The following is a link to the blog of my fellow Wisconsinite here at Bilkent, Maggie Li (aka China, as I jokingly like to call her - a nickname bestowed on her from Kapadokya!). I just realized this, and I don't know if it's due to our bond over the Midwest or what, but every trip I've taken while in Turkey, Mags has been my travelling companion - weird. Anyhow, here's here take on Bodrum...she has some cool pics/vids and is a little more informative than I am. Thought I'd share=)
http://maggieli.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/the-old-halicarnassus-and-turkish-weddings/
Monday, December 28, 2009
Bet you didn't know Santa was Turkish?!?!
Saint Nicholas of Myra (a.k.a. Santa Claus) was a 4th century Bishop in Demre, Lycia - at the time a province of Byzantine Anatolia, but now a part of modern-day Turkey.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
How to Make Turkish Tea Using a Double Teapot | eHow.com
I have been trying to figure out how to make Turkish Tea for months; I've never even used a double teapot before! But I finally think I have it down =) It might not be as good as the Turks', but practice makes perfect. Now to learn how to make Turkish Kahvee.....
Monday, November 30, 2009
Bodrum: the memories continue....
Moving on to my next trip outside of Ankara, accompanied once again by the always entertaining Val and Maggie - Bodrum! 
The next day, we enlisted ourselves on a boat tour via the wonderful wonderful man who ran our hostel --- yet another great character we've met in our travels. The only picture I actually took with my camer in Bodrum: see right. Aren't we adorable? haha, hardly. We boarded at about 10:30 am and the trip was the last until sunset, but which time it was freezing! Well, not really, but we were being rather delicate and huddle together for body warmth! It was an absolutley hilarious --- and we have several video documentaries to prove it! We met a wildly entertaining British woman who thought nothing of spending the entire trip topless and making fabulous comments and jokes on life! Enjoyed the amazing scenery and oh wait, the best is yet to come....we somehow managed to befriend that crew (our Turkish language skills improved drastically here) who not so long after taking this photo for us, invited us to a Turkish wedding, sort of. After testing Val on her knowledge of Turkish vocabulary -- sea, sun, friend -- we were cordially invited to the grooms pre-wedding day party, what we would call in the states, a bachelor party.
So, we went back to our hostel, changed and were supposed to meet our new seafaring friends at 7pm. They arrived on a moped (ha) and took us to this party in an alley of one of Bodrum's many tiny streets. There was food, raki, and at our request - wine. We had a couple drinks and listened ot the traditional Turkish music that was blaring via a quartet of highly talented men the entire time we were there. Nevermind the incredibly awkward feelings we were having when we arrived and we were the only foreigners, the only females, and expereince what it means to be "foreign" in a whole new way.
After maybe an hour at the party, we all piled into several dolmus-es and became part of a huge caravan that was now headed to the brides portion of the festivities. Who knew it would be a 45 minute trip to the middle of nowhere?? We surely didn't. After the group of semi-drunk Turks stopped alongside the road for a cigarette break, we arrived in some small town crowded with people. There were chairs set up in the middle of some parking lot-ish, basketball-ish looking space to make a semi circle. We were escorted to the front of the rows of chairs to observe the dance party that occurred in the circular space created by the chairs. The surprises continued as we spent the next few hours watching a series of traditional Turkish dances performed by various friends, family members, and whomever else of the bride and groom. All three of us felt as though we were being allowed some special insight into a classic Turkish celebration, but were so ready to leave by the end of the night. Everyone was wildly hospitable and seemed glad to share/show the experience with us. It was crazy, unique, unexpected....there are a plethora of adjectives I could use to described this bizarrely random experience. Yet, we were glad to return to our hostels and slept hard.
Our final day in Bodrum was spent relaxing, enjoying the beach, the lights, the cafes, the scenery - just taking it all in until it was time to return to the bus station and return to Ankara.
A common thread which I've noticed runs through all of my experiences in Turkey? -- Random random random. Time after time I find myself in these totally unexpected, but wonderful situations and experiences which amount to one the most noticeable highlights of Turkey. It's a popular categorization that Turkish people are hospitable, but saying it and experiencing are two completely different things and it only leaves me wondering what kind of characters I will meet next and what new and exciting experiences will they show me! By far, my favorite part of Turkey -- the people!!!
I'm not sure how helpful or visible this map is, but Bodrum is on the coast of the Aegean sea in the SW portion of Turkey. It's a famous tourist location especially during on the summer months when it explodes with travellers who visit to party on the coast! Considering we went for the Bayram October 29-Nov 1 it was the down season and pretty low key, but so relaxing and beautiful.
We had to grab an overnight bus there and back as it turned out to be somewhere around 10-11 hour trip. It sounds brutally, but I tend to sleep very well on these buses; they are surprisingly comfortable, although the legs get a little cramped. We were fortunate because Valerie actually made a friend via couch surfing who is a Bilkent student, but his family lives very close to Bodrum and he was there for the break as well. The first day we were there we just kind of bummed around. We attempted to visit the castle that is there, to which I'm sure there is an immense amount of history is attached, but is more than I care to recap now --- if you're that interested, visit Wikipedia. Not always reliable, but generally where I get most of my "knowledge", haha. Anyhow, this is where the museum card comes in --- what a predicament! Maggie and I both had museum cards from Istanbul, as I mentioned in my post on the marathon. Val, however, did not. We attempted to get one, disaster ensues. The employees at the ticket office were NOT having it. Maggie and I almost got ours confiscated on the grounds that yet again our Bilkent IDs stated that we were teachers and did mention our student status. Problem var. For the same reason they absolutely refused to sell one to Val. We were not willing to pay the 10TL to enter the castle so we grad our cards and ran, figuratively. We then continued to spend the rest of the day complaining about the situation and glaring at the castle in disdain.
(Yet to come: there are some beautiful pictures of this, however, as of late I neither have the patience or desire to be much of a photograph and rely on my friends to do all of the picture-taking. That being said, Val currently holds all photos of Bodrum and I'm waiting for her to post them on facebook so I can steal them and claim them as my own. At that time this blog will be much more asthetically pleasing.)
