Travel writing from my study abroad program in Turkey; the Burch Field Research Seminar through UNC-CH. Five weeks in Istanbul, two weeks traveling Western Turkey. Awesomeness.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

The Real Village People

Ah village life…

Monday began with a 9:00 a.m. discussion with Prof Sarah over breakfast. We talked about some our insights that we have gathered on the road the past week. Topics included urban and not-so-urban development, how huge charter buses can just stop on the side of the road and let people off, driving, and how the US and Turkey differ with their everyday laws.

After that, it was kind of a gradual get together at the front of our hotel as some of us dashed off for presents, others finished packing, and the Social Chairs (Amanda & Edward) went picnic shopping.

Then we loaded up in the van and began our drive to the Taurus Mountains. These mountains cover kind of West-Central Turkey and though they are shaped more like the Appalachian, they look nothing like them. Where the Appalachian is covered in forests, the land that we passed, including the Taurus is more shrub-like with a few trees, rocks, and lots of tall grass where the land is not being cultivated. That isn’t to say it isn’t beautiful. It’s a very different sort than I’m used to. Though deeper in the land, where we stayed in our village, there is no question if it is beautiful.

As we drove away from the city of Konya, settlements gradually got smaller and smaller until they were generally nothing but clusters of houses off the road. The land was mostly rolling hills at this point, gradually getting bigger and bigger until we hit the mountains. The tall grass was especially striking as the wind blew; making it look like waves crossed the land. I’ve never been driving across the mid-West, but I imagine it might be something like that; minus the hills and a bit drier – dry enough that my skin started to chap especially when combined with the breeze from our open windows.

I think the journey was about two hours. I read most of the way because I didn’t want to go to sleep. We stopped once for a pit stop and then we were back on the road again. The van we were in kind of putted along uphill, and, well, there were a lot of hills. Eventually, we made it to Esenler; first passing land some nomads occupied with their big mountain goats. As we pulled around a bend, there was our village, sitting on slope of a mountain.

We cruised along the bumpy road that circled around the outside of the village. We pulled in near to the small from there we could see that, before pulling into the small school building on top of the hill, there were actually two villages; Upper Esenler and Lower Esenler. Outside the school building were dozens of carpets; all of which were laid out in order to be faded by the sun.

We piled our luggage out of the van and after being informed that we would be staying in the lower village, we climbed back in and headed up the dusty road for a picnic. We selected some rocks on the slope, choosing to stay in the sun because the wind was cool. We had bread, cheese, and lots of fruit. BTW…the fruit in Turkey, if I haven’t already talked about this, is so much better (and cheaper!) than in the US. Peaches the size of both fists, red cherries, purple cherries, yellow cherries, green plums, purples plums, juicy apricots, bananas as long as your forearm, and more. Though I am still a bit skeptical about the origins of the bananas…

After our picnic, we climbed to the crest of the hill and spent a bit of time exploring the top of a mountain as well as searching for a suitable place to use the bathroom. After messing around a bit and scaring Muammer (our host from Konya who, with his brother Mehmet, helps organize foreign groups to visit their childhood home) peered over the ledges, we headed back into the village.

Muammer then took us to his orchards near the village where he showed us his cherry trees and allowed us to eat as many as we wanted. Of course they were delicious and he grew just about every type of cherry imaginable. I’ve never seen yellow cherries before. Apparently they’re “man cherries” (as translated by Yekta and expounded upon by Edward) and used just to pollinate all the other cherry trees. They can be eaten, but they aren’t as good as they others. A bit crunchy and bitter.

Once we finished up in the orchard, Muammer took us back up to the school where we collapsed on some carpets in the shade. We were served tea and gradually our party grew as more and more villagers showed up.

We spent about an hour just relaxing before they led the group of us down into the Lower Esenler. Our luggage went into a jeep/van/truck/box-on-wheels kind of vehicle, while the rest of us were guided through a winding path in order to see the village. Most of the houses are made of stone, and others were made of brick, but most were a grayish-tan color. Walking through the village, we stumbled on groups of children, cats, donkeys, and other people. There was no real set pathway either; the roads varied in width and were mostly dirt.

First Edward and Clayton left us as a girl led them to their home. The rest of us followed our guide down to the bottom of Lower Esenler where we met the vehicle that carried our luggage. Here we split up as Yekta, Kristina, Amanda, and I went to our house, David and Kevin each went to another alone, and Prof Sarah, William, Kelly, and Zoe went to theirs.

I know, I lucked out getting an actual Turk in my house. Thanks for being an awesome and patient translator Yekta!

Our family was Hasan, Emine, and Yasmin. Hasan grows just about everything in his farm down in the valley by the river and is also one of Esenler’s beekeepers. He’s very wise, hospitable, and open, but generally seems very serious. Emine, his wife, is so friendly and always seems to have a smile on her face. Yasmin is their second daughter. At 23, she’s sincere and seems happy; though apparently she has gone through some troubles. She was engaged to this man, but apparently he changed after their engagement and none of the family got along. Now they’re trying to get the engagement annulled. I know, at first I was confused too, but as Yekta explained, engagements in Turkey (or perhaps for Muslims) are much more regulated and official than engagements in the US. For one, there’s money involved that’s been given out as gifts between families. There’s also Yasmin’s dowry, which is this amazing collection of needlework, prayer rugs, and embroidery that she has been working on since she was eleven. In any case, they’re still trying to get the engagement annulled, but it looks like they have to wait until next year because of the money involved.

Yasmin escorted us inside her home where we met Hasan and Emine. It’s rather large for village standards I believe with two bedrooms, a television sitting room, a large open sitting room, and a kitchen and dining area. They also have a terrace, bathroom, and shower/washroom. One of the first things you notice when entering any of these houses is the complete lack of furniture. There is no furniture whatsoever; no dining table, no chairs, no beds, nothing. Instead, most of their open wall space is lined with thick cushions to lean upon and sit against. At night, they get down their beds which are nothing more than the same long cushions they line up against the wall, except a bit thicker. The walls are mostly bare, and if jackets or keepsakes are hung up, a sheet covers them, hiding them from view. Storage space is built into the walls so there are no dressers or vanities. Meals are eaten on the floor with a tablecloth (except I suppose it’s not really a tablecloth) spread out on the ground and a large round dish placed on something to keep it above the floor. You sit so the tablecloth covers your lap and works as a napkin. It’s very relaxing and leisurely way of eating, but it does feel a bit uncomfortable at first.

After we presented our host gifts to the family, they brought in fresh fruit from their orchards – peaches, cherries, and apricots. Fabulous. The four of us provided much amusement to the family as we struggled to eat still more fruit. Eventually I emerged as the kiraz (cherry) champion; though Amanda took the title for the apricots.

We spent the time talking about many things, moving to the terrace, and meeting other villagers until Kristina got the idea that we should show them pictures of our trip. Once we made sure they still insisted on us not helping prepare supper, we sat down to pick out the best of our stay in Turkey thus far.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell about the last member of the family, Josh. Josh is the family cat named after an American that stayed with them for about a month some years ago who still comes back to visit. He’s a temperamental little fella who meows a lot.

Before long, it was time for supper. This was one of my favorite meals in Turkey except for the aryan which was a curdled buttermilk sort of drink and was possibly one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted; just the smell of it made my stomach churn. I couldn’t stomach it so I asked Yekta if it was okay if I didn’t drink my glass. She said it was; but somehow the other girls managed by taking it like a shot. The rest of the meal was delicious. There was first spicy okra soup, followed by green beans and pilav. This was accompanied by fresh watermelon; that thankfully was juicy enough to work as a drink for me. In any case, the meal was delicious. And all of it was accompanied by heaps of flat bread.

They make all the bread for the village every six months when they get flour. They store it and just put water on it before serving to make it good to go. Every meal had plenty of bread and it was great to roll up the rest of the food in it burrito-style.

After supper we chatted with Hasan about his beekeeping before dispersing as others gathered in the large open room of our house. It was interesting because the men went to the television room while the women and our group remained in the larger room. Yasmin had to do all the serving of the tea because she was the youngest female in the room while the youngest male kept coming back into the sitting room where we were gathered to get more tea. Talking to Yekta, I found out that this was a traditional custom. Eventually some more people gathered and we ended up playing coin games with Yasmin and a few other girls that showed up.

Eventually everyone else left after we spent some time outside looking at the stars. Kristina, Amanda, Yekta, and I then had a brief discussion about sleeping arrangements because they had put two of us in Yasmin’s bedroom and the other two in the Hasan and Emine’s bedroom. Eventually we worked everything out as the family assured us they would be comfortable sleeping in the television room.

Kristina and I, like always, were sharing a room (Yasmin’s) and we promptly passed out as soon as the lights were out. Yasmin woke us up in the morning with repeated and increasing forceful good mornings in Turkish which I can’t even attempt to spell. I eventually rolled out of bed and by 8:30 a.m., we were all sharing a delicious breakfast which featured honey (from Hasan’s bees), walnut, small fried fish, cheese, and of course the flat bread.

It wasn’t long until we got out the door and piled into the back of Hasan’s vehicle where we took a perilous trip around and down the mountains to their farm by the river. Yasmin took us on a tour of the orchard and Hasan showed us his bees. We got to see him move a hive to container, which almost sent me scattering as the bees buzzed furiously. Hasan did say they weren’t angry though so they were unlikely to sting.

Then it was time to pick peaches! Well, we didn’t actually pick them.

Hasan and Emine quickly picked out peaches that were ripe for picking while we helped Yasmin put them into crates. We also helped by taking the buckets full of peaches from Hasan and Emine and bringing them to the small house and shaded patio where Yasmin was putting them into crates for selling.

We spent the morning thus occupied, and soon the family was firing up the barbeque. We had another great meal; this one of grilled chicken, pasta, fried squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, and the flat bread. We then had a little R&R as we waited for Muammer and the others to show up so we could go to the local waterfall and river.

Eventually Muammer came and the four of us joined the others in the van. We made it to the river where we did a quick van change into our swimsuits as the others continued on. Muammer was waiting for us halfway done the pathway and he took us to the side to show us the waterfall itself. I heard Amanda give her token phrase “What’s this little gem?” as she climbed the small rift to viewing point ahead of me, so I knew it would be something pretty special. The waterfall was surprisingly big and wide. It poured over the edge of the cliff in streams of white and around all the water you could see some type of cavern behind it. We looked down the river and could see rocks everywhere, dividing up the water.

It wasn’t quite as picturesque as the park in Egirdir, but it was still a surprise. When they told us they were taking us to the waterfall and river, I really wasn’t expecting much of anything; after all, we were in the middle of nowhere.

Muammer took us down river a bit where we found the others looking at the water a bit askance waiting for our guide. The current was pretty fast, but Muammer assured us that it would be fine as long as we were careful.

