Turkey Trip

Turkey October 2014

Last spring, a scout family contracted a company in Dubai called Challenging Adventure to take a group of scouts/families on a weeklong excursion to Turkey over the Eid break in October.  After hearing about the hiking adventure in Nepal, then having Isaac experience the white water rafting trip in Nepal, I have been waiting for another scout trip that I can take the girls on as well.  They were too young for the rafting trip.  So we signed up right away.  We had paid in full for the trip and airline tickets before summer.  By September, Jess is begging each day to start packing, but I held her off until we got the official pack list.  Two weeks out, we 3 new compact sleeping bags and begin. 

Less than a week before we are supposed to leave, the U.S. and many other countries start seriously bombing Syria, more bombs per day than we have dropped in years.  Matt spent a full day checking safety recommendations, locations, and calling others more in the know.  We were prepared to walk away from the trip if it was questionable, but we would be in the very western part of the country and the UAE currently has a higher caution rating than Turkey and living here feels safer than anywhere I have ever lived.  One mother and son did drop out of the trip.  Too bad for them because it was AMAZING!

2 October 2014

We tried to have a somewhat normal day.  It was the first book club of the new school year.  Phew, it was hot at the park.  It was Makenna’s first time leading and she had picked Goose Girl to read and discuss.  She had started it a couple years ago, but put it aside when she heard how sad it was.  I encouraged her to give it another go and she loved it.  She did a great job prepping for the discussion and had the teen group on topic longer than I have ever seen!  When we all came hoe sweaty, we joined Matt and went to the pool.  No, scratch that.  Isaac stayed home to pack since he hadn’t started long before like the girls.  After a lovely swim and shower, we did our traditional pizza/football night for a late lunch.  At 5, Matt drove us to ASD (American School of Dubai—where scouts is held) to meet the group and ride the shuttle bus to the Sharjah airport. 

Our group consisted of big and little Adam Rampton (whom the Allen parents know), three other father son combos, (one Brit, one Brit/Indian, one American), me and three kids, another mom and three kids (mom has met their daughter at gymnastics), an American mom son combo and two brothers who are Brit/Lebanese.  And of course our guide, also owner of the company we came to learn, Mustafa from Turkey.   To break it down like I did all week: 3 moms, 3 girls, 4 dads, 10 boys and Mustafa. 

We had an uneventful, pretty quick drive to the airport which had a few of us worried because not only was it Thursday night (start of the weekend), but also the start of a holiday.  The driver took us by the secondary bypass road (611 for future referencing) and we only had 1-2 km of bad traffic.  We got our group of 21 checked in and went to grab a quick bite before take off.  That turned into a nightmare as the food court was small, packed and, thanks to the holiday, understaffed. We ate on the run to gate security and got through in time to board the bus to take us to the plane.  We took off around 9:30, endured a seriously uncomfortable flight (to me, the kids were fine) and landed about 12:30am local time in Antalya, Turkey.   Passports, luggage, get on a bus drive for a couple/few hours to the campsite.  We had more space on the bus and I did manage to doze. 

Manavgat/Bestonak:  The “campsite” was a grassy area in front of several cabins.  Even in the dark I could tell this place was much nicer than what I had expected.  It was a little noisy with the sound of the small waterfall falling to fill the pond.  We all quickly pitched our little blue tents and tried to catch some sleep before the sun rose.  And then came the rooster…..  Curse that thing.  We learned too late that he perches on the fence right next to Isaac and Jessica’s tent.  Makenna and I were right next to them.  Of course our whole group is really right next to each other and we all came to hate that sucker.  Expect maybe Jess and Aleaha who would pet him.

3 October 2014

We had our first Turkish breakfast.  When at camp, we ate our meals at the picnic tables next to the pond.  The kitchen would bring our platters and everyone would serve up and eat.  For the first breakfast there was a platter of sliced tomatoes, one of cucumbers, one of olives, one of triangle white cheese like Mozzarella, one slices bologna, and scrambled eggs.  At the end of the serving table was a big plastic bin full of sliced bread.  Pretty great for camping food! 