The afternoon was spent sitting at a cafe on the (rocky) beach enjoying a little lunch and a drink. Later that evening, Beco - our new Turkish friend - picked us up and gave us a tour of all the nearby towns. Again, beautiful and entertaining. We wanted to hit up some of the clubs that night, but we were exhausted, a theme the persisted the entire weekend and we never actually did end up going out at night. Lame, I know, but I don't regret it.
The next day, we enlisted ourselves on a boat tour via the wonderful wonderful man who ran our hostel --- yet another great character we've met in our travels. The only picture I actually took with my camer in Bodrum: see right. Aren't we adorable? haha, hardly. We boarded at about 10:30 am and the trip was the last until sunset, but which time it was freezing! Well, not really, but we were being rather delicate and huddle together for body warmth! It was an absolutley hilarious --- and we have several video documentaries to prove it! We met a wildly entertaining British woman who thought nothing of spending the entire trip topless and making fabulous comments and jokes on life! Enjoyed the amazing scenery and oh wait, the best is yet to come....we somehow managed to befriend that crew (our Turkish language skills improved drastically here) who not so long after taking this photo for us, invited us to a Turkish wedding, sort of. After testing Val on her knowledge of Turkish vocabulary -- sea, sun, friend -- we were cordially invited to the grooms pre-wedding day party, what we would call in the states, a bachelor party.So, we went back to our hostel, changed and were supposed to meet our new seafaring friends at 7pm. They arrived on a moped (ha) and took us to this party in an alley of one of Bodrum's many tiny streets. There was food, raki, and at our request - wine. We had a couple drinks and listened ot the traditional Turkish music that was blaring via a quartet of highly talented men the entire time we were there. Nevermind the incredibly awkward feelings we were having when we arrived and we were the only foreigners, the only females, and expereince what it means to be "foreign" in a whole new way.
After maybe an hour at the party, we all piled into several dolmus-es and became part of a huge caravan that was now headed to the brides portion of the festivities. Who knew it would be a 45 minute trip to the middle of nowhere?? We surely didn't. After the group of semi-drunk Turks stopped alongside the road for a cigarette break, we arrived in some small town crowded with people. There were chairs set up in the middle of some parking lot-ish, basketball-ish looking space to make a semi circle. We were escorted to the front of the rows of chairs to observe the dance party that occurred in the circular space created by the chairs. The surprises continued as we spent the next few hours watching a series of traditional Turkish dances performed by various friends, family members, and whomever else of the bride and groom. All three of us felt as though we were being allowed some special insight into a classic Turkish celebration, but were so ready to leave by the end of the night. Everyone was wildly hospitable and seemed glad to share/show the experience with us. It was crazy, unique, unexpected....there are a plethora of adjectives I could use to described this bizarrely random experience. Yet, we were glad to return to our hostels and slept hard.
Our final day in Bodrum was spent relaxing, enjoying the beach, the lights, the cafes, the scenery - just taking it all in until it was time to return to the bus station and return to Ankara.
A common thread which I've noticed runs through all of my experiences in Turkey? -- Random random random. Time after time I find myself in these totally unexpected, but wonderful situations and experiences which amount to one the most noticeable highlights of Turkey. It's a popular categorization that Turkish people are hospitable, but saying it and experiencing are two completely different things and it only leaves me wondering what kind of characters I will meet next and what new and exciting experiences will they show me! By far, my favorite part of Turkey -- the people!!!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Istanbul: Maratonu!
18 Ekim (October) 2009 = Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon!!! And we all decided to make the journey there, most of us with the intention of running --- whether it was the "fun run" or full marathon. I've never been much of a runner and although I flirted with the idea of doing the 15km, I ultimately decided to fun run it. Which, was quite an interesting situation in itself -- first I'm told its 5km -- no problem. Then it's 6 - still, okay. Then it's 8 - and now I'm starting to get worried. Anything edging over 5 miles does not qualify as "fun" in my book. That's work. And while I enjoy working out and being active, I wanted to see and experience Istanbul, not run.A lot of the appeal of the Marathon is the opportunity to run across the Bosphorus Bridge. (Let the always trustworth (sarcasm) Wikipedia teach you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosphorus). Normally pedestrians are not allowed to cross the bridge; vehicles/traffic only! Therefore, its a once-in-a-year opportunity and spectacular at that! Not to mention that it's the only marathon ran on two continents. From Europe to Asia! Which I think might be one of the coolest things ever....then again I also get really excited over Planet Earth and chocolate ice cream, so I'm not sure how much that says! Lol.
This first photo would be the first pic of the day (the day of the marathon that is)! The morning wasn't necessarily a bright start - it was freezing cold and raining!!! Not pleasant weather for a jog, or to get up at 7am on a Sunday and catch a 40minute bus from Asia to Europe! -- I just think that's so funny, even though it's not and I'm sure I'm the only one amused by this right now...As it had turned out, the "Fun Run" could have much more aptly been named "Public Walk". There were tons of people, none to keen on actually running, and dressed in street clothes. We were jammed up at the start line and it was incredibly uncomfortable and difficult to move, but it proved out to be one of the best parts of the run!! Maggie, Kim, Natalie, and I took off running together while some others went their separate ways and it proved to be an entertaining experience as we darted in between the walkers, trying to find a clear path to run. Needless to say, I may or may not have bumped into a few people, but so it goes. We did however take a small break in the middle of the bridge to appreciate the view and snap a few pics! It was a 2 kilometer run to the beginning of the bridge and about another 2km to cross it -- all in all we ran about 5 kilometers and then Maggie and I walked the remaining 3km. We chose to appreciate the experience in slow motion rather than running up the gigantic hill that followed the bridge. It was definitely one of those experiences you remember for a lifetime!
