Visit the website below to read a recent Smithsonian Magazine article about Gobekli Tepe:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html
When we arrived in Mardin, we were met by a Dust Storm from Syria. We were also met by my Turkish teacher-friend's former student, Memet. (My friend used to live and work in Mardin 20 years ago, and when I told her we were traveling there, she said, "Let my former student, Memet, take care of you. He has a very good heart.") We were about to embark on the most generous hospitality I've ever experienced.
After lunch at a friend's restaurant, and our first taste of cig kofte, Memet took us on a tour of the cities religious buildings. Mardin is fascinating in that churches exist next to synagogues next to mosques. There are no protests; everyone is friends in this small city. In fact, Memet told us there was just an Easter Sunday celebration at the Syrian Orthodox church, and afterwards, everyone including Muslims, attended an outdoor picnic.
The Kasim Pasa Medresesi, a 15th century religious school:
The Mar Ismuni Church, a Syrian Orthodox Church:
We noticed, and learned later in a museum, that Mardin was built on a hillside so that no house shed a shadow on another house. Each home enjoyed ample natural sunlight, but all the walkways existed in shadow to provide relief during the hot hot summer months when people had to walk outside.
Memet took us to a few key locations to enjoy the sunset.
We then met up with his wife, Gulhane, and three sons, Sezer, Seyfettin, and Hasan. We viewed the old citadel and had a cup of tea overlooking the Mesopotamian (Syrian) Plain, then they took us out for lahmacun at a restaurant, then to their home for tea and music and conversation. Keep in mind, Memet doesn't speak a lick of English, so we're relying entirely on my Turkish this whole 24 hours in Mardin. It was actually an amazing feeling to be able to communicate and enjoy each other's company (of course not talking about anything too deep or complicated), with my limited Turkish and then translating everything to Christy. They were such a lovely family, and the sons had lots of questions about American culture. And just as we complimented their gorgeous hazel eyes, they loved our blue eyes.
That night I slept HARD...my brain hasn't been that challenged in a long time, but my Turkish really improved on this trip. Here are some pics of our fancy boutique hotel:
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