After eating, we got shown around.  There are stairs going up by the waterfall that lead to a storage area where they keep the rafts and rafting gear.  If you walk up there, turn right and go through the parking area, you come to the bathrooms.  There are 4 stalls in the girl sections: 3 toilets, a shower.  There are two sinks outside.  The boys have the same on their side of the partition.  The water is heated with solar panels.  Once the sun goes down and the hot is used up, you get nothing but cold till the next day and the spring water is COLD.  But the water was truly a treat.  We were always filling our water bottles from the little spillway near the waterfall.  Coming from Dubai where people are constantly buying and filtering water, it felt a little risky, but it was so clear, clean, cold and refreshing.  You can walk down a gravel driveway back to the tent area.  Along that way we could see two goats tried up and munching grass.  But they weren’t pets, they were there for Eid.

As we walked around the property and down to the river, Mustafa would constantly stop and ask us if we knew the different plants.  “Feel it, crush it, taste it.  That’s how you learn.”  There were many varieties that we knew from smell but looked a little different.  There were many fruit trees, herbs, garden veggies, and more.  There was one tree that grows long black pods with smooth seeds as hard as stones.  But the rest of the pod is sweet when you make the effort to chew it.  Turkish people make a syrup from them.

The kids all fished with much success and there was trout for lunch.  After the fish were gutted, they placed a bay leaf inside, sprinkled a little salt, wrapped them in grape leaves, and grilled them.  SO GOOD.  Along with the fish there was a salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and parsley.  There was a spiral pasta dish with a red sauce, a dish that looked like rice but was actually a type of wheat grain, also with a tomato sauce.  There was red cabbage and seasoned onions and of course the bin of bread. 

After lunch we went on a hike.  Our family kept saying that is looked like we could be in Colorado and Stephanie and Jack agreed. (Stephanie’s twin sister lives is Castlerock and they visit her every year.)  But then we would see some Roman ruins or a Turkish family set up by the river making some traditional bread or tea and it was so obviously NOT Colorado.  All the locals we came across were so kind and welcoming.  They would encourage us to join them and offer samples.  They didn’t speak a lick of English and none in our group but Mustafa spoke any Turkish.  He kept busy sharing cultural and historical tidbits all the while translating back and forth.  But smiles and hand gestures go a long way too.  The three moms feel in love with how the country Turkish women dressed.  They all had baggy flower pants, usually with a very low crotch.  Sometimes it was paired with a bright solid top, but there were lots of stripes too.  And of course head scarves.  Nothing matched and it was charming.  We made goals that first day to buy and pants and head scarves when we were in town on our last day.

We got back as the sun was sinking.  Makenna got to the shower early.  The little girls put on their swimsuits and I helped them in the shower to make it go faster: spray one while the other is soaping up.  The sprayer didn’t have the best pressure and is was easy to help them without really getting wet.  They started with warm water, but it got progressively less so.  I had a chilly shower that night and decided to try and get there earlier then next night.  It had been warm during the day and got hot enough inside the tents to melt my deodorant to one side.  But once the sun went down, everyone started pulling out long sleeves, then jackets, then (in a few cases including my own) hats. 

We ate dinner around 8 each night in the dark—well the eating area had lights, but the sun had said good night long before.  Dinner was an exact repeat of lunch except trade fish for chicken skewers (kebabs).  I’ll go ahead right now and say that every time we ate lunch or dinner at camp it was the same, except for the meat.  It was always fish or chicken except for Saturday night, goat.  (Though some thought it was too tender and was really lamb.)  Breakfast only varied in that twice the eggs were hard-boiled instead of scrambled.  And twice there was fried bread that tasted very much like mom’s Navaho fry bread—big treat!  It feels completely wrong to complain about the food because it was so good, but we knew it very, very well. 