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Post run, we had a little snack with friends at a cafe along the bosphorous. It was chill and sadly, being Sunday and all of us having to return to work the next day, our last day in Istanbul. The day before (Saturday) we had been ultra adventurous and explored the many sights to see in Istanbul. Joe, Maggie, Natalie and I found the funikular (I think I spelled it correctly?!) which is one of the weirdest and coolest modes of public transportation I've been on; it takes you under the bosphorous I believe, not really sure though. But it's more of less just a lift that moves at an angle back and forth. It took us from Taxsim, where our hostel was, and to the tram we needed to hope on to get to Sultan Ahmet where all of the historical sights are. And did we have quite a day! We hit up the Blue Mosque (or Sultan Ahmet Mosque), Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, the Grand Bazaar, and Topkapi Palace.We actually only toured the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar as they were free and we weren't really kosher with paying the entrance fees for the other cites....which resulted in a little mini adventure at the palace. As we are students, teachers, and official residents of Turkey, we were eager to obtain a Museum Card which was only 10TL and would grant us entrance to almost any and all historical cites in Turkey. It was a production and consumed quite a portion of our afternoon. In a nutshell, the tickets sales offices wouldn't accept or student ID cards on the grounds they the said "teacher" instead of "student" even though we both teach and take classes at Bilkent. Yet, Natalie was able to get a museum card with my picture and information with my residency permit --- strange? No, just very Turkish! haha. We eventually found some people .bmp)
more relaxed about the situation who did sell us all museum cards with our appropriate information. Sadly, I have yet to use mine ... although there was quite an interesting predicament in Bodrum, but that is a story to come.
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more relaxed about the situation who did sell us all museum cards with our appropriate information. Sadly, I have yet to use mine ... although there was quite an interesting predicament in Bodrum, but that is a story to come.The Blue Mosque was absolutely gorgeous! I've never seen anything like it before. And I don't know if I have words for the Grand Bazaar. It was absolutely huge, oh-so crowded, and had the coolest stuff! I could've spent so much money there, but fortunately I refrained and settled for only a multi-colored set of handmade bowls! Beautiful! All in all, it was a very interesting day, exhausting, and gluttinous; I ate so much food that day: dondurma (Turkish ice cream), some insane cake thing at a bakery, a totally overpriced but delicious dinner, I think I might have had kebap along the way somewhere....just gluttinous!
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And that didn't stop on Sunday either! After the marathon, Maggie, Natalie, and I decided to chill out for the day as our bus wasn't to depart for Ankara until midnight, if I remember correctly, that night. Joe and I had previously bought return tickets home so we had to drag ourselves to the bus stop that night to catch the midnight, try to get a decent night sleep on the 6 hour busride back, and prepare ourselves for a fun-filled day of teaching (I realize this might sound sarcastic, but I'm being sincere). The trip was well worth the exhaustion I felt that day without a doubt! Out of all the places I've been to in Europe, so far, Istanbul is hands down my favorite! There is so much to do, to see, so many people, and I've meaning to go back ever since, but haven't had the chance yet. After visiting just for those three days, Ankara definitely wanes in comparison, but I still love it. I'm thinking this is rather a pathetic blog post, which doesn't quite do Istanbul much justice, but I've waited too long to recap it and my mind is swirling with all of the things, in general, I could say about Turkey and my experiences here......
For now, gule gule, and maybe I will miraculously become more eloquent in my next blog!!!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Tensions Between Turkey and the West Increase
Read up on the status of Turkey and EU via NYTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/europe/28turkey.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/europe/28turkey.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Oktoberfest
Whoa -- it has been quite some time since I've actually written anything for my blog and there's a lot, as always, to catch up on. . .
The weekend after the Ankaragucu match, some fellow CSI's and I went to "Oktoberfest" at the German Embassy (which is BEAUTIFUL, America, why can't your Embassy be as pretty??) in Ankara. It was wildly entertaining. More than anything I was so anxious to eat German food and have a beer that was NOT Efes. Don't get me wrong -- I love Efes! especially this new kind I recently discovered last weekend: Efes Dark Brown. Mmmmm, so good. It takes like coffee! I can't remember what the label said exactly, something like dark Efes mixed with something coffee-ish obviously. You would think coffee and beer would be incompatible, but it's heaven! I love it!
Anyhow, it was gluttinous to say the least, but so much fun. I don't know if there is really that much more to say than that! Great German music, food, and beer -- what else could a girl want!! Haha. To compare it to the real Oktoberfest, however, doesn't do it much justice for obvious reasons. But all in all it was a great success -- a key phrase that has somehow spread through Lojman Yuz Alta like wildfire and I can't think of who originated it...
It definitely brought back fond memories of my brief but fabulous time in Munich and some new and equally hilarious memories!
No photos yes, but should be coming soon!
The weekend after the Ankaragucu match, some fellow CSI's and I went to "Oktoberfest" at the German Embassy (which is BEAUTIFUL, America, why can't your Embassy be as pretty??) in Ankara. It was wildly entertaining. More than anything I was so anxious to eat German food and have a beer that was NOT Efes. Don't get me wrong -- I love Efes! especially this new kind I recently discovered last weekend: Efes Dark Brown. Mmmmm, so good. It takes like coffee! I can't remember what the label said exactly, something like dark Efes mixed with something coffee-ish obviously. You would think coffee and beer would be incompatible, but it's heaven! I love it!
Anyhow, it was gluttinous to say the least, but so much fun. I don't know if there is really that much more to say than that! Great German music, food, and beer -- what else could a girl want!! Haha. To compare it to the real Oktoberfest, however, doesn't do it much justice for obvious reasons. But all in all it was a great success -- a key phrase that has somehow spread through Lojman Yuz Alta like wildfire and I can't think of who originated it...
It definitely brought back fond memories of my brief but fabulous time in Munich and some new and equally hilarious memories!
No photos yes, but should be coming soon!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Ankaragücü v. Galatasaray
Big blogging day for me today! I've been nursing a slight cold since Wednesday and spent the majority of the weekend sleeping; I think I've put in about 34-40 hours of sleep in the last 72 hours! Apparently my body needed it! As I'm feeling much more chipper today I decided to do a little cyber-housework and get on track with my blog posts....the pomegranate juice has really been pulling me through my sickness which also happens to be one of the best things about Turkey - a litre for less than iki (2) lira, or a little more than 1 USD. Fantastic! and delicious! Down side, Ben & Jerry's, my other favorite medicine when I'm feeling ill, is 14 (on dort) lira for what looks like less than a pint....wa wa wa.Last Sunday = time of my life!
Keeping in mind that I've never really been a huge sports fan, I think I'm on my way to becoming a zealous support of Ankaragucu! I had thought the Fiorentino fans were wild when I went to my first ever soccer match in Florence, but the Turks take the cake! I don't know if I really even have much to say about it besides - Wow!
