Cappadocia--Best Experience of My Life!!!

Literally though, Cappadocia was INCREDIBLE!!! While my shipmates
spent time in Kusadasi, Turkey (where our ship ported), I hopped on
our field program's bus and headed to our first stop. We went to
Ephesus, which is one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. The
ruins were very cool, but we were extremely rushed since we had two
planes to catch and there was a crazy amount of tourists there. SAS
was courteous enough to give us box lunches which not surprisingly had
a hard boiled egg and one cold chicken wing among other items (no
surprise). We then made it to the airport where we got on our first
plane. This took us to Istanbul, which was kind of cool since we were
otherwise banned from going to Istanbul due to all the riots, but I
can say that I made it there even if it was just at the airport! We
managed to get wifi for a solid half hour in the airport which truly
is a blessing after going without it for so long. I'm not sure if I've
ever mentioned it, but we have no means of communication on the ship
except for emailing (which rarely works) and the cabin phones.
Whenever we get on land and connect to a restaurant or somewhere's
wifi it is the most amazing thing. It's kind of funny after ten
minutes of being on your phone, looking up and realizing that your
entire group is on their phone and no one is talking to each
other...the locals must think Americans are technology obsessed and
antisocial haha but it really is just the best feeling to feel
connected again after a long time without it! Anyways, we got on our
next plane (they both were super fast and about an hour for each one)
where we got another full meal which was great! We finally arrived and
did a bus tour to the hotel. On the way we stopped briefly to look at
the 'fairy chimneys' which are the rock towers that cover the
Cappadocia landscapes. I was truly amazed at the sight. Long ago there
was a volcano that covered the entire terrain with magma and ash. The
wealthy people at the time thought the land was useless, but the poor
people took advantage of this land and sculpted out the giant 'fairy
chimney' rocks to make houses and buildings and their very own city. I
have never seen anything like it before. We then continued on and
arrived at our hotel Dinler. I found out my roommate was a girl named
Sasha and she was really nice! It actually worked out perfectly since
we were so similar! We had an amazing dinner with buffet style food. I
probably gained five pounds alone that night. We then went to a
Whirling Dirvishes show, which was a religious ceremony. I wish I
would have read the brochure before it began because I was extremely
confused during the performance. I realized after I read the brochure
that it was a representation of how the world is always revolving, and
the men twirling represents their revolution through life. It was very
interesting and different. Apparently they have been training since
age six to do this performance, so that's pretty cool! We then went
back to the hotel and ordered a couple of drinks. I wasn't sure what
to get so I asked the bartender to make his any cocktail he wanted. He
told me he would make me a 'love on Cappadocia' drink. I was very
interested when I saw him carving an apple and when he gave us our
drinks I saw that he had carved a heart and a star out of the apple
and put it on the side of our drinks! I had a great night casually
drinking with new friends! Everyone who went on the field program was
very nice and it was easy to make friends with everyone which was
great! I didn't go to bed until 1:30 and had to be up two hours later
at 3:30 am to leave for the hot air balloon ride (AHHHH!)

So two hours later I woke up, put on my Dayton Flyers (LOVE UD)
sweatshirt, and made a couple signs to bring with me on the hot air
balloon. We left the hotel and went to breakfast which didn't last
long since we were then told that "the first ten people out the door
get to go on the first hot air balloon". I obviously ran out the door
because I was so unbelievable excited. I honestly felt no fear at all
beforehand which I found to be interesting, since I definitely had
fear for jumping off little baby cliffs into the water, yet being
unbelievably high in the air in a basket seemed peaceful (that
probably makes no sense but updating this blog is hard enough so
whatevs). The hot air balloon was the BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. If
you are a future SASer and somehow come across my blog, GO ON THE
CAPPADOCIA FIELD PROGRAM AND MAKE SURE TO SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY FOR
THE HOT AIR BALLOON. You will not regret it. No amount of money can
truly capture the sights I saw and the feelings I felt. It was
absolutely beautiful. It was so crazy to think that as I watched the
sun rise in Cappadocia Turkey in a hot air balloon over a beautifully
carved landscape, my friends and family could be watching the same
sunrise just seven hours later (eight hours for my st louis and
chicago friends). Even when I sometimes feel lonely being so
unbelievable far away from home, I remember that we are all seeing the
same sun rise, and the same sun set. And soon enough I will be
reunited with my friends, and will have so many experiences to share
with them. I would do anything to be able to go on that hot air
balloon again, with my loved ones so that they could partake in that
amazing experience as well! It blew my mind at how many hot air
balloons were up there at the same time as us, and the fact that there
were around 15 people in each balloon means that overall there were
hundreds and hundreds of people in the sky with me experiencing the
same awe and amazement as well! Those people could be from all over
the world, yet I am almost positive we probably were all thinking and
feeling the same things and sharing similar excitement.

