We arrived here in August and it was hot, dry, and dusty. There were small, desert like flowers that blossomed in response to rain, but it was overwhelmingly brown. Since winter ended it has been raining a little bit every day. Now, spring is in bloom and there are blossoms everywhere. Unfortunately, summer is coming. The rain is slowing down and things are drying up quickly. Here is a glimpse of what we saw this spring.
The cacti are blooming. Most of the year this cactus looks like a scary cotton ball. Now it is a beautiful purple flower.
Remi and I took a hike with Jeff and Mavis last month we saw a lot of beautiful flowers and an amazing creek. We hiked 10K through many villages. We saw cows out with cowherds. You know me, I like cows.
a cool creek
We had a lot of rain the last two months. Our lojman is on top of the city. One of the benefits is great views of rainbows.
My classroom is very high up over campus and I noticed a falcon gliding everyday outside my classroom. Mike and I went exploring and we found the falcon’s nest. I was able to bring my class out to see the nest and the parents were out hunting and bringing bites of flesh to the nest. One day Mike and I found a fledgling about 500 meters from the nest. We hope it got home okay. Later, while walking the dog we saw the birds in flight training. I had to do some serious zooming and cropping to make the birds visable, but you still need to click on the photos to identify the birds. Enjoy.
It has been an interesting year getting adjusted to the Ankara environment. I am glad we finally got to see some green. Here is a little slide show of some of the greatness we have seen this spring.
