Travel: a tough friend

I am learning to be patient with travel. It takes time to build a foundation of trust. It takes time to allow travel to have part of yourself.

Travel will not steal from you, but if you allow Travel your time, patience, effort, study, your relaxed and carefree mind, then Travel will surprise you.

Travel will host you, guide you, reveal new life to you. Travel can take your hand, give mysteries, explore the unknown and introduce you to many characters and friends.

Travel will give you tough love at times. He will teach you difficult lessons, he will show you fear and hesitation. He will show you beauty, and allow you to see pain and struggle.

But travel will always help you grow, and travel will never let you stay the same,

and that is the greatest gift of all.

Ankara and Cappadocia, Turkey

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Turkey has been a whirlwind of sights, sounds, faces and of course, homework. The team is still doing really well; we are growing in unity with a solid foundation every single day. Our morning devotions, worship and prayer have helped with all that is going on here.

The landscapes are beautiful; this weekend we chartered a bus to Cappadocia. It has been my favorite part of the trip so far because we climbed rocks and explored 5000 year old caves. Throughout the weekend, we discovered ancient churches, delicious food with rooftop views, sunsets on top of a castle and acoustic worship under the stars.

Saturday I rented a bike and rode around in the afternoon sun: a great and terrible choice. After an hour and a half I was exhausted, but I saw wild horses on slightly dangerous rocky roads. We are back in Ankara, having classes, studying Islam and the Qu'ran, and doing service projects with Iranian Refugees.

I am still learning a lot, and will elaborate when what is happening becomes more clear. Missing home but so thankful to be here in Turkey. Excited for what is to come, and please keep praying for me and the team.

ATW Textbook List

Required Texts:

ENG 399: Foundations of Language
Lonely Planet phrasebooks (you must buy at least the one for your language group)
[Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Swahili, India, Indonesian, Mandarin]

HIST 416: Cold War History
1. Judge, Edward and John Langdon. A Hard and Bitter Peace: A Global History of the Cold War. Prentice Hall, 1995. (1 text per Language Group)
2. Judge, Edward and John Langdon. Cold War: A History through Documents. Prentice Hall, 1998. (1 text per Language Group)

THL 321: World Religions (1 text per student except #1)

1. Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World’s Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change. 3rd or 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. (1 text per Language Group)
2. The Qur’an (any translation)
3. The Talmud: Selections. Penguin Classics. [ISBN-13: 978-0141441788]
4. The Bhagavad-Gita. Translated by Barbara Miller. Bantam, 1986. [ISBN-13: 978-0553213652]
5. The Upanishads. Translated by Juan Mascaro. Penguin Classics. [ISBN-13: 978-0140441635]
6. The Dhammapada. Translated by Juan Mascaro. Penguin Classics. [ISBN-13: 978-0140442847]
7. Lao, Tzu. Tao Te Ching (any translation)

ENG 499: Postmodern World Novel (1 text per student)

1. Martinez, Tomas Eloy. The Tango Singer. [ISBN-13: 978-0747585787] - Argentina
2. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. The Gulag Archipelago. [ISBN-13: 978-0060007768] - Russia
3. Pamuk, Orhan. Snow. [ISBN-13: 978-0375706868] - Turkey
4. Oz, Amos. My Michael. [ISBN-13: 978-0156031608] - Israel
5. Mahfouz, Naguib. Midaq Alley. [ISBN-13: 978-0385264761] - Egypt
6. Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa. A Grain of Wheat. [ISBN-13: 978-0435913564]- Kenya
7. Mistry, Rohinton. Family Matters. [ISBN-13: 978-0375703423] - India
8. Hua, Yu. Chronicle of a Blood Merchant. [ISBN-13: 978-1400031856] - China
9. Tong, Su. Raise the Red Lantern. [ISBN-13: 978-0060596330] - China

WRT 399: Travel Writing (1 text per student)
Rolf Potts. Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: stories and revelations from one decade as a postmodern travel writer. Travelers’ Tales and Solas House, Inc. 2008. [ISBN: 1932361618]