The water was of course, cold, but we had a lot of fun swimming back and forth; letting the current take us a ways before grabbing onto a rock. Muammer threw us peaches that our family sent with us from the bank and we only managed to lose one, but apparently they found it a bit down river later. Amanda was all over it and well, just ate it.

The others explored downriver a bit, letting the current take them along, but I was freezing so I voted to remain where I was, sunning myself on the rocks. I eventually got bored of this and decided to see how far I could rock hop upriver. I didn’t get very far, but I was pretty sure I spotted a somewhat perilous pathway amid the rocks and cliff bank that could take me to the waterfall.

Turns out I was right as soon Muammer was guiding us up the side of the cliff over rushing water, through mud, slick rocks, and general awesomeness to the cavern behind the waterfall. He didn’t want to take such a large group any farther than besides right at the entrance and so feeling really cold, I made my way back.

After washing off, we loaded back into the van to head back to the village. We stopped along the way to pick up Yasmin as Hasan and Emine left to go sell their peaches. I was a little concerned about how we were going to make it back up the dusty, bumpy, and steep mountain road considering the van just kind of put-putted its way along. Luckily we took a different, more winding pathway, stopping along the way so the driver could pick up some herbs for tea. Only in Turkey does the driver stop every time he spots his favorite herb.

We made it back to the village alive and my first order of business was to change clothes. Feeling a bit better, we then set about different activities as Kristina helped Yasmin prepare supper.

The meal was again delicious with small pancake type things as the main dish which was fabulous with the walnut and honey. We sat around for a long while just chatting (through Yekta) with Yasmin. Amanda and I did the dishes after a hilarious encounter in which Yasmin, in accented English, asked what Amanda was doing when she was searching around the kitchen for a washing pot.

We emerged from the kitchen to find that people were once again gathering in our house. Once our whole group arrived we gave Yasmin and a few of the other villagers a slide show of the trip thus far. Eventually everybody else left; some of our group was sleeping outside on the carpets and Kelly was staying with us for the night. Kelly passed out pretty quickly and still Hasan and Emine were not home so Yasmin showed us their collection of photographs including one of a 17-year-old Hasan. She then took us to the two chests that housed her dowry – a huge collection of handmade work.

We got ready for bed and just about when we were going to call it a night, Hasan and Emine came home. Even though we had just brushed our teeth, they announced it was time to eat some fruit. So gathering around a table, we ate cherries, peaches, and apricots that were fabulous after the first couple of bites.

I’ve never eaten so much fruit in one day before.

The next morning, I took a quick shower and packed before we sat down for breakfast with Emine and Yasmin as Hasan had already left to sell the rest of his peaches. Breakfast was, you guessed it, delicious featuring Hasan’s amazing honey on flat bread.

Gradually others gathered at our house and before long we had to say goodbye. We all had one last group picture before climbing into the van, waving goodbye as we drove away back to the rest of the world.

Monday, June 23, 2008

It's Not All Fun And Games...Just 99% of the Time

Friday was probably one of my top days in Turkey. We rose pretty early in Egirdir from our dorm-style room and got a filling breakfast while we overlooked the huge blue-green lake. Then it was off to one of the National Parks in a thirty minute van drive in which I do not recall much of because I kept nodding off.

William went with us as we hiked around a smaller lake and the trails it had to offer. On the sign leading into the trails it said we could see a number of typical wildlife you might find in any North Carolina forest such as squirrels (our first squirrels in Turkey!), deer, and, of course, a leopard. Okay Turkey, a leopard? We get it. You don’t mess around.

Luckily we didn’t see the leopard, but neither did we see squirrels. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m starting to miss the little critters. Though I don’t really mind their replacements – the stray cats that you see everywhere because you can often find kittens and they’re just so cute. So after spending about an hour hiking around this small lake, climbing some rocks, and becoming one with nature we hopped back into our van and went to Kanyon National Park.

It took us about an hour van ride, which I don’t remember at all because I was gone to the world, but upon arriving, we were in a wooded picnic spot next to a riverbed at the end of a gorge. We had a brief lunch of bread, cheese, and fruit and then it was time for our hike upstream.

First things first, we had to hike uphill and get above the cliffs that hung over the river. After a bit of an adventure in which we might have lost Zoe to the wild and Kristina to the gorge, we crossed over on an iron bridge and found ourselves on an old Roman road, the King’s Highway. This road was in much better condition than the trail we just climbed; it was flat, dusted with pebbles, and about wide enough for five people to walk side-by-side comfortably. Along the side of the cliff that loomed above us there were still markers from its use two millennia ago – an inscription of a poem, ledges in the rock, and slick marble from centuries of use.

It was a bit of a hike that got us to our destination, eventually the Roman road gave way to a clearing as the rock fell away, and then that led to a forest. We kept walking upstream, the river looking really inviting down below, as it rushed blue-green around white rocks. It was quite warm and I was happy to be out in my athletic shorts instead of something that covered my knees. Finally we reached our swimming site and after lathering on some screen, we took to rock hopping down to the waterfall pool we had passed just a short while ago.

This gorge probably ranks in one of my favorite places in the world now. Rising above everything are mountains, and immediately around the river was a forest. All the around the river edge were perfectly blooming, pink oleanders. The rocks, which jut out of the river, carving it up into small rushing streams, are an off-white color. They cut an almost meandering path for water, except that it continued to rush and fall everywhere. When the larger rocks give way, small pools appear that range from knee to waist deep. The water, despite being in constant motion and pulled downstream, is pure blue and see-through. When we filled our bottles up, there was nothing to be found in the water, not even natural waste of mildew, leaves, or algae. It was like a place Aquafina would advertise they get their pure spring water from.

Eventually the water comes together as two large rocks loom to either side forming a waterfall somewhere between 25 to 30 feet high. At the bottom of this was probably the most perfect, picturesque pool in the world, though it was a little on the chilly side. (And yes, it ranks above the waterfall pools I got to swim in Hawaii). This is where we decided to swim as the water was who-knows-how-deep and there were plenty of rocks to jump off of and lounge on.

Remarkably, we were the only people there the whole afternoon.

It’s hard to say what this means for Turkey, tourism, etc. I was happy that we had it to ourselves, but it’s almost sad that such a beautiful place was not being shared. Then again, it would probably not be so special to me now if it was teeming with other people the whole time we were there. It was nice to be alone in such a beautiful place. Though it does take a bit of a hike and a drive to get there, it’s not like this place is not advertised. Maybe it’s just not as widely known. In any case, I preferred it as it was; completely natural, very little trace of human activity, and a bunch of American college students without having to worry about anything.

I was one of the first ones down to the waterfall pool as the others got waylaid by the other rocks and smaller pools in route downstream. I met Kristina and David at the bottom after picking up their camera cases and having to climb through a ravine of sorts. None of the three of us had been in the water yet besides a bit of a toe poke so we knew it was going to be freezing. Kevin climbed down on the other side and was already in the pool so knowing it was safe, and sweating from the sun, I was ready to jump in. Kristina and I were going to make the leap of faith together (David was waiting for his swimsuit to be brought down as he wasn’t already wearing it and left it in his hurry to take pictures). But as we counted to three and then I made the jump, I felt her hand leave mine. After rising to the surface and shouting expletives because of the cold, I looked back to the rock only to see her standing and wincing, and David laughing. In another moment, she was in the water and as the rest of group made their way down, with a bit of coaxing, they jumped in too.

It didn’t take Edward very long to climb up a nearby rock that was probably fifteen feet above the water. After cheering his jump in, we all gradually followed suit. It did take Amanda a bit of encouragement as David climbed up there with her to help, but she was thrilled once she did it as well. It was exhilarating jumping off into the cold water because you’re in the air just long enough to wonder when you’re going to hit.

Then Edward climbed up to an even higher rock, one that was a little bit higher than the waterfall even. After a bit of worrying on some of our parts and a bit of hesitation on his, he leaped off, hurtling downward for about four seconds. Seeing that he survived and was ready to go again, some of the others climbed up to make the leap. Maybe given a little bit more time in our waterfall pool, and I might have jumped off as well, but I was happy with my fifteen foot leap. Though Zoe, David, Kristina, and Kevin all jumped off and splashed in just fine. I did get some great footage on my video-camera in between swimming.

We then all headed back up to where we left Prof Sarah and William and all our stuff. After snacking a bit, I decided to head upstream to see what I could find. The river widened here and the rocks became even more numerous with small patches of ground housing trees appearing in the middle, so it was hard to tell where the water all came from. After finding a perfect waterfall slide and coasting down it with a slightly rough landing, I was warded off from further exploring by a giant river crab. It clicked its pincers at me menacingly after having a minute stare down, I turned back knowing it was probably getting close to time to leave and seeing that the river and rocks expanded even further ahead, giving me too much ground to cover.

I found the group in a discussion perched on a few of the rocks with feet dangling in the water. Oops.

After a bit of a discussion on tourism in Turkey, and how we were the only ones at Kanyon National Park, it was time to hike back down and catch our van back to Egirdir.

We did spot some more tourists on our way down, but they were on the opposite side of the river. After grabbing some refreshments, we loaded into the van. Exhausted, I think we all fell asleep in our ride back.

We arrived back in our dormitory only to find the surrounding rooms occupied and facing a dilemma. We only had one shower between about thirty people. I made a mad dash for the shower in my bathing suit and thankfully got clean.

The hostel provided supper that night and then it was time to find a place to watch the Turkey-Croatia quarterfinal EuroCup match. Egirdir is unfortunately a small town, but we asked the guys at the hostel where we could find a sports bar. Not believing him when he said there was pretty much no where to watch the game, we ventured out in almost hurricane-like winds to find a place. We circled Egirdir for virtually the first half, but there was bar to be found. Chagrined, we made our way back to the hostel and watched the rest of the game there.

Once again, Turkey played us. They took Croatia into overtime in a 0-0 tie only to have Croatia score in the last minute. We groaned, thinking it was over; they only had a minute of stoppage time added on.

With seconds ticking down, the backup Turkish goalkeeper (the starting one had gotten a red card in the previous game) made one last desperate punt. A Turkish player settled the ball, turned, and gave the shot of his life. And well, it went in and the ref called the game immediately afterwards. Are you kidding me Turkey? They went on to win in penalty kicks so Turkey moves onto the semifinals. FYI, Turkey has led for no more than fifteen minutes this whole tournament, yet somehow, they still have gotten to the semifinals of EuroCup.

Some of our group stormed the streets of Egirdir. Kristina, Zoe, and I hung out on the terrace of our hostel watching the whole dozen cars circle the town. Needless to say, we missed the celebration in Istanbul or any town besides Egirdir.

The next morning we were back on the Fez Travel bus. After a bit of confusion that sent us to the wrong place, we all boarded and with luggage in the aisles, we were off to Konya. The bus ride for some reason did not put us in the best of moods; something to do with Bridgette, our ill-tempered Fez tour direction, and the cramped conditions, probably.

