Saturday, November 7, 2015
On Saturday, we went to Düden Şelalesi with our university rep Meltem and our colleague and
good friend, Aslı. Meltem brought her two adorable sons and Aslı brought her boyfriend,
Receb, who was very kind. We drove to the waterfall in Meltem’s car. We did get
lost a few times on the road, but managed to find the waterfall regardless.
When we got there, I was impressed that there was a whole park built around
this natural wonder. We walked around on a self-guided tour, stopping every so
often to snap some photos. We marveled at the beauty of the waterfall—its
gushing and whooshing created an enjoyable mist. It actually reminded me of Niagara
Falls in Buffalo, New York and Canada. My family visited Niagara Falls about 10
years ago, and I remember wearing rain jackets because it was so cold being by
the water.
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| Düden Şelalesi (Waterfalls) in Antalya. |
We ate lunch at a restaurant near the waterfall.
Because it was so chilly, we wrapped ourselves in cozy blankets provided by the
restaurant. I ate balık (fish) cooked
in a clay pot, with sides of tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, and potatoes.
Later that afternoon, we drove to Perge (pronounced
“per-gay”), another Romans ruins site. We crashed a tour being given to elderly
American citizens. We walked around the agora
(Roman marketplace) and the public baths. Like Side, there were Corinthian,
Doric, and Ionic columns everywhere—some columns remained fully in tact, some
were cracked, some lied in debris, and some appeared to have been chopped in
half. During the tour, I met a woman from Maine and became very excited. We
made small talk and I told her I went to college in that state. I love Maine so
much!!
During the trip, I enjoyed playing with Meltem’s two
boys; they are so adorable and mischievous, especially the youngest one, Demir.
Demir is a clever yet dramatic little boy. He says the funniest things. For
example, when he does not want to go to school, he tells his mother “give me a
knife, I will kill myself.” When he does not want to do homework, he says “I
wish school was never invented” or “I wish my homework was to burn my
homework.” Hilarious! Where does he learn these things?! I sat in the back seat
with Oktay and Demir on the ride back home and played games with them. I love
little kids. I miss not being able to hold my baby nephew, Azi. I wonder when I
will see him again. Maybe he can visit Turkey with his Dada (paternal grandfather).
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| At one the public paths at Perge, ancient Roman ruins. |
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| Oktay consoling Demir after a cat scratch. |
Before going home, we made a stop at Metro, a
wholesales store. It’s similar to America’s Costo stores. It sells everything
in large quantities for low prices, and its target audience is store or
restaurant owners. Alex and I bought chocolate, sunflower seeds, çay cups, and
a few nar. An embarrassing but funny
thing happened to me. When I walked to the fresh produce section, I saw a crate
full of pomegranates and when I saw the price—3 TL—I could not believe it. I
got excited because Alex and I love nar
and if it were actually this cheap, we would buy the whole crate. Meltem, Aslı,
and Receb were in disbelief. When they inquired about the price, I learned that
the pomegranates were actually 3TL per
pound. I felt so embarrassed! But we all laughed in good jest.
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| Jumbo bag of sunflower seeds at Metro. |
