Catching up.

Well I realize I have been doing a horrible job up keeping up with this blog. I could say that it's because of my massive homework load, or the fact that I have 2 days to finish an entire Richter Grant proposal, but it's really most likely because I'm just having too much fun.

In the past few weeks so much has happen. The most important of which is my birthday ha. I found it rather strange making birthday plans when I am so far away from home, and the people that I normally spend my birthday with. However it was still a wonderful birthday. I was surprised by Carrie and Jessica, who had decorated Carries entire living room with balloons and such. We then proceeded to make macaroni and cheese (which was a failure), and order some pizza. Overall a pretty American evening.

Last weekend I got to feel like an actual tourist for the first time since I have arrived. We went to Hagia Sofia, and the Blue Mosque, and then The Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar afterwards. It was so amazing to see monuments that I have studied in my Art History classes in real life. I could talk about how beautiful they all were, but I'll just give you some photos so you can see for yourself.

Hagia Sofia 

Being a tourist

And again

Blue Mosque

Inside of the Blue Mosque

Inside of the Hagia Sofia

Inside of the Hagia Sofia 

Being surprised on my birthday!

Family photo after going to the market on my birthday.

Yummy desserts 

The sneaky decorators 

Cappadocia!

To make up for my lack of posts recently, I decided to appease you with some stories of my adventures in Cappadocia this past weekend. For those of you that don't know what Cappadocia is... Wiki it. Simply put, it is known for its awesome rock houses, and other cool lookin' rocks. Here's a picture to give you a clue: 

We took one of those extra uncomfortable buses for 10 hrs in order to get to Cappadocia. Sleeping on a bus is definitely on my list of things to never do again. On our first day we went to an open air museum (as seen in the picture above) and looked at many different churches inside of the rocks. Considering this whole day was a blur of exhaustion and the overwhelming desire to shower, I can't recall exact details of what we did, or in what order. I only remember the DELICIOUS vegetarian dinner that we had. Probably had dreams about those turkish mashed potatoes. 

The next day we all decided to rent motor bikes and ride them around the town. I had to drive one. For those of you that know me well enough, you can probably infer how that experience went. But it was fun. Now I'm even more motivated to buy a motorcycle. 

After that we drove to see some of the most famous outlooks in Cappadocia. Some of the rocks had questionable shapes, but others were so beautiful they would take your breath away. 

In the evening, we went to our first traditional Turkish night. This basically consisted of unlimited alcohol, and a show. I will admit that the alcohol definitely helped with the bizarre things that happened during the show. It consisted of whirling dervishes, belly dancers, and other random dancers doing strange things. 

We ended the trip with a trip to an underground city. It was highly claustrophobic, and resembled something out of The Decent. Especially the "grave" room. Afterwards, Patrick attempted to play ball with some of the local kids..unfortunately, he started a brawl instead. All because one of the kids took the other kids ball. They ran away whenever I tried to take pictures, so I couldn't document the punch-fest.  

To wrap it up, this trip was definitely something I will never ever forget. I got to travel somewhere I never would have been able to go on my own. It was pretty magical. 

Not to mention I met some pretty awesome people.... but this guy was definitely the coolest.