After dinner there was some free time and games of tag, cops and robbers, hide and go seek, etc. were played by the kids and the adults chatted or uploaded pictures from the day.  Our family did not bring any electronics except cameras and the girls’ cheap phone.  Had I known what the camping area was really like, I would have probably brought mine too and joined the crowd with picture sharing, but on the other hand it was kind of nice to be forcibly unplugged from the world.  I turned the phone on during the morning and evening to trade a few texts with Matt, but had it off during the day to conserve the battery. 

Before bed each night, Mustafa called everyone together and we had a day in review.  Everyone had a chance to share their thoughts (everything was always positive except when the TP supply, or rooster came up).  Each day there was a team captain and co-captain from the kids who helped round people up, check equipment and call for numbering off.  Then we would go over the plan for the next day and get instructions on what to pack.  Some people would head to bed after the meeting, but many stayed up to play a few games of cards or chat a bit more.  Makenna became the undisputed champion of Speed.  Hearts was also popular and a new game called Estimation—which Isaac will have to teach me because I wasn’t in on that one. 

4 October 2014

Trekking day.  Pack a backpack with plenty of water, your lunch, and sunscreen.  Wear good hiking shoes and a hat.  I have no idea how far we hiked for sure, but I would guess around 8 miles.  We were in the forest for a good chunk, but also spent some time along the river.  For a special challenge/dare, Mustafa slung a rope over a tree branch next to a deep spot in the river and anyone who wanted to could swing in.  Jess was the only one from our family who tried it thanks to Aleaha lending her her swim skirt.  The rest of us couldn’t figure out how to try without being properly soaked and chaffing for the hike back.  But about half the group tried and we all had fun watching their faces as they came up sputtering and dashing for the side to climb out of the cold water. 

Later on we came across an old house with a sweet old man and woman.  They offered us cold water to drink and gave each child a candy and let us take pictures with them and of their home.  They have a gorgeous view, but I have no idea how you get in and out of their property without an ATV. 

Along the way the group got some training in first aid and carrying an injured person.  No one was hurt more than a stubbed toe, but they practiced several methods and I learned two new ways to use backpacks for carrying the wounded.  Mustafa also pulled out the bright orange “warm-up” tent/parachute for the first of many times.  The cold kids/adults would stand around the edges, lift it up and then run underneath while pulling it down behind them.  They would sit on the ground like a giant poisonous mushroom and quickly heat up.  This first time was just to show—no one was cold, in fact most of us were properly sweaty. 

Oh, I forgot to say that right as we were pulling out in the van (17 people in very well packed van not including the driver) and car (holding the other 4, not including driver), the goats were sacrificed.  I saw a knife slash and looked away, instantly thinking of the scene in Napoleon Dynamite where the school bud of kids sees the farmer shoot the cow.  Isaac later reported seeing the goat’s head come off.  Gag.  It’s traditional at Eid to sacrifice a goat and give 1/3 of the meat to neighbors, and 1/3 to the poor.  That was the night we reported had goat with dinner, though as previously mentioned, several people who have lived in the region for over a decade were suspicious that it was to tender and tasty to be goat….

At the nightly meeting, after everyone commented on the day, we were told to wear sturdy water shoes and quick drying clothes.  We were to use dry bags to pack extra clothes, lunches and anything else we would need for the day.  Just bring one water bottle, as there would be many places to fill up along the route.

5 October 2014

Canyonning day.  After breakfast, we finished packing up and everyone was equipped with life jackets and helmets.  We were driven to a different section of the river and started off.  This was my favorite day.  It was more physically challenging and the cold water certainly added an extra layer of challenge as well.  Part of the time we were scrambling over rocks, sometimes going through ankle deep water, sometimes much deeper.  Twice we went in over our heads and had to swim.  The as we sloshed and clamored along, we passed dozens of springs emptying into the river.  Everywhere, the water was crystal clear and cold.  Gorgeous! 

