Stuffed in Turkey

Warning! This blog post may cause you to gain several pounds in weight just reading it.
Rather than give an hour by hour description of our training in Turkey, Elder & Sister Davis will talk about the food we ate...and ate....and ate in the three short days we were there, thus the title of our blog, Stuffed in Turkey.
Last we left the blog, we had just arrived at the Susesi Resort in Belek, a small town close to Antalya, Turkey. And it was dinner time...

We found the main restaurant & dining room with a little bit of effort. The resort is so huge they give you a map with the room key and you quickly realize why. The place is HUGE. The main restaurant is below and every day, three times a day, a huge buffet is served here.

We were starving! Well, Sister Davis was starving because, those who know Sister Davis, know that she doesn't eat sandwiches. Hasn't eaten them since she was a toddler. Don't know why, don't care to explain....she just doesn't eat sandwiches and that is what was served on Turkish Airlines. So Elder Davis ate two sandwiches because that is what he does every time Sister Davis is served a sandwich.
So when Sister Davis entered the restaurant and saw the buffet, her eyes glazed over. There was a plethora of food choices. Fish entrees, beef, chicken, pork, breads, salads, soups, it was an amazing spread.

So many choices, so many decisions... of course, you can try everything, there just isn't enough room in your stomach for it all. There are chefs everywhere, making new food and refilling the chafing dishes. Below, Sister Davis is trying to make a decision about what to eat.

We had three tables set apart for the "LDS" group. We were a lively bunch who routinely set at different tables so we could mingle with other senior missionaries that we didn't know. We had CES missionaries from Kyiv, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yerevan, Bulgaria, Odessa, Kharkiv, Novosibirsk (Siberia), Yekaterinburg, Armenia, and several other Russian areas.
Elder & Sister Davis were the only ones who dealt with multiple languages on their mission. Everyone else was pretty much Russian speaking except for Armenia and Bulgaria. We quickly found out, the Ukrainians do not consider themselves Russian!
So as Sister Davis was making her choices, she couldn't help notice the succulent roast turkey that one of the chefs was carving. Well, how appropriate is that? Turkey in Turkey.




So when you are done eating, a very attentive waiter whisks away your plate and you go get another one filled with food. We felt like cattle that are getting fattened for market.

The breakfast buffet had a separate omelet table where a chef made your custom omelet right in front of you. Bacon, sausages, fresh fish, fresh vegies, fruit, breads, potatoes, eggs.... what are senior missionaries to do? Well, what would you do? We ate and ate and ate.   Elder Davis said it was like being on a cruise ship, without the ship.

Our room was on the 5th floor and we should have found the stairs and waddled up them for the exercise. But we didn't. It was nice to be pampered, but lest you think it was all fun and games. We had some of the best training we have ever had....but that is for another blog post!