Haci Bektas Ceremony

View from the citadel - It was a bit windy

birthdays in turkey

We had two birthdays this weekend so we celebrated both last night. My friend Kristin and I did most of the planning. Our host sisters helped us out a lot because we couldn't follow the directions on the back of the cake boxes (being that they were in Turkish).

So we made two cakes: One was chocolate with nutella instead of icing.

The other was vanilla with a layer of strawberry jam in the middle and cool whip icing.

As you can see, both had "Happy Birthday" written out in gummy worms. A few of our worms got eaten (I believe by Kristin's host dad), so we had to use m&ms.

We went to toys r us and got the boys hats. We also found this strange sparking fruit juice so we got them each a bottle of that as well. We went to dinner (and by we I mean a group of about 25, both Americans and Turks), and then we went to one of the only night clubs in Ankara. It was a good night and I think the guys had very good birthdays.

I am currently doing laundry!

americans dont know foreign policy or how to write...

So the past couple of days have been pretty lazy. Its been pretty nice. I actually had class today, though :-\ I had one class at ODTU: Turkish Foreign Policy. Probably one third of the class is American, so the professor told the rest of the class not to be intimidated by us (since were native english speakers and they are supposed to be able to speak english well). As he tried to comfort the turkish students, however, he basically insulted us Americans by saying that we probably didn't know anything about Turkish foreign policy (which is most likely true since we are taking the class...). Then he kept going and said we probably didnt know anything about foreign policy in general and probably couldn't write very well either...Its a pretty common thought that American students cant handle the course load at ODTU. When I tried to take Principles of Macroeconomics, the teacher told me it would be better for me to take a lower level intro class. Then he asked where I was from, I said America, and he said, yes, this class is better for you. This was after I told him I had already taken introductory courses.....That guy is apparently mean to everyone though, so whatever. I didn't want to take his class anyways. Being a foreign exchange student means you stick out, and it also means you get a lot of attention. A lot of professors will even point you out saying "this person is from America and thus is the reason we must now speak English." Turkish students dont like having class in English even though thats how ODTU is supposed to roll. Anyways, it is late here so its bedtime for me. Iyi geceler!

Who are you?

so i got my residency permit today... they spelled my name wrong: Garolyn. instead of changing it, they just wrote a note in the back that says my name is really Carolyn. They also kind of cut half my face off when they made the picture smaller. I love Turkey.

I must confess. I ate Mcdonalds today and absolutely loved it. I hate Mcdonalds back home, but anytime I travel, Mcdonalds is the place to be.

A lot of people have been reading this here blog and I want feedback. Don't be afraid to use the chat box thingy. Leave me a note. Got questions about Turkey? Want to see more pictures of...people? buildings? food? Tell me and I shall try do my best. And don't forget to tell me who you are...

back from Cappadocia

I got back from Cappadocia last night. It was a jam packed but amazing weekend. I hope to go back at some point.

It took us about 5 hours to get to our hotel. We stopped along the way at a salt flats place. This is where I found my friend the ostrich. We had fun running around on the salt lake and pretending we were in a desert.

Once we finally arrived at our hotel, we went out to dinner as a group. Our hotel was really cool because it was built into the rocks. So I spent the weekend sleeping in a cave.



The next day we started our day long tour around 930. We drove to a "photo stop" and took some pictures. Then we drove to the underground city. The city was used by Hitites, Romans and Byzantines. I went exploring and found some dark scary tunnels that led to blocked off entrances.


After the underground city, we went to one of the many valleys in Cappadocia. We took a hike through the valley and climbed some rocks/looked in abandoned caves.

After the hike, we went to lunch. We had a special kind of meal that is cooked in pottery. It was lamb with veggies and rice. We all ate way too much. I feel like I ate all weekend. I have never eaten so much bread in my life.

Speaking of eating, a friend wanted to know what kind of breakfast the Turks eat. So a normal Turkish breakfast consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt, olives, bread, jam, hardboiled egg (sometimes) and fruit (sometimes). Nothing too exciting, but it can make for a very interesting taste combo.


So after lunch we checked out a pottery shop. We watched a couple guys make some pots. It was pretty amazing to watch. Then we went through the shop and gawked at the plates that were priced at 850 YTL. (100 YTL = about $75) If I was older and had the money, I totally would have bought something.


