Spring Break 2012: Antalya and Olympos

Congrats! You've tuned in for post number 2 of my Spring Break Adventure! And it came out earlier than expected! Sadly, the reason for this somewhat early post is because for the past two days i've been dealing with an obnoxious cold which has led me to have to endure enjoy being drugged up in the solitude of my room and see what little sunshine I can through the slit in the wall window. Okay, okay...it's not that bad. I mean, those were all true statements, but things could definitely be worse. It is only a cold after all. On the bright side, i've gotten lots of sleep, done more work than you can possibly imagine some work, spent some good quality time with Jesus and watched a  few movies! Not a terrible weekend, eh? AND I'm currently wearing the awesome pants I got in Turkey!

Alright, so Spring Break Part 2 bring us to TURKEY! But where in Turkey you might ask? Or maybe not, if you got the chance to read my itinerary post. But, in case you didn't...

ANTALYA.

Antalya was beautiful! It's an old city in Turkey off the Mediterranean coast. Actually, according to one of my friend's it's the third most visited city in the world! I don't know how accurate that is. But, interesting nonetheless. Anyways, Andrew and  spent two days in Antalya at a hostel in the old portion of the city. It's really a pretty quick stop in terms of sight-seeing. However, what there is to see is wonderfully pretty. Plus, because it's so easy to see everything in the actual city of Antalya in one day, we spent the first day at the ruins of Termessos! Termessos is a city of ruins that lies on the Taurus mountain range that happens to have actually been able to defend itself from Alexander the Great due to its difficult access. And let me tell you, walking through the ruins (literally through/on/in/under) made you feel like you were in Lord of The Rings or some other epic adventure movie. LOVED IT.

walking past the baths.

Tombs

THEATRE!

The next day we spent in Antalya exploring the old city.

                

         
 

I got to learn how to weave a carpet!=]

Hostel!

But that's just Antalya, after that we went to what I will openly call the most beautiful place I have EVER visited:

OLYMPOS.

walking to the beach

oh, just ruins on the way to the beach

can we note the mountains all around, ruins on the left, and the snow capped mountain in the background...all by this little strip of Mediterranean. 

CHIMERA.

There used to be a temple to Hephaestus, the Greek God of blacksmiths, metallurgic and fire here because of the natural fire rising form spots all over the mountain. If the rain or a human puts it out, it simply starts back up again. The true eternal flame.

our Hostel: Kadir's Treehouse. SO cool.

See that?! it was so amazingly beautiful I couldn't describe it! I wish the pictures did it more justice. But, you'll just have to imagine being there. So, feel free to do that until the next segment of my Spring Break extravaganza comes out!  Which, by the way, might be a bit because Tuesday morning I will be flying down to Luxor with some friends to visit Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel! I'm super pumped about it! But am legitimately sorry to keep you waiting yet again. Love you all!

Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

PSALM 37:4 

Pyramids, Pools and Puppies.

So, due to aggravated requests for a new post, here's is the latest edition of "What in the World is Kaye Up to?" Well, it's been a while, but I promise there's not TOO much that's happened. Most of it can be fairly neatly summarized so here we go.

SAQQARA and DAHSHUR
 So, last weekend, (Feb 17ish??), some friends and I went to Saqqara and Dahshur. I'd been wanting to do that for a while, so when one of the gents mentioned it I was ALL in. Super pumped. Saqqara and Dahshur are where the original Egyptian pyramids are located. Going there is pretty much like watching the progression of pyramid building through time. It's WONDERFUL. Plus getting there was pretty great in and of itself. Unfortunately I don't have pictures to show this, but driving down to Saqqara was phenomenal. Having become used to seeing only brick, sand, and concrete, suddenly being surrounded by lush green fields, donkeys, sheep and general color was an exciting sight. Anyways, since I have no documentation of that you'll just have to go ahead and take my word for it. What I DO have evidence of however, is everything we saw once we got there. With one small exception: THE SANDSTORM. Basically the entire time we were there sand was pelting us from every which way. I came back and I swear I poured at LEAST 3 handfuls of sand out of each of my shoes and my hair took at LEAST 2 days to recover from the sudden influx of sandy scalp conditioner. However, I'd vote it was completely worth it. I mean, if you don't have SOME obstacle to overcome a story's no good, am I right?

SAQQARA:
First, the museum:

The World's Oldest Roof. Yeah.

Then, the Steppe Pyramid of Djoser and surrounding Temples, and Mastabas (original burial places in ancient Egypt). Unfortunately the Pyramid itself was being restored or something ridiculous. Ah well, you can't win 'em all.

the ORIGINAL pyramid in Egypt

Sweet snakes 

Inscriptions inside one of the Mastabas--Teti I think?

 Oh! And they had some monuments to some of the Greek great thinkers.Well preserved, eh? too bad you can't see the pounds of trash surrounding it. Sad to see so many wonderful historical sites disregarded like that.

The Philosopher's Circle

 DAHSHUR:
Dahshur has the next few pyramids in the progression of attempts towards perfection. First, is the Bent Pyramid, which is basically, as the boys said, "the idiot cousin of the family". Actually, it just got a bit screwed up during construction. Can you imagine getting halfway and realizing you messed a pyramid up? hahah. That sucks.

Good try Senefru, good try.

Finally, there was the Red Pyramid, which happens to be the first one that they attempted to put siding on...successfully. And, hey! It actually sort of looks like a Pyramid! SUCCESS.

Red Pyramid

Whaddup, TOMB!?

 AIN SOKHNA
So, after a few cancellations, the Res-Life trip to the Red Sea FINALLY happened. We were taken to a beautiful resort (albeit in the middle of nowhere), on the coast of the Red Sea. Surprisingly enough we actually got through everything on time the first day! What?! Insanity. I know. Anyways, so we basically got there, unpacked, grabbed a DELICIOUS lunch and headed to the beach. Weather? Warm and 70s. Water? Crystal clear. Level of Joy? Through the roof.

This is my attempt at artsy. You're welcome.

Our Resort!

St. Antony's Monastery

 This monastery is one of the oldest in the world. It was founded around a desert spring oasis and if you were going to be a monk...this is an IDEAL spot. It was astoundingly beautiful with the mountain face in the background, lush green in the center and endless desert surrounding. 

This is currently my favorite man in the world. I mean, he was snappy. And that beard? You can't NOT like him.

The Medieval Church 

Probably my favorite thing in the entire monastery was this insanely beautiful carving in the wall of the Church of the Resurrection. This church was a MUCH a more recent addition to the monastery but also a masterpiece in terms of artwork. For me, personally this image was the best. As always, God is and was good, and knew what I needed to see at that moment. While it's actually a carving of Mary washing the feet of Jesus with her hair, there are 2 instances of this happening in the Bible, the second one being with a nameless woman identified only by her title of "sinner". While I love both stories, the one that resonated when I saw this was the latter. Although I cannot fully explain it, I will venture to say that I completely understood what she was feeling in that moment, and I envied her. I envied the tangible way in which she got to interact with God, and her ability to plainly represent her spiritual position before Christ.What an incredible reminder of where I am, what I owe to Christ and how much His love overcomes. I am blessed. 

I love Christ's eyes in this. So loving and gentle. He looks like he's ready to give her a hug. 

 Finally, we trekked up 1200 stairs to reach a TEENY TINY hole in the mountain face where St. Anthony lived. Upon having completing the "walk" to the "cave" I had only  two three four thoughts

1) No wonder he didn't come down very often

2) He must have been the world's most athletic monk ever.

3) Why did I do this?

4) This is an insanely beautiful view.

SUCCESS.