Merhaba!

This is day three or four in Turkey, depending on how you count the night we lost flying over here. It's my third morning waking up in Turkey, so we can go with day three.

Last night was one of the funnest I've had in a long time. When you spend an evening with Bill and Jon, I suppose that's to be expected. But when you throw in a real life Don Quixote, now you've got something cooking. I don't think I can type enough to do the story justice, I'll just have to tell you all about it later.

I've heard there are at least 700 mosques here in Ankara, and yesterday we visited one that is one of the largest in all of Turkey. (I heard it was second largest in the country, then top five, so I don't know exactly. And right now I don't remember its name.) It was fascinating, to say the least. We're going back today during their noonish call to prayer, that will be interesting as well.

A few quick impressions about Ankara. There are people everywhere. All the time. Even late in the evening when it's ridiculously cold out, there are still mobs of people out walking around, heading somewhere, waiting for buses. And they don't seem to be too affected by the cold, which is interesting to me because they have a climate similar to what we have in Maryville - irritatingly cold in the winter, but also very hot in the summer. I know how I feel about the cold, but they seem to have accepted it and moved on. Good for them!

This is my first trip overseas, so I certainly don't have much of a point of reference, but I've been surprised at how much drinking goes on here. I don't mean that in the "drinking" sense, I mean literally. We're constantly having chai tea, even after you've already had tea with your meal, and if you finish it they'll bring you more. They don't recommend you drink the water, but bottled water is available at every street vendor so that's really not a problem.

There are people out begging, which I was expecting, but I didn't know it would be children. Some of them out in the cold sitting on the ground without shoes or socks on. Other kids are out trying to sell you kleenex or other small items, and can be rather pushy about it. I was mildly assaulted by a kid last night, but I only had enough change to pay the bus fare, so I couldn't buy anything from him. I don't think he believed me.

There's also a lot of bread consumed here, which is great. I love bread. The meals seem to be a lot of combinations of chicken or beef with bread, whether it's a loaf or a pita or more like a tortilla. Tomatoes, onions and olives are also common, as well as a few different kinds of cheeses... not like what we typically have at home, but still good stuff.

Another interesting thing I've noticed as that there are almost no overweight people here, at least not out in public. The only ones tend to be older folks. I was told that has to do with them walking a lot and also smoking a lot - which I have noticed as well. We have done plenty of walking, I've been enjoying that. Today we're walking up to a castle where you can see the entire city. That'll provide lots of good video/still footage! (And maybe I can get a shot to south for Jenny!)

I'm slowly picking up a few words in Turkish, although I feel like I'm way behind the rest of the group. I definitely want to practice some before I come back in May, at least now I'll have a better idea of what I need to know.

That's about the end of my random thoughts for this morning, now that I know I have wifi here at the hotel I may try and put a few pictures up this evening. If anyone is wondering, the local time here is eight hours ahead of CST. In the next week we'll also spend some time in Izmir (Biblical Smyrna), Ephesus and Istanbul.

I typed so long, now my chai is cold.