Turkey #3

Two other places we visited were the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The Blue Mosque is famous for the blue tiles inside, and Hagia Sophia was originally an Orthodox church, then a mosque, and finally a museum. I really enjoyed touring Hagia Sophia - we bought an audio guide and went through most of the different parts of the museum to learn about the history and many interesting facts. We took lots of pictures too!

 In the Blue Mosque - behind us is where the men pray, (front of the church) 

and where we are standing is for women

 The blue tiles in the center and supporting domes

Outside of Hagia Sophia - the original church building is to the right side of the picture, and the two towers on the left were added when it became a mosque

One of the many Christian mosaics uncovered when Hagia Sophia became a museum 

I love this picture - it shows the size of the museum,

and the huge Christian and Islamic symbols close to each other

Turkey #2

The second day in Turkey, we went to see Topkapi Palace, where the Turkish sultans lived for 400 years. We walked through the various courtyards and rooms of the palace as well as the harem. On Tuesday, our third day, we took a Turkish cooking class at a hotel! This was one of my favorite things we did! The food in Turkey has much more spice than the food in Lithuania - not terribly different, just very flavorful! The others in our cooking group as well as our instructor were very friendly - we had a lot of fun cooking, talking and eating together for about 4 hours!

Inside Topkapi Palace

In the harem at Topkapi Palace - we rented an audio guide to learn more

Some of the beautiful tiles inside the palace - they were everywhere!

Cutting green beans in cooking class

me, Bethany and Susie posing for a quick picture - check out the cool aprons! 

Sadly, though, we didn't get to keep them.

The whole group

We made Goshen, Indiana connections with both of the other couples in the class! 

(oh, to be a Mennonite!)

Turkey #1

I will dedicate several posts to our fall break trip in Turkey - we have soooooo many pictures! Overall our travels went smoothly, and included funny stories, good food, beautiful sights and much more. The first day we left Klaipeda at 3am from the bus station, and got to Turkey at about 12 hours later. We immediately checked into our hotel and went out exploring. Here's a few pictures from our first evening.

Waiting at the bus station (I'm imitating a turkey)

Bethany and I with our first meal - various salads, chicken, couscous and rice

Susie holding a spicy lamb/beef kabob - this was our favorite!

Many stores had baklava and Turkish delight displayed in the windows

We went to see the whirling dervishes our first evening as well

(Whirling is a method used by the Sufis to get closer to their god)

pumpkin party

Tonight Bethany and I organized a pumpkin party! We ate pumpkin chili, cornbread with jalapenos and cheese, and pumpkin chocolate cheesecake. We also carved pumpkins and played a game. It was especially fun because today was the last day before fall break, and so everyone was very relaxed and excited for the upcoming week. (I'm going to ISTANBUL!!!!)

Levi and John after enjoying pumpkin chili

scooping out the insides of the pumpkin

 carving artists at work inside

Bethany's cupcake

Jennifer's bat

Susie's spider

Levi's sad face

 Levi's and my ladybug

 John's kiwi bird, fern and "NZ" for New Zealand

Alex's thought bubble with shapes inside

Pumpkins with Klaipeda in the background

The other sides

fall

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day in Klaipeda, which is apparently very unusual for this time of year. My good friend and boss, Susie, and I walked in the sculpture park near her house. The sun was so warm and the air crisp - a perfect day! (Thanks for the pictures, Susie!)

 The sun streaming through the trees

 laying in the leaves....

 One of the many sculptures in the park

Friday, Friday

Yesterday I did two unusual things! 

1. I dyed my hair with henna! My RA, Anya, came to help me - actually she was the one who thought of the idea. I've done this before, but not within the last year or so. It was fun to talk to her and just hang out. 

 Mixing up the dye

 Waiting....

The finished product! It's just enough red to make people look twice. :)

2. I gave a presentation in my Lithuanian class on my family - all in Lithuanian! We've learned verbs, grammar and most recently some adjectives and family words, so I was able to talk about my parents, brother, grandparents, and what they do for a living or for fun. I also described the animals we have on our farm, including the peacocks which everyone was very excited about. Someone even asked me to imitate their sound, which I did, much to the class' amusement. 

"Povas" in Lithuanian

progressive dinner

Last night we got together for a progressive dinner with the Student Life team. We went to the five different on campus apartments for five different courses. It was a fun evening of fellowship and food! I apologize for my lack of picture taking, but here's a few....

First we went to Levi's for kepta duona, a Lithuanian appetizer made with fried rye bread, mayonnaise, garlic and cheese - delicious!! 

Next we walked across the hall to my apartment and had pumpkin curry or broccoli and blue cheese soup.

 Then up 6 flights of stairs to Olena and Sergio's room for salad.

Next over to Enns Hall for a delicious vegetable pasta bake served by Alex.

And finally to Bethany's apartment in Enns for a rich peanut butter and chocolate pie!

Here we all are the end of the evening - full and happy!