The optional academic excursion to Turkey is now a
permanent feature of the Full Semester Program. While formal classwork continues
"on the road," students also get the opportunity to focus on an
approved project of their own in order to explore more fully an area/s of
individual interest while visiting important historical sites of the Eastern
Aegean.
Follow below as one Creative Writing student recounts his own impressions
of the extra-mural learning odyssey, while his classmates worked in different
areas of Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Photography. |
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| The theatre at Ephesus |
Attending a folkdance in Srinigi |
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| Getting around in Pamukalle |
The great Selchuk Museum |
The library in Ephesus |
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| Walking through the rock sculpture |
Kevin and Amelia at Pamukelle |
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| "I never thought we could get into the real
Turkey during the mid-term excursion, but I was wrong. Barry, our
absolute Creative Writing Master, took us on what he calls the Poet's
Road. We skipped the touristy spots and big hotels, and went by mini
bus and local transport to our base in Selchuk. After seeing Ephesus
( which pretty well humbled us!), St. John's Basilica and Mary's House,
we set out for the inner country, going all the way to Pamukalle,
where we all went bathing in the white cliff calcium pools, and hiked
around the Roman ruins. Best of all, though, for me, was really getting
to know the people, and when we returned to Selchuk, I found I could
just sit around in the square (where that great marble sculpture is
that you see us walking through) and play backgammon and drink tea
and listen to the prayers being called out at the Mosques while I
worked on my Writing project. I really came away with a sense of myself
being there. It was great, and thanks to our Creative Writing Master,
I have twenty prose sketches of the impressions that struck me most.
And I keep them right here, next to my heart." |
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