And the week continues...Boat trip in the Turkish Aegean

Everyone was pretty drained after the two-day trip last weekend, making the rest of the week pretty rough. I know it sounds ridiculous to say that a weekend of swimming and hot springs is exhausting but the long hours of always being on the go do take a toll after a while. We came right back into classes (and a chapter test) on Monday and had lectures on Turkish cinema and foreign relations in the Black Sea on Monday and Tuesday. By the time Wednesday rolled around and we were faced with a five hour excursion to the other side of the Bay of Izmir some of us were just ready to be done. All of these activities are great but when they begin only fifteen minutes after our four hours of class it doesn't leave us much time for relaxation, studying, homework, etc. Luckily they allowed some of us to beg out of the Wednesday trip and I got a chance to catch up on my studies. We have two more two-day trips coming up in the next couple weeks so hopefully we'll be able to adjust better next time. However, this weekend we were limited to a day trip to the island of Cunda about three hours north of Izmir. We went straight from the bus to our boat tour of the Turkish islands in the Aegean. The islands and the water are unbelievably beautiful. The water alternates between a bright blue and being so clear that you can see to the bottom. We were apparently not too far from the Greek island of Lesbos but had to stick to the Turkish side for various visa issues. We alternated between laying on the roof deck enjoying the sun and occasionally stopping in some shallow areas to swim in the sea. The water was very warm most of the time and so salty you could just lay back and float without any effort. They also treated us to another wonderful fish lunch with the whole fish on a plate like we enjoyed at Ceşmealtı last week. The seafood in this part of the country is amazing! After about five or six hours of enjoying the sun and water we headed back to Cunda and Ayvalik to get some dinner before heading back to the bus. Tony and Lorena and I wandered into the city and found a great little cafe tucked away into an alley where we had some fresh-cooked chicken soup and apple tea that was better and cheaper than anything I've found in our area of Izmir. It was nice to get a chance to see these two areas because there is an Ottoman program that I am looking into for next summer that is located there. Maybe I'll get a chance to return pretty soon. We capped off our trip with a refreshing sour cherry ice cream sandwich and then piled back onto the bus for our long trip home. It was a pretty late night but a very enjoyable day overall. I'm looking forward to a relaxing Sunday of studying and getting ready for the next week. We have some more music sessions planned for the next couple days and another big two-day trip next weekend (with an eight hour drive to the Mediterranean!).