Day 16 Aleppo to Yuvacali

Sunday March 6th

We were up and off early. Loaded up in a small van with all our luggage on top. We drove north until we hit the Euphrates River. This is one of the two rivers (the other is the Tigress) which are called the cradle of civilization.

After passing through the Turkish border point without incident we drove northeast to the city of Sanliurfa. We stayed there for the afternoon and wandered around looking at the citadel and the ponds full of carp. The carp have religious significance and the citadel is the site where Abraham was thrown off the mountain into a fire that miraculously turned to water. Apparently all three major religions believe in Abraham and this story. The area is being prompted by the governments of the area as a route for religious pilgrims.

We picked up a young doctorate student from the States named Bridgette who is studying anthropology and she accompanied us to our next destination. Then we continued our journey into Turkey as we drove to the village of Yuvacali for our homestay. It is situated right in the middle of Mesopotamia with the Tigress to the northeast and the Euphrates to the southwest. This town has been settled since the dawn of civilization and has a large mound in it that they think has artifacts from all the periods of history. Today the area is primarily Kurdish and the people are poor farmers mainly. We stayed at the home of Halil and Pero and their children Faruk (18), Fatih (17) and Alyin (10). This is a project sponsored by Intrepid, and has been running since 2009, as a way for the town to improve its lot. One of the things they ask us to bring is toothbrushes and toothpaste to improve the dental hygiene of the town. So, I brought a few of each and I also left my last sleeping bag here, as I won't need it anymore.

This is a very conservative town and when we sat down, on the floor, for dinner the men sat on one side and the women on the other. The women in our group had to wear long dresses, with pants underneath because it is cold here. We were fed a great meal with lots of meza dishes and bbq'd chicken. After dinner we sat around talking with the family and each other. They raise chickens, sheep and cattle as well as growing subsistence crops.

Then we bedded down for the night, all the men in one room (for a long snore fest) and the women in another room.