Went to an olive factory, got shown the old way of doing things and how it developed over time, which was interesting, and then the new factory. Tasting olive oil is like tasting wine: the process isn't the same, but they both seem overly complicated to me. You have to sniff, wait, sniff again (supposedly it's different), take a sip, swish it, hiss and draw it back into your mouth to the back of your tongue to taste it... yeah. I didn't get a whole lot of olive oil so I'm pretty sure I didn't get a good taste, Anh was confused about the whole thing, I guess she doesn't get dipping bread in olive oil. Cultural differences in cooking and all that. Moved on...

Had a fantastic lunch of salad, little meat things whose name I can't spell, chicken, bread, olive oil, fruit, and probably some more courses I forget. I had a mixed fanta/coke which turned out to be pretty good, we guilted Becky for putting food on her plate before everyone was even settled in and then again later for asking for another piece of orange (the humor there being that none of us really cared), talked about video games and sniper rifles and all sorts of things. We being Swaffie, John, Becky and I. It was fun. From there we headed out in a four-wheeler which we really didn't properly fit into properly to a valley which, honest to God, reminded me of Ohio more than anything else. I felt more home there than I probably have this whole trip. Home isn't hot showers and wireless, it's not the stores around me, home is the trees I recognize and a rocky creek to play in. There was a GORGEOUS waterfall and then we headed down to the creek itself, took some photos, clambered around on rocks...

and then I see Swaffie and Nate in boxers in the water.

You can all guess what happened next.

It was COLD at first, though I did my best to accept and roll with it. When I went entirely in and tried to swim against the strong current, though, I was surprised. My whole body in, it was far less cold than when only part of me was in. It felt absolutely fantastic. Got out, got mostly dressed (underwear came off, soaked as it was) and headed back up the hill, the last one to move out. I felt absolutely invigorated and told Denny I'd love to replace my morning shower with that, I'd never fall asleep in class again.

Back up the hill, sitting in the four-wheeler, making a good dig at Becky (she said “I'm really, really hot” because she wanted the window open, I said “I'd debate that”) that got me a slow clap (the only one of the trip? Not sure). Got back down, put our stuff over a furnace to dry, had some tea, took some group photos. One of the guys leading us, by the by, had what he called “cat eyes.” The bottom part of his iris was missing so it looked like a vertical slit, but it didn't go all the way through. Really odd, but cool. So these people were wonderful, on our way out they gave us a couple plates of these delicious little cheese rolls, yeah MORE food, which we did our best to eat. I told Denny that Turkish culture seems to consist entirely of feeding people and he said feeding people, moving slowly, and kissing people. I said I hadn't experienced the last yet. On the bus, by the way, our guide Isen bought us Kit-Kats, so MORE food... yeah. Between that and Denny giving us biscuits, cookies and Turkish delights constantly, we're hardly starving. Now I'm driving past miles and miles of olives on the way back to the hotel.

Tuesday, March 9th, roughly 5:25-5:35 PM