Contrary to what you all may believe, no, I have not dropped off the face of the planet. I have just been really, really busy. I was out of town for three weeks, because I was going all over western Turkey with my fellow exchange students. My trip started out with me and the other students from the Ankara district going to Pamukkale. Pamukkale is famous for their thermal waters that come from their natural hot springs. There are pools full of this thermal water where tourists used to go swimming. However, all the tourists were damaging these pools, and the Turks did not want this natural wonder to die, so now it is forbidden to swim there. However, when we visited Pamukkale, we were allowed to go wading in these mineral water pools, which was fun.
The next place we visited was Hierapolis, an ancient city right next to Pamukkale. Hierapolis is famous for being the biggest necropolis in Turkey, because there used to be a hospital/hospice there. We also paid a visit to Aphrodisias, a city dedicated to Aphrodite. The next day, we went to Kuşadası (bird island) and saw the city of Ephesus. This is the biggest ancient city that has been found in Turkey, and it is incredible. Among the things that have been restored are the Roman theatre and the Library of Celsus, which, amazingly, has been reconstructed from all the original pieces first used to build it in 125 B.C.E. We also visited the site of the Temple of Artemis. Unfortunately, there is really nothing left to see there (only two columns) because during the Byzantine Empire, the Temple was knocked down and the stones were used to construct other buildings, among them, the Hagia Sophia. The last place in the Ephesus region that we visited was the house where Meryemana, or the Virgin Mary, is said to have lived.

After leaving Ephesus, we drove to İzmir, met up with the İzmirian exchange students, and visited Asclapion, an old psychological hospital. No, it was not a hospital for people with mental problems, rather it used positive thinking to help people recover from whatever illness was plaguing them.
The next day we drove to Troy. There isn't much left there, only city walls, but it is really cool to see things that are 5000 years old. They do have the Trojan horse there, but it was under construction when we visited, so that was disappointing. The night before visiting Troy, we stayed in Çanakkale. In the middle of the city, they have the Trojan horse that was used in the film "Troy", and it was neat to see that.
After Troy, we took a ferry across the Dardanelles and drove to Gelibolu, the Turkish name for Galipoli. Gelibolu is famous for being the site of a battle between the Ottomans and the ANZAC forces from Australia and New Zealand.

Our next stop was İstanbul, the place everyone was really excited to visit. On our first day in İstanbul, we saw Kapılıçarşı, or the Grand Bazaar. Kapılıçarşı is huge, it has more than 58 streets and 4,000 shops! I had a good time there, and I managed to convince at least 4 different shop keepers that I was aTurk and that I spoke Turkish! When I was walking through Kaplıcarşı with my other friends, the shop keepers would yell out to us in English, (which was a shock for me, I am used to Turkish people not being able to speak English, so when these shop keepers burst out in English sentences, I was completely taken aback), but when I walked around by myself, the shop keepers yelled out to me in Turkish because they thought I was a Turk. At one shop, the shop keeper thought that I was a teacher and that the other people I was walking around with were my students. I would only talk to the shop keepers in Turkish, so when one man spoke to me in English and I answered in Turkish, he asked me, "Turkçe biliyor musunuz?" (Do you know Turkish) and I replied, "Evet, biliyorum" (yes, I do know). And so, he totally believed that I knew the language fluently, and I continued to haggle with him until I got the price I wanted for a scarf I was buying. Finally, at one of the last shops we visited, the man there asked my friend Matt if I was Turkish. Matt said that I was and the man said "I thought so". So yeah, that was a pretty sweet experience.

The next place we went to was the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque. It was built between 1609 and 1616 for Sultan Ahmet (hence the name). He wanted to build a mosque that would be higher than the Ayasofya (the Turkish name for the Hagia Sophia), however, the architect was not able to do so. Even so, the Sultan Ahmet Mosque is absolutely gorgeous. It is the only mosque in Turkey to have 6 minarets, and the lower level of the interior is lined with more than 20,000 hand painted tiles. It is situated right next to the ancient Hippodrome and the Ayasofya. The Hippodrome was used for horse races during the Byzantine Empire. It was also the site of the Nike riot that took place in 532, during which nearly half the city of Constantinople was either burned or destroyed, and nearly 30,000 people were killed. Located in the Hippodrome are the Obelisk of Theodosius, which was brought to Constantinople from Egypt in 390 and is currently around 3,500 years old, and the Serpentine Column which came from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
Across from the Sultan Ahmet is the Ayasofya. The Ayasofya that exists today is actually the third Ayasofya. The first was built in the 4th century. After it was destroyed, a second was built, but it was destroyed by the Nike riot. The current Ayasofya was built in 537 by the Emperor Justinian. The dome of the Ayasofya is 56 meters high and the interesting thing is, there are no columns on the inside of the building. The Sultan Ahmet is only 43 meters high and it has large columns called "elephant foot columns" supporting the dome. The Ayasofya was first a church, then after the Ottomans defeated the Byzantines in 1453, it became a mosque, and now it is a museum. It is incredibly beautiful. I took pictures of these buildings, and I'll be posting them soon, don't worry.