We did make a stop at a wooden mosque sometime before arriving. This was rather unique as all the mosques we’ve been in before are stone or marble. It’s remarkable that this mosque is preserved as well as it is in any case and their observatory pool setup is cool. Astronomy is very important in Islam because tracking the time for prayers as well as for Ramadan is necessary.

After that brief stop we were back on the road and soon, we were in Konya. Konya is a city of somewhere between one to two million people and is best known as the capital of the Selcuk (Seljuk) Empire. It’s also home of Rumi (Mevlana) and the base of his Sufi Islamic order and the Whirling Dervishes.

The Fez bus left us on the side of the road and for a few moments we just stood there. Before we knew it, a man pulls up in a pickup truck and tells us to load up our luggage. This was Mehmet, (not to be confused with all the other Mehmet’s we know) the carpet store owner that hails from the village we will be visiting for two days. He takes us to our hotel which is right around the corner from our shop.

We dropped all our stuff off in the rooms; the girls in one giant room, the guys in another. Then we gathered downstairs for lunch next door and afterward we went to Mehmet’s shop. He served us mountain herbal tea and we talked awhile about his village, Konya, and the carpet business.

Then we were given some free time. Feeling exhausted, I chose a nap and promptly collapsed on my bed for an hour and a half. Kelly woke me up some time later and we headed back down to Mehmet’s shop so he could show us some of the intricacies of carpet making. We loaded up in a van and first we traveled some back roads to the house of one of the weavers he buys from. There we saw some weaving down first hand as a woman and her daughter worked on a giant kilim. Next he took us to a house he owns on the outskirts of Konya that he uses as place to create his dyes for rugs.

Mehmet’s supplies his weavers with all the raw materials so its necessary for him to have a place for dyes. He also repairs ancient rugs; one over two hundred years old that he would be able to resell for $50,000. Then we headed back into the center of Konya so we could grab some food for supper.

After eating, a number of us met back at Mehmet’s shop for a third time we could witness the Whirling Dervishes. Mehmet’s brother, Muammer, led us to the Mevlani cultural center of sorts.

The Whirling Dervishes are something else. They dress in white, and somehow spin and spin and spin. It’s a way of reaching a connection with God. At the end, one of the dervishes led a prayer and I was surprised to witness a number of Turks in the audiences following along.

Sufism in Turkey is outlawed under their “secular” government because a branch of Sufis originally opposed Ataturk, but they are allowed to perform for cultural and traditional purposes. However, if a Turk is taken to court for practicing Sufism, the judge basically turns a blind eye. It’s a very interesting balance. To add onto that, the Mevlani Order is more of a lifestyle than a religion’ it’s all complicated and gives you a headache if you try to explain and digest it all.

Of course, that could just be my excuse as to not try to type out a very long explanation of it all. It’s late and I’m tired.

Moving on, we called it a night after making it back to the hotel. This morning, we met at 10:00 in Mehmet’s shop for Muammer to give us a tour of his city.

Today was really mosque and museum day. We saw four mosques and went into two museums. I was exhausted even at the beginning; I think the days were just catching up to me. Traveling every other day doesn’t give one much time to rest except on the bus/van/box-on-wheels.

After our extensive tour of important sites in Konya, I picked up a present for the family I would be staying with in the village in the Taurus Mountains, then it was back to the hotel for rest.

We met at 7:30 for supper with Muammer who took us to a great restaurant where we ate in traditional Turkish style. I definitely had a food baby after that meal which included bread, soup, salad, meze, an entrée, and a dessert.

Back in our hotel, I prepared for our stay in the Mountains before finishing up this blog and calling it a night.

These next two days in the village should prove interesting. No internet, no toilet paper, no contact with the outside world…see ya’ll in a couple of days!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Road Trip!

Believe it or not, nothing too crazy has happened to us on the road yet. I know. With this group, something weird or Turkish mystery-related is always happening. I think by typing that, I’m just asking for something to happen now.

Sunday we left early. Like we were up at 5:30 and out the door at 6:00 so we could get to Sultanahmet to catch our bus. No problem. We did it with little drama involved even after having the power go out around 11:00 p.m. the night before. The bus ended up being a little crowded, as in, every seat was full.

We’re using Fez Travel to get around Turkey. They’re an English based hop-on hop-off travel company that goes all around Turkey. Each bus has a driver and then a tour guide to make sure everything goes smoothly. So with our bus full of us, some Aussies, Kiwis, Brits, and one Singaporean family who never talked, the first order of business was to of course go to sleep. Except I couldn’t really sleep in our cramped seats. Ah, but who am I kidding, I can go to sleep anywhere.

After some stops we made it to our first destination – Gallipoli. For those of you who are not war-buffs or are familiar with Gallipoli, here’s a brief little history. Gallipoli was the site of the most important battle for both the Turks and ANZACs (Australia and New Zealand) during WWI. It’s where Australia and New Zealand carved out their identities through a nine-month campaign that ultimately ended in their, and the Allies, defeat. So Gallipoli is a big thing for the ANZACs, which partly explains why you might run into a fair number of them in Turkey. It’s as equally important for the Turks because it provided the one big victory for the Ottoman Empire during WWI and it was under Ataturk who rose to prominence after this one victory. Gallipoli is the peninsula on the European side of the Dardanelles Strait that marks the entrance into the Sea of Marmara, which means it leads to Istanbul and the Black Sea (and the countries with a Black Sea border such as Russia). So the battle at Gallipoli pitched the ANZACs and Turks, who had never had anything to do with each other before, against each other.

With our special tour guide we picked up to take us through Gallipoli we hit all the important battle sites and memorials. This guide was a Turk who spoke English with an Australian accent. It was the strangest sounding thing. Also, he felt the need to be repetitive so it was “the Brighton, the Brighton Beach” and “the Anzac, the Anzac Cove.”

After Gallipoli we said goodbye to our guide and got back our original one and then went to catch a ferry across the Dardanelles to end up on the Asian side. We stayed at Cannakale that night in a hostel style hotel. The best part of the night was Turkey’s monumental, history-making win over Czech Republic in the Euro Cup. You have never seen happier Turks. After playing horrible, the Turks came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in the last fifteen minutes. Talk about crazy. So with their two wins, Turkey advances to a quarter-final match versus Croatia.

After a somewhat restful night on a springy mattress it was back on the bus and time to visit another battle site – Troy. Um, can we say awesome? I love ancient ruins. There were nine different versions of Troy and the famous Iliad one was Troy VI. So we explored the ruins a bit with another special tour guide, then it was time to move on.

After some driving down the coast of the Aegean we made it to our next stop after lunch. Pergamum is the ancient Greek and Roman city that lies on top of a mountain. The city itself was a state organization, one made for training soldiers and also providing mental health facilities. They had things such as music and arts therapy even back then. Apparently death wasn’t welcome in the city though; there is no cemetery and supposedly those sick enough to die just left the city. There was more civilization at the base of mountain that helped to support the city at the top.

The best thing about Pergamum is the backdrop – the views are incredible. The theater especially is awesome. It’s the steepest ancient theater and the mountain just drops around you providing an excellent view to the countryside surrounding the city.

Speaking of excellent views, this is good moment to talk about the new camera drama. This time it was my video camera. My hard drive on my video camera is messed up so I couldn’t take any videos whatsoever. I was really frustrated about the whole thing and I hope you, my avid viewers, can understand when I don’t have any video to show of these first two days of my trip. Luckily I was able to drop some money on an SD card and will be able to film limitedly for the remainder of the trip. Ugh. I’m still pissed that the hard drive messed up though. I guess I’ve been using it too hard these past four weeks.

After Pergamum it was back on the bus so we could make it to Selcuk for our next stay. We stayed at the Australian and New Zealand Guesthouse. It was an awesome place, though it’s funny that these Australian and New Zealand things keep popping up. Anyway, they had supper waiting for us when we got there. Barbeque chicken. Yum.

This was a definite upgrade from our stay the night before in a more hostel type place. Here we shared comfortable rooms, though Turks are funny about their bathrooms. For whatever reason, they seem to think it’s a good idea to put the bathroom all together.

What I mean is that the toilet, sink, and shower are all in one small tiled room together. Um, I can get the toilet and sink, but the shower? So basically when you shower, water goes everywhere and if you’re not careful, that’s the end of your toilet paper. I suppose its space efficient. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I come back to the States and I have a whole bathroom to myself.

So whereas the night before we were crashing in a dormitory with some of the people on the tour bus; Selcuk gave us rooms. Amanda, Kristina, and I crashed in one with Kristina and me reuniting in a double bed akin to our flat back in Istanbul.

The next day was supposed to be kind of a do-whatever-you-want relaxing day, but there was so much we wanted to do in Selcuk. We were up and eating a delicious French toast breakfast by 8:30 a.m. Our first order of business was to go to the Ephesus ruins.

Ephesus is one of the best preserved and largest Greek and Roman cities. Pergamum may hold the views, but Ephesus has everything else, including a huge 25,000 seating theater. It’s a good thing we went during the morning because it was still ridiculously hot and there was no shade besides what a few of the ruins provided. What we saw of Ephesus was huge, but only a small amount of the ruins have actually been excavated.

At one point a fair number of us ended up congregating in the shady, beautifully restored library to take a breather from the heat and the huge numbers of Asian tourists. Prof. Sarah shows up a few moments later and comments that she would find us all in the library. I was amused to say the least. We played around the ruins a good two hours. William gave a great monologue from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in the theater. We could hear him perfectly in the top row and he earned a standing ovation from the other English-speakers who were there at the time. One of the crazy things about Ephesus is that where before the city was right on the water, now it’s some seven kilometers away. That’s a lot of sea that has silted up over 2000+ years.

After Ephesus it was time to visit the Virgin Mary’s house. Reportedly it was her last place of residence before her death. John the Apostle brought her there after Jesus’ crucifixion as he was entrusted with her care and in charge of preaching the word in Asia Minor. The house is a restored stone structure in a pretty wooded area on one of the mountains near Ephesus. Mary’s house was alone, but she definitely wasn’t isolate. Ephesus was huge for its time. Some 250000 people at its peak and around the time Mary would have been there. There is a natural spring there as well that provides fresh water.

I’m not Catholic, Lutheran, or Orthodox, but I am very glad we went. That’s all I have to say on that matter.

We headed back down into Selcuk afterwards and had a bit of time to kill before we were to meet Mrs. Gurel for lunch. I know, I know - wait, when did this happen? - you want to know. After spending the weekend with the Gurels awhile ago, Mrs. Gurel wanted to meet the rest of the group. Izmir is only 45 minutes away from Selcuk so she drove down to take us all out to lunch.

Before that though, I got an SD card for my video camera while everyone else went to the museum that housed a lot of the art that has been picked up from Ephesus. We then met Mrs. Gurel who was as gracious and charming as ever. She provided a van to transport us all to the place of our meal. We had a leisurely lunch in the shade at her friend’s place that also supported a lot of ancient and Ottoman arts. It was really nice place and the food was excellent.

