Ephesus was going to be on Sunday, so we drove to this coastal town for another short orientation. It was very difficult to pay attention since it was a beautiful day outside, and the ocean was just outside the window looking so beautiful and inviting. The orientation didn't finish soon enough, and afterwards we had lunch. Then, finally, we got to go swimming. The water was so refreshing, not too cold, not to hot, and just as clear as the water in Cesme. The only difference was that this beach had waves, which became a little bit of an issue when I was trying to sleep that night because I still felt like I was being rocked by the ocean. After swimming we had to go back for the 2nd part of the orientation, and then afterwards we went out to dinner. We walked around the streets of the downtown for a while, which was nice. There was this one line of trees that were lit up by these gorgeous lamps. Dinner was nice, and we spent some time wandering through the shops. After we got back to the hotel, all of the exchange students got into a room together just talked. The topics were very different, but they mostly revolved around how everyone was doing, and what things were like in each other's countries.
The next day was Ephesus. This time we didn't have to get up so early, which no one complained about. Once everyone was up and ready we took some more group pictures before leaving. Our first stop was the Virgin Mary's House. As the story goes, this was Mary's home after Jesus was crucified, and is a recognized biblical sight by the Vatican. It was very modest, just a simple stone house on a hill, but the scenery was very pretty. On one of the walls there was this huge collection of paper and cloth that were tied onto strings. What we were told was that people write their wishes onto slips of paper or fabric, then tie them onto the wall. After every week the wall is burned, and the wishes are supposed to come true. I thought it was a nice idea, but I didn't take part. After Mary's house, we grabbed some lunch. Amazingly enough, we ran into some Americans there, and 2 of them were from Portland. We had a small conversation, mostly about what each of us had been doing. The man from Portland actually lives in SW, which I found very funny. After lunch we loaded up onto the bus again and headed to our final destination for the trip, Ephesus.
From the outside, Ephesus doesn't look like much. Just a bunch of collapsed columns and stone floors. But once you get past the gates you get to witness the true beauty. Again I was left in wonder how something so old could still be standing, especially when it is in such good condition. I have seen the Mayan temples, and the Great Wall, and it blows my mind that they are still here when structures now that aren't even 50 years old are starting to fall apart. Walking through these ruins really wanted to make me have a time machine so I could go back in time and see this city in it's prime. Ephesus was a city of 20,000 people, and was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Back in those days it was a port city, but the ocean is very far away now. Everything about Ephesus amazed me, and it got better and better as we continued on. There were these archways that had these gorgeous carvings on them, and it made you wonder how long it took to make them. There was a main road that had columns and statues lining each side. On the right there were fountains and other structures, on the left there were what used to be houses. The small road that connected them all still had beautiful mosaics. Then we came to the library. It was the most spectacular library I have ever seen, not the biggest, but hands down the most amazing. We were only given 10 minutes to look around it, I could have easily spent 45 minutes just looking at it. We continued walking down the street, and were directed to look at a street sign that basically said "Prostitutes this way," which we all found funny. Then we came to the theater. Now a Roman theater is much different than any other one's you've probably seen. It's an amphitheater but it is gigantic. This one could seat up to 25,000 people, and people like Elton John, and Ray Charles have played in it. Back in the day it used to host many dramas, and gladiator fights. It was amazing how big it was, and how well it was laid out. Max, the guy from Mexico, went down into the center and gave us a small performance. The theater was our last stop in Ephesus, which was unfortunate because I was told there was still much more to see. Our trip to Ephesus was a wonderful adventure, and I'm sure that Turkey has many more monuments like this that are definitely worth seeing. I can't wait!
Goroscuruz.
-Torvald
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