The week prior, I told all of my students that I was planning on attending this match and they vehemently replied "No Hocam (teacher), it's so dangerous!" Dangerous? Apparently so. As it is, Ankaragucu has several extreme fan bases, one of which being the Gecekondu. Please, search youtube and check out the amazing videos entailing they're devout support for their team!
Back to the story, according to my students, it's dangerous and they advised me not to sit in that particular section. Altogether, there was somewhere around 15 of us going? I think? that seems about right anyhow and Jamie bought all of our tickets for us. Where do you suppose we were sitting? Amongst the Gecekondu. Personally, I'm not taking my students advisories too seriously and am more than looking forward to the game. Again, some of my fellow teachers who are on the second year and have been to serveral Ankaragucu games encourage caution.
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We arrive at the stadium in Ulus, wait in an obscenely long line, during which our always .jpg)
entertaining friend Charlie becomes ill from the previous evening's dinner of Mussels from a street vendor in the wee hours of the morning -- never a smart choice! We meet the simit guy (left) which by the way happens to be one of my new favorite foods ever! So cheap, so simple, so good....and some fellow Ankaragucu supporters (below) eager for a photoshoot.Sidenote: Little boy in the photo? Adorable! He offered me his scarf because I didn't have one. I refused, he persisted. I finally accepted the scarf, kissed him on both cheeks in gratitude, which resulted in half the line clapping at the young man's accomplishment.
Anyhow, we finally get into the stadium after a thorough frisking by security: no coins, no bottles, no lighters - in short, nothing that can be thrown - are allowed. And somehow, for safety's sake?, our group decides to sit at the end of our section away from the potential riots and turmoil, but also away from the best part of any sporting event: screaming and cheering! I was not having it. Joe, Natalie, and I opted to go mingle and make some new friends and were quickly welcomed into an ambitious section of the crowd ....it was the best decision I've ever made!
We had so much fun!
An example of the Gecekondu's zeal: http://youtube.com/watch?v=o4X1JTcn13I
The video is from the end of the game, after Ankaragucu scored three goals within a matter of minutes (but no worries, I've never seen so many police at a sporting event in my life, it was quickly subdued)! Overall, it was fantastic and well-celebrated! We were beginnning to feel mighty bored when 4/5 of the way through the game, neither side had scored and then the underdog completely dominated. Again, considering I know little about sports, there's a link at the bottom of the page for Ankara Football, ch
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eck it out, esp. the post from October 5th, which references this game from the 4th.Thus, chaos had ensued, but danger? Thankfully not. Granted, things might have been different had Ankara lost, but yet again, even fanatical Turks were hospitable and all around pleasant.
After the game, the new friends we had made in the stands were insistence on introducing me to what felt like everyone and their brother. Among them, the leader of the gecekondu, or so I'm told. My Turkish is still worthless and he spoke zero English. Yet, somehow we were thrown into a conversation and surrounded by a circle of devout fans. Afterwards, he insisted on a picture with all of the yabanci (foreigner), which I'm still waiting to hunt down and steal from acebook! We headed back to the bar at which we initially started our day , new friends in toe, watching as the overjoyed fans tried to tip over cars in the middle of the street, still cheering incessantly only now with the added "uch, uch, uch!" (three). My new scarf is currently pinned to my wall and I cannot wait to go to another game ASAP!
ULUS!
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Uh, my posts are a little late and I'm struggling to update them. ... So...the last weekend in September, a few friends and I headed into Ulus; it's the center section of Ankara, originally the heart of the city. I'm still working on sorting out the inner geography of Ankara - I've been to the neighborhoods of Emek, Kizilay, Tunus, and Bahceliever, which I've recently discovered are all part of the neighborhood of Cankaya, as wells as Umitkoy and I really do not know where that is yet in relationship to Bilkent. Anyhow, Ulus interesting because, from my perspective, it's a mix of the old and the new. Lots of malls, shopping centers, modern Turkish architecture in one part and.jpg)
then the old-school part. Pic above? Giant hill we climbed atop of which is a castle, not sure of any of the history/importance surrounding it yet, but my research continues.... .JPG)
It is a marked change between this beautiful fountain on the left, in front of which stand Charles and Kim and the rather dilapidated neighbors displayed on the pic to the right.We mostly did a lot of walking and getting lost, entered a few little shops most of which were really neat jewelry stores. From my understanding, Turkey in general, but especially this part of Ankara, is celebrated for its silver, and of course turquoise (orgination of the name, mystery solved). I bought a really pretty and incredibly affordable silver ring with what I think is a hematite stone (?). I still cannot get over the hospitality of the Turks either. We spent about 1/2 hour at this one jewelry shop and before we had even purchased anything we were offered endless glasses of tea and as mini souvenirs, eleborately decorated mailing cards.
The best part of the adventure is when we started to make our way through the bazaars. I have never been to such fantastic produce markets in my life. I remember the first week we were here in Turkey, one of the teachers who's currently on their second year, took us to the Emek bazaar. I had thought that was amazing at the time, but doesn't hold a candle to the one we went to in Ulus. It's absolutely beautiful! All of the fresh produces, honey, fish, cheese, anything you could want! Ideally, I would love to do all of my grocery shopping there, but it's a little difficult when you have to rely on public transportation. And I don't think any of us CSI's really have any idea yet how to catch the bus back to Bilkent from Ulus. Minor glich, but will hopefully be well versed in time.
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Photo from the streets of the bazaar. Not produce, but almost anything else you could think of was offered.
There are so many little niche's in Ankara to explore and at time it seems overwhelming. One of the most amusing things about Ankara is our students' perceptions of it...actually, Turks in general. Turkish people are always asking us if we like Ankara and I always replied with an enthusiastic "Yes!", but their opinions of the city are slightly different. They find it boring and consistently encourage us to go, mainly, to two other cities in Turkey: Istanbul and Izmir. We're going to Istanbul this next weekend for the marathon, which means you can probably expect a blogpost from me about it in approx. 3 weeks =) considering I clearly like to procrastinate on these guys. Izmir is intensely popular because it is a long the western coast, and ideally I'd like to make a trip there come spring once it's warmer again and I can enjoy the beach! Of course I have an outrageous list of all the places I would like to go, some of them at the recommendation of Turks and others out of personal interest: Adana, Antalya, Troy, Pamukkale, Bursa, and maybe a little venture out east...maybe. The first weekend we were here the University sponsored a trip for us to Safranbulo and Amasra...I still need to write a much prolonged blog about those as well.