So then we made one final at a place where travelers along the silk road would have stopped. It was neat to take a step back in time, but at this point in the day, I was so exhausted that I just wanted to go back to the hotel ----------->
and sleep.

We finally did arrive back at the hotel around 6 or so. I took a nap and then went to dinner with a couple people. I FINALLY found hummus and it was amazing. I didn't eat hummus before coming here because I thought I would be eating a ton of it, but I have yet to find it in Ankara.


On Sunday, we went to the Goreme Open Air Museum. It has a lot of old churches that were built into the rocks. All if the churches have frescoes in them, some better preserved than others.

After the Open Air Museum, I got some lunch then headed back to the hotel to pack. Along the way back to Ankara, we stopped at the Haci Becktas shrine.

I wish I could tell you more about it, but I will have to get back to you on that. Basically, Haci Becktas is a philosopher who apparently thought up a lot of good educational, religious, etc. systems. It has kind of turned into a religious sect since his death.


After the shrine visit, we returned to Ankara. We were all sad to leave Cappadocia, but very glad to get off the bus.


So today I am going to pick up my residency permit. Hopefully I will now be able to get an actual plan for my phone instead of just buying kontur (minutes). Kontur get pretty expensive and it would be great to only have to pay 100YTL a month for unlimited service.



After I get my permit, I have nothing until 530 when Turkish class starts. Tomorrow, I have Turkish class at 530, but thats it. Same thing for Wednesday. Thursday I have class at METU and then my Turkish final exam. Friday = nothing.

Our group has two birthdays this weekend so we will be celebrating on Friday night. A few of us are going to make a Turkish flag cake (hopefully).

On Sunday, we are taking a day trip to some organic farm. I think it is supposed to give us a look into village life here in Turkey.


So nothing exciting is happening for the next couple of days. Don't get mad if I don't post. Miss you guys

Ahh how I have missed constant internet

I have been doing internet things for the past like 5 hours. My host sister is enjoying her new computer so she has been doing the same thing. It reminds me of when my sister and I are together - we always end up on the computer.

<---This is Ataturk's Mausoleum. If you look closely at people's shadows, you will realize that those are in fact reflections. This place is seriously so clean that our shoes squeeked...

Theres a museum that runs under the actual mausoleum. It has everything from Ataturk's clothes, books, cars, tea sets, and pencils to full scale battle depictions of the evil Greeks who killed innocent Turks. Yay nationalism!


This place was referred to as the national "temple" by our program director. This coming from the same guy who says he changes religions during Ramazan (so he doesn't have to fast).

This painting below and to the left (shh...dont tell, you're not allowed to take pictures in the museum) is one of the many GIANT paintings given to Turkey from other countries. This one is depicting the hard working women who made sure everything went okay while the men were off fighting the war.










There are also many of these cavern like areas in the Ataturk museum. Each one has a different theme. The architecture kind of makes the place look like Dracula's castle or something.

One of the best parts about Turkey is the t-shirts:

All in all, it was an interesting trip into Turkish life. I have come to the conclusion that the real religion of Turket is not Islam but Ataturkism. My host sister says she is Buddhist for Christ's sake. No pun intended.

So last Friday we went to a "terrace party" at the Turkish American Association. It was 10 YTL to get in and for dinner and one drink. I don't think it was worth the 10 YTL, but it was fun to get dressed up and hang with the whole group.

Some decided to request some American music and start dancing. These two kids decided to join in. Then they preceded to crawl through our legs and hang on us leaving multiple footprints on Frank.

After the party we all went to a bar called Nefes. I went there the week before with my host sister, my friend Kristin and her host sisters, and then some others. They had an English band playing/singing. It was like medieval English music. Kind of neat, but got boring after a while. So I wasn't too excited to return to Nefes, but the four of us (in the picture) left and went to a better place. It's good to have some Turkish people around cause they can show you the good restaurants, cafes, etc and can also yell at strange children who tell you to die.

This last picture has no real purpose other than to show you that they have negro cookies here in Turkey.

I should head to sleep now, however, for I am going to Cappadocia tomorrow! I will be staying in a hotel that was carved out of a mountain. Ie, I will be sleeping in a cave this weekend. So I will be internet less yet again, but only until Sunday night.

I HAVE INTERNET!!

