Here Comes the Sun

I've been here for more than a year now, and in that time I've taken more than 300 photos of the sun over the Mediterranean. I am obsessed. Today I thought I'd put that obsession to good use, and share some pictures.

These were all taken in February and March of this year. Can you blame me for being obsessed?

Ski Bunny

The beauty that is Faraya, Lebanon. It was breathtaking. I think this is the photographic definition of an "achingly blue" sky. Honestly - are there any other words to describe it?

The skiing was just as wonderful. It had snowed for several previous days, but was sunny and clear on the day I was there. The snow was fresh, not icy, not slushy, just perfect. Another amazingly beautiful day in Lebanon.

2011: A Year in Review

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noel

Milad Majid

Lebanon June 12 - Beirut - by David (aka Dad)

Today we went to church. It was a wonderful experience. This is a truly international branch, a collection of Lebanese, Americans, French and Armenians. The opening and closing prayers were in Armenian, a sacrament prayer in French, and the speakers (Karma, me and the branch president) spoke English, except for one phrase which I spoke in French. They are all great people, and were very kind to us.

Of particular interest was the French missionary couple who, as it turned out, lived in my mission. Frère Marie, as I knew him, was the district president during the last year of my mission. He moved to Arras shortly after I left there, and was able to give me news on many of the people I knew as a missionary but of whom I had had no news for 30 – 40 years.


After church, we returned to Jessica’s apartment where we called Michael on Skype to wish him happy birthday, and worked on getting caught up on our journals. Then, Karma and Jessica made us a tasty dinner of Quiche Lorraine for dinner, and a couple of small fruit tarts.

Turkey/Lebanon June 11 - by David (aka Dad)

After only four hours sleep, we had to arise to get to the airport on time, so we were up at 6 a.m. and left by 7 a.m. We arrived at the airport without further incident, and caught our flight to Beirut.

From the airport we went to Jessica’s apartment and took a short nap before heading out to Beiteddine Palace, built in 1788 - 1818 by emir Bashir Shihab II.

The trip alone to get here was an experience. First, our driver had to wend his way through the streets and traffic of Beirut and then drive the long and winding road up the canyon to the palace. Only part of the palace is open to the public, the remaining portion being the summer home of the Lebanese president. It is an impressive building. I was particularly taken by the thick support pillars we observed underneath the emir’s residence, and the intricate tile work in the rooms.

After that, we stopped at Moussa Castle. This is a hard one to describe. It is like a child’s image of a medieval European castle, built in the early 1900s as a museum of sorts. There are representational dioramas of Lebanese life, and a huge collection of weapons, primarily rifles. It was built by a private individual, with a couple of the displays being figures of him, his wife and their children. It really was quite interesting, but just not what one thinks of when one envisions a castle and/or museum.

Next, it was a stop at the grocery store, and then home. Jessica fixed us tacos for dinner. Then, Karma and I both tried to do journal entries, but only succeeded in falling asleep.

Turkey June 10 - Ephesus - by David (aka Dad)

This was a long day. We stayed at another “pension” in Selçuk, where we had to pack our bags up four stories. The upside was that the veranda where breakfast was served was just one story above us. Still, I would have preferred to be lower, and not pack my suitcase that far.

After breakfast, it was off to Ephesus. Most of us only know Ephesus as a town of the New Testament visited by the apostle Paul and to whom he wrote one of his epistles. In fact, those events are only a tiny blip in Ephesus’s history. The ruins here are considered among the most well-preserved Roman ruins. You can actually trace follow the main road from the southern entry to the city down to the other end of the city where it met an artificial bay used for water traffic between the city and the sea. Along the way are the ruins of a bathhouse, smaller amphitheatre, personal residences, numerous temples, monuments and fountains. In between is the library, the most well-preserved and reconstructed of the ruins.



This was the third largest library in the Mideast, next only to the one in Egypt and the one in Bergama. Egypt was so jealous it banned the sale of papyrus outside of Egypt, if I have the story right, to prevent this library’s continued growth. The two-story façade of the library has been restored and is very beautiful. Men and women were allowed into the library during the day, but only men were allowed at night. There was a secret passage to the brothel across the plaza, so the joke is that a man would tell his wife he was going to the library, and actually go there, and then make his way through the underground passageway to the brothel.

To the north of the library is another, much larger, amphitheatre. It is also much larger than the one in Bergama, with more structure to it. But while it is also cut into a hillside, it is at the bottom of the hill, and so does not match the awe of the one in Bergama which appears suspended near the top of the hillside.

After Ephesus, we went to the ruins of the Basilica of St. John in Selçuk itself. Sitting near the top of a hill, the ruins are sufficient to see the floor plan of the basilica, with partial walls and many columns remaining or restored. The main feature of this sight is that it is the alleged burial spot of John. There is a tomb in the apse which is supposed to be where John was buried.

Finally, at close to 7 p.m., we left Selçuk for our return drive to Istanbul and an 11 a.m. flight to Beirut. We reached Çanakkale at 11 p.m. and boarded the ferry after spending half an hour trying to find it. That seems funny as we were just there the day before, but it was now dark, and coming into a fairly large town and finding a particular spot is more difficult than leaving the spot and getting out of town. After boarding, we had to wait another half hour before the ferry sailed. Thus, by the time we reached the other side of the Dardanelles, it was after midnight. We drove another hour before stopping in Keşan to sleep.

We managed to find an open hotel and were told a room would be 100 Turkish lira. Karma and Jessica were taken to the room while I was still unloading my stuff from the car. When I reached the reception desk, I was asked to pay in cash. I did not have enough, so I said I needed to go to the room to get some more money. I am not certain they understood all that, as I know they hardly understood any English at all.

At the room, I discovered Karma had no Turkish lira, and Jessica only had about 41 lira. I decided to just deal with it in the morning and we began to prepare for bed. The man at the desk called and kept repeating “How much!” clearly not as a question, but more as a demand that I come pay him. It became apparent I had to deal with it immediately. So, I returned to the desk and gave the man a credit card. For some reason, they did not want to take a credit card. Frankly, I think they were just employees, and as it was nearly 2 a.m., they were pocketing the money. So, I tried to explain to them, through gestures and simple words, that we did not have enough cash. They kept pulling out two 50 lira notes and showing them to me. I took their note pad, where one of them had written “100”, crossed that out and wrote “85”. They shook their heads no, and began again to show me two 50 lira notes. I finally gestured that we would have to leave. I am not certain they understood, but I just returned to the room and told Karma and Jessica we had to leave.

They were already dressed for bed, and not too enthusiastic about that option. So I took Jessica’s 41 lira, returned to the desk, put all 91 lira on the desk, and then pulled my trouser pocket inside out to indicate we had no more money. The man at the desk rolled his eyes and took the money, I returned to the room and we went to bed. It had been a long day.