The best part of travelling? The random things you encounter in everday life:
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Laundry and peppers left to dry out in the sun!
Kapadokya
Hands down, the BEST weekend ever! Mid-September was bayram, the end of Ramazan and in addition to the weekend, another two days off from work. Seven other girls and myself ventured to Kapadokya, about a 5 hour bus ride the the SW of Ankara.
We left Saturday morning, the 19th, and arrived in the afternoon. The rock formations and landscape are absolutely beautiful!; it reminded me so much of the badlands in W USA, but obviously with it's own unique flare. On our tours we received tons of info about the history and formation of the land, but naturally I was distracted during most of it. Please search it on-line if you're interested. I don't have any pictures posted yet to neither Flickr nor Facebook, but you can blame that on my friend Val....I don't have the patience to carry a camera around and incessantly take photos, but she's and angel and photographed nearly every second of our 4-day adventure. I'm working on stealing them from her ASAP.
Saturday evening we, the whole group of us, went horseback riding during the sunset. Somehow it sounds more impressive than it was. Lots of fun, but the sunset wasn't at all phenomenol and the scenery took the cake! Turkey's landscape was one of the biggest surprises for me. I couldn't tell you exactly what I was expecting, if I expected anything at all, but despite the fact that it is the desert, it's never boring. We went riding through the hills and the panoramic (a word I now find deplorable after it's extreme overuse in Kap.) view is mesmerizing. Moutains in the background with the quintiscential white halo toward the peak, the swirling colors in the hills - really just gorgeous! Sidenote: our guide was also incredibly adorable and his English not bad.
That night, two of the girls - Maggie and Val - and I went to a whirling dervishes performance. It was entertaining, although definitely geared toward tourists. As Maggie loved to say, it was absolutely gluttonous and we enjoyed every second of it. The best part of, however, was the company and acquiantances we made along the way. Throughout the weekend we met a bunch of people staying at our hostel - Kiwis, a Canadian-Iranian, a Canadian couple studing in Istanbul, a fellow English teacher living in Thailand, and Austrailian ex-pat living in London - and, as I like to say, they were a hoot! It was really fun hanging out with them over the weekend. The next morning, the girls and I signed up for a day-long tour that would show us some of the most popular sites in Kap, i.e. underground city, a monastery, etc. etc. also with a little hiking along the way, and laughing at other peoples stupid jokes or watching them nearly break their necks climbing down a mountain was the best part of it all! Monday, a large group of us attempted to do our own guideless hiking tour and again, it was another chilly, but fantastic day. Our first stop was to be an old castle and we managed to find ourselves at a dead end within an hour. Somehow, the little sheep we are, were found by a random Turkish man who led us through the hills and up to the castle with varied jumping photos along the way* (this will be coming soon...get ready to be jealous!) and of course, not without expecting some kind of monetary compensation that turned an amazingly nice gesture into a rather souring exploitation. Yet, the day continued with good drinks, good food, and a relaxing evening!
Best part of the entire trip? Us attempting to conserve time, be adventurous, and trek off the beaten path. Borderline disastrous, but highly amusing in retrospect. Somehow, with all of our intellect combined, we decided to fling ourselves down a massive, slippery hillside, expecting it to be one or two easy hops to the flatland....sorely mistaken we were! I had purple pants on - yes purple pants - and they were white with dust and debris after we skidded down several different slopes, all of which misled us to think they brought us nearer and nearer or goal while in reality they merely led us to one unforeseen plateau to another with the added complexity of attempting to navigate prickly bushes and myterious holes in hopes of reaching the next illusive plateau. Not to mention all the smart choices I made in regard to my over-sized, ridiculously inappropriate bag I had with me...minor mistakes = good times.
The next we - or I mostly? - did our tourist thing, i.e. postcards, cheesy souvenirs, and bused back to Ankara in the afternoon. We were exhausted, but sad to leave and makes me highly optimistic for our next holiday and adventure in Turkey! Where shall we find ourselves next??
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tongue-tied
Classes have begun! Both the ones I'm teaching in BUSEL and the courses I've elected to take through the Universitesi on main campus and I'm loving it! I taught 3 courses on Thursday, each one being two hours long and the first class was a little rocky. It was at 8:50 in the morning and only 2 of the 5 students I was supposed to have showed up. Originally, I was glad that the classes were small because it seemed more manageable seeing as I have very limited teaching experience, but it has turned out that it's actually easier when there are more students. I have different lesson plans for every week but they don't function well when there are only 2 students are in class as the Universitesi really wants to encourage group work, role playing, and class presentations. However, during the second block for that class the other students showed up and since I had warmed up a little bit the class went much more smoothly. And even though I had always told everyone I never planned on teaching as a career nor did I care too, I actually really enjoy it! I also thought it would be awkward that the students and I are so close in age, most being only a couple years younger than me, but it has proven to be a problem...yet.
Most students are really enthusiastic about learning English and eager to participate. I consider myself lucky because I teach pre-faculty students which means this is the last English prep course they will have to take before they enter into their University departments, thus, they all speak and understand English rather well. It's so exciting too when you can see them make little improvements in class. For example, I used the word "luxurious" when describing a building to the students and they didn't know what it meant, so I gave them a list of synonyms to help them understand. They when they continued to speak and describe things they made an effort to use "luxurious" rather than just relying on words they already knew. It may sound silly, but it's so exciting when you see things like that in class!
Some of the students, however, are a little bitter and jaded about their English lessons. The way the BUSEL system works is rather intense and involves alot of exams. Courses are 8 weeks long, but before a student can move up to their next course, they not only have to acquire a certain number of points in the class, but they also have to take a large end-of-course exam to move up. If they don't get the required number of points in class, they can't take the exam. Similarly, if they do take the exam, if they don't meet the required number of points for the exam, they have to retake the course. It's quite a process and for prefac students, they have to take 6 hour exam called the COPE to move into their departments. So, I have one class of girls who already took the prefac class in the spring semester, but didn't pass the spring COPE. They all went to summer school as well and still didn't pass the fall COPE and now they're retaking the course for the third time and are feeling frustrated. Their frustration is understandable, but sometimes makes the course a little more difficult to teach. They speak and understand English very well, but they just can't manage to pass the test.
