Up, up, and away

The photos are of the third leg of our trip to Turkey. We saw Istanbul, the ruins of Asia Minor, and finally Capadocia. Capadocia is a collection of 5 regions or like counties in the states. Because of volcanic activity, earthquakes, and wind it has a unique topography. It is famous for “fairy chimneys” which are rock formations that grow from the earth. The wind eats away at the softer rock and the tops are made of a harder substance leaving a mushroom like effect.
We saw some of the most beautiful scenery in the entire world. It rivaled Alaska. One way to see it is from a hot air balloon. One person traveling in the area many years ago suggested how nice it would be to see the beauty from a hot air balloon. Now there are over a dozen companies offering the experience during the tourist season.
The ride begins with a pickup at the hotel at 5:00 a.m. and then driven to a remote gathering area. Everyone watches while the balloons arrive on trailers and the preparation process begins. We wait anxiously to discover which of the many balloons will be ours. Finally we were taken to ours during the final 30 minutes of filling with hot air and righting the gondola. There were 4 sections with 3 people in each section in each gondola. What an experience! Our pilot took us high and low over the majestic geological wonders. After a little more than an hour, we landed gently. The euphoria spread amongst all the passengers as we awaited a champagne toast and the receiving of a certificate of flight.

Our hotel was one of many “cave hotels.” Small boutique hotels, which were once, cave homes, but now remodeled into hotels. It was a great 3 days with the only hitch being that it began and ended with overnight bus rides. In Turkey the intra-transportation system are buses. The buses are much like the nicest buses you would see in the US. We were served tea and coffee, made comfort stops of about 20 minutes, twice. The problem is sleeping is difficult, but it was much easier the return trip when we knew what to expect.

Once again leaving our trip to Turkey and back to our daily life as Peace Corps Volunteers. Linda is assisting a private kindergarten one day a week. The kindergarten building was once a government building and was purchased by an entrepreneurial couple. They began their private kindergarten four years ago. They reinvest the tuition into remodeling and equipment. It is a combination daycare and educational institution. The teachers work with the children to learn Basic English skills and prepare them for the first form (grade). Linda and I toured the building together, and then Linda arranged to assist. The facilities were quite impressive by Azerbaijan educational standards.
The kindergarten has classes year round, and even though the building is impressive – there is no air conditioning. There are no fans even in the napping area. For practical reasons the little boys run around in their underwear and light tops while the girls little shorts and tops. The main teacher that Linda works with is Gunay. Gunay uses any and every thing that Linda suggests and provides. She is one of the most impressive and hard working teachers Linda has met.

On a practical side soft drinks are available in abundance at every market or shop. The standard carbonated drinks are Coca Cola, Sprite, Fanta, local brands, sometimes Pepsi, and Dusesh. Dusesh is a carbonated pear flavored drink and is very tasty indeed and a nice change of pace. Anyway, the point of this is that diet drinks are nowhere to be found, but there is a Coca Cola Light and a Pepsi Light on rare occasions. We have made good friends with one of the closest shop owners. He speaks a little English and always greets me with “How are ya maaan?” He would sometimes have Cola Light and I would buy and mention how much my wife enjoyed it. He has begun ordering Coca Cola Light a case at a time. A case being 12 1-liter plastic bottles. Whenever he gets in a case – I buy it. Now, that is quite unusual, and I have been seen carrying these cases of Coca Cola Light to our apartment.
This week Linda was teaching about food in the courtyard club. She asked what drinks they like, and one boy responded with Fanta. Then one boy pointed to Linda and shouted “Cola, Cola, Cola” and pointed to Linda. “Mister Denney…” he could not form the words, but pantomimed out carrying a heavy load. Oh well, we will be remembered here in Azerbaijan!