Making Memories: It's Turkey Time!!! :)

Alrighty everyone...it’s about time I make the blog post about Turkey I’ve been wanting to make all week (we went to Turkey last week, the 16th-22nd). This week has been so hectic, but I’m finally forcing myself to record a very brief summary of all the things we did in Turkey (and add a few pictures) so that I don’t continue to get further behind. Turkey was wonderful in SO many ways and we did SO many things there and saw SO many places...I’ll only be able to scratch the surface in this summary. But hopefully you can all get an idea of some of the experiences we had.

Sunday:

We traveled (bus ride to airport, flight to Istanbul), and met our tour guide for the week...Yasemin. She was the sweetest girl, and had so much knowledge about everything we saw! But she was really good about not boring us with all the details - she kept it concise. :) She also had SUCH a great accent and a few cute phrases that I absolutely loved. We called her our “Turkish Delight” because we all adored her by the end of the week. We checked into our hotel that night - and let me just take this opportunity to say how amazing our hotels were all week. First of all, we had different roommates on this trip than we do at the JC, and my roommate was Liesl. I loved getting to know her better - she’s such a sweetheart and it was fun to room with her. We struggled with figuring out how to use the lights (Turkey does a few things different than the U.S.) but it was an adventure! The hotels we stayed in though, were so nice! Especially two of them (in the middle of the week). They were beach-side resorts. Five-star hotels. I felt like a celebrity. Definitely nicer places than I’ve ever stayed on vacation and I LOVED being right on the beach. It was heaven. Also...the food all week was really good! I tried a lot of new things, but overall was really impressed. Again I felt like a celebrity because of how much they spoiled us (with the hotels and restaurants we stayed at). Anyways...enough about that. I’ll give you a quick summary of each day!

Monday:

On Monday we spent the day in Istanbul but did SO many things. Something I didn’t know before we went to Turkey was that Istanbul is part of two continents. Part of it is in Asia, and part of it is considered Europe. Pretty cool huh? So I can officially say I’ve been in Europe now! We visited the Hippodrome, Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern, and the Blue Mosque. I don’t have time to go into details about each of them, but I have to mention the Blue Mosque. This place was INCREDIBLE...possibly the neatest site we went to during the whole week. It’s a gorgeous building from the outside (it looks like a castle)...but the inside...wow. Possibly the most beautiful building. As we walked in the doors I immediately caught my breath. It was not only HUGE but it was just so spectacular. Blue tiles (in different designs) covered the walls and ceilings of the mosque. To think of the time and effort it must have taken to have such intricate details is really neat.

On Monday we also went to the Grand Bazaar...this is a HUGE outdoor mall (basically) with soo many things to look at and buy. We only had an hour to walk around, so I was just overwhelmed and couldn’t even decide what to get (besides a cheap T-shirt). There was SO much. I wish we had more time there! Probably my favorite part of the whole day though...our private boat ride down the Bosphorous Strait (dividing Asia and Europe). We were on the ship for about two hours, and I loved every second of it. The scenery was incredible (I still can’t believe how beautiful Turkey is...), and the weather was perfect. It was also fun to be able to move around and talk to everyone (much easier than on the bus rides). I love the sun, I love the water, I love friends, and I love traveling. So it was the perfect combination of all four :) Oh and I tried my first “Turkish Delight” on board as well. Here are a few pics from the day! :)

Lauren, me and Hollie...with our scarves outside the Blue Mosque :)

Inside the Blue Mosque...doesn't do it justice.

The outside of the Blue Mosque...

Turkey!

Alta and I on the boat ride :)

Pretty neat pic, if I do say so myself...

Tuesday:

Tuesday was a lot of fun! (Oh - and it was my close friend Cal’s birthday. Pretty sweet that he got to celebrate it with all of us, here in Turkey!!) We were on the bus for quite a while, but then got to have lunch right in the harbor, near the water. Then we headed to....Troy! Yep...Troy! I actually appreciated my Humanities class (never thought I’d say that!) because I remembered what I had learned about the Trojan War. It was really fun to take lots of pictures in the “Trojan Horse”. :)

