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Lunch Lady
Thıs ıs the lady that made our lunch... ıt was lıke a flat bread wıth cheese ınsıde 5/21/08
7:40 came really early this morning only to get on a bus for 5 hours. Kitalah is the town where we stopped to stay the night on our way to Antalyia. Lets just say that the hotel we stayed in reminded me of a 1 star hotel that one might find in Mexico. Each wall was painted a bright color, we had 3 single beds pushed together on a king-size headboard, and the bathroom floors were DIRTY. Did I mention that there was NO AIRCONDITIONING!!! The weather is cool at night, but I was looking forward to sleeping in a hotel with air-conditioning. SO after another not so fine Turkish buffet full of cheese, meatballs, cucumber and tomatoes all I wanted was a hot shower. On the wall in the shower there was a sign and all I could read was the number 15, so I figured it meant that 15 minutes was the max amount of time you could be in the shower before the water became cold WRONG it was cool the whole time. I found out two days later that it said that the water must run for 15 minutes and then it will be hot.
Who would have thought?
5/22/08
We got up at 6:00 AM to have breakfast and get back on the road again for another 7 hours to Antalaya. Breakfast was at the hotel and once again it was a not so fine buffet at the hotel. Can you tell we are getting tired of the food here and want some home cooking? The bus driver agreed to stop at a McDonald’s for lunch, however, there was nothing but fields, mountains, and small towns on the way. What a letdown! We arrived at the hotel at 4:00PM and had to be dressed and ready for the opening ceremony that was at 4:30 PM. We should have taken lunch on the road if we’d known the schedule would be so tight. Opening ceremony was a very grand production. It was in a fairly large conference room and had a huge projection screen that showed the speaker up close and other information. A procession of banners started the ceremony it was good entertainment. The meeting was in Turkish, so it was pretty rough staying awake. When we found the Turkish GSE team they gave us each a headset that was
Our fırst hotel
Here ıs a pıc of our fırst hotel... the one that had three sıngle beds and you had to let the water run for 15 mınutes before ıt got hot translating the meeting which made it a LITTLE better. We were tired from traveling. Dinner was following the opening ceremony. Guess what it was… a buffet full of all of the Turkish food that anyone could want. We were pleased because we had more choices! Our presentation was at noon the following day and we still needed to prepare our “dance”. My team gathered in one of our rooms to practice the Mardi Gras Dance that we would be doing after our presentation. By this time it was after midnight so it was time to rest. Did I mention that this hotel is much nicer (5 stars in Turkey) but doesn’t have air conditioning that goes below 80, or blow-dryers that are only 700W (I’m used to 1500W at least) and don’t have irons. It does have beach access and a lazy river that goes all around the hotel. There are several thousand rooms ın thıs one HUGE hotel. Overall it is VERY NICE!!!!! I wıll let you know more after I have a chance to look around more.. maybe tomorrow
5/23/08
Our team met at 10:30 AM this morning to set up our table
We made pottery
The owner of the hotel had a shop that made pottery and we got to make somethıng with some of our business cards, pamphlets, pecans, pralines, and some Mardi Gras beads. We gave out a few beads and next thing we knew they were like vultures seeking prey. Some would come over and ask for a set others would just start grabbing them out of your hands. The men thought it was funny at first and wanted to make sure that the beads weren’t well lets say flamboyant but then they ALL wanted some. We needed to save some for after we did our presentation and Mardi Gras dance, but we could barely hang on to them. It was nice to see the smiles on their faces and to see so many people wearing the beads. Giving the beads definitely broke the nervous energy that our group was feeling about the presentation. I think there are 1500 people at this conference, so we were going to be presenting in the same large room where the opening ceremony was. The nervousness was for nothing because it was just like the other presentations but BIGGER and BETTER. We wore Mardi Gras masks for the little dance and handed out beads after the presentation. The crowd really got into it.
Thıs ıs the remaıns of an old Castle
We saw the remaıns of an ancıent cıty here We were looking forward to some down time after the presentation but we were WRONG about that. Someone scheduled a city tour for us. It ended up ok because we got to see some really cool stuff, but it was not what we thought we would be doing. Our first stop was the Apollo Theater. This Roman theater still has performance done in it during the summer. They are not allowed often because the people and the traffic cause the remains to weather. It is absolutely AMAZING how people so long ago could build such massive structures without the technology that we have today and that they survived for so many years. Side was our next stop. Due to time restraints we were unable to walk through the remains of this old town. Along the road we could see the remains where old shops used to be. They had workshops in the back with an open front that was along the road allowing shoppers to see their products as they walked by. A coliseum could also be seen here. Once we made it to the parking lot we walked along the sea around the peninsula. The water was blue and
somewhat clear. Our walk led us to some old columns that were still standing from many centuries ago. It was dinner time when we got back to the hotel. The buffet had hundreds of choices, but I had a hard time finding something that I liked. Dinner was followed by a few drinks and some dancing. Our friends from Luleburgaz were at the disco so we were able to do a little socializing.
5/24/08
We FINALLY got a little bit of free time, but had to wake up at 7:00AM to get it. Our hotel is on the Mediterranean Sea and we hadn’t made it to the beach yet. If waking up early is what it takes WE WILL DO IT. Of course the sun was out, but it was overcast at this time of day. We didn’t let the cloudiness stop us however! We were able to get a little bit of sun and swim in the Sea. The water was very cold at first, but we got used to it quickly of course. There were many pebbles on the beach and on the bottom of the water. There was sand too, but mostly pebbles. We
The old theater
Concerts are stıll held here durıng the summer had to eat lunch at 2:00 with the international representatives and their wives. They travel around the world and represent the national governor of Rotary (I think its something like that). It was borıng because they talked to each other about Rotary busıness whıle we sat there. We have a banquet for dinner tonight, so that leaves us a few hours to rest or get caught up on emails. Guess what I’m doing…
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Erika
non-member comment
Hello
Sarah, I have enjoyed reading all your blogs. I talked to Ronnie just yesterday and said I haven't received one in a while. I know they are keeping you very busy there, and well fed! I wish I coud send you some crawfish or a delicious I Hop breakfast. What you are experiencing is great and will always be remembered. But I think there is no place like home. I wish you well and hope to see you soon. Erika