It turned out that we weren’t following the river—too small—but in led to the main river.  Once we got there, we received a challenge for all those who were willing to accept it.  Hug the canyon wall and go upstream a ways, then climb out to a big boulder. Once we were up on top, we took turns taking a fall of faith, backwards, into a deep section of the river.  Woo-hoo!  This water was even colder than the little section that was over our heads in the small river.  Mustafa was back a ways filming and howling with laughter at all our faces as we spluttered and dashed for swallow water.  In our family, Isaac, Makenna and I went off the rock.  Jessica and Aleaha had stayed back to dry off a bit and eat a snack. 

Then it was lunchtime.  I don’t think I mentioned the lunches.  We had the same lunch for each outing.  We each had ½ loaf of bread with some cucumbers, tomatoes and triangle cheese.  Eh.  I’m glad Matt provided us with nuts, jerky and trail mix.  Once everyone was feeling warmed up and slightly dry, (many people took turns to warm up in the orange mushroom), we learned that we had to swim across the river to continue the hike.  The littler kids went with partners—like Jess and I together—but most went on their own.  The goal was to aim for the eddy behind another big boulder and get out, but Mustafa was waiting with a rope to catch people who missed and were being carried further by the current.  It was a swift river.  Once we were all across, that was the end of our time in river for the day, mostly.  We began the climb out of the canyon.  Again, the views were simply beautiful.  I never knew water could look that color.  I don’t know if any of the pictures will do it justice. 

6 October 2014

Rafting.  It was called white water rafting on our original printed schedule and there were a couple rough-ish spots, but our family all feel like we are heavily exaggerating using that title.  Our experience rafting in Colorado felt much more like real white water and we know those weren’t even all that intense.  And I have to mention Isaac’s time in Nepal as well.  Those were “white water” and Turkey was more gorgeous Teal Water rafting. 

The morning started out in its usual pattern: trying to ignore the rooster and go back to sleep several times, eventually giving up and climbing out of the tent wearing sweats and a hat.  I would go back behind the kitchen to wash my face and brush my teeth and maybe sit by the lake/pond to read a bit before breakfast.  By then the sun would be warming everything up and we would be shedding the hats/hoods and sweatshirts/jackets.  Breakfast would be tomatoes, cucumbers, (skip the super strong olives) triangle cheese, (skip the bologna for me, but the kids all didn’t mind it), eggs (I couldn’t handle them when scrambled—too runny, but I would do the hard boiled variety), and of course bread.  Then everyone packed their dry bags again and we were kitted with helmets and life jackets and bussed up-river. 

Our group was split in two and we had 5 people on each side of two big rafts.  We got a lot of practice paddling.  Some people switched sides after an hour, but I stuck with the left side.  Now, I know I said the rapids were not intense, and they weren’t.  But they were intense enough to seriously tip the raft once and the three people sitting in the middle of the right side had no where to go but over.  I watched in slow motion as Jessica, Makenna and a scout named Sehan tipped right over the side.  Our raft sprang into action and we quickly fished them all out of the river.  Jessica was screaming so much I was seriously worried that she had hurt herself on a rock, but she was just cold and a little scared.  Once she was back in the boat, she thought it was enormously funny.  I took the advice of Mustafa and another experienced rafter and insisted that my kids wear long sleeves of water repellant fabric under their jackets remembering how miserably cold the girls had been on the Colorado raft trip when we weren’t properly dressed.  It really helped.  We all got thoroughly soaked (more from all the splashing with other boats) and would feel cold during the battles, but never shivered with cold.   Plus the sun was out and warming. 

We saw a dozen other boats out (and had water fights with all of them) along our route.  I’m really glad we were there at the end of the season—I’m sure it’s a bit crazy in the height of summer.  We could see many rafting businesses along the river and it’s obviously big business. 

