My "second home"

I'm beginning to feel as if Tarsus is my second home. This was my fourth visit. I like to take all of our guests here which has meant a fairly frequent attendance in the town.

I left the boys with Veronica, and Becky and I navigated our way to Tarsus. I was very proud of myself. With Becky's help, I was able to successfully get us to Tarsus and to the sites we wanted to see (Cleopatra's gate, St. Paul's well, St. Paul's church, and the ancient road.) I then managed to take us to the beautiful local waterfall and get us back onto the Interstate for our return to Adana.

The only "mistake" I made was forgetting to fill up with gas before we left Base. We get gas on Base for the same costs at the USA. Off Base, gas is around $10 a gallon I believe! Yikes. Needless to say, I got the minimum amount (even stopped twice to be sure I didn't put too much in.) Wasn't happy about that mistake.

Here are some snaps (courtesy of Becky.)

A typical view on a city street in Tarsus.

The inside of St. Paul's church. This church does not date back to Paul's era. More like the 18th century. (Becky and I find it humorous that we don't consider that very old when traveling around here even though in the USA, that's about as old as you can find.) Either way, it is the only church in Tarsus which still bears his name. I have even heard they have been holding Christian services here (although I can't confirm that.) Very cool! It was gorgeous.

The entrance to St. Paul's church. They didn't have any English brochures so the guy gave me one in French. I almost told him that I'd rather have a Turkish flier than a French one. I can understand more Turkish than French. But apparently, he thought I'd get more of a French flier. Ha!

After that, we headed to St. Paul's well. I love coming here. It does cost money to get in (3TL -- roughly $2 USD) but I gladly pay it to read the Christian scriptures on the signs inside. It's one of the few places in Turkey that I feel a bit of Christ!

Becky at the well. While this well didn't technically belong to Paul, it is generally assumed he would have used this well regularly.

Here we are at the Roman road. This was only discovered in 1993 and dates back to the time of Caesar.

Here's Becky enjoying her first Turkish tea (chai) at the waterfall. I ordered our lunch and was told that I wasn't ordering enough. I am glad I trusted my gut, as yet again, there was more than enough to spare afterwards.

The waterfall.

So far, Becky's visit has gone as follows:

• Thursday evening -- flew in.
• Friday -- hung out at home.
• Saturday & Sunday -- Cappadocia
• Monday -- laid low at home; went to dinner with some friends in the evening
• Tuesday -- Tarsus
• Wednesday -- Dinner at Hatice's house -- yum!!!

What a wonderful time with an old friend. The boys absolutely adore Becky. She plays and interacts with them so well and has been so helpful to Veronica and me in holding down the fort while JB is gone! I am going to miss her terribly when she leaves, but I think the boys will miss her even more.

Tonight Elijah was talking to her about how Mommy "always comes back" after she leaves. He then said, "Beck come back?" What a tough question when you don't know when you will see someone again.