Matt and I decided to take a break from Tarsus and campus life last weekend and head off to Cappadocia (also spelled Kapadokya). This area of Turkey is famous for locals and international travelers alike. The topography of this area is like nothing else. The region was originally formed from the volcano Eregies erupting and consequently forming an entire landscape of soft rock formations. Not quite mountains or hills, these formations are tall and their colour can range from white, rose, tanned to grey. What's most interesting about Cappadocia is the cave houses where communities have hist [View Full Entry]

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Matt and I rented a car this past weekend and got access to the school's mountain house. This mountain house (in the Camliyayla region, Southern Turkey) is over one hundred years old. The former missionaries and directors have all stayed in this house throughout their time at TAC (Tarsus American College). One can see how old the house is by the way the doors are designed, the locks are installed, the way the windows open and close and the fireplaces in nearly every room. At the moment and due to no one from the school using it for a long time, [View Full Entry]

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Oriana and I had a 4 day weekend (yeah!), so we decided to go to a little beach town close by. Due to the fact that it was the last 'summer' holiday, a lot of Turks decided to do the same. Luckily we were able to get a room at a nice hotel that is ran by an American. We arrived in Kizkalesi, checked in to the Angel Saadet Hotel and were talking to the owner, Patrick. When we got on to the topic of where everybody was from, it quickly came out that we grew up in neighboring counties. [View Full Entry]

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This weekend was our second teacher training conference. I have to say though, there didn't seem to be much teacher training going on during this get away! We drank a lot of Rakia (similar to Uzo) and took lots of naps under palm trees. As a group (new teachers and admin.), we pilled into a bus on Saturday and drove along the beautiful Mediterranean coast from Tarsus to just past Kizkelici to a resort called Pine Park. My favorite part of the bus trip was how often we stopped for a "Turkish brake". It was important that we stop about every [View Full Entry]

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Oriana and I traveled to Istanbul for a new Teacher Orientation offered by organization Oriana works for. It was a 3 day event with a combination of class time and sight seeing. We went to the Ayasofya, which was built around 500 AD. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years. The large dome on it changed the history of architecture. It was built as a Christian church, then was used as a Mosque, and now it is a museum. After that we went to the largest cistern in Istanbul. Due to the fact that the [View Full Entry]

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Oriana wrote: Well, Matt and I have been in Tarsus, Turkey for less then a week but we can say that so far so good...we like it! The local residents are quite nice and respectful toward foreigners (as we are toward them). I feel good travelling with Matt or without him around town. Tarsus is considered a quiet seaside town in southern Turkey. Not too much going on so it's great to work here and save money. We received a warm welcome from the school when we arrived last week. All the administration staff from the school got our money, visas [View Full Entry]

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