Friday, I had the my own classes, Spanish and Italian, and it was quite an interesting day! Spanish is interesting because since I took 4 years of it in high school and it's so similar to Italian I can understand everything the professor says in Spanish, but struggle to respond in Spanish. Everything comes out in Italian! and it's so hard to regulate; it's just such a natural response to want to speak in Italian. It's also interesting because all of the other students in my class are Turkish, but being that it's an English speaking college, they know English as well. The course ends up being this interesting, partially hilarious, compilation of Turkish, English, Spanish, and for me Italian. I wish I could videotape the course and watch the lesson because I'm sure it's just a mesy language disaster.
My Italian class, however, presents a bit of a problem. It's a low-level Italian course because there wasn't anything higher offered this semester, but I was okay with that because since I graduated in December I haven't had many opportunities to speak Italian. The last two years I had of Italian in college were also primarily literature so I worried that my grammar has been suffering and thought it would be a could idea to take this class and review it all. HOWEVER, there were originally 7 students enrolled in the class and only two besides myself actually showed up. Neither of the other students spoke Italian, I don't speak Turkish (yet!) and the professor didnt' speak English. So that was interesting....the professor had to explain to me in Italian 1) that if there weren't more students they would probably have to cancel the class altogether and 2) that I can't be in the class anyhow if I already speak Italian! I explained why I wanted to take the class to her, etc. but I don't think she was really having it. And now I'm in a bit of a pickle, because if I want to drop that class and sign up for another I have to find something that doesn't conflict with my teaching courses....a new project for the week and a potential headache, but so it goes.
I had yet another great weekend in Ankara though! The first weekend I was in Turkey the Universitesi planned a trip for all of the CSI's to go to Safranbulo and Amasra (a small town along the coast of the Black Sea, the saltiest water I've ever encountered in my life, but gorgeous!), so we didn't get a chance to explore our new home much. The last two weekends we spent in Ankara and tried to explore life outside of Bilkent, a.k.a. "little Amerika". I really like downtown/night life here thus far. One thing I've noticed is that people stay out later, even on weekdays. Of course, this might have more to do with Ramazan or the hot days and more enjoyable evenings weather-wise, but it seems like life floods the streets around 8 pm and people tend to stay out later, in a casual way, not tnecessarily out partying. For example, there is a lot of outdoor seating and there are just so many people out sitting at a cafe and chit-chatting and, of course, smoking. Again something else of noticed about Turks --- they love to talk and love to smoke. Very social people, I think, esp. in comparison with Americans.
Clubs and bars are fun too. Everything stays open later here, I think 4 am-ish. It makes it easy to lose track of time, esp. if you want to catch the last (1:30) bus back to Bilkent but Ankara surely isn't short cabs either and it doesn't cost too much when you're sharing it with a few other people. I love dancing here and I love Turkish music! I just downloaded a new album the other day - Mustafa Sandal - and when I told my students they frowned at me and gave a whole list of other Turkish artists I should listen to, but I like it and my Turkish teachers approved, so it works. It's great dancing and working-out music. It's hard for me to categorize though because it's really unique compared to American music. It just seems like a mix of so many genres I'm familiar with, but I don't know how to adequately categorize it. Maybe in another month or two I'll be more on the up-and-up of it, but for now I just enjoy the beat.
Alcohol is expensive here as well. Which isn't surprising as much of it is imported and traditionally not allowed in Islam. Efes, a very popular Turkish beer though, is pretty good and not too badly priced. That reminds me of my little rant about services and products I brought up in my blog last week. The dichotomy is a little perplexing at first, but makes sense when you really think about it: services here are very cheap by American standards, but a lot of products are really expensive. My manicure and pedicure only cost 40TL, which is about 30USD and normally less than the price of one of those services in the states. Yet, the nails polish I saw at the Supermarket the other day was 17TL. It's outrageous. Make-up in generally is VERY expensive here and I'm glad I brought mine with me. Mascara is somewhere around either 20-30TL and that's not even a special brand, just the typical Loreal product you would buy at Walmart. I can have water delivered to my flat door whenver I like, have someone come in a clean my apartment for a reasonable fee whenever I like, and we were served coffee, tea, and snacks on our bus trip to Safranbulo, but mustard costs 10TL and paper is incredibly expensive, 9TL for a simple single subject notebook...something we might pay a quarter for at Wal-mart. But then when I think about it, it all makes sense: mustard is imported, as are many products, and it is the desert so there aren't bountiful forests of trees to use for paper. And it's all so fascinating to me because Bilkent and Ankara just don't seem that different to me from the States, but it's the small differences that catch you by surprise.
Anyhow, my fingers are tired. If anyone wants to get a hold of me send an e-mail to dankert@bilkent.edu.tr and from there I can also give you IM contacts or my phone# otherwise check out facebook. Keep in mind, I always accept snail mail! It's my FAVORITE. And as soon as I can actually find some postcards I plan on doing a mass mailing soon =) Hope all is well with everyone and please stay in touch!
Most students are really enthusiastic about learning English and eager to participate. I consider myself lucky because I teach pre-faculty students which means this is the last English prep course they will have to take before they enter into their University departments, thus, they all speak and understand English rather well. It's so exciting too when you can see them make little improvements in class. For example, I used the word "luxurious" when describing a building to the students and they didn't know what it meant, so I gave them a list of synonyms to help them understand. They when they continued to speak and describe things they made an effort to use "luxurious" rather than just relying on words they already knew. It may sound silly, but it's so exciting when you see things like that in class!
Some of the students, however, are a little bitter and jaded about their English lessons. The way the BUSEL system works is rather intense and involves alot of exams. Courses are 8 weeks long, but before a student can move up to their next course, they not only have to acquire a certain number of points in the class, but they also have to take a large end-of-course exam to move up. If they don't get the required number of points in class, they can't take the exam. Similarly, if they do take the exam, if they don't meet the required number of points for the exam, they have to retake the course. It's quite a process and for prefac students, they have to take 6 hour exam called the COPE to move into their departments. So, I have one class of girls who already took the prefac class in the spring semester, but didn't pass the spring COPE. They all went to summer school as well and still didn't pass the fall COPE and now they're retaking the course for the third time and are feeling frustrated. Their frustration is understandable, but sometimes makes the course a little more difficult to teach. They speak and understand English very well, but they just can't manage to pass the test.