The next day, the first place we visited was Dolmabahçe Sarayı or Dolmabahçe Palace. It was the residence of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire from 1853 until 1923, which is when the Republic of Turkey began. It's huge, we're talking 285 rooms, 46 halls, and 68 toilets, and it's gorgeous. It's also really important to the Turkish people because, besides being the centre of the Ottoman Empire for 70 years, it is also the place where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk died. I got to see the room where he died, it's part of the museum.
After visiting Dolmabahçe, we went on a tour of the Boğaz (Bosphorus), which is the strait between the European and Asian sides of Turkey. After that, we went to Taksim Square, which is a district full of shops and restaurants. It's most famous street, İstiklâl Caddesi (Independence Street), is hugely popular and is visited by nearly 3 million people a day during the weekends.

The next day, we went to the Spice Bazaar, which is called Mısır Çarşısı (Egyptian Bazaar) in Turkish. The shops there are filled with tea, spices, lokum (Turkish delight), and herbs, so, consequently, it smells amazing. Our next destination was Topkapı Sarayı or Cannongate Palace. This palace was used by the Sultans from 1465 until 1853, which is when Dolmabahçe Sarayı was built, because the Sultans wanted a more modern, European style residence. Now, Topkapı is a museum where you can see the items belonging to the Sultans, such as their jewellery, armor, and weapons. There is one set of rooms that house relics that are believed to be from the prophet Mohammed, among them are his teeth, hair, and sword. There is also someone in the room with these relics reciting the Koran 24/7. It was really beautiful.

The next day we saw Süleymaniye Mosque. It was built in the 1550's and it was also meant to compete with the Ayasofya. When measured from its base, Süleymaniye is taller than the Ayasofya, but from the ground level, the Ayasofya is taller. Nevertheless, Süleymaniye is a stunning building.

That day was our last in İstanbul, the next day we drove to Ankara. Ankara had received a large amount of snow while we were in İstanbul, so on our way there, we stopped and had a 35 person snowball fight, which was really fun. In Ankara we saw Anıtkabir and the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. That night, I was supposed to go back to Afyon, but I still had another week of break left and I didn't want to go back, so I managed to get permission to go to İzmir for a week, and instead I went back on the train with the İzmir exchange students. That trip was not so fun. Driving from Ankara to İzmir only takes 8 or 9 hours, but, for some reason, going by train takes 13 hours. And this was a fast trip, the last time the İzmir students went from Ankara to İzmir (after the Kapadokya trip), the train ride was 16 hours long.
In İzmir, I stayed with my friend Hannah, who lives in a part of the city called Alsancak. Tim and Kaleigh, who live in Marmaras and Bursa, respectively, were also staying in İzmir for a few days before going back home, so we got Jorgan (who also lives in Alsancak) to show us around the city.
While walking around, we found a stand selling lokma, which are these round doughnuts fried in grease. They are a traditional food in the western part of Turkey, that are given out after someone dies. These stands are set up, and anyone who happens to be passing by can get in line and receive free lokma. It is delicious, I wish it existed in Afyon. That day we got some happy news: Tim's dad is one of the coaches for the Colts, so when we found out that the Colts had won the Super Bowl, it was really exciting. That night, we all went to see the movie Kanlı Elmas (Blood Diamond). It was really good, I highly recommend it.

So, I spent an extra week hanging out with my friends in İzmir, which was really nice. İzmir is Turkey's third largest city, with over 3 and a half million people, and, because it is right on the coast, the weather is gorgeous. It was sort of a let down to come back to Afyon and see all the half melted snow and have the freezing temperatures again. But, at the same time, it was nice to be home. This past week was our first of the second semester, my schedule changed a bit, but nothing too drastic. My English teacher changed, unfortunately, and I don't think that this new teacher knows English quite as well as my last teacher did, but we will see.

I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting so long for this post. I would have had it up yesterday, but my family surprised me with a trip to Sandıklı last night. I hope you enjoyed my description of my vacation, and I will have pictures to accompany it up soon! (hopefully...)