After saying goodbye to Mrs. Gurel it was time to hit the beach. Though I did have to work out an issue with the SD card I purchased as soon as that was resolved we finally made it to an Aegean beach. Though I had jumped into the Aegean before at the Gurel’s summer home, it was nice to be at the beach, especially with everyone else. It was such a warm day, the water was perfect. We swam and chilled on the soft sand for about two hours.

Then after a quick change, we went up to a small Greek town in the mountains. I was thinking it would just be this quaint little affair, but it was even better than that. It was so beautiful and we were there at sunset. The weather was perfect and the sun provided great lighting. After walking around a bit, we had a leisurely supper at a restaurant there and then traveled back down the mountain.

David and I watched the Italy-France game once we got back (Italy won), while the others learned backgammon. But after a full day, we were all exhausted and it didn’t take but a minute to fall asleep that night.

Amanda, Kristina, and I overslept a little this morning, but we were still able to grab breakfast before our transportation came. It was then a two and a half hour driver to our next and current destination – Pamukkale. Pamukkale is home to beautiful white calcium deposits with hot springs and mud baths that look like glaciers. That is, if you think glaciers chill in 100+ degree weather.

Our hotel is another win. Very comfortable and the proprietors are cool too. It’s another three girls per room; this time it’s Kelly, Yekta, and me.

Once we got to Pamukkale, we were all ready for lunch so through the heat we navigated the very small town until we stumbled upon a place to eat. Pamukkale used to be a lot bigger with five star hotels on top of the calcium deposits so people could walk right out to the springs. However, some environmental groups showed up ten years ago and closed the hotels down because the amount of people was destroying the calcium. A lot of business left with the hotels and now Pamukkale is much quieter.

After lunch we went back to our nice little pension and chilled for a couple of hours. Some people went swimming in the small pool, others, like myself caught up on blogging. At 4:30 we met with Prof. Sarah for a class discussion before heading up the calcium deposits.

The calcium deposits are beautiful and kind of out of this world. They gleam white in the distance and when actually walking on them, water pours over the surface causing ridges to appear. Apparently Yellowstone has a fraction of these calcium deposits that Pamukkale boasts. It looks kind of like a melting glacier. Or marshmallows. I kept expecting the Ghostbusters marshmallow monster to start moving underneath my feet.

Water emerges from springs at the top of mountain and waterfalls down the side, forming pools and rushing down the pathway we used to climb. Some of the pools look like the infinity pools you find on cliffs. Now imagining this white mountain with water sliding down around you, with a barefoot climb to the top, standing in waterfalls along the side, and to all that, add a mountainous backdrop. All that equals pure awesomeness.

Once we got to the top we made straight for the hot spring and luckily because it was less than an hour till closing time at 7:00 we got in for half price for a swim.

The calcium hot spring was amazing. The water was warm, but not too hot. It bubbled around you, but it did burn a little bit when going under water. And it tasted something awful. But we swam in the hot spring with the ancient ruins of Hierapolis all around us. Roman columns covered in algae could be found everywhere. We found one in a deep section where you could stand on a fallen column and swim underneath it. We all took turn borrowing Yekta’s goggles so we could go under and explore. After paddling around until 7:00, it was then time to explore the ruins of Hierapolis.

Where Ephesus was devoted to the Goddess Artemis and all her many forms, Hierapolis is all about praising Apollo and fearing Pluto/Hades. From all the geothermal energy, there was one particular area that was so thick with sulfur that most animals suffocated. So Pluto had a bit of a cult following with the poison cave/valley. We found the Temple of Apollo and the Pluto cult among the ruins and then we climbed up the hill to the theater. The theater was pretty impressive with its views rivaling Pergamum’s. Add onto this the fact that we were witnessing the sunset in tandem and it was spectacular. Though for whatever reason my eyes had dried out something horrible after getting out of the hot spring so I was struggling a bit with my contacts.

We eventually climbed back down the white calcium mountain and made it back to our hotel where after a quick shower, we were promptly served a delicious and very filling supper.

David and I caught the end of the Russia-Sweden EuroCup game (Russia won) and then it was back to blogging and video-editing. But only for a little while. Despite feeling really content after my shower and being really full and comfortable, I decided to accompany Edward, Amanda, Kristina, David, and Zoe back to the calcium pools for a midnight dip. Unfortunately we weren’t able to communicate very well to the security guards and we had to turn back at the entrance.

We could have snuck in, but none of us wanted to risk getting caught by a Turkish security with a Turkish machine gun, and get sent to Turkish prison. So it was back to the hotel and finally bedtime.

The next morning was nice and slow. We didn’t have to leave until 10:30 and I woke up around 9:00. After getting ready I had a nice breakfast and then played with the two hotel dogs. I can’t wait to see my own pets once I get back to the States.

We piled into a van of sorts with luggage piled all around us. Edward called it a “box on wheels” which I think about sums it up perfectly. Our driver also randomly stopped to talk to a buddy of his. It kind of fit the mystic Turk experience, especially when we started debating if we were being sold into slavery.

“Oh, I got 12 Americans and their luggage…”

“40 YTL, no more.”

You know, Americans come cheap and you can upgrade to a bigger size for only five YTL more.
Luckily our drive in the box on wheels was pretty short. We got dropped off at the bus station in the neighboring city to Pamukkale where, after a short wait, we boarded a spacious charter bus for our journey to Egirdir.

After a few hours of sleep onboard the bus we made it to the beautiful lakeside city of Egirdir (that’s a silent “g”). It was after 3:00 before we got settled into our dormitory that housed ten beds just for the each of us, and by that point I was starving and craving a diet coke.

The majority of us went to get a meal and then it was time for a swim in the blue-green lake. I’ve never seen a lake quite like this one. For one, it was perfectly blue-green and clear with mountains surrounding it; it was like something out of a fantasy. For another, despite the town and the small harbor, there were virtually no boats in the water. It was perfectly calm. Of course, having six Americans go splashing in it doesn’t really help the calm, but the lake was huge. Besides us and some children who were also swimming we were alone in the water.

I’ve never had a swim like that before. The water was crisp and cold and so smooth. I could easily see to the bottom. Interestingly, Lake Egirdir is the second largest fresh-water lake in Turkey. If that was in the US, there would be so many people, so many boats, the water would probably churn brown. In any case, it was fabulous.

With only one shower for our dorm and needing to meet in 20 minutes at 7:00 p.m. we were at a dilemma. So we took the obvious solution, all climbed in our bathing suits and fought over the shower head. Despite our best efforts, we were still late.

At this point, Prof. Sarah wanted to talk to all of us about how we really haven’t been able to meet up academically the past two days. A lot of this has really I think been miscommunication on everyone’s part. But our Prof brings up a fair point. I have to remember that this is not just a vacation, as much as I want it to be. I’m here to learn about the history, and to try to carve out an identity for the Turkish people who brush by these ancient and not-so ancient ruins.

But also, I think with our exploration of ruins, with our constant meeting of new people and new places, we are definitely learning. It’s something I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s there. How do Turks just pass by such ancient history? And for Kristina’s and mine project, where do the clothes and outward expression of character mean for the women of this country? And most importantly, when did Turks think it would be a good idea to put showers in without some sort of division to the rest of the bathroom?

After our discussion we did a bit of exploration, got a bite to eat at a lakeside restaurant on one of the small islands, and then watched a lightning storm in the distance.

Tomorrow it’s off to the national park near Egirdir for some frolicking on the King’s Highway.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Mezes and Silly Turks

Thursday I woke up still congested and feeling kind of blah. We originally were supposed to do the Bosphorus tour up to the Black Sea, but Prof. Sarah was feeling kind of sick so an executive decision was made to postpone this journey until after our expedition. So we had another free day, but we all kind of needed another one.

After a few hours of somewhat messing around with different stuff I need to do for our program (note, big project and cultural events paper) I decided a nap wouldn't do any harm. I think I took about an hour nap or so, and then I was woken up to help prepare for our terrace party that we were hosting that night with our landlady, Robin. After the nap, I was feeling much better thankfully. Closer to normal anyway.

Our terrace party was a pretty neat affair. We bought tons of fruit and drinks, Robin brought some more food, and some of the other guests brought some stuff as well so we ended with quite a spread. Just about everyone we knew in Turkey came, plus some more. Everyone else left between 11:00 and 11:30 and as soon as Robin was gone, we went from classic American rock to, well, what else do you listen to late-night on our terrace - classic American rap.

Oh, and Thursday was a very successful day for the drama involving a camera and shipping for Kristina. The original 1500 YTL price that was stuck on the invoice was reduced to 30 YTL by her and Yekta physically going to the FedEx warehouse and customs. Hmph. Fishy. But apparently it was all on FedEx that was making this drama, not customs. In any case the problem has been solved.

So though Thursday was rather uneventful in terms of Turkish mysteries and randomness, it was a good day, at least after my nap.

Friday began rather early for us. As in, we were meeting at 10:00 a.m., so in Real World, it was all the early. This was the day for our journey up the Golden Horn. Remember, the Golden Horn is the waterway that separates the two European sides. We met with our guide and Prof. Sarah outside the Spice Bazaar. We first toured Rustem Pasha Camii; a neat mosque that actually has shops as its base and is built above the ground. Then we hit the ferry to cover part of the ground. We got off a few stops up the Golden Horn, finding ourselves in a Greek neighborhood. We visited the Orthodox Patriarch's homebase, which included a church that was built during the Ottoman period of the early 17th century. We also saw a Bulgarian church and a really impressive Greek school.

We grabbed lunch in the area as we were all flagging. I'm not sure why we were all so exhausted; we had gotten the same amount of sleep as always. In any case, we got some food and some ice cream (Magnum! Which is my favorite ice cream brand). Turks don't mess with ice cream here; they love it for breakfast, lunch, and supper. When in Turkland, do as the Turks do. I'll happily eat my dondurma.

Our next order of business was to hop back on the ferry and take it up to the end of the Golden Horn. We then took a gondola up to the top of one of the hills, leaving Prof. Sarah behind as she doesn't favor heights. We rode over the famous cemetery in Istanbul. I don't know if it can really be classified as famous, but that's the best word I can think of to describe it as apparently everyone and their second cousin wants to be buried there. It's nice in anycase, being built on a hill, it overlooks Istanbul and the stares down the Golden Horn. At the top of the gondola, there was a cafe with excellent views. It's still a shame that the pollution provides a permanent haze to the city because you can't see as far as you might like.

We took the path that winds down through the graveyard and met Prof. Sarah at the bottom. Then we visited the famous mosque that all the ten-year-old boys go to before getting circumcised. As is Muslim tradition. Our guys cringe every time they see a boy outfitted in prince-like clothes being paraded around the streets that signal the day of their circumcision.