Along the way we passed right by our campsite and waved to Max and Brian.  The father son combo from GB had stayed back because of a recent surgery that had rafting on the post-op naughty list.  But luckily for them, hiking and canyoning were okay.  We gave them a wave and continued on down the river. 

We got back to the camp site around 3—much earlier than normal.  Knowing it was a shorter adventure day, we all voted to skip the sandwiches and eat a later lunch back at camp.  Good thing—we had fresh fish again! 

There was a panicked 30 minutes when Isaac couldn’t find the Go Pro cameras.  After multiply people tearing apart his tent, checking the van three times each and trying to recount “when did you have them last?”, Makenna found them in the big bag of helmets.  Thank goodness!

While lunch was being prepped, Mustafa challenged/dared the kids to keep their lifejackets and water shoes and join him at the lake/pond for the Dare Devil Game.  He made up a series of challenges for the boys all in the freezing water.  They had to drag someone across, form a circle and keep their legs up, do a relay, fall backwards and swim over…..  Jessica and Aleaha watched and jumped in a few times on their own.  Makenna watched the whole thing and then jumped in at Mustafa’s urging at the very end.  Isaac’s claim to fame was winning the final race.  All the scouts were still wearing their water shoes and life jackets which a great for safety, but not speed.  “15” had joined in watching the fun.  He is a local boy who was working with the camp during the Eid break from school.  “15” had become his nickname after we finally learned his real age.  He had driven once and piloted one of the rafts.  He just had on his swimming trunks and looked like he had spent his whole life on the river.  He was joining in for the final race—the full length of the pond.  My guess was that he would easily cream all the scouts in their life jackets and then Isaac would come in second.  But after Isaac pulled ahead about halfway across, he swam to the side and climbed out.  Isaac climbed out and was more freezing than tired.  He made a bee line for the showers, grateful that then sun was out and there would be plenty of hot water! 

7 October 2014

Service Day in Altinkaya.  We just needed to wear working clothes, sturdy shoes and bring backpacks with plenty of water, our sandwiches and sunscreen.  We were bussed further up into the mountains where our main driver was from.  Mustafa had shared some of the details of his early life and it felt good to be sharing an act of kindness.  We were helping rebuild some walls for his very sweet old mother.  Thanks to a couple of experienced locals and one dad who had spent several years working landscaping jobs, we were organized into teams and fixed three sections of wall on a terraced hillside. 

There was no grumbling or complaining.  Everyone from the little ones (9 and 10 years) to the older ones (I was the youngest adult) worked hard and worked together, feeling a shared sense of accomplishment. The sun was hot, but the view was incredible.  Across the valley we could see the remains of a massive Roman amphitheater.  One terrace below where we were working was a huge oak tree.  The ground was completely torn up all around it—the night before some wild boars had paid a visit and rooted around.   If you could organize them, I would guess they could be more effective than plows! 

After a few hours, the sweet granny toted up a huge pack and proceeded to make tea.  She also brought a bucket of the sweetest grapes I have ever tasted.  On the walk to the terrace, we saw a family working together juicing grapes to make their yearly supply of syrup.  It made me think of the Little House books—it’s syrup time, but theirs was maple.  (Side note I just remembered: Mustafa always called Maple trees “syrup trees”.)  A boy a little younger than Jess was wearing boots and squishing, squishing, squishing grapes in a big tub.  Two men, maybe dad and uncle, were working out the pure juice out of a bag and down a wooden plank.  There were several huge tubs ready to cooking against the wall of the house.  They cook the juice down for several days. 

After we finished the three sections of wall, we walked across the valley to see the amphitheater.  The structure made me think of the Greek amphitheater we saw in Sicily more than any Roman coliseum.  It looked like it was made for speeches or plays rather than combat.  But again, it was so obvious that modern day stadiums have their roots in these structures.  We could see the well-planned portals, sections, and aisles with portals both on upper and lower levels.  The other remarkable thing I noted was the immensity of the structure.  We had spent the past several hours working with earth and rocks to build up sections of wall.  We did have two wheelbarrows, and some shovels and pickaxes, but mostly we were using our own muscles.  Now I know the Roman did have some impressive machinery to help move and place the massive stones, but nothing I can conceptualize without a Google search.  We struggled as pairs to move some of the bigger rocks, but our biggest rocks were just a tiny fraction of the size of the stone blocks used in the ancient stadium.  Ah, the power of the Roman mind!  Their ingenuity and problem solving skills amaze me. 

