Istanbul!

Below are just a few pictures of Istanbul: the Sultans' palace where we admired an 86 carat diamond and more gold and jewels than I thought possible, the famous Blue Mosque with its 6 minarets, the Grand Bazaar with all the goods including sahlep (yummy warm tapioca-like drink), the Egyptian spice market, and one of the bridges over the river. All of this was on the European side of the city, which Angie showed us in a delightful, whirlwind tour.

New Year's Eve

At Amanda's fabulous suggestion, we ventured over "the Med" to Istanbul for New Year's and spent a week exploring the city. We quickly realized that it would take a lot more than a week of exploring to do the city justice. Anyway, we flew in on New Year's Eve and enjoyed a breathtaking ferryboat ride across the Bosphorous River to the Asian side of the city. Here I am in Asia for the first time! We met up with my mom's childhood friend, Angie, who hosted us during our time there. It was the perfect arrival, complete with gorgeous views, great conversation, and Amanda's anxiously awaited doner kebab. We heard that most New Year's celebrations were cancelled due to political unrest, so we just walked down to the water to bring in 2008 with a handful of people who were out. Can you see the glorious fireworks display behind us in the photo by the river that night? Yeah, neither could we.

Sunrise, Sunset

Amanda adored my favorite neighborhood around here, Sidi Bou Said. We managed to take in a sunset and a sunrise up on the hill overlooking the sea (not simultaneously, though). The cafe shown is a great spot for mint tea served with pine nuts. Yum!

Carthage

Christmas brought me a wonderful present - AMANDA! She flew in on the 23rd and we spent two weeks catching up and seeing the sights around where I live. My friend showed us around Carthage and it was great to have a tour with someone so knowledgable (as in, she's lived here her whole life and written a book about the different empires that have occupied Carthage). Here are pictures of the Roman amphitheater and baths.

Fontana de Trevi (Trevi Fountain)

This beautiful fountain is the very end of the Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct constructed in 19 BC. It provides water to all the fountains in the center of Rome.









The legend about Trevi Fountain is that if you stand with your back to it and throw a coin over your shoulder, you will return to Rome. You can see that I am really hoping for that! (I was also hoping not to hit a tourist with my coin, because it was so crowded that I couldn't get close to the fountain).

High School Choir in Rome

Oh yes, and the kids did sing while we were there! In fact, they rehearsed for most of the day on Wednesday and Thursday in order to perform on Friday. The choir was composed of our kids from Tunis as well as an international school choir from Lisbon (Portugal) and Rome. The director from Lisbon worked with the kids all week and the result was fabulous. Stay tuned to hear a clip from YouTube in a few days when I figure out how to do it.

Colosseum

Can you believe that construction started on this building in AD 72? (For all you Blazer fans - the whole "Colosseum" idea didn't start in Portland).


















GLADIATORS....although I don't think that the real Gladiators were quite so affectionate.

















Look closely at this photo and you can see the hundreds of tourists on the second level of the building. Pretty amazing!

Pantheon

The Pantheon was built over 1800 years ago, but it still stands in the center of Rome. I loved the juxtapositioning of the Pantheon with modern day Rome surrounding it. We were walking down a busy street when the building seemed to appear out of nowhere!

Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica

I've been helping with the choir at ACST, and this week, the students performed at an invitational choir festival in Rome. We toured Vatican City and saw St. Peters, the largest church in the world. Did you know that Vatican City isthe smallest "city-state" in the world? Enclosed by Rome, this state has an area of less than one mile, and a population of 800 (made up of guards, nuns, priests, and the pope). Inside the city, there is the famous St. Peter's square, the church, the tombs of the popes including John Paul II, the art museum, Michelangelo's dome, and dozens of post office boxes! Rain or shine, this sight alone was worth the trip to Rome.

St. Peter's Basilica














We were prepared for all weather!

More views of the sea

Last weekend, I took a two hour drive south to the beautiful beach town of Sousse, where you can ride a camel on the beach!


























Our first stop on our sixth grade field trip was the natural hot springs in Kelibia. The boiling water goes straight into the ocean, making it a great spot for swimmers all year round.






































The hotel room was not very nice, but you can't complain about the sunset view off the balcony!

Ancient Ruins of Kerkouane

Our class field trip this week took us to the ancient Punic city of Kerkouane, located at the tip of the Cap Bon peninsula in Tunisia. This amazing settlement was abandoned in the 3rd century BC and never reoccupied by Roman or Byzantine settlers. The site was discovered in 1952 and is remarkably well-preserved. We were able to see remains of mosiac tiles, jewelry, pottery, art, a figure-head of the god Baal, and many pottery kilns. In the photos, the red color in the baths is from a famous Tyrian dye, extracted from the shellfish along the coast, and unique to this region. There is evidence that this was a thriving artisan community that traded extensively with Greece. Note the coins in the photos!

Post up-do hair

Would you still be my friend if I wore my hair like this?

Johnny's seasoning

Many of you will be familiar with Johnny's seasoning, a garlic salt used for breads and meat. It's easy to find in the USA, but impossible to find here in Tunisia. I don't even really care that much about Johnny's aside from the fact that you always want what you can't have when living abroad. While shopping in the states this past week, I purchased an 18oz. bottle of this special seasoning to bring back in order to make garlic bread to my heart's content. Imagine my surprise when I SMELLED my bag coming off the baggage claim at the airport in Tunis on Monday night. Yes, something crushed my suitcase on the way over, breaking the wheels, destroying the fabric of the suitcase, and, yes, distributing 18 ounces of garlic throughout my luggage. Nothing in my biggest suitcase was spared: I now own garlic clothes, garlic sheets (and most of you know how I am about my sheets), and garlic books. (If you don't use Johnny's, then imagine dumping 262 Top Ramen packets into your luggage and you will know what I mean). I am currently washing a load of laundry for the 4th time, hoping for improvement. They say garlic is good for you, so I should be a pretty healthy girl this winter!

Aside from the smell that permeates my apartment, it's been a pretty good transition back. I haven't had too much trouble with jet-lag, and nothing in my classroom went awry in my absence. This weekend, I am off to the coast for a few days, as we have a day off on Friday for the conclusion of Ramadan.

Foot twins

Below is a creepy picture of two different people's feet. Yes, that's right. This is not a pair of feet. Can you tell which one is mine and which one is Emily's?
This is a special talent of ours that we love to share.

Em's a MARRIED WOMAN

In response to overwhelming requests from those who read this (okay, in response to Rebecca), I am posting a few pictures of Emily and John's wedding. The happy couple became man and wife on Friday night, October 5th. Below are a few photos of the occasion. 1) the bride and groom 2) action shot - the ceremony 3) the chandler kids 4) first dance 5) amanda