The day had literally disappeared on us at that point, and by the time we arrived back to our flat at 5:30, we were all ready to pass out. Again, I can't really explain why we were all so exhausted because the day wasn't as hard as some we have had. Some of the group promptly took a "short sleep" as it has been so dubbed, while for me, I chose a shower. It had been a really warm day and I felt like I had sweated out my body weight.

About the time I got out, our Turkish teacher, Hande, had arrived for our last Turkish lesson. However, the night before we convinced Hande that we wanted to go have our last lesson in a meyhane. A meyhane is a type of restaurant Turks go to for appetizers and typically drink raki. Since none of us were ready, we had to force Hande to wait a little while before leaving. Once we finally got there, we did have a great time and I think spent about three hours just chilling...and eating. We let Hande order the meze (the appetizers, kind of like tapas) as most of us had no clue how to choose from the huge amount of options that the waitstaff displayed for us. I mean, where do you begin when one of the options is some sort of intact animal brain?

Afterwards, we all came back to the flat to crash slash R&R.

Today has been spent cleaning the flat and preparing for our expenditure out into Turkey. We get to keep all the stuff we're not taking on our two-week excursion in one of the rooms of the boys flat, which is convenient. Unfortunately we had a lot of dishes to clean, mostly leftover from our terrace-party in which we used just about every dish available between our two flats.

Here's a random Turkish mystery for you to chew on. It's illegal for Turks to talk on a cellphone in cars. No, not just the driver. The passengers too, and that goes for passengers in everything from taxis to chartered buses. Because apparently in Turkey, cellphones interfere with the brakes.

Yeah.

The best I can come up with is that a cellphone causes a chemical reaction that changes the brake fluid...? Eh, no. Don't you love how whole countries of people can be made to think certain things like cellphones interfering with brakes? And well, insert witty American example here for well-roundedness of the topic.

So here's for a great two weeks on the rode in which my cellphone will be off, and if I haven't spent enough time with the group here's to 24/7 with them. I less than three ya'll! For my parents, 'less than three' translates to <3> lingo (look at it closely to the side and you'll see).

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Turkish Food and Public Transportation

Monday was a full day for us. We met at 10:30 at our medresse for class discussion, this time on the current problems in Turkey and its modern history.

With three coups and one soft coup in the past 50 years, you can imagine that Turkey has a few problems. The military has stepped in each time, but unlike in Latin American countries where they rule supreme, each time the military has stepped aside after the country has resettled. But what is the deal? Why has does this happen?

We’ve discussed quite a few theories on such political instability; these are a few of them:

1) The military has “babied” the country by stepping in each time there is a problem.
2) Obsession with Ataturk and his ideals that prevents true democracy because the country is wrapped in maintaining secularism
3) Economy and corruption

Regardless with the possibility of EU membership, Turkey can’t mess around anymore.

It also needs to fix such ridiculous things as the import tax it’s trying to put on the camera Kristina shipped from home. It’s ludicrous, but this is another problem in and of itself.

After our class discussion and grabbing quick lunch, it was time to meet the Grand Mufti of Istanbul. Hello, important person.

This guy is in charge of religious affairs in Istanbul so, you know, no biggie. We met him with two other student groups from the US whose professors know our professor. Awkward sentence, sorry. Anyway, I don’t know if I’m just anti-other-US-college-student-groups or what, but I was not feeling these other two groups. Plus some of their questions were irrelevant to the mufti’s position, and on top of that, one of them was really rude to Yekta who was doing an awesome job translating. Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch? Really, dude in the orange shirt, really? Your ugly shirt is not helping your accusations or my opinion of you.

Ahem, my apologies; obviously I still have some resentment to this guy, even two days later.

After the Grand Mufti meeting which ended on a plus note for our group with Edward’s question, we had to skedaddle over to Yildiz University, back on the other side of the Golden Horn and a ways away from our location at the time. So what is the logical solution?

Fit all ten of us inside two taxis! (Minus Kevin who was feeling ill)

Yay, lax Turkish laws on transportation! With Yekta riding up front, Kelly, David, Amanda and I had the spacious back seat to ourselves. Which meant that I was spent the time riding on Kelly’s lap with my head awkwardly bent to fit inside; oh and David held my purse. Perfect.

After our fun filled ride across Istanbul, we found ourselves at Yildiz University where graduation was taking place. So with dramatic music playing in the background, we met Professor Gulap, a sociologist and political scientist. I got to ask one sociology question about current ethnic relations in Turkey before the poli-sci questions took over. We essentially revisited our topic from that morning, this time with Professor Gulap’s opinions. It was quite interesting as he thoroughly denounced some of our thoughts while encouraging us. Overall, I think we gave a good impression.

It was late at this point and we were mentally exhausted from having to showcase our wits all day. So it was time to head over to Prof. Sarah and William’s flat for another delicious William-made supper. But first we had to get there. So what is the logical solution?

Fit all ten of us inside a dolmus! (A dolmus is a van that carries groups of people to the same place for a cheaper price than a taxi)

Add four Turks to the equation and you have quite a full dolmus. The driver was cracking up at us the entire time. We ended up with Yekta and I crammed into two small seats with Kristina in my lap. Amanda, Kelly, Edward, and Zoe were in some crazy position sharing the backseat with two of the Turks. Clayton ended up on the floor, Prof Shields had the console to sit on, and David shared the front seat with another random Turk.

We were like a bunch of clowns when we arrived back at Taksim with American after American piling out of the Dolmus. I’m sure it made for quite a sight.

Unscarred and unscathed, we made it to flat for beef-stew and mashed potatoes. Yum, American food. I like Turkish food, but I’m kind of over it at this point. I’ll stick with my pork tenderloin and cheese grits thank you very much.

After supper it was back to our flat for some much-needed R&R.

Tuesday began with misplacing Kevin at our meeting point. After finding him and enjoying some fresh squeezed orange juice while waiting, it was time to hit up Clayton and Yekta’s site presentation on Kariye Camii. BTW…I will miss fresh-squeezed orange juice. I wasn’t much of a fan of store bought orange juice to begin with, but now I know I’ll never be able to go back.

Fruits in general in Turkey trump American fruits on any day. Fresh cherries, huge bananas, juicy apricots…need I go on?

Back on track now. We had to take a long-distance dolmus (more of a short bus or big van than a small van) to get to Kariye Camii, which was some distance away and in a pretty conservative neighborhood. At this point, I think we are getting close to mastering the Turkish transportation system, at least for Istanbul.

Kariye Camii was fascinating. Behind Hagia Sophia, it is the second-most important example of Byzantine culture because of the beautifully crafted mosaics inside. Like all other churches, it was made into a mosque during 1453 and Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. Years later, it is now a museum.

The mosaics inside were second to none, though I would say they matched Hagia Sophia. This out of the way church/mosque/museum is definitely worth the trip it takes to get there.

Our next order of business was to take taxis to a small, everyday mosque, Kalenderhane Camii, for Zoe and Kelly’s site presentation. I know what you’re thinking, and no, we took three taxis this time – there were twelve of us. (We were plus William for the day.)

Zoe and Kelly talked about the building and typical plans for a mosque which I knew nothing about, so it was fascinating. They also talked about the role of sacred places and how churches were used for mosques, vice-versa and all around. We also got to color. Way cool.

After that, it was time for a late lunch. Then we started going our separate ways. David, Edward, and I accompanied Kristina and Yekta in their efforts to figure out what was Turkey’s deal with Kristina’s camera.

Unsuccessful, we made our way back to the flat for some chill time.

At about 7:00, we got ourselves out the door to grab supper on Istiklal. After wondering around for awhile we found a restaurant that ended up being a pleasant surprise. Though, I’m still puzzled at Turkey’s decision to make their ketchup really, unusually sweet. Chalk that up to another Turkish mystery.

After supper, a number of us met Sarah and William for happy hour at a cafĂ© that was owned by our landlady’s American friend. Happy hour indeed. We each enjoyed a drink, spending, I think, about two hours at the cafĂ©.

Oh, I need to mention the new game the group loves to play. It’s called the Make-Emily-say-words-that-have-‘ai’-or-the-equilvalent-of-in-them.

Apparently I have problems with such pronunciation of things like ‘mail’ or ‘snail.’
I don’t like this game.

Afterwards, we made the short-walk back up to Istiklal and headed to another bar to chill. There was no reason for us to head back to our flat anyway. Our internet was out. OMG the horror!

We eventually came back around 1:00 a.m. and after a shower I was in bed.

Kristina and I woke up fairly early this morning to meet Prof. Sarah to discuss our project. After some debate over the past week, I had finally decided to work with Kristina on women’s dress in modern Turkey. This is more than just fashion, but the different ways women in a heavily Islamic country convey their identity through their outward appearance. We plan to do a full-on multimedia project (text, photos, film) so it should be interesting.

I unfortunately woke up with all of Istanbul’s pollution in my respiratory system. Or at least that’s how it felt. After some green tea at Prof. Sarah’s flat, it felt a bit better.

Continuing the chronicles of Istanbul’s retarded customs, Kristina found out even worse news for her camera. I sent some e-mails to my contacts in Istanbul to figure out the problem.

We made it back to our flat at about 11:00 a.m., in which we found most of the group was awake. However, we were still without internet. As you can imagine, we were going slightly crazy, such as that when we spotted a bunch of fire trucks, ambulances, emergency boats, and helicopters heading to one place, we decided to a bit of ambulance-chasing. It turned out to be nothing important. No national disaster or anything. Bummer. I was ready to film it all Cloverfield-style.

Seeing as we were already halfway down Galata Bridge, Kristina and I decided to search for some comfy pants as they have so been dubbed. Basically breathable cotton or linen pants that would be perfect to wear outside of Istanbul where it’s a bit more conservative. Our search ended up being fruitless except for a hot pink pair that neither of us were partial to, though I did get some cashews. I don’t quite know why Istanbul sparks a craving of cashews. We made it back to our flat after grabbing a light lunch where I promptly collapsed into possibly one of the best naps of my life.

I didn’t wake up until 5:00 when Hande showed up for a Turkish-lesson. Afterwards it was a pasta supper made by Kelly and Edward. Still feeling a bit of Istanbul’s pollution in the back of my throat, I declined to go out with the rest of the group to Istiklal to watch the Turkey vs. Switzerland EuroCup game. Though I did really want to go, I don’t want my congestion getting worse right before we hit the road.

As of now, I’m watching Turkey lose to Switzerland at the half and partly contemplating the ferryboats crossing the Bosporus and just exactly what that huge building on the Asian-side is.

Update: It's a shame I can't share the shouts echoing around Istanbul when Turkey scored twice to take the victory. Especially when they scored the second goal for the win with a minute left. Turkey doesn't like to mess with its drama, haha.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Sultanahmet, Hagia Sophia, and a Hamam, Oh My! Plus the Weekend.