That night was our last at the campsite.  We would be heading to a real city, Antalya, the next day.  There was more playing tag, cops and robbers, hide ‘n go seek, and general rough housing until our nightly meeting.  Then afterwards, more people stayed up even later playing a few more rounds of cards (speed, black jack with skittles, hearts and a new one called estimation) and generally chatting.  I was looking forward to a real bed, but it was bittersweet to be leaving the beautiful mountains. 

8 October 2014

Packing Up and Antalya

A few people started packing up as soon as they got up and were ready by breakfast.  It was really a pretty easy process.  Grab stuff off the fence that had been hand washed and hung out to dry, roll up sleeping bags and mats.  Shake out the little blue tents and pack them into their bags—first time tents easily fit into their bags!! 

I thought is was an unusually easy process and feeling confident as the big bus pulled up to take us down the mountain.  Jessica took off running to visit the bathroom one last time, tripped on a strap of the bag she was hurdling and went down hard on her knee.  I scooped her up and ran over to the sinks to wash it out.  Mustafa grabbed his first aid kit.  He had to remove some grit and gravel and then clean the wound with some stinging stuff.  Three cheers that stiches were not needed.  It did slow her down for the next couple of days though.  He tried to distract her by having her count to 10 in Turkish.  It worked really well, especially when he got to “4”.

“Bir.”  “Bir.”  “iki”  “iki”  “uch” “uch”  “dirt” “Dirt?”  “Yeah, dirt.  It means 4.”  

The sweet grandmas and two kind moms who run the kitchen came over and were sitting on the couch with us as Mustafa cleaned her up.  They were so happy when she stood up on her own and all wanted to give her hugs and two kisses.  A dad brought her out a bag of ice, which she had to keep on her knee till it was all water.  That was a welcome surprise.  It was the first ice I had seen in Turkey and didn’t know that they had any.  By then the bus was all loaded and after many more hugs and kisses were shared by the rest of the group, we drove off. 

Alanya is an old city on the Mediterranean Sea.  It has a huge, sprawling ruinous castle up on the hill, but we didn’t make it up there till the next day.  We got to our hotel and divided up into rooms.  I had the girls with me.  Isaac bunked with Jay.  The next order of business was to curb our hunger, but not too much because we had the Turkish Night to look forward to later.  A group of about 11 of us walked up the street a ways and found a place that makes two things.  Doner plates, or Doner sandwiches.  Our family was hoping they would be like our favorite place in Ingolstadt—our Thursday lunch meal.  They were similar, but different, but still very good.  Isaac and a couple other boys went for a second round.  We walked down to the beach and found some good rocks, but no shells.   Then walked around the city a bit.  We hustled back to try and quickly shower before going down to dinner.  Which meant, we (the girls and I) showed up with wet hair. 

The food we ate all week at camp was quite traditional, apparently because there was more cucumber and tomato salad, and spiral pasta, and many other dishes as well.  The fresh fruit was lovely. 

The show had a mix of good and eh.  The second group was my favorite with 3 guys and a girl doing traditional dance.  It was reminiscent of the good old BYU fold dancers.  They ended with a knife throwing/dropping thing.  Two guys would take turns balancing them in their mouths and then tossing/dropping them onto a foam board.  I got brought up to the stage area to be the victim holding the board over my torso while one guy tossed/dropped them blindfolded.  Hmmm.  Turns out I was less worried than three specific kids in the audience.  They did NOT like that game.  I got huge hugs when I came back to my seat, still alive.   

