YAY! We DID something over the weekend!

FINALLY, I have something to write about! So, since Chris and I no longer work weekends (have I mentioned how truly wonderful and free I feel since getting back to a 5-day workweek?) we decided to do something this past weekend. There is an archeology museum in Konak, just a short bus ride from our place, and since I pass it every day on the bus, we decided to go there. As is the usual MO, Chris will post pictures at some point in the future. (I'm not promising it will be the near future, but he will post them!) Let me describe some of what we saw. Since there are no pictures, I will use the thousand words instead :D

Part of the museum's collection is actually outside, which I thought unusual but pretty neat. They have a whole garden area with stuff placed in them like a Roman sarcophagus from the 2nd century AD, a HUGE amphora, and (my favorite) a statue of a barbarian!!!! (You all know I LOVED the barbarians in my history classes!) They also had another section that was less garden and more just stuff displayed. These included a row of statues, pillars, relief carvings, and more sarcophagi (wow, I had to look that up, what a weird-sounding word!), which were really neat. We also met a cat who decided she loved us. I've never had a cat who almost knocked me over because she pushed so hard against my legs as she was weaving in and out of them. Eventually, however, the cold got to us (ok, me) and we headed for the entrance.

We didn't make it inside before we made more feline friends. And a dog. Seriously, this place was FULL of really sweet animals, all of who looked well-taken care of, which is unusual here. Chris managed to drag my increasingly-freezing body away, and we explored inside. It was pretty sweet inside, smaller and more delicate items than outside. There were 2 floors, one of which was ceramics (zzzzzzzzzzz: I can only look at so many pots, then I stop caring), the other which was more statues, smaller accessories, and more delicate carvings. There was also a mosaic that they're working on, although we couldn't get close to it and it was covered.

What was probably the coolest thing though was that all of this stuff was SO OLD, when we saw stuff from the 19th century, which would have been amazing in the U.S., we didn't even bother to look; it wasn't old enough. Some of the ceramics were even 2nd millenium BC, which kind of blows my mind. So much of this stuff was worn, but still perfectly recognizable as to what it was. At the risk of sounding hallmarky, it was quite moving. To think that someone who lived thousands of years ago actually touched this, carved this, and although they're long ago dead, I can see their work, appreciate the beauty. Makes one think about the big picture, and how we fit so small into it. So what do we have to show for ourselves that people will look at later on? OK, enough of that. Sorry, I go off on these little random wonderings.

We were thinking about leaving when a crowd of school kids poured in, which quickly made our decision for us. Back out into the cold we went. The two cats we'd met when we came in returned, and one of them almost came home with us. She was pregnant though, and although Chris is more seriously considering giving in to my pleas for a kitty, he also knew getting a pregnant one wouldn't be the best idea. So we're waiting 2 months, and then going back, and this time she WILL come home with us!

So that was our excursion this weekend. It was a good thing we picked Saturday to do it, since Sunday it rained. November is their rainiest month, and it's been proving it so far. Cold and rainy, although it's been a bit warmer today. We're hoping it'll hold off for this weekend long enough to go to Şirince for wine tasting and exploring.

Anyways, sorry to cut this short, but I have a student coming in 15 minutes, and I should probably consider getting ready for them. Start bugging Chris to post pictures, they're much cooler than my talking about them. :)