The hot air balloon was much more stable and smooth than I thought it
was going to be. I was never once nervous about turbulence because it
was nonexistent. I felt extremely safe and the take off and landing
were very smooth. The balloon company treated us to champagne
afterwards and they let me pop the bottle! They then awarded us with
medals for completing the ride which I thought was very cute. Our main
guy Nigel kept mocking me saying "Oh my god!" which was quite
entertaining. He let us smash down the balloon after we were all out
of the basket, and then once the workers folded it up he spun me
around and tossed me into it! The hot air balloon ride was honestly
the highlight of my trip thus far and probably will be a highlight of
my life that I will always remember.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel and got another breakfast there.
We checked out and began our long day. The first place we went to was
by far my favorite of the trip besides the hot air balloon ride. We
went to an underground city which was built for defense purposes in
case anyone ever attacked them, they could strike back by using the
tunnels to catch the intruders off guard. This underground city went
nine stories deep and was INCREDIBLE. I honestly felt like I was a
child again exploring the playscape at McDonald's. We had to duck our
heads and twist our bodies as we made our way through the dark
passages and it was so so so cool! I could have stayed there and
explored for hours.

We went to a market outside of the underground city afterwards where I
bought more souvenirs (I have bought WAY too many already this trip
haha). We then went to Goreme Valley known for the 'Treasures of
Turkey'. Here the rock formations were sculpted out to reveal
religious aspects inside such as murals and graves and other sorts of
things. It was very different, but it was also very hot and we were
hungry. We then shopped some more, and then ate at Hanodas Restaurant
which was actually in a sculpted out rock peak which was so cool! We
had like a four course meal which was pretty good!! We then stopped at
a little village and went into a local shop. The store owner called
himself Crazy Alle and he gave us free postcards. He showed us his
book of poems and told us that he was going to be famous one day. I
then bought a souvenir from him but didn't quite have enough money
which I felt really bad about. On top of that, he then gave me and my
friend free beaded necklaces! His generosity was truly incredible.
Afterwards, we saw more of the Cappadocia landscape. These specific
rock formations resembled a certain part of the male body which we
could not quite get over. We then headed to our last spot, a family
pottery business. We watched the local man spin a beautiful piece of
pottery in a matter of a couple minutes. Then one of our SAS students
had the opportunity to do the same. We then explored the store and saw
absolutely breathtaking pottery, which was all hand made and hand
painted. I caved in and ended up buying a bright orange clock which
was made on the flip side of a plate. We then loaded into the bus and
heading to the first airport. We took this plane to Istanbul, and then
hopped on the last plane back to port. By the time we got back on the
ship it was nearly 1 in the morning. To say I was beyond delirious and
exhausted would be quite the understatement. The official names of the
places we went on this day are Goreme Valley, Urgup Town, Ortahisar,
Derinkuyu underground city, Zelve valley, Pasabag valley, and Avanos
town.

This field program was truly amazing. I met some amazing people on
this trip and wish it could have been longer. I will forever remember
this program and am so thankful for being able to go.

Oh and pictures will follow shortly!