The girls and I each had our own beds and slept well and warm.  We had the opposite temperature challenge compared to the mountains.  There we tried to stay warm going to bed.  In town, we slept in t-shirts on top of our covers.  It was lovely. 

9 October 2014

Our final day.  We somehow managed to wake up without the help of the rooster and went down for breakfast.  We all laughed so hard when one by one we had plates set down in front of us with cucumbers, tomatoes, an egg, cheese, bologna and bread.  There was also sliced turkey and an orange slice, so that was different. 

The only set thing on the schedule was to be checked out of our rooms by noon or earlier and to be ready to get on the bus at 7pm.  We had a group of about 15 that wanted to visit the bazaar and the castle, so we all packed out of our rooms right after breakfast and piled our bags in the office behind the front desk and set off.  We started walking until we realized that the bazaar was miles away.  We tried the little cheap bus that costs 2 liras per person, basically $.50 each.

Looking back at the bazaar, the prices were not so great.  We tried our best to bargain and came away thinking we did well, but then saw some of the same things cheaper at stores later in the day.  The farmer’s stands were amazing though and we stuffed ourselves with freshly cooked corn, strawberries, pomegranates, and a kilo of figs.  I also bought some pomegranate syrup, but we haven’t opened it quite yet.  It’s supposed to be wonderful on salads. 

We took a bus back to the hotel to drop off our purchases and then started the hike to the castle.  It took awhile as one or another would often pop into a shop and then run to catch up.  We got loads of walking and took lots of pictures.  It was just a beautiful day and felt good to be out enjoying it.  We read several huge informational plaques about the castle and “Red Tower”.  It is old.  Here is a spot of trivia courtesy of Wikipedia.

Most of the castle was built in the 13th century.  The castle was built on the remnants of ealier Byzantine era and Roman era fortifications.  After the area was pacified under the Ottoman Empire, the casle ceased to be purely defensive, and numerous villas were built inside the walls during the 19^th century.  The castle is lovated 250 meters high on a rocky peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean Sea, which protects it from three sides.  The wall which surrounds the casle in 6.5 km long and includes 140 towers.

I will hopefully be letting lots of pictures tell the story of our castle and city walks.  

We had to double time it back down the hill and to the hotel to be able to clean up a bit before having to board the bus and then the airplane to take us back home.  It was going to be a long night and we were all hot and sweaty from trekking around with backpacks all day in bright sunny weather. 

It turned out that Glenda and I had just enough time, if we started right away, to get a Turkish Bath.  So I gave enough money to Makenna so the group of kids could go up the street and get more Dönner Sandwiches.  They fed themselves and then did their best to clean up jumping in the pool, washing up in the bathroom or at least changing into their last clean clothes.  I was out of clean underwear and couldn’t bear the idea of putting on a smelly sports bra after getting sparkly clean, so I put on my swimsuit under the last set of clean clothes I had saved for the plane. 

We loaded the bus and started driving off by 8pm.  We stopped and ate dinner around 10 and checked into the airport around 11.  Our plane was supposed to leave at 1:45, but instead we didn’t board until well after 2am.  I think ours was the only gate being used in the airport.  This is when I learned the rock games—see the 5 Rock Game post.  The flight felt painfully long just because we were all so overtired.  We dozed a bit here and there, but mainly just endured it.  The girls had a crying baby right behind them.  Ugh.  I was sitting by the window and saw our descent to the Sharjah airport.  Blah.  I was already missing the green, but longing, for a shower and my own bed.  There were no hitched in going through passport control, getting luggage and getting a taxi to take us home. 

We walked in the front door, I grabbed out the first armful of clothes from a suitcase to start the first of 8 loads of laundry.  We all found the necessary toiletries to shower and then crashed for a few hours of well-earned naps.  I woke everyone up around 3pm, worried that they wouldn’t be able to sleep, but I needn’t have worried.  It took us a few days to catch back up on rooster free slumber.