tour company, Anatiolian Tours, at Kent Park mall to begin the adventure of visiting the 7 Churches of the Revelation. In the book of Revelation, John is instructed to write to 7 groups of believers in 7 different cities. They all just so happen to be in Turkey! Every day that I am here in Turkey, I become more and more aware of all of the major events that happened in this country, not just in Christian history but in world history.

Day 1 of the trip actually did not involve visiting any of the 7 churches. We drove from Ankara to Pamukkale and visited the cities of Colossae and Hieropolis, along with the natural, limestone formed Hot Springs in Pamukkale. Colossae, the city that the book of Colossians was written to, has not been excavated yet. Instead, the build up of silt and dirt have covered the acropolis in a large mound. Only a few pieces are visible. The only major building that you can see the shape of is the theater. I had no idea that there are still sites that have not been excavated yet. I just assumed that the heyday of archaeology in the early 1900s had found and excavated everything. However, as you will see on this trip with me, many things are being discovered every year. Colossae has not been excavated yet because the Turkish government does not see enough significance of the city's importance to have a group come in and spend all that time and money on an insignificant city, as not much is known about Colossae except for the fact that a book in the Bible is named after it. I have a feeling that eventually it will be excavated, which then I will have to go back to see the city as it would have been. But, even with it just being a mound, it was peaceful with the orchards surrounding it and the mountains in the distance. Note: Anywhere you go in Turkey, expect to see mountains on the horizon. Many have snow on the tops for the majority of the year. Turkey seems to be plains surrounded by hills repeated over and over until you reach a coast line, then it is beach with mountains in the distance. OK, maybe not mountains, but very large hills. Philemon, his slave, Onesimus, and Epaphras, who was in jail with Paul in Rome, were all from Colossae. Paul actually never visited Colossae, but wrote to encourage them none the less.

This trip is giving me a new appreciation for archaeologists. I look at the mound that would have been the acropolis in Colossae and know that every single city now excavated used to look like this. Where do you even begin to dig in such a vast area? How can you piece together small shards of pottery to recreate vases? How do you fit pieces of stone together to rebuild pillars? How do you not destroy what is underneath you as you are digging? It is definitely a long, tedious, and rewarding process.

The city of Hieropolis and the natural pools of Pamukkale make up a UNESCO world heritage site. Hieropolis is not one of the 7 churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation, but there was a group of believers in Hieropolis that is mentioned in the Bible in Paul’s letters to the Colossians. It is a massive city acropolis with temples spread across the hillside. Their theater is one of the best excavated theaters in the world. It is in the hillside and is VERY steep. But it is absolutely stunning,  and the view that it offers of the distant hills is beautiful. One of the Philips, either the apostle or the one who ministered to the Ethiopian, was stoned in Hieropolis after preaching the Gospel to the people of Hieropolis. A few hundred years later, a church,  was built in his honor. Everyone believed that Philip was also buried somewhere in the city of Hieropolis, but his tomb was not located until 2011. Just down the hill from the church there is a tomb that has the name Philip on it. See? Things in history are still being found. They are still doing restoration work on the chapel and tomb. History is still being unearthed!

We then got to walk in the natural hot spring pools of Pamukkale and taste the mineral water from its source. The water tasted like a rock, but it is very good for you as it has so many important nutrients in it. Walking in the pools was something I have been looking forward to doing ever since I came to Turkey. It is one of the most amazing natural beauties I have ever seen. God is certainly creative as he forms each of these unique places.

We then walked through the Necropolis of Hieropolis, which is where all of the rich citizens would have been buried if they were not cremated, which was the more popular thing to do. The most important citizens had huge house like dwellings while others just had a sarcophagus. There was a large Jewish sect in Hieropolis as well with many rich Jewish tombs. While walking through the Necropolis, the sky was absolutely breathtaking. So I took many MANY photos. It was a wonderful day 1.

3 Month Anniversary

Yesterday marked being in Turkey for 3 months! In one more month I will finish out the semester here at Bilkent and in 5 weeks my family will be arriving for our adventure in Turkey! I am very excited to finish school. I am in that final stretch. It is hard, but school is always hard. I am learning and growing immensely.

I would like to report that the weather is actually nice, but, unfortunately, it is still very cold. In fact, on Wednesday night it snowed a little bit! I really want to break out my shorts as it is the end of April, but it's just too cold. There are hints of spring with leaves beginning to form. And the flowers are so beautiful! While walking in Ankara, you get this lovely aroma of the flowers on the trees. Turkey has a lot of pink flowered trees. I will try to get a picture, as they are a very pretty color. Hopefully May will bring the wonderful nice weather.

I have seen many beautiful sunsets over the past few weeks, which is always a calm reminder of God's Love.

Thursday was a national holiday in Turkey, the National Sovereignty and Children's Day. It is a day celebrating the founding of the Turkish Parliament and to celebrate the children of Turkey and of the world. So Bilkent decorated every building with at least one Turkish flag. Here is my dorm and the flag hanging outside of the music building. They were very large flags! All classes were cancelled for the National holiday, but I had to be here for class on Friday, so I did not travel. I just had a relaxing day, which is nice once in a while.

 I was able to attend two concerts this week in the Bilkent Concert Hall. The first was a piano trio (violin, cello, piano) performing a Tchaikovsky piece. This evening I attended the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra performance that commemorated National Children's Day. They performed The Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Carnival of the Animals, and a Disney Medley with the choir students from grades 5-10 who attend the music conservatory. There were so many singers! It was a lovely concert with a reminder that music is fun and brings so much joy to life.

That's all to report for this week. Have a blessed week!