We then headed to Gallipoli. This was neat because I didn’t know anything about the Battle of Gallipoli or ANZAC (the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), and learned a lot. Remembrance of this battle is meaningful and significant to Turks as well as to Australia and New Zealand. We had the chance to walk through a cemetery right on the shoreline. There was a reverence and gratitude felt there that was really neat. Even though I don’t know those people, and I’m ignorant to the details of the battle, and I never experienced it...I was humbled to be there, and grateful for all the lives that were sacrificed. It really helped me appreciate those who serve in the military, for any country. Seeing the tombstones with loving messages from grieving family members helped me realize that it’s not matter what nation we are in, human suffering is the same around the world. Lives lost in other nations are just as valuable as lives lost in our nation. I felt compassion and sadness for the family members of those who gave their lives in that battle, as well as those who have given their lives for their country in ANY battle throughout history. It’s something I’ve definitely taken for granted...

We then took a ferry ride across the water and checked into a different hotel. This one was SO neat. Right on the beach, super good food, and I have LOTS of wonderful memories here...:) Before dinner, we had some free time to swim (in the Aegean Sea!!!). The water was freezing but we all jumped in and goofed around and had a BLAST. Seriously...so much fun! I love the people here with me so much, and we have all become so close already.

After dinner...umm...I got “officially” engaged!!!! For anyone outside of my family or very closest friends, this is a complete shock. Sorry everyone’s been kinda kept out of the loop. Most of you haven’t even heard anything about Dallin. I don’t even know how to explain this! A VERY quick summary of what’s happened:

Dallin and I were assigned seats next to each other on the flights to Jerusalem (from Salt Lake). We hit it off and became friends right away, but didn’t think much more of it than that. Neither of us were looking for a relationship during this semester (actually, quite the opposite!) and falling in love with someone here (and so quickly) was definitely not in our plans. As Dallin says, “Heavenly Father set us up!” Over the course of the last month...so many little signs and confirmations and experiences have shown us that even if this wasn’t in OUR plans, it was definitely in His. We both think it’s crazy when people get engaged after knowing someone for a short amount of time, but in all honesty...it didn’t take us long at all to realize that we wanted to get married. Everything has fallen into place perfectly. We have both been being prepared and molded up until this point, so that we could meet each other, in this setting, at this time, and fall in love. It has been the craziest, happiest, best ride of my life. We are going to get married on December 29th (two weeks after we get home from Jerusalem!) and could not be more excited. I have never been more grateful, happy, excited, or at peace in my life. I can’t wait for all of you to meet Dallin...you’ll fall in love with him just like I have. I know this paragraph really isn’t fair (to go from not even knowing this guy exists, to finding out I’m marrying him in 3 months) but I just don’t have time to tell all the details...but please please please email me (kassiejo4@gmail.com) if you have questions. I’d love to tell you more :) I could talk about “the best (and craziest!) love story” for hours. Maybe I’ll make a “Dallin” blog post soon - and talk more about him and our story. Needless to say...September 18th was a very wonderful day!

Our wonderful faculty in the Trojan Horse! :)

Gallipoli.

Erin and I on the shore by the cemetery.

At our beach-side hotel. I LOVE the beach!

Me and some of my friends, about to jump into the Aegean Sea! :)

So many gorgeous sunsets during this trip...:)

And now the pics you've all been waiting for...haha. Here's a couple of Dallin and I! I have TONS of pics of us (everyone is more than willing, always offering to take pics of us) but I'll save most of them for my "Dallin" post. haha

Dallin and the luckiest girl in the world!

Wednesday:

Wednesday we went to Assos and Pergamum. Both really neat sites, with incredible views! It was neat to learn more about the history of the places as well as the doctrine of the correlating scriptures, in the exact place that these events took place. The city of Assos is on top of a steep hill overlooking the Aegean Sea. Assos (as well as many of the other sites we visited) was one of the places Paul visited during his ministry. We were able to take a lot of pictures here which was nice (normally we were kinda rushed for time).

Pergamum was really cool! We got to ride a tram up the mountain to get to it. The theater here is built on a very steep slope, and contains around 10,000 seats - it’s the steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world. The Temple of Athena was at this site too (Well...at least some of the column bases anyways).