Leaving the flat Friday morning, I did some brief calculations with some of the other students and reflected that we were probably the only tourists ever to be in Istanbul for more than a week without visiting Hagia Sophia. Lessee, we've been here more than two and a half weeks now, and finally, finally (!), we get to walk into the building that I've been wanting to see since 9th grade.

Yes, yes. I'm a history geek. But I'm proud to say it.

First things first though, we met a local grad student who is writing his dissertation on Sultanahmet Mosque. He took on us a great tour of Sultanahmet and told us the complicated history behind the mosque. Sultan Ahmet built his mosque at the age of 19 in the early 17th century and it towers impressively a short walk from Haghia Sophia.

Sultanahmet is nicknamed the Blue Mosque because of the blue and green tiles covering the inside of the mosque. We actually visited it on one of our first days here and I was thoroughly impressed. This time we got caught up in a crowd of first Asian and then Western European tourists entering inside. The women were given headscarves and long skirts to cover up if necessary. We passed on through with our headscarves already on, and many of us were dismayed to find the mosque milling with tourists inside; much more than when we first visited. A lot of the women took off their headscarves as soon as they got inside. Though I've only been in the city for a couple of weeks and I'm no where close to being Muslim, I was completely disgusted at this and the number of tourists inside the mosque as well.

It's interesting to analyze such feelings. I don't know if I'm angry at their ignorance or maybe just the general callousness some people treat other cultures. But what gives me the right to feel such a way when I'm a foreigner myself?It's especially interesting to compare how I felt when I walked into Hagia Sophia and was disgruntled at the marks Islam has left on a building that was a church for 1000 years. But where do I begin talking about Hagia Sophia also called Aya Sofya and meaning Divine Wisdom?

OMG basically.

First we were teased outside with its history and legend as the grad student opened up with the landmark's story. The current building is the third form of Hagia Sophia built by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century in just six years. Six years. Six years for building the largest cathedral (possibly structure, I can't remember this point) in the world for 1000 years. As a bonus, there's four acres worth of beautiful Byzantine mosaic artwork covering the walls and the Statue of Liberty can fit inside with the tip of its torch touching the top of the dome.

There are so many little details to look at inside of Hagia Sophia; it's a focal point of both Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox culture and history. And I just hate, hate the gaudy fake-looking Islamic additions added to the building. The first thing Mehmet the Conqueror did when he took Constantinople in 1453 was to head straight to Hagia Sophia and make it a mosque. Everyone the world over wanted Hagia Sophia because of the legend that whoever held it would be the last emperor...or something like that. Thus you can imagine Mehmet's excitement when he walked into the massive church and probably was like, "Allah! I is the conqueror! Oh ish!"

So we passed some time wondering the huge cathedral, turned mosque, turned museum. The only disappointing aspect was the large scaffolding placed in the center so they could work on the topmost dome.

It's amazing to consider that this building has been standing for so long, though it has been carefully kept up since its construction. For instance, when the Ottomans conquered Istanbul, the great architect Sinan reinforced the building with more flying buttresses and added minarets. However, it's estimated that Hagia Sophia can withstand a 7.8 level earthquake, which is probably more than any other building in Istanbul. That definitely includes our apartment building.

Even as I write this blog post two days later, I'm still awestruck by Hagia Sophia. Go forth and witness it my loyal readers!

Ahem, moving on.

Afterwards we took a break to hydrate and eat. Doner off the street of course. Then it was time for Edward and Amanda's site presentation: a hamam. AKA a Turkish bath.

The history and culture behind hamams is fascinating. And after they were done, it was time for the bath itself. Basically, you have to leave all your modesty at the door. The hamam consists of a cool room, a cold pool, a warm room, and a sauna. It's distinguishing features are the traditional domed ceilings, marble, and water running everywhere. The warm room is dominated by a huge marble slab in the center that's heated underneath. Along the side are faucets with warm and cold running water. The sauna is so hot that you have to adjust your breathing before going inside.

When it's your turn for the actual scrub down, the women working don't hold anything back. First they use a metal sponge to get off dead skin. After you wash that off, you then get the actual massage. In the hamam we visited they used plenty of soap, but it apparently varies.

It was an interesting experience and really, really relaxing. It's very leisurely; all and all we spent about two and a half hours inside.

My contacts somehow fogged up in the process and I couldn't really see even after leaving the hamam. I also came out with an add craving for cashews. Yeah, I don't really know why, but I did fix my craving at a nearby store.

Supper was a get your own affair and then some of us gradually got out the door later to go nargile (hookah) on a rooftop terrace. We spent a few relaxing hours looking out over the city and smoking our mint flavored nargile before calling it a night.

We talked about going to the Princess Islands on either Saturday or Sunday. But with the weather a bit spotty and sleeping in on both mornings, we ended up staying in Istanbul.

Saturday, Kristina, Amanda, David, Kevin, and I decided to wander into the Bohemian neighborhood off of Istiklal. The others were feeling a bit under the weather so they stayed in and watched movies. Using David's guidebook, we found a great pizza place for lunch and then met the realtor that rented our apartment to us for coffee and dessert. The realtor is an American lady with two grown children who had just divorced from her husband after spending years as a housewife. With no desire to stay in the States working some desk job, she just picked up her things and went globe-trotting before settling in Istanbul, writing and renting apartments. Cool.

David and I headed back early so I could watch the women's final of the French Open and David could pick up a Turkey football (soccer) jersey. Saturday night was the opening of Euro 2008 and Turkey was due to play Portugal. We were pretty excited, especially because we would all rush Istiklal if Turkey won.

We've decided that Istiklal is like a giant Franklin Street. So rushing Istkilal would be akin to rushing Franklin after a Duke victory.

Except way more awesome.

However, Portugal is one of the favorites to win. And well, Turkey lost. So we gradually made our way up to Istiklal, first heading to one of our favorite sketchy and cheap bars before going to an American club.

We all got pretty excited walking into the club and hearing hip-hop and rap pounding in our ears instead of the freaky techno music. After a late Saturday night, it of course meant sleeping in on Sunday.

The group of us had mixed feelings about what to do Sunday so we all kind of divided up. Some of the group decided to walk around and explore, while others decided to head to one of the giant malls outside the city center. As for myself, I was ready for some alone time. I took a brief walk around the neighborhood, but then I ran into one of Istanbul's infamous packs of dogs so I quickly deduced that I had walked enough. I picked up a late lunch and some groceries before heading back to watch the men's final of the French Open.

As for the rest of today, we'll see. This next week is our last in Istanbul before we go on our two-week excursion and it looks to be pretty busy with the rest of the site presentations, discussion, and paper writing. Plus, always more random Istanbul adventures and Turkish mysteries to solve.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Museums and University

I thought Topkapi Palace was something, especially the harem, but in retrospect, it doesn't really compare to the over-the-top Dolmabahce Palace. Built by Sultan Abdulmecid in the middle of the 19th century because Topkapi didn't have any modern facilities (i.e., electricity, toilets), it essentially sent in the Ottoman Empire into bankruptcy. It's also the famed place of Ataturk's death.

So Wednesday we met Prof. Sarah at 10:00 to take the bus down to Dolmabahce Palace. We wondered around the grounds for a bit, and then made for the entrance. Unfortunately its a guided tour thing so we had to move at the pace of tourguide or get pushed along or stopped by antsy security Turks. After navigating around a group of Korean tourists and a large group of children our tour began.

Here, let me give you a rundown of what we saw.

Gold
Crystal
Oil painting
Crystal
Oo, bear skins
Marble
Gold
Vase
Gold
Oriental Rugs
Gold
Gold

Yeah, lots of gold. Apparently 35 tons of it. Eh, you know, just one of my paychecks.

The oil paintings were an interesting side note. For one, Topkapi Palace or any other historic building of note from the Ottoman Empire, you will not find Western paintings. The Ottomans weren't big painters, they had tile, calligraphy, and other such art forms, while painting was a decidedly Western art form.

However, come 19th century, the Ottoman's were looking increasingly at modernization and meeting the rapid developments Western Europe. So hey, oil paintings cover Dolmabahce.

There were some interesting paintings though. Such as one of NYC back in the day and of Old Faithful in Yellowstone.

The most impressive room was decidedly the big hall with 3D paintings extending your depth preception with marble columns stretching high above and the biggest crystal chandelier you will ever see.

Oh, that reminds me! You have to pay 15 lira to film inside the Palace so I was like no way. But I snuck a few seconds of film because this hall was way to visually demanding not to. We all chipped in so that one of us could use a camera and then share the pictures. The price for a camera was 6 lira, so no quite as steep as a video camera.

I was glad when we did finish up touring Dolmabahce. It was kind of an overdose of wealth and opulence.

We then grabbed a quick lunch at a seaside cafe while some of our group was interviewed in Turkish by a Turkish writer for his fundamentalist Islamic newpaper. Yeah, I never got the full story behind this because I was sitting at the other end of the table.

Then we were off to the Military Museum so David and Kevin could do their site presentation. It was quite the interesting place, but it was definitely presented in such a way to give the Turkish military the best front possible. The museum consisted essentially of two main points. One was the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. The other was modern Turkish military history.

The modern Turkish military history predictably highlighted Ataturk's role, the Battle of Gallipoli, and the Turkish War for Independence.

It's interesting to note that it takes two dead Turks to make it a massacre by Armenians or Cypriots. And as Kevin pointed out, the comparison of weapons used by the enemies of Turks (especially that bloody cleaver) and the weapons used by the Turks themselves.

We also got to see a recreation of an Ottoman Janissary band which was really neat and I got some great footage of it.

We then made a long trek back to our flat where we rested for a bit before making our way to Sarah and William's flat. We had another great feast made by William and played a few rounds of catchphrase.

On our way back, we stopped by a free concert being given at the private high school, Galatasaray, on Istiklal. This concert has been an ongoing three day event to commerorate the end of the school year I believe. Kristina, Kelly, and I stayed for a couple of songs but then called it quits being both exhausted and having lots of things to do back at the flat.

Today we had to meet at 9:30 and we were struggling out the door. Kelly, whose been nursing the crud for the pass few days, woke up feeling even worse so we had Yekta, who spent the night with us last night, call for a doctor in her perfect Turkish. We left Kelly and met Sarah on the way to Taksim Square.

We took a bus from Taksim to Bogazici University, the premier public university in Istanbul. It has great views overlooking the Bosphorus and its historic buildings were done in stone. Though I am a bit biased, UNC's campus is still much prettier despite lacking the great view of a body of water. We then held a class with Professor Pamuk on Turkey's 20th century development and current affairs. We then had a leisurely lunch with Prof. Pamuk. I ended up at a table with him, however I empty of any smart comments during that time, so I just kept my mouth shut and let Clayton do the talking. Good strategy.

We then met with one of their organizers of exchange students and study abroad programs because we had heard that a few of their students coming were coming to UNC next fall. We didn't get to meet the students because they were in the middle of exams, but we got their contact information.