Friday, I had the my own classes, Spanish and Italian, and it was quite an interesting day! Spanish is interesting because since I took 4 years of it in high school and it's so similar to Italian I can understand everything the professor says in Spanish, but struggle to respond in Spanish. Everything comes out in Italian! and it's so hard to regulate; it's just such a natural response to want to speak in Italian. It's also interesting because all of the other students in my class are Turkish, but being that it's an English speaking college, they know English as well. The course ends up being this interesting, partially hilarious, compilation of Turkish, English, Spanish, and for me Italian. I wish I could videotape the course and watch the lesson because I'm sure it's just a mesy language disaster.
My Italian class, however, presents a bit of a problem. It's a low-level Italian course because there wasn't anything higher offered this semester, but I was okay with that because since I graduated in December I haven't had many opportunities to speak Italian. The last two years I had of Italian in college were also primarily literature so I worried that my grammar has been suffering and thought it would be a could idea to take this class and review it all. HOWEVER, there were originally 7 students enrolled in the class and only two besides myself actually showed up. Neither of the other students spoke Italian, I don't speak Turkish (yet!) and the professor didnt' speak English. So that was interesting....the professor had to explain to me in Italian 1) that if there weren't more students they would probably have to cancel the class altogether and 2) that I can't be in the class anyhow if I already speak Italian! I explained why I wanted to take the class to her, etc. but I don't think she was really having it. And now I'm in a bit of a pickle, because if I want to drop that class and sign up for another I have to find something that doesn't conflict with my teaching courses....a new project for the week and a potential headache, but so it goes.
Caption: Atatürk, "Father Turk". Know him.
I had yet another great weekend in Ankara though! The first weekend I was in Turkey the Universitesi planned a trip for all of the CSI's to go to Safranbulo and Amasra (a small town along the coast of the Black Sea, the saltiest water I've ever encountered in my life, but gorgeous!), so we didn't get a chance to explore our new home much. The last two weekends we spent in Ankara and tried to explore life outside of Bilkent, a.k.a. "little Amerika". I really like downtown/night life here thus far. One thing I've noticed is that people stay out later, even on weekdays. Of course, this might have more to do with Ramazan or the hot days and more enjoyable evenings weather-wise, but it seems like life floods the streets around 8 pm and people tend to stay out later, in a casual way, not tnecessarily out partying. For example, there is a lot of outdoor seating and there are just so many people out sitting at a cafe and chit-chatting and, of course, smoking. Again something else of noticed about Turks --- they love to talk and love to smoke. Very social people, I think, esp. in comparison with Americans.
Clubs and bars are fun too. Everything stays open later here, I think 4 am-ish. It makes it easy to lose track of time, esp. if you want to catch the last (1:30) bus back to Bilkent but Ankara surely isn't short cabs either and it doesn't cost too much when you're sharing it with a few other people. I love dancing here and I love Turkish music! I just downloaded a new album the other day - Mustafa Sandal - and when I told my students they frowned at me and gave a whole list of other Turkish artists I should listen to, but I like it and my Turkish teachers approved, so it works. It's great dancing and working-out music. It's hard for me to categorize though because it's really unique compared to American music. It just seems like a mix of so many genres I'm familiar with, but I don't know how to adequately categorize it. Maybe in another month or two I'll be more on the up-and-up of it, but for now I just enjoy the beat.
Alcohol is expensive here as well. Which isn't surprising as much of it is imported and traditionally not allowed in Islam. Efes, a very popular Turkish beer though, is pretty good and not too badly priced. That reminds me of my little rant about services and products I brought up in my blog last week. The dichotomy is a little perplexing at first, but makes sense when you really think about it: services here are very cheap by American standards, but a lot of products are really expensive. My manicure and pedicure only cost 40TL, which is about 30USD and normally less than the price of one of those services in the states. Yet, the nails polish I saw at the Supermarket the other day was 17TL. It's outrageous. Make-up in generally is VERY expensive here and I'm glad I brought mine with me. Mascara is somewhere around either 20-30TL and that's not even a special brand, just the typical Loreal product you would buy at Walmart. I can have water delivered to my flat door whenver I like, have someone come in a clean my apartment for a reasonable fee whenever I like, and we were served coffee, tea, and snacks on our bus trip to Safranbulo, but mustard costs 10TL and paper is incredibly expensive, 9TL for a simple single subject notebook...something we might pay a quarter for at Wal-mart. But then when I think about it, it all makes sense: mustard is imported, as are many products, and it is the desert so there aren't bountiful forests of trees to use for paper. And it's all so fascinating to me because Bilkent and Ankara just don't seem that different to me from the States, but it's the small differences that catch you by surprise.
Anyhow, my fingers are tired. If anyone wants to get a hold of me send an e-mail to dankert@bilkent.edu.tr and from there I can also give you IM contacts or my phone# otherwise check out facebook. Keep in mind, I always accept snail mail! It's my FAVORITE. And as soon as I can actually find some postcards I plan on doing a mass mailing soon =) Hope all is well with everyone and please stay in touch!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Merhaba!
Where to begin? Today is approximately my 18th day living in Turkey and, as you all know, I'm always asking for a story. but now find myself struggling to return the favor and recap everything that's happened in the last two and a half weeks.
For the sake of brevity and comprehension, I'll focus on Bilkent for the time being. The University campus is incredibly different than any college campus I've been on in the States. Despite the fact that I come from the largest college/campus of all my fellow CSI's (Communication Skills Instructors), I'm generally lost and confused. I have some pictures of the campus posted to my flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/christa_lynn) but they don't really convey the layout too well. It's an interesting campus because it is more or less divided into three parallel sections with giant ravines separating the different areas - main campus, middle campus, and east campus. I live on middle, take classes on main, and teach on east so getting around is a bit of a struggle, but since I like walking it's not too bad. Thursday I will start taking Italian and Spanish classes, and Turkish lessons will start next week. I teach for the BUSEL program (Bilkent University School of English Language) and am scheduled to work 14 hours a week starting Thursday (a dream compared to the cube life I was living this summer).