Also, today on the bus Dallin publicly announced our engagement. We got it on video, and I can’t wait to watch it again because it was great! Seeing our professor’s face was priceless - I’ll never forget the shocked, stunned look he had all night. Some of our close friends here were in on the “secret” and have known for a while about our plans to get married, but others (including this professor) didn’t know anything (besides the fact that we were together 18 hours a day...) So it was fun to surprise everyone with the exciting news. Even though some were shocked (and it’s crazy how fast it happened), everyone has been so excited and happy and supportive. I think it’s because they can all see how perfect we are for each other, and how happy we are. And they understand how fast you can get close in a setting like this. Yes, it’s crazy to get engaged 3 weeks after meeting, but when you consider that you’ve spent almost 400 hours together in those three weeks...it becomes a LITTLE less crazy....:)

Wednesday and Thursday night we got to stay in a really fancy hotel (again on the beach)...and my room was practically on the roof - it had an incredible view! I could happily live on the beach for the rest of my life...

Cal, Emily, Kalen, Sarah, and me :)

Me and Liesl, my roomie for the week! :)

On the tram ride down, we all sang Hercules songs - good times! :)

Thursday:

Thursday we went to Ephesus and Miletus! I know I say this about every day but these were some of the neatest sites of the week! Ephesus is absolutely incredible. It was neat to get an idea of what the city actually looked like back then, since so much of it has been uncovered and restored(Rather than a lot of sites which only had a few standing structures left).

I loved Miletus because of the relating scriptures we talked about. Acts chapter 20 is about Paul speaking to the people he has grown to love, in Miletus, once last time before he leaves. He knows this is the last chance he has to be with them. He shares his love with them, he warns them of apostasy and falling away from the Lord, and he invites them to follow the Savior. Then, the last 3 verses of the chapter, “And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him. Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.” This is such a touching moment for me, because the love and compassion that Paul had for these people (and which they reciprocated for him) is so evident in these verses. Bro. Judd shared these thoughts with us, and then we faced the direction his ship would have sailed off in, and sang the hymn “God Be With You Til We Meet Again”. I really felt the spirit testify that these were REAL people, experiencing REAL feelings, in these REAL places. They aren’t just stories we read in the scriptures. I’m so grateful for the chance we had to study the ministry of Paul in these different places. I want to continue studying his life, because there is so much we can learn from him. He was an incredible missionary and disciple of Christ.

Ephesus!

Look familiar? Look at the picture in your scriptures of Ephesus...same shot!

Me, Mikele, and Erin! :)

Me on my "throne" - commanding the people! :)

I had to throw this pic in. All of us goofing off in the resort's pool.

Andrew's a champ at synchronized swimming! :) Soooo funny to watch!

Friday:

On Friday we went to Sardis. Sardis is one of the 7 churches of Asia Minor (from the Book of Revelation). Side note: We visited 5 of the 7 during our week in Turkey! Pretty neat. :) Sardis was neat because it containes arcaeological remains from a large Roman bath and gymnasium complex, as well as a courtyard for games and exercises. So of course the guys had to take wrestling pictures there :) We also visited Thyatira (another of the 7 churches) as well the Grand Mosque. The mosques here in Turkey are incredible...I loved going inside them! Wish I had more time to write more about all of these incredible places, but I really want to get this posted...

Ellen and I at Sardis :)

A pillar from the Temple of Artemis

Grand Mosque!

Really unique, but I loved it. Especially the Arabic on the walls.

Saturday:

Saturday was our last day in Turkey! We got to go to the Hagia Sophia (finally!) back in Istanbul. This incredible mosque was the largest church in the world for nearly a thousand years. Pictures just don’t do it justice...it was MASSIVE. And absolutely incredible...both on the outside and on the inside. Another neat thing about it was that when the Ottomans converted the building into a mosque, they covered the Christian art with plaster. The plaster however, ironically preserved the mosaics rather than destroying them, so they’ve been able to uncover the plaster, to see the original mosaics again. So neat!

We also went to Nicea (modern Iznik). This is where the famous Council of Nicea took place, and where the Nicene Creed was formed. I’ve heard/learned so much about this Creed, that it was neat to be in the location it took place, and learn more about it.

Another random highlight from the day...I tried “chewy/sticky ice cream”!! It’s a special kind of ice cream they have here in Turkey...it’s thicker than normal ice cream, and kind of stretches. Hard to explain, but I couldn’t pass it up. I loved it! :) Saturday night we travelled home, and got back to the JC at 4:00 a.m. SUCH an incredible week in Turkey - I loved every second of it.