We spent the day relaxing...
Lazily exploring...
And enjoying one last time in the wonderful city of Tbilisi.
The view of Baku city from Sandra's balcony.
Mason and I in the Peace Corps office's PCV lounge for the last time.
I wish I had lived closer to this family and had seen them more but we always kept in contact. I hope to one day see both of the daughters in America :). Tonight it's working on Peace Corps paperwork and tomorrow it's the doctor, dentist, language test and exit interview! I don't believe that Sept 2009, when I left my family and friends in Seattle, was already 2+ years ago! I'm excited for Mason and I's trip that starts on Thursday. And then after some exploring...America, here we come! But now I just need to figure out home to get all of the gifts I received home ;)
Goodbye dinner with Shefeg's family. Her husband stayed home from work just so he could make me kabab.
Party at school with all of my teachers.
The dress that Shefeg had made as my goodbye present. This was a fun experience going to the "derzi" for fittings and all that.
My last club with my 7th graders. We used fabric markers to write all over each others tie-dye shirts.
Saying goodbye to Zeynab and her family was the hardest. I slept at their house every night this past week and they helped me get ready to go, but saying goodbye to her and her daughter last night at the train station hurt a lot. I think what feels different now then when I left everyone at home was that I knew I would be back to see all of my family and friends in 2 years. I do not know for sure if I will ever have the pleasure of seeing any of these people again. All I can say is "inshallah."
I brought some Halloween crafts and they decorated the room with little notes for me, it was quite sweet. I also got a lot of cute and funny gifts, including a clock with Mecca on it. It made me feel so special. I'm going to miss them so much. We have had so many fun times together; they are all such good and enthusiastic kids. I hope they all grow up to be amazing people. Next it's the party with my teachers and school staff! Things are really wrapping up here... I'll be home this month and I can't believe it!
We spent our first day with my training host family in Jeyranbatan. Chrissy fell in love with them as much as I did the first time I met them. 
This happened to be Mason's birthday, October 25, so my "mom" made a cake for him and we sang.
Next our journey brought us up to Qazax, where I live. It really doesn't rain too often here, but it rained the entire time Chrissy was here haha.
When we went to visit and eat lunch with Zeynab's family my little friend from next door came over. We call her Toto and she is just a doll. We had a wonderful day spending time with Zeynab and family. It was very important to me for Chrissy to meet them all.
Exploring the Qazax bazaar.
The next day Chrissy, Mason and I carved pumpkins with my 7th grade class.
On Monday I will be having a Halloween party with both the 7th grade classes. Chrissy and Mason helped prepare with this jack-o-lantern club.
We then took the night train back into Baku and spent our last day together seeing the city's sights. I'm so thankful that Chrissy made her way to see me!!!! Best trip ever :D
On Thursday we went to a village for one of Mason's good Azeri friends' wedding. (He's the guy sitting in the middle).
Our friends that live in Baku, Steve and Sandra, came down. Sandra had actually been visiting me up in Qazax to get a feel for what it is like to be a Peace Corps teacher in Azerbaijan so we traveled down to Lankaran together.
Then on Friday we went up to Lerik for the day, which is where Mason used to live. We took a beautiful hike through the Taylish Mountains.
We walked through many different terrains: fields full of cows, muddy hills, green forests and along the river where all the plants are turning red for autumn. 
It was the perfect way to say good-bye to Lerik.
This was the second time I had taken Zeynab's daughter to Ganja but the first time for most girls going. It is not a normal thing for young girls to get to take a trip like this just for fun so it was a big adventure for them! We took them out to lunch and spent the rest of the sunny day wandering around. This was the last of the trips Jess and I could do for our GLOW campers and it was a great finale!
Fishing boat tied up just before sunset.
Steve, Sandra and Mason exploring the grassy hills that flowed between the peninsula's two shores.
The peninsula was full of saltwater marshes. 
Towards the entrance to the park there was an old watch tower. Mason and Steve climbed up to get a better view of the sunset.
Liz Whiteman! Thank you so much for coming half way around the world to meet me in Turkey! Marie, Liz and I had the best time of our lives in Turkey! read on :)
Marie and I took the train from Bulgaria and had a day before Liz fly in from the states. We spent the extra time to explore Burgaz Ada, one of the "Kizil Adalari" or Red Islands, which we call the Prince's Islands. 
We ate seafood and went swimming and simply fell in love with the quant little island. It's only 20 km from Istanbul and a short ferry ride away. No cars are allowed on the island, only horse drawn carriages and bicycles. 
When Liz finally arrived we went and did the major but necessary tourist sites.
The outside of the Blue Mosque, so called for the beautifully ornate blue tile decorating the inside.
Going out in the popular "Istiklal" area that night with our new friend Justin after the four of us took in a Whirling Dervish show.
There was so much seafood in Turkey! And on the street you could get fried muscles, fried muscle sandwiches, fried sardines, muscle and rice called "dolma" the list goes on! SO TASTY
We made friends with these guys selling the fried delicacies and continued to go back to them.
I have always had a love for the stories of Troy. I finally got to be Helen of Troy in real life.
Liz and Marie were my beautiful maidens. 
To visit Troy you must stay in the city of Chanakkale. That is where I introduced Liz to the perfection of fresh figs.
Klaros Beach near Selchuk. You can imagine Marie, Liz and I swimming and playing in the sand and water all day. The Aegean Sea is gorgeous! 
Liz couldn't get enough of those figs and bought more from this local woman selling fruit on the street.
The next day we went to the House of the Virgin Mary, as just outside of Selchuk city. The are some stories that say Mary lived out her last days here (not this house, but a house of the same shape on this exact spot).
After walking through the house and lighting a candle you could tie a note on to this wall of prayers like Liz is doing here.
From Mary's house we made our way down to Ephesus. One of the most amazing site of ancient ruins I have ever seen. Only 20% of it is uncovered for the eye to see, yet that took us 4 hours to do. Ephesus was once the second largest Roman city, next to Rome itself. 
People are constantly there working on reconstructing what has been found and finding new parts.
The three of us in front of the Grand Theater.
And so we made our way west, south and back north to Istanbul with the help of Turkey's amazing bus line. We spent our one day back in Istanbul cramming lots in! Here we are inside Aya Sophia. Marie shared with us that the Statue of Liberty coud do jumping jacks inside without touching the walls, basically it was HUGE. Once a church and then a mosque, it has a lot of history to offer.
The Grand Bazaar!
Spice Bazaar!
We could not have a better time. This trip all together, Marie and I making our way from Ukraine to Turkey and then Liz coming to spend time in Turkey with me, was magical!