Wednesday, June 2
Sorry for the long absence everyone! I have had a busy few days across the pond here! On Wednesday, our class took a field trip to Ankara Castle and to the Ancient Civilizations Museum. Ankara Castle had an even better view of the city than Aysel Sabuncu but I was a little uncomfortable being up that high without any kind of walls!
with the girls from Kora at Ankara Kalesi
The Ancient Civilizations Museum was really well put together and that day we had a lecture on the same subject which really helped me to tune into the importance of what I was seeing. The most interesting things I learned were about letters that these peoples used to write to one another on tablets (I bought a replica). The Professor who lectured to us was telling about how she had her final exam in this ancient language right before she got married, and the tablet she had to read was about a wedding! We also learned about the sundisk and how this was an important symbol for the ancient peoples. Ankara used to use this image as its municipal symbol, but the new AKP government in Ankara changed the symbol to a mosque. People around METU don’t like that because it 1) isn’t secular and 2) is not unique to Ankara. I also bought a replica of this because of its significance regarding the current political situation.
Wednesday night I went out with the graduate students at Kora who are our assistants and really enjoyed my time with them. It’s really nice to spend time with professional women who are working towards a similar life to what I want to have. Besides the four of them, Gokten, Lelya, Birce, and Duygu being AMAZING people and women, hanging out with them really gives me a sense of what it is like to be a Turk. I’m really going to miss them when I have to leave to go to Istanbul...
Thursday, June 3 eating carrot ice cream in Beypazari with Kora staff
The class went on another field trip on Thursday to Beypazari...a really touristy town that is quite quaint because of the houses built into the hills. They are famous for their mineral water (which, I might add, is really good!). We had a really traditional Ottoman lunch, complete with frothy yogurt to drink (which was really sour and gross) and dalmas and kofte and baklava for dessert! YUM! Best kofte (meatballs essentially) that I have had in Turkey. Then, our really nerdy, but also hilarious, tour guide took us to a pasha’s house and to a silver shop which was nice. Then we had the rest of the afternoon to explore. All and all it was a really great day.
Friday, June 4
On Friday, I left on a bus to Cappadocia for a weekend excursion with six others from my group. I can’t even describe how beautiful and peaceful it was there...
We stayed at a sort of Mom and Pop’s/bed and breakfast place run by this really nice family. I never cease to be amazed by Turkish hospitality. Everyone in town was so concerned about helping us out, it was great!
We went hiking on the first day, which was really scary for me, but I did my best! I even went all the way through a rock! And at one point I couldn’t see anything at all--it was really scary!!
We saw a whirling dervish show which was kind of like a medieval times, dinner and entertainment thing. I really want to learn more about that tradition and Sufism which goes along with it.
On Saturday, we toured the Goreme Open Air Museum which is a series of Christian Churches carved into the rock from the 11th century...the paintings on the insides were beautiful as well as the architecture. I was amazed at how similar the churches were to the ones I attend today...and what faith those Christians must have had! They built the churches in their flight from the Roman soldiers. And the amount of detail they put into making their worship space worthy of their God, even in their situation is inspiring...
In the evening, Sarah, Noah, and I went for a horseback ride up one of the mountains. The view was to die for...no photos though! I was afraid of falling off of Pearl.
Today--
I am sad that my time at METU is coming to a close. Last night, Folke and I went to dinner with the graduate assistants here at Kora and we had just an amazing time. Those girls are so inspirational to me. They are so much more down to earth than graduate students in the states it seems. We had great political discussions over a dinner at a fancy restaurant called Tike which means little pieces of meat. The food was spicy, but I ate all of it and it was SOO GOOD! Right and Left here politically is really different here and the girls were helpful explaining that. We argued a bit, but I definitely held my own!
Today, our class toured Ataturk’s Masoleum. It looked a lot like the Lincoln Memorial. Ataturk is Turkey’s Washington. His vision for Turkey was just amazing. I really admire the man and reading his biography is now definitely on my to-do list. I wish I could explain better, but there is just an aura about Ataturk...
S’all for now. Hopefully blogger will start working better. I have been struggling to get on!
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