In order to get to the Turkish border by 10:30 this morning we had to leave the hotel by 7:30. It wasn't too hard as I've been getting up early every day, but somehow today my roommate and I felt incredibly tired. It was so strange. In either case we finally rolled out of bed by 6:35 and was up at breakfast ready to go by around 7:00. The bus ride over was uneventful as I and the rest of the students were so tired that we all fell asleep an hour into the ride only to wake up at the Turkish border a few hours later. We said good bye to our Greek driver and tour guide (oh how I miss Voula already!!) and was picked up by a substitute driver who didn't speak English.
To be honest, it was a rather terrifying experience. The Turkish border had cops every where and, of course, Jim was talking about his military training the whole experience just because he was on edge. He gave us the quickest escape route back to Greece (toward the fence instead of the building he said nearly five times) even though nothing happened. Of course not. Anyway. We stood in line to get our visas then stood around for thirty minutes while they checked our van then put us in another line to get stamped then off we went onto the bus. I'm pretty sure that driver was doing 90 all the way to the place where he dropped us off and we were picked up by our new tour guide, Cenk. The Turkish country side flew by so quickly, and EVERYTHING was covered in snow. Thankfully the snow eventually faded away (as I didn't pack for snow. Imagine that.) and by the time we reached Istanbul (which I slept for half the ride. I was so tired) there wasn't any more snow. Thankfully!
We saw the Hagia Sophia today. To be honest it wasn't nearly as fun as all the ruins we've been seeing of the ancient cities. For some reason I have this fascination with the Greek and Roman eras, their gods, and the times of Jesus and Paul. It's just incredible to me, so these great buildings that were built centuries later just don't astound me as much. After all, Hagia Sophia collapsed or was destroyed two times before they finally copied the Romans (imagine that) and built a dome that could withstand the earthquakes Turkey threw at her. Regardless of my lack of enthusiasm to see the museum (yes, it's a museum now. not a mosque or a church.) the building was gorgeous. Especially the lighting as the only unnatural light came from more than a dozen chandeliers that seemed to be floating a few feet from our heads. I loved those chandeliers; I'm pretty sure every picture I took of the interior had a chandelier in it. The only fun thing about the Hagia Sophia being a museum was the fact that the interior had both Muslim and Christian designs throughout. For instance, the original building was meant to be a church so icons and images of Christ, the Saints, and the Virgin Mary adorned the walls. In fact, over the years, images of the emperors and empresses depicted as saints (even though they're not saints) joined Christ and the Virgin Mary; however when the Muslims took over the building they covered the icons with wood then plaster (a few feet thick) because they don't believe in engraving images of people or animals. So flowers covered the walls for centuries. After the building was made into a museum they were able to uncover some of the images which were, mostly, preserved under the thick plaster. It was neat to see the contrast between the Christians and the Muslims in their ways of decoration.
We saw the Hagia Sophia today. To be honest it wasn't nearly as fun as all the ruins we've been seeing of the ancient cities. For some reason I have this fascination with the Greek and Roman eras, their gods, and the times of Jesus and Paul. It's just incredible to me, so these great buildings that were built centuries later just don't astound me as much. After all, Hagia Sophia collapsed or was destroyed two times before they finally copied the Romans (imagine that) and built a dome that could withstand the earthquakes Turkey threw at her. Regardless of my lack of enthusiasm to see the museum (yes, it's a museum now. not a mosque or a church.) the building was gorgeous. Especially the lighting as the only unnatural light came from more than a dozen chandeliers that seemed to be floating a few feet from our heads. I loved those chandeliers; I'm pretty sure every picture I took of the interior had a chandelier in it. The only fun thing about the Hagia Sophia being a museum was the fact that the interior had both Muslim and Christian designs throughout. For instance, the original building was meant to be a church so icons and images of Christ, the Saints, and the Virgin Mary adorned the walls. In fact, over the years, images of the emperors and empresses depicted as saints (even though they're not saints) joined Christ and the Virgin Mary; however when the Muslims took over the building they covered the icons with wood then plaster (a few feet thick) because they don't believe in engraving images of people or animals. So flowers covered the walls for centuries. After the building was made into a museum they were able to uncover some of the images which were, mostly, preserved under the thick plaster. It was neat to see the contrast between the Christians and the Muslims in their ways of decoration. 
After seeing the building we meandered down some street in order to get some Turkish money then we went back to the hotel where a few of us (Tiffany, Paige, Rachel, Jim, and Dr. Evans) talked for a few hours until dinner. Most interesting conversation ever, really. I'm pretty sure we discussed theology, talked about bathing suits, and conversed about guns and laws concerning guns the whole time. So strange. Well, anyway. Dinner was pretty good, and now it's bed time.
They have squishy beds and two pillows. I'm so excited. Oh the depravity of foreign culture! I am starting to miss my pillow. A lot. Anyway.
Love y'all!
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