Unfortunately, our group was starting to drop like flys. After leaving Kelly behind this morning, Edward started feeling bad, and then Zoe. With shifty eyes we kept a look out for the next person to fall ill. Luckily, the rest of us made it back relatively well after a long bus ride and a short walk back to the flat, picking up supper along the way. With depleted numbers we then had a Turkish lesson with Hande.

Hopefully with plenty of rest and meds tonight, everyone will feel 100% because we have a big day tomorrow. It's finally time for Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet, and a hamam!!! A hamam is a Turkish bath...should be an interesting experience.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Walking the Walls and Mystics

Monday was one of my favorite days in Istanbul and a great follow up to my amazing weekend.

We met at Sirkeci Station (where Kristina and I were doing our presentation tomorrow) and hopped on a train that took us around the Seraglio Point. We hopped off after a few stops finding ourselves in a very non-touristy neighborhood and the beginning of the Theodosian walls that surrounded Constantinople, dating back to the fifth century.

The beginning of these walls is marked by Yedikule Hisar. The Fortress of the Seven Towers as it is known in English was built in 1457 by Mehmet the Conqueror after he took Istanbul.

One thing about Turkish monuments: it's an explore at your own risk sort of thing.

That being said, without other tourists milling about or the constant presence of guards, we had a ridiculously fun time. I think Professor Shields meant us to spend about thirty minutes there, but once you stick ten college students inside an old, empty Ottoman Fortress, things get a little out of hand.

We explored all the dark nooks and cranies where there was no light. We felt our way up dark staircases, walked the battlements, climbed higher even when there was no secure way of doing so, and took amazing pictures (and video on my part) from the top of the towers. We poked our way around the old prison cells and the deep hole where they dropped decapitated bodies down to be washed into the Sea of Marmara. We tested the decaying supports put up by the state for tourists and definitely came to the conclusion that they couldn't support our weight. We scared each other coming around corners, talked about the possibilites of skeletons and ghosts, and sang Disney songs. Loudly.

Eventually Professor Shields had to call us down from where some of the group were spelling TURKS from the top of one of the towers.

But the fun wasn't done after we left the Yedikule.

We spent a period of time just walking beside the walls. On one side was a busy road, on the other, a very poor neighborhood. Often times there were small shelters set up in holes in the wall where squatters made a small home for themselves. In many spots the walls were burnt black and covered in soot from fires people lit up next to the wall. You could also find clothes lines fixed on sections of the wall with T-Shirts hung up to dry. At one point we supposedly walked through a gypsy settlement among these poor neighborhoods. There were also a few sections in the old walls that had been restored, and we climbed up to walk it's length for a small stretch.

We were forced to take a bend away from the walls at one point by a modern wall and found ourselves emptying back out into the busy roadway and the commercial district surrounding it. Here we stopped for lunch, just about halfway done with the six kilometer trek that was the old walls.

Afterwards, we all decided to continue our walk. We ended up exploring a restored section that included a couple of towers and some of us managed to climb our way up to the top. Like Yedikule, there was no presence of rails to keep silly tourists from falling. There was one giant hole in the middle of this watchtower and then the ledge that dropped you at least six stories if my judgement is correct. Though the walkway around was pretty wide, having open space in both directions was kind of scary. Four of us did climb on top of the ledge for the sake of a picture and I held on for dear life, though Edward was very nonchalant about the whole thing. The picture did turn out pretty good.

We made our way down from the tower and then trailblazed along the top of the old walls as the restored section gave way for a way back to the road without having to backtrack to the rest of the group. With some help from some friendly Turks who pointed out a steep pathway, Edward, David, Zoe, and I all made it back down to the ground.

We did still have to backtrack though because the others had no clue where we were.

After that, our journey along the second half of the Theodosian walls was all about finding places to climb up and hiking our way as far as we could across the decaying walls before having to climb down again. Along the way we climbed more towers, including one that wasn't restored at all and without any sort of railing to keep us in either way.

After having to climb down once again due to a busy road, we found another restored section that included an almost Inca-like steps up. Much hilarity ensued in getting everyone up and then down, especially when Clayton commenced his Bon Qui Qui immitation to entice Amanda down the ladder-like steps. However, the views from the top of the tower provided the best views of the city yet. I think they surpassed the view from Galata Tower, but that might have been because we had to work for it too.

We finally made it to the end of the trek after getting lost when the walls seemed to disappear in a middle-class neighborhood, but we found them once again. Six kilometers long, the journey took us about seven hours total when accounting for lunch and our play time.

I learned a few things along the way:

1) Turks don't use handrails or anything to keep tourists/students/anyone from falling.
2) The walls provided a home for some people
3) Zoe likes giving me a heartattack (by taking silly risks)
4) We like giving Professor Shields a heartattack (by taking silly risks)
5) Some Istanbullus like to chill in the restored walls and towers by smoking or meeting up with friends.
6) Other Istanbullus use monuments of a bygone era for trash dumping
7) Life continues on around history
8) There are all sorts of people, neighborhoods, and businesses going on just in the immediate vicinity of the walls
9) Armenian churches still exist in Istanbul, right next door to mosques
10) Climbing to the very top of anything is very fulfilling and will provide amazing views

We then had an adventure getting to the ferry. Good thing we have Yekta! Though the ferry left as soon as we arrived so we ended up taking a bus. Then we had a brief hour before we had a Turkish lesson with Hande on our terrace. We have a lot of fun in our Turkish lessons, the best language lessons I've ever had and the most informal. Though it's funny. I always start thinking in Spanish during the lessons.

After grabbing a quick dinner, it was time for Kristina and I to crack down and prepare for our presentation for the next day: Sirkeci Station and the Orient Express. We finished up at about 1:30 and then it was time for bed.

Today we met at the Karikoy ferry at 10:30. After a brief moment of worry in which the ferry had arrived, but not Professor Shields or William. We all gave a sigh of relief when somebody won the "Where's William?" game (See Kristina's blog for details), though I can't remember who; nevertheless everybody got on the ferry in time.

After a brief bus ride in Asia, we took a few minutes to get oriented at our stop and the direction we needed to head to reach the Sufi NGO we were visiting.

Sufism is a branch of Islam (though Sufis themselves wouldn't call it a branch) that is mystical and all about getting along together. To them, there are no Sunni and Shi'a, or any other Muslim sects. At least this is how I understand it. We met the woman in charge of the NGO (I'm sorry I can't remember her name!). She was very intelligent and it was delight to see how happy she was to have us there. We talked for a considerable time. Unfortunately, she herself was very mystic and her answers followed suit.

After feeding us lamacun (pronounced lama-june), we left to head back to Europe and Sirkeci Station so me and Kristina could do our presentation.

Yay, Orient Express and Sirkeci Station!

We treated everybody to tea and then the group split up to do a number of different things. Kevin and I accompanied Kristina and David in sunglass hunting at the Spice Bazaar. Though they both ended up buying a pair near our flat instead.

There was a traditional Sufi performance, supposedly for education purposes as this is the only express Sufis are allowed to have in Turkey, tonight that most of us went to. And though I wanted to go, I had too much I needed to catch up on. Such as this blog. And video editing from last week. As well as housework. Boo.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Princess Emily --- Oh yeah

Friday began much like any other day I’ve had in Turkey thus far but it ended in something far different.

Ever walk into a place and immediately wonder what reality you just stepped into? Yeah.

Anyway, so Friday we met at our medresse for class discussion on Ataturk, the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the Republic of Turkey. Ataturk was really a sort of a benevolent dictator in creating the new Republic, but he was exactly what Turkey needed in order to survive as a nation-state.

After discussing these topics for over an hour, we took a quick break to grab some lunch and then it was time to meet Hande for a Turkish-language lesson. Once we finished, it was a little bit after 1:30 p.m. and it was time for me to say my goodbyes to the group.

You see, for the weekend, I was visiting a Turkish family who were friends of my father’s…all the way in Izmir.

Izmir, a large city along the coast of the Aegean Sea, is about a six hour drive from Istanbul on a good day and not really accounting for Istanbul traffic. So normally a weekend trip to Izmir would be considered a little much, especially for being without a car. This was not the case because the Gurels insisted on flying me to visit them for the weekend.

So I caught the tram at Sultanahmet, rode till it reached the end of its line, and then spent a scary moment trying to figure out where exactly the metro I needed to take to the airport was. Luckily, I found the metro with some gesturing to the some of the attendants at the busy stop.

I had no problem getting to my gate; except when passing through security, the guard wanted me to turn on my laptop. I didn’t know what he wanted at first, but I eventually worked it out. I guess he wanted to make sure I didn’t have drugs stuffed inside of it or that it wasn’t a bomb or anything…though that still doesn’t make much sense.

It was a short flight to Izmir. I believe we were in the air for all of an hour and then we landed with no problems.

Walking out of the Izmir airport, I found Mrs. Gurel’s driver waiting for me with a sign. He took my bags and led me to the sleek black luxury car waiting just outside the door. He opened the back door for me and I slid inside. The front passenger seat was pulled all the way up and missing its headrest, so I already knew this was how Mrs. Gurel rode most of the time. …Alright, alright…I was definitely already impressed.

Next thing I know, the driver has us cruising along the highway and as we round a corner, Izmir opens up in front of us.

Izmir is a different sort of beautiful than Istanbul. It’s surrounded by mountains and built into the bay area, so no matter where you look, you get a shot of mountain or of sea with the city in between. Where Istanbul is covered with relics, monuments, and buildings of old among its concrete apartment blocks and businesses, Izmir is, except for the oldest of city walls and a few leftover 19th century Ottoman houses, modern and unmarked by history. I asked Mrs. Gurel about this later and she gave me a very simple answer.

“Because the Sultan takes from Anatolia, and only gives to Istanbul or Europe.”

As she explained, the imperial Ottomans’ focus was in its capital or in its European area. Sure, Izmir may have a few of its old mosques, but nothing on the scale of Sultanahmet or Suleymanii. During the Ottoman Empire, Izmir was a prosperous seaport and very rich. However, as I discussed with Mrs. Gurel, its wealth has changed as the state has changed with nothing to leave behind. Now it’s found in its sleek high-rises and apartments lining the sea. Though later, when Mrs. Gurel took me into the massive bazaar, I still found some of the wealth of history lying in its cobblestone streets and old stone structures with curved ceilings.

Anyway, the driver took us just outside the main city, passing some tangerine groves, and took a turn down a narrow lane. We cruised through a gate and I first notice the house just on the right – the gardener, security, and driver’s quarters. The driver pulls up to the main house, and before I know it, I’m being embraced by Mrs. Gurel.

She kisses me on both cheeks and ushers me inside. We pass through the entrance, foyer style room and we enter the massive living room. I swear I thought I was in a palace.

The living room is two stories high and the ceiling decorated not all that differently from some of the Topkapi palace ceilings. Covering the wood floor were four massive silk carpets and two kilims (Thanks Hasan!). There were beautiful wood coffee and side tables in laid with the mother-of-pearl decoration I’ve grown to love as I sign of Turkish luxury. There are four separate sittings areas with plush chairs and loveseats and massive windows that look out into a perfectly sculpted backyard.

