Old digs

Speaking of nostalgia for the Middle East, I'm kinda missing our old neighborhood in Bahrain. This was our street in Suqaya.

Nostalgia

Several of my coworkers are Turkish. They've installed a teapot that makes Turkish tea in the teacher's lounge, and which is reminding me how much I'd enjoy visiting Turkey again.

Ancient

A necropolis in Turkey. The light was amazing when we visited, and the contrast between the old stones and the new vegetation was beautiful.

Unexpected

Thrifting at Salvation Army today, I found a rather unexpected tag... I had no idea that there were clothing manufactories in Bahrain.

Displeased

When we were in Harran, Turkey, this little guy was really cute, and I asked if I could take his picture. The man with him (I think his father or grandfather) thought it was a great idea, but he himself was clearly not so impressed.

Flame-red

Poppies against the ruins in Turkey. Poppies are everywhere in Turkey, and my, are they pretty!

Glow

(A small shop in Turkey)

I think these lamps are prettiest when they are hanging all massed together. An individual lamp is never as attractive as a group of them.

Hollow

(Cappadocia, Turkey)

I'm having so much fun going back through old pictures from Turkey that I thought I'd share a few more in the next few days.

Play

Another of my favorite pictures from Turkey. This kiddo had been playing with a paper kite in the street, but was very skeptical of having his picture taken.

The other side

(The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey)

Although the Hagia Sophia is very impressive from the front, I have always liked seeing the many layers of the building crammed together when it's viewed from the back.

Maximus

This is one of my very favorite pictures from Turkey. Secretly, Ben is Maximus from Gladiator.

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is one of my very favorite places in Turkey. The landscape is naturally beautiful, and the history is fascinating. The Hittites lived there thousands of years ago, and the early Christians used the hills as homes and dug out catacombs below in which to hide.

Ataturk

(Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara, Turkey)

The weather here in Dallas has felt a lot like it did when were in Turkey, so I think it's a great time to review the pictures from our trip.

Street scene

It's been six years since we went on the Honor's Program trip to Turkey. It is a truly beautiful country, and I would love to go back and spend another month there. Perhaps in a few years.

Hagia Sofia

Ben proposed in front of the Hagia Sofia in 2005. In 2006, we got married. In 2007, we happened to be in Istanbul on a layover from Italy and returned to the spot where he proposed. Today we celebrate having been married five years. It's been a wonderful adventure!

Warm

(Adliya, Bahrain)

As the weather gets up into the 90s here in Dallas, it's starting to feel more like summertime Bahrain all the time.

Nostalgia

(Wandering in downtown Adliya)

I'm definitely a little homesick for Bahrain right now.

Sheep

(Cappadocia, Turkey)

Story time

(The intrepid Honors Program explorers, 2005)

Although not an amazing picture in its own right, this photograph makes me smile every time I see it as it reminds me the Honors Program trip to Turkey in 2005. I took this picture the very first day of the trip in Istanbul. At the time, it felt like we were wandering the backstreets and byways of the city to find such an obscure restaurant. When Benjamin and I stopped back in Istanbul in 2007 on our way back from Italy, we found this same restaurant again. Having lived in the Middle East for a while, we realized that it was actually on a main street in the middle of the touristy section of town. Hah! So much for our back street, obscure restaurant.

(The same restaurant when we rediscovered it in 2007)

Fallen

(Greek ruins in Turkey)

II Samuel 1:27

How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!