My flat is wonderful! I was expecting some crappy dorm room, aka closet, like freshmen year of undergrad, but it's a new, non-shared, full amenity space with a nice view of the city. The campus, and my lojman (lodging) itself is very isolated, about a 10 min bus ride outside of Ankara and equally interesting because it's an entirely gated community. One of the oddest things about the transition has been the omnipresence of security; it's everywhere all of the time! There are 24 hour security guards at our apartment, guards at all the university buildings, at the two entrances to the campus, the grocery store....literally, everywhere. We've already had an akward little incident entering campus on the bus one evening: in order to even come on to campus whether by bus, cab, whatever, you need to have identification as proof of either living and/or taking classes on campus. Naturally one night a few of us didn't have said ID with us. Before a bus can enter campus it has to stop at the gate and a guard boards to check for the ID. However, I've realized there is some privilege to being the clueless foreign American, as after an awkward 30 second exchange of blank stares the security guard, slightly annoyed, went along his way and let the bus continue with us on board. We've also been told to always carry our passports with us regardless of where we are or going as without it there is reason enough for the polis to arrest us....funny the things we all take for granted in the States.
The people have been fanastic as well, both the Turks and other English language teachers. There are 13 other CSI's besides myself from all over the states and they're mostly pretty chill and generally hilarious! The Turkish teacher's we've met, and the Turks in general, might possibly be the friendliest and most hospitable people I've met. One thing they've pointed out to me that I've never realized before is the way in which Americans always say things they never mean, but Turks mean everything they say. For example, we have the ridiculous habit of always making comments to one another, whether we like the other person or not, about getting together to do something or go out or whatever, but we never really mean it. One of the teachers specifically was really surprised by this when she visited the States and told me that Turks always mean it when they make plans and are very enthusiastic about picking dates, times, etc. when they make such comments....and experience has shown me just how true that is. Even if you mention the slightest thing, they will 1) bend over backward to help you and 2) immediately set a specific time and place and follow through with it! It's great!
Last week I had told one of the teachers I was looking for a good place to get a mani and pedi and she immediately took my cell number, set up a date within a week, called the salon to make an appointment, and picked me to take me to the appointment as well as bring me home. It seems to be a theme as well that the smallest event turns into a whole night deal....getting my nails done, for example, also ended up being a trip to the mall, a late dinner, and a few glasses of wine! Which also reminds me of a little story about services and products, but my work day is over for the time being and I'm off to the bookstore. Hopefully I will make another post sooner rather than later, but the days go by too quickly!
Hope all is well with everyone, and I will post my contact info soon if anyone wants to get a hold of me!!
For the sake of brevity and comprehension, I'll focus on Bilkent for the time being. The University campus is incredibly different than any college campus I've been on in the States. Despite the fact that I come from the largest college/campus of all my fellow CSI's (Communication Skills Instructors), I'm generally lost and confused. I have some pictures of the campus posted to my flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/christa_lynn) but they don't really convey the layout too well. It's an interesting campus because it is more or less divided into three parallel sections with giant ravines separating the different areas - main campus, middle campus, and east campus. I live on middle, take classes on main, and teach on east so getting around is a bit of a struggle, but since I like walking it's not too bad. Thursday I will start taking Italian and Spanish classes, and Turkish lessons will start next week. I teach for the BUSEL program (Bilkent University School of English Language) and am scheduled to work 14 hours a week starting Thursday (a dream compared to the cube life I was living this summer).
My flat is wonderful! I was expecting some crappy dorm room, aka closet, like freshmen year of undergrad, but it's a new, non-shared, full amenity space with a nice view of the city. The campus, and my lojman (lodging) itself is very isolated, about a 10 min bus ride outside of Ankara and equally interesting because it's an entirely gated community. One of the oddest things about the transition has been the omnipresence of security; it's everywhere all of the time! There are 24 hour security guards at our apartment, guards at all the university buildings, at the two entrances to the campus, the grocery store....literally, everywhere. We've already had an akward little incident entering campus on the bus one evening: in order to even come on to campus whether by bus, cab, whatever, you need to have identification as proof of either living and/or taking classes on campus. Naturally one night a few of us didn't have said ID with us. Before a bus can enter campus it has to stop at the gate and a guard boards to check for the ID. However, I've realized there is some privilege to being the clueless foreign American, as after an awkward 30 second exchange of blank stares the security guard, slightly annoyed, went along his way and let the bus continue with us on board. We've also been told to always carry our passports with us regardless of where we are or going as without it there is reason enough for the polis to arrest us....funny the things we all take for granted in the States.
The people have been fanastic as well, both the Turks and other English language teachers. There are 13 other CSI's besides myself from all over the states and they're mostly pretty chill and generally hilarious! The Turkish teacher's we've met, and the Turks in general, might possibly be the friendliest and most hospitable people I've met. One thing they've pointed out to me that I've never realized before is the way in which Americans always say things they never mean, but Turks mean everything they say. For example, we have the ridiculous habit of always making comments to one another, whether we like the other person or not, about getting together to do something or go out or whatever, but we never really mean it. One of the teachers specifically was really surprised by this when she visited the States and told me that Turks always mean it when they make plans and are very enthusiastic about picking dates, times, etc. when they make such comments....and experience has shown me just how true that is. Even if you mention the slightest thing, they will 1) bend over backward to help you and 2) immediately set a specific time and place and follow through with it! It's great!
Last week I had told one of the teachers I was looking for a good place to get a mani and pedi and she immediately took my cell number, set up a date within a week, called the salon to make an appointment, and picked me to take me to the appointment as well as bring me home. It seems to be a theme as well that the smallest event turns into a whole night deal....getting my nails done, for example, also ended up being a trip to the mall, a late dinner, and a few glasses of wine! Which also reminds me of a little story about services and products, but my work day is over for the time being and I'm off to the bookstore. Hopefully I will make another post sooner rather than later, but the days go by too quickly!
Hope all is well with everyone, and I will post my contact info soon if anyone wants to get a hold of me!!
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