I register at least three maids standing to the side as Mrs. Gurel leads me to one of the many seats. I don’t ever remember asking for it, but somehow a maid appears with a glass of diet coke with a lemon sliced inside. Mrs. Gurel and I carry on a great conversation for some minutes. She asks me all about what I’m doing in Turkey and how my stay has been thus far. She told me she’s been worried sick all day about me traveling to Izmir and that she stayed home just in case I had to call. I told her about my living situation in Istanbul and she immediately offered to get me a hotel or an apartment if I was uncomfortable. I was tempted to tell her how horrible all my roommates are and to please rescue me.

Just kidding. BTW, don’t you hate how there’s no comfortable way to denote sarcasm in type?

She found the fact that we lived above a bunch of electrician shops to be amusing after some initial reservation, though we were both definitely in agreement about the flights of stairs we have to climb. Anyway, a while later, Mr. Gurel arrived home and after some more chatting she showed me to my spacious guestroom and gave me some time to rest. I was to come out whenever I was comfortable as we would be having a small dinner party with one other couple. Feeling the pressure to look at least some what decent, I freshened up and emerged from my room an hour later.

The husband of this couple was also an old acquaintance of my father’s and we had pleasant conversation sitting on the patio with appetizers. They also served champagne. Now, the only champagne I’ve ever had, it wasn’t very good and that’s the way I generally think of champagne. But this, this was possibly the best drink I’ve ever had. Much to my shame, I drank two glasses worth though I didn’t refill it myself – another one of those magical moments.

We then sat down for supper in a gorgeously decorated dining room. We were served by the maid staff; I think there are four of them. The first course was a salad, the second was a type of beetroot cake that was surprisingly delicious, followed by beef and rice, and finally meringue and chilled pear for desert. Of course, along with this supper we had first white wine, and then spice wine. Then with desert we had ice wine. Finally, we had a sweet desert liquor as Mrs. Gurel led us to settle into a section living room.

Now I know you’re all thinking, “wait, two glasses of champagne, two glasses of wine, ice wine, and then desert liquor…Emily’s a lightweight…this isn’t going to end well.” Well, to all my doubters out there, I was perfectly fine. And, of course, just very, very content.

After swapping some stories and some intellectual conversation, it was time to settle into bed. I basically passed out as soon as the door to my guest suite was closed.

I woke up the next morning to the phone intercom ringing beside me. I croaked a “hello” into it and was welcomed back into the world by Mrs. Gurel’s voice. She asked me if I was ready to get up and after learning it was 10:30 Saturday morning, I assured her that yes, I was. After making sure I was halfway decent, I met Mr. and Mrs. Gurel in the breakfast room for, you guessed it, breakfast.

After a light breakfast (that included the best orange juice I've ever had), Mr. Gurel left for work and Mrs. Gurel ushered me back into my room to finish getting ready. Thirty minutes later, we were off. With the driver taking us around of course.

Mrs. Gurel first took me to the top of one of the surrounding mountains so I could survey the city and she could point at the details. After that, we went to an ethnographic museum so Mrs. Gurel could walk me through the history of Izmir as a prosperous seaport. Then it was to the large bazaar where we left the driver behind. We both had a lot of fun navigating the narrow streets. After a while we entered the stretch of the bazaar where all the nice small jewelry stores were located. First we visited her favorite antique jewelry shop where she dropped I don’t know how much on an emerald ring and an opal and pearl broach with small jewels decorating it. Then we went a few stores down into a new jewelry store. I take a seat and the owner brings me a glass of lemonade.

Before I know it, I walk out the door with a gold bracelet is on my wrist with three of the famous Turkish evil eyes decorating it.

All this business was conducted in Turkish so I had no idea what was happening until they fastened the bracelet around my wrist to check the size and then whisk it away to take out a few links. At this point, I finally realized what was going on and insisted that she did not have to do such a thing for me.

Mrs. Gurel insisted though, saying “I bought something for me, now let me buy something for you.”

I was speechless walking out the door as she led me to our lunch restaurant in another corner of the bazaar. Figuratively, it was lunch. In reality, it was about 3:30 p.m. But I guess when you have breakfast at 10:30; lunch comes at later time as well.

After a delicious lunch we left for a driving tour of the city. In the process of driving around the coast of the bay, we passed by the building where Mr. Gurel was working for the day. One thing, Izmir has a pretty low skyline much like Istanbul. For another thing, this tower, well, towered over the surrounding buildings and was definitely very new. As if, you know, I hadn’t been clued in already, I finally realized the Gurels were the “ish” in Izmir. The name above the revolving doors read “Gurel Tower Residence.”

Oh. Ooookay.

After some more time spent traversing the city, we headed back to the Gurels' home. Once there, I received the official tour of the house. It’s large, but it’s not huge. However, everything was decorated most tastefully with marble floors, mother-of-pearl furniture, and oil paintings. And also, they had the best technology as well, including an elevator. I saw their individual studies on the top floor where Mrs. Gurel let me browse through their English-language books for anything to help with my research in Turkey and I was handed a thick book on Ataturk by Patrick Kinross to keep. I did not see the floor that held their bedroom, but I was taken to the basement where they kept a movie theater, fully stocked bar, and a game room; oh, and the exercise room and Jacuzzi.

I shared some more stories of home and our adventures in Turkey thus far and then I was ushered to my room to get ready for the evening. Good thing I brought a dress and heels.

We left at 7:30. The driver took us in another luxury vehicle; Mr. Gurel sat in the front while Mrs. Gurel and I stuck to the back. We arrived at the main Izmir horse-racing venue by 8:00 p.m. We were escorted at the door up to the prime seats right at the finish line. Basically the kind of seats you see the important people sitting in during the Kentucky Derby. All around us were owners of the horses and the people heavily involved in racing as well as special guests, such as the Gurels. And their little American student that tagged along and melted into the background. I think I perfected that this weekend.

The Gurel’s were new to horse-racing and to the track, but they both quite enjoyed themselves. I did as well. There was so much going on, as well as lively conversation, and the winners were brought up into our area to be awarded their trophy. We were served immediately for everything by the wait staff.

Mrs. Gurel at the entrance told them that she did not want to take interviews. For circulating the people in the top box was a news anchor and few other press members, but around me, they caught other people into getting interviews.

While watching, we placed bets on horses during the different races (I think there were seven races). One of our choices actually won! That was exciting, and between races they had a live band perform. While we were there, Mrs. Gurel decided she wanted to buy a horse and it would be my job to name it.

That was another "Oh. Oooookay" moment.

When Mrs. Gurel got warm from all the people and lights, they opened up another room for her to sit in A/C. At that point, I was introduced to one of the mayors of Izmir and his wife as they walked into the room.

Okay, let’s take another moment here to reflect on my situation. 1) The best seats in the house, closed off from the masses. 2) food and drink a plenty 3) the mayor 4) press 5) important people. Exhibit A: Way out of place American student.

At least I looked halfway decent.

We made it back to the house at about 11:30. Mr. Gurel offered to set up a film for me downstairs, but I was exhausted so I voted for bed.

Sunday morning, Mrs. Gurel woke me up at 9:30. After packing my belongings and getting ready in a rush, we were out the door by 10:15. The driver took us to a restaurant for brunch/breakfast where I met her youngest son and his wife. He spoke perfect English and finished law school in 2 ½ years. The couple then took me on a tour of a quaint town of Cesme (pronounced Cheshmeh). Izmir is built on a bay were the Aegean curves inland for a ways. It took us about 30 minutes of driving to arrive to the point where Cesme was located and another ten minutes along with the summer playground for the elite of Izmir on the coast of the Aegean Sea.

We parted from her son and daughter-in-law and Mrs. Gurel had the driver take us to her summer home. We pulled deeper into the neighborhood and then a small villa opened up with small trees dotting the front yard. I was led inside where Mr. Gurel was waiting and received a brief tour of their very nice and cozy villa. And when I say small, I mean like, a normal size living room, dining room, kitchen, and master bedroom on the main floor, three bedrooms on the second floor, and at least one bedroom in the bottom story.

This was the first weekend of the summer and so everyone was just now beginning to open their summer houses. So while they supervised the maid as she got out linens and towels, they sent me into a room to change into my borrowed swimsuit. They also gave me SPF 6 sunscreen. You know, SPF 6. Perfect for a girl with skin white enough to reflect the sun (thanks dad!).

I slathered on as much sunscreen as I could and then met the Gurels downstairs. They took me outside and showed me their immaculate backyard with their saltwater pool. Then I was led down the stone steps and met the Aegean Sea face to face. I jumped in for my first taste of Mediterranean waters. It was warm and Caribbean clear blue/green. Utterly fantastic. I swam around their pier for about thirty minutes. Climbing out when I got tired and snapping pictures of the sailboats in the distance.

There was a sandy beach a ways away where a lot of people were gathered to enjoy the first day of the summer season (June 1).

I left after a while, feeling the sun burn into my skin, and knew I would be a nice tomato red the next day. I took a brief dip in their pool and then Mrs. Gurel told me I would need to get out so that we could grab something to eat before it was time for me to leave for my plane.

Mr. Gurel drove us in his Jaguar. Um…lets just say that he belongs on a racetrack. We enjoyed a nice lunch (again, the lunch term is relative, it was about 3:00 p.m.) on a small pier. Then we headed back to their seaside villa so I could get my belongings before heading to the airport.

I said my goodbyes to the Gurels there, thanking them over and over again for the weekend they gave me. Mrs. Gurel was already making plans to meet me and the rest of the students when we traveled to Ephesus and take us out to dinner. As we left, she threw a cup of water out to as a Turkish tradition to make sure I went away smoothly and would come back (or something like that).

We arrived at the airport with thirty minutes to spare for my flight, the driver accompanying me inside, carrying my bags. It was smooth flight back to Istanbul and I got the shuttle that led to Taksim Square at the far end of Istiklal. I then hiked backed to our flat in record time considering the duffle and backpack I was carrying in order to catch the phone call Mrs. Gurel made to make sure I arrived safely.

All the others were back from their weekend adventures. And after I collpased on the floor, we began to share our stories. In the words of Amanda, “Emily was pampered, while the rest of needed pampers.”

To decipher this phrase, please go read the adventures of those who went to Bursa. It’s worth your time, seriously.

I’m still in denial about my weekend; it was an amazing experience and I was literally treated like a princess the whole time. It’s interesting to compare the lifestyle I experienced this past weekend with what I’ve seen thus far and what I suspect I’ll see when we leave Istanbul in a couple of weeks.

Mr. and Mrs. Gurel, thank you very much for taking a near stranger into your home and letting me experience such a remarkable weekend. I can’t begin to express my gratitude that hospitality such as yours deserves. Thank you.