Gallipoli and Troy

This morning started off really early with a quick breakfast at the Kent Hotel in Istanbul then a long drive to Gallipoli. We watched the movie Gallipoli in the Bus to get us pumped for the site. In short we went to the memorial site for the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and the Turkish Soilders who died there during WWI. Due to some foreign food, I was fighting my own battle at Gallipoli because they had no facilities. I held off the forces for half an hour till we got to the ferry, to ferry across the Asian side of Turkey over Dardanelles strait. I had to wait in the queue for the Toilet. I get in and it was a Turkish Toilet, which is a porcelin hole in the ground with two foot grips on either side. This,combined with no toilet paper on a ferry boat created a moment that I would not describe as enjoyable. Luckly, Brother Stratford was in the queue with some TP and he saved me. We then spent more time in the bus on the way to Troy. We had a really brief but informative tour of the ruins of Troy. We then spent just as much time taking photos in the huge Trojian Horse out front. It was the same horse used in the Brad Pitt movie "Troy". We then bussed to our Hotel which was no more than half hour drive away. This Hotel was absolutely amazing! There was a sweet pool and a swimming area and dock on the Aegean Sea. I threw my stuff in my room, threw on my board shorts and jumped into the pool, then quickly into the Ocean. I swam out really far (it was really shallow for a really long time) and felt alive as I floated by myself (Jed and others were not far off) in the Aegean Sea. Back in my element. The water was refreshingly chilly, but not to give me any discomfort. My eyes were burning from looking under the water the whole time, I was looking for the drop off, never came. I am listening to "All the wild horses" by Ray Lamontagne and I feel it is the perfect soundtrack to my swim that night. After getting called in by Brother Judd and restricted to the "swimming area" there was about 30 of us messing around doing chicken fights, which produced two solid knees to the my face. I stepped on some Vana (sea urchin) which is just a small annoyance. Dinner was on the second floor overlooking the pool, deck, and Aegean Sea which made me seem super high class. The sunset was way good tonight, just a red burning sun. I chilled out by the water solo after dinner, just listening to music and enjoying the WiFi. Then they started a dance party (they = Mckay and the other buss's tour guide). I was not in the mood so I went on a walk on the beach with a gril named Rachel, we spoke of our future professions and our families. Then when I came back we sang Happy Birthday to Cal then I sat and talked about social work with Liz. It was a really good day and it was fun to hang out at the hotel and be out of the bus.