Hittites and the Mediterranean: 2 Weeks Left!

Herkese Merhaba!
Hello all! And sorry it's been so long since my last post. In that time we've had two trips, so that's what the pictures I'm posting are from.
The first was a day trip to Hatusa (the s has a thing under it, so it's pronounced 'sh'), the capital of the Hittite Empire. The Hittites were one of the world's first empires, contemporaneous with the Assyrians, Egyptians, and Mycenaeans, existing from about 1600-1200 BC. Their civilization is not nearly well known as that of their neighbors, and even today little is known about the Hittites, a fact that becomes abundantly clear when you visit their capital. Very little survives, and these few physical remains (together with the thousands of clay tablets with Hittite cuneiform) are used by historians to describe an entire civilization. Still, it's pretty cool to see such old stuff, especially the outdoor rock carvings of Hittite gods:






Again though, not that interesting. It was a good day, but a day (including the four hour trip from Ankara) is definitely enough to see Hatusa.
Our next trip, however, was one of our most highly anticipated ones: to Alanya, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Get ready for a dramatic change of scenery:

This place is beautiful:


And this is Turkey, so of course mixed with the beautiful landscape is history, this time in the form of the 13th century Seljuk castle:



Our first day (we took the night bus, arriving at about 7 in the morning), we went scuba diving. Yeah, scuba diving. My first time, too. It was amazing. Here's where we were:


In a little cove at the base of the hill the castle sits atop. Just beautiful. Not too much to see in terms of fish, and no coral, but it was such a great experience; I really would love to do it again. Plus we got to hang out on a boat all day,




Turks are crazy. I did this same jump though! Not like that, but from that height, maybe 15 feet above the water? Sans glasse of course, so it was a big deal for me! And I loved it.
The next day, we had another outdoor adventure, this time to a nearby river for rafting. Not exactly whitewater, but there were some rough patches. Aside from the other rafts who kept splashing us (especially the Iranians; don't think it was political, they're just obnoxious), it was a great trip.
Our last day (yeah, 3 full days!) was free, so I went with a couple people to visit the castle before hitting the beach. On our way there we got a glimpse of just how touristy Alanya is. There is basically no Turkish here; everything's in English, Russian, or German, and while I can't speak for the latter 2, the English is HILARIOUS:

Probably. Who knows?
I mean I just don't even know what this is saying/asking.
But most of all was this little gem:

A Russian tourist passed out drunk at 11AM, after what looks like a beer and a half. Only the finest come to Alanya. This place is just touristy beyond belief.
The castle was really amazing though, with breathtaking views; it sits on a peninsula, dividing the city in two, so the views are really cool in both directions:

Hey, it's me!

After a few hours of exploring, plus lunch, we made our way down to the beach at the base of the castle:

We had a great time swimming in the water, which was actually a little too warm. Still, absolutely beautiful. It was such a great vacation; we really needed it.
When I got back on Sunday morning though, after a 4 hour nap, it was back to work, this time picking the family's apricot tree. Here's half of our harvest. My host mom's on the left, and a neighbor's on the right:


My host dad playing backgammon (tavla in Turkish) with a neighbor; typical Sunday afternoon.
So it's Tuesday now, August 4, and we just had our final performance, a bunch of Turkish songs and dances that we performed at the school for our host families. Of course, a bunch of my neighbors came as well. The neighborly bonds here in Turkey are really incredible, and sometime I really wish we had in America. The street really is a tightknit group. Anyways, tonight was great, and I absolutely love traditional Turkish songs (especially turkus, old Turkish songs about life and love and death and stuff, usually funny and always fast and catchy) and dance. If you have time, search 'Kolbasti' on youtube; I somehow learned how to do it today, and performed it with a couple other people. Hopefully I can post video somehow in the coming days; if not, in America, where, coincidentally, I will be in 12 days! Less than 2 weeks. At this point, I'm pretty ready to come back, but I know that I'm going to miss the program people and especially my host family so much, and, even more, I'm scared of losing all the Turkish I've learned this summer. But mostly I can't wait to see all of you again. Love and miss you all, and I'll talk to you so soon!
Clayton