Bayram Holiday Part 1

Hello Friends and Family! I just returned from a week long journey through the south and western parts of Turkey. It was an amazing trip and I was able to see many unbelievable sites along the way.

First I will briefly explain what the holiday is. The full name of the holiday is Kurban Bayram and it is celebrated for 1 week in the month of November. Because of this, we were out of school and free to travel of course. It is a very important religious holiday celebrated by muslims worldwide. Long story short.......It begins with families buying and sacrificing a sheep or cow as a commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son Ishmael for God. Families cut the throat of these animals in public places and use part of the meat for their own family and give half to the poor.

My trip started when I met 4 other Fulbrighters (Tess, Hayfa, Sarah and Cassie) in Antalya on the Mediteranean coast. Antalya was beautiful! This is a resort town for Turks and other Europeans. The weather was lovely. We even were able to swim! In November!!!

While in Antalya, we hired a car to take us to the ancient city of Termessos. It is one of the best preserved ruins in the world. I can't even put into words how breathtaking it was. So much history! It was a Pisidian city that began in 333BC. It has temples, a theatre, gymnasium and many other structures still partly standing! It was like we discovered this place on our own. It costs less than $10 to enter and you can wonder around and see and touch pieces of history. What a day! To think that hundreds of people lived here over 2 thousand years ago and here we are up close and personal with what they left behind.

We also went to Olympos, founded in the Hellenistic period. Coins found there date back to the 2nd century BC. The ruins of this ancient city were near the sea and were also very beautiful. Near this site was Chimaera. This rocky hill had flames coming out of the ground! These flames were said to have been burning thousands of years and burn because of the methane gas that is seeping out of the ground. These flames served as landmarks for sailors many years ago.