History Lesson

---

I know you are all probably wondering why i havent updated for a while. i would like to tell you that i have just been to busy hanging out with people from othercountries and playing great volleyball. this is not the case however. i have actually had what is most likely a little bacterial infection from somthing i ate. i am feeling much better now but i am still a little low on energy. the doc. said somthing like this has been going around but i was the worst one he had seen. so it goes i have alot to update you all on now so i will start with our exciting day off and they tell you how our tournament is going.
Rather than take ıt easy on our day off we all decıded to go out and do somethıng tourısty. we ended up goıng to the ancıent ruıns of Ephesus. It was one of the three largest cıtıes ın Turkey ın the 3rd and 2nd centurıes. It was also very near a church that ıs saıd to have been the house of the vırgın Mary and where she spent her years after Jesus' death. The house of the vırgın mary was the fırst stop on our tour but first we had to endure an hour and a half bus rıde on a bus that was just big enough for everyone to fit. I was not sure what to expect as we pulled ınto the gates that guarded the entrance of a parkıng lot that had about 15 taxıes and 4 tour busses packed ın ıt. athough ıt was very crowded and there were mulıtple tours goıng on ıt was a very unıque experıence. we were able to walk through the restored house ( ıt ıs now a small church/ temple) where Mary ıs saıd to have lıved. walkıng through such a place ıt ıs hard to deny that somethıng was dıfferent as soon as we walked ın the doors. All ı could thınk of whıle ın the church was how humblıng ıt was to be ın such a place. we then walked down some stone steps off to the sıde and went around so that we were ın front of the church but facıng a 10 ft stone wall. set ın the wall was three arches that went to the ground. at about waıst heıght ın the mıddle of each arch was a small foucet wıth runnıng water. our guıde told us that each foucet was tapped ınto water that ran dırectly under the church. ıt had not been proccessed or cleaned and yet was good to drınk. ıt was also saıd that the water had healıng qualıtıes wıth a few storıes to back thıs claım up. furthermor each arch had a specıfıc type of holy water that would bless you wıth Health, Love, and Money. We all had a lıttle drınk from each arch.
after spending some time in one of the merchent shops near the entrance we made our way to the ruins of Ephesus. being a history major i was more excited about this then the rest of the guys but that quickly changed. the ruins were amazing!!! our tour guide told us about the city and how people would have lived with a background of the actual city to supliment her stories. the Ruins were nothing like a museum. we were able to walk on, around, and and even touch anything we wanted. i sat on a 4 thousand year old tolit, climed around in a ancent ampetheater, and walked into the library were the first book was ever invented. I used to think that people today could build luxurious homes, but we have nothing on the people of Ephesus. there was marble walls, marble floors, even some of the streets were paved in marble. rather than just build an entrance to a building that looked cool, they would carve stories and myths that told of their heros and gods. i cannot go into total detail about everything because you would all be reading for the next few days but it was pretty cool.
since we were not sun burned enough from standing in the sun at the ruins we decided that a trip to the beach would be in order. it was only a little bit of a drive and we were all looking forward to getting in the water. When we got there and jumped in, my best guess is that, the temp. of the water was close to 80 degrees. athough it was nice to get wet the temp was not quite as refreshing as we had all hoped and the saltness of the water left us all feeling a bit dry. the only solution to a sun burned skin and salty hair is to find the nearest watering hole which happend to be right on the beach. in this little oasis we all enjoyed a tall glass of the local brew which made all of us feel much better. all in all it was a nice little day off.
Our tournament thus far has not been as nice. after going 3and 2 in our pool we got knocked down to the lower bracket which means the highest we could place is ninth. our first match in this bracket was Korea who we beat in three. then we met up with Russia yesterday. This is when i was feeling terrible but i managed to get up enough to start the first game. it was close but we lost 22 - 25. i would have liked to keep playing but i was definetly not 100% so the rest of the match was out of my hands. we ended up losing in 4 so now the highest we can place is 11th and thats only if we beat belgum tonight. They were in our pool and we lost to them early so it will be nice to have some revenge. i will let you all know how it goes and keep you all informed as things wind down here in Turkey. thats all for now.

---