Hagia Sophia!!

We arrived in Istanbul today at around 5am our time (9amish their time). Given the choice to stay in the airport and rest in one of their hotel rooms or go into the town and see the sights.... we chose the sites.

We got to visit the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Not only did I drag around two unfortunate PCV's and bore them (with Rachel but she is used to it) with arcane historical nonsense, but we got to hear the call to prayer that was "sang" through speakers connected to the many minarets that are spread out around the structure. It was quite an experience.

The mosiacs in the Hagia Sophia were breathtaking:
To think that these things were made over 1000 years ago. We walked in the same places and through tunnels that patriarchs and all their elders would travel while participating in synods and rituals and such. Not to mention all the clerics that would have done the same thing when it functioned as a mosque.

It was unreal.

We are going to leave soon for Bishkek (in about an hour) at which point we will sleep the whole way.

We are safe and having a great time.

Here are more pictures. Bye.

Hagia Sophia (below) Blue Mosque (below)










P.S.
Today Rachel woke up from her sleeping on our 10 hour flight and in her mildly lucid moment, she leans over to me and sings "Pokemon!! Gotta catch 'em all!!!" Good story.

Six attempts later...

Rachel and I finally arrived in Philly today.

It took us a whopping 12 hours for what was first planned as a 4 hour journey. What was supposed to be a 2 plane ride actually turned into 6 attempts and 3 actual plane rides.

Needless to say, we are tired. And we have to wake up early tomorrow and do it again but over a giant ocean and with 59 other people.

So sorry for the boring entry.

Rachel says to mention we are safe and "on the way." So there it is.

Bye.

Last meal

I know I said no more until Philly but I cannot help but introduce everyone to the deliciousness that is Donut Burger! It is something that a few of us have been dreaming about since last summer and today it became a reality. Here are a few simple steps to aquiring a donut burger...

step 1: Have a good friend (like morrissey and burns) drive 45 minutes to the BEST homemade donut shop around. Aquire a dozen or so donuts...

step 2: Hit up the Mac Donalds for a dozen or so cheeseburgers.

step 3: Bring this combination of scrumptous food, that alone would be appealing, to a group get together

step 4: to prepare the meal remove the bun from the hamburger

step 5: cut the donut in half

step 6: Place the donut halfs aroung the burger, substituting it for the bun

The result.......

Thomas did not approve:

Our Packing Adventures

This is our life. In bags. There is also two "carry on" backpacks that are excluded from this picture (they decided to fool around during picture time and had gotten in one of the famous "picture day condiment fights" so we left them out and they cried).

They weigh somewhere between 30-40 pounds apiece and we will each carry two. Most of that weight is either Immodium AD or some other form of gastro-intestinal wonder drug that I insisted on buying the largest box ever made.

I also had a great story about some kind of crocodile that attacked us while we were packing that I promised I would put in for Bill (to spice it up you know) but I will save that for later.

16 hours out. Peace playa's.

movies we must have!

So Thomas and I have come up with a list of movies that are not out yet that we must have at some point during our time away... so here goes...

Slumdog Millionaire
The Reader
Harry Potter and the half blood prince
Sunshine Cleaners
Doubt

So there it is!

We are leaving on Friday... I'm not even freaked out. I'm sad about leaving my kitty. But she's with good people who will love her. That's about all I'm sad about. Mostly because you can't explain this to a cat. If she understood English all would be well. Otherwise I just feel amazingly calm. We've been planning, talking and thinking about this for so long that it just feels normal... like the next step.
I've been asked by multiple people if we plan on buying a house when we get back. I just can't see that happening. It seems like the biggest trap. I cannot imagine being stuck, in debt, in one place for as long as it takes to pay back the debt. No thanks! I guess what some people haven't understood is that this is just the beginning of what we want to do for a long time. We might stay put long enough to go back to school but that's it.... I hope. One of my biggest fears is getting stuck.

More when we get to Philly and get details.

8 days left

Thomas and I officially have 8 days left in the US. We are currently in Gainesville visiting my family, which has been really nice. I am beginning to get VERY excited but also slightly nervous... also a little bit shocked that it is actually happening! It seems like we have been talking about doing something like this for so long, and now that it is actually here it feels very unreal. It's hard not knowing what to expect. We have gotten very few details besides our travel itinerary and a general idea of what our job will be. Mostly because none of this is really figured out until we actually get there. I have been reading some other PCV's blogs that are currently in K-stan and it seems like it will be a nice place to live. The people there sound exceptionally friendly, and I've heard that even if they don't like you, you won't know it.... we'll see.

I just finished reading a 77 page "Pre-departure training guide" for English teachers going to K-stan. Then I had to write a 200 word essay on how I would apply the guide to my teaching. WTF? I don't know! It seemed like such a vague question. Not to mention hard to answer since I know little about what to expect.
We are headed back to Tally on Saturday to relax and see Thomas' mom. More then...

Rachel

Explanation

For those that read this, Rachel and I will be leaving March 27th for Philadelphia and then March 28th for Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. Until then, we will be visiting families and such as that and hopefully should get some photos up of all that fun before we go.

We would love to be on here everyday updating it and all but being as we have never been to KR, we have no idea as to how much access we will have to the internet and time allowance we will have to be updating. We will be doing it when we can when we get over there.

-Thomas