Last Wednesday, I went on a field trip with my school. We went to this place called the Frig Vadisi, which is kind of like a mini-Kapadokya. I saw some really ancient rock formations there, as well as some caves and tombs that were used by the Byzantines and Hittites. I don't know very much history about what I saw, because the öğretmen (teacher) explained everything in Türkçe (Turkish in Turkish), but just seeing it was amazing. One thing that I did learn about, however, was this beautiful palace that we saw. It was built in 1434 and we saw the entrance hallway and the rooms used for guests. We also saw the stables that were used to house the visitors' camels.
There were people on this trip from the entire school, both afternoon and morning students. So, I got to meet more new people, which made the trip even more fun.

On Friday, I went with Semra and Fettah to Mersin. Semra's sister, my teyze (aunt) Minoş, and my amca (uncle) Mesut live there. Mersin is a seaside city and I could see the ocean from my teyze and amca's house. There is an exchange student there, Daniel (who is from Mexico), and who I met during my trip to Kapadokya. I got to see him while I was in Mersin and he showed me around the city. It was cool to have my own personal tour guide and really awesome to be able to spend time with another exchange student.

It was really warm in Mersin, but when I got back to Afyon, it was freezing. In fact, it snowed here for the first time on Friday. Afyon is one of the coldest places in western Türkiye and I am told that it snows a lot here during the winter.

Today was a special day for me: I understood an entire conversation for the first time. It was between me and Gulderen, and it was a very short conversation, but still, I understood the entire thing!

Well, I hope that everyone's November is off to a good start. Happy Birthday Daniel!