My host family got a new computer and wireless router! So I have a good connection now! More later...

i was reading an article on the turkish daily news site today and thought you all would be interested. this article was actually about istanbul, but it is similar to ankara. this part is talking about the dolmuş which i ride basically every day.

"For public transport, Istanbul has some unusual options, including cheap and ubiquitous ferries. The "I'm full" Dolmuş taxis are an interesting concept: Faster than the bus and cheaper than the taxi, it is a communal van that does a roughly predefined circuit of the city. You get on by flagging it down and get off by shouting at the driver. To pay, people pass money forwards through the van, which the driver finally receives. He does some quick calculations and counts out change whilst navigating the city traffic (often simultaneously smoking a cigarette and yelling into his phone), which he then passes back to the passenger. Multi-tasking is an important skill for drivers in Istanbul. It's just a great pity that they sometimes suffer “system crashes” that nearly result in real crashes, such as the time a driver took his eyes off the road to light his cigarette and nearly drifted into the back of a stationary car: To calm his shot nerves, he sucked his cigarette down to the butt in one long drag. "

İ pretty much hate the dolmuş.

YAY LAUNDRY!

I am currently washing some clothes and I have never been happier about that fact!

I am slowly but surely loading more pictures for you guys. My internet connection really stinks right now, but my host sister is getting a new computer soon (possibly tomorrow), so things should keep getting better.

I don't remember if I told you about the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations yet or not? But anyways, heres a few pictures from there...

Terracotta birds

This was outside the museum. There were tons of these urn things.

There are a lot more pictures of these things, but they all look the same for the most part.

A pepsi glass with a can of coke? What?

These are the kids I played soccer with at the citadel. It was pretty cool to play on ruins.

Part of the citadel.

Evil eye protectors

Carpet store

This was the first thing I saw at the Museum. Its soo cool.

Classes start at METU tomorrow. I have to run around and try and find my professors and hope they are nice enough to let me take thier class. Its going to be a stressful day. BUUUUUT, we are going to Kapadokya on Friday and I am very excited about that. If you google Cappadocia you can probably find some pictures. We are staying in a hotel that is literally in caves. I promise I will post pictures when we get back.

Our water was cut off on Sunday night, but it was back on the next morning. One of the guys from my group, who also lives with a host family, just got water back after not having it for like 5 days. So I will most likely run into this problem again. Just the way it goes. Hopefully rain/snow will come soon.

I will post again before heading to Kapadokya if I can. Otherwise, I wont have internet again until next Monday. Miss you guys.

i have been here for over two weeks now?

i finally found an internet connection at my house! yay! so i should be able to update more often now. and i should be able to put more pictures on well.

we went to the citadel a couple of days ago. maybe last week? its on the top of a hill somewhat in the middle of the city. so we got a pretty good view of the city. the citadel actually has people living in it now, with some restaurants and shops. they hang peppers to dry them for the winter:

it was neat to walk around and look at the shops and stuff. lots of photo of opportunites.

sorry for the lopsided photos again...ill work on fixing that.

i played soccer with some kids while at the citadel. it was awesome. my leg probably didnt like it, but it seems to be doing okay. after we played, the kids asked for one lyra...

one of the views from the top of the citadel. i took a video of the whole city from up there. ill work on posting that...

sometime last week, we went to a district in the city. we went to this daycare that was started by a group of women who are trying to help stay at home wives get jobs. one of the women started a restaurant so we went their for dinner. this dish is apparently called cous cous in morocco, but i cant remember what its called here.

i dont remember what this is called either, but its basically stuffed grape leaves. its like rice and something inside? i dont know. but it tastes better than it looks.

i dont remember what this called either, but its basically like pita bread with feta (?) cheese in the middle. im not a fan of it but its okay...

my pictures are a little jumbled, but this is a picture of a market outside the citadel entrance.
i believe those barrels are full of nuts.

so its been an interesting trip so far. im liking turkey more and more each day. dont worry though, i still want to come home. i cross off each day in my planner. it amazes me that i have been here for more than two weeks already. i have been so busy i havent had much time to think about stuff. the fact that im not going home until june has not yet set in.

classes at university dont actually start until this thursday. i have to figure out what classes i am actually taking and then i have to go find my professor and the head of the department and get each of them to sign a piece of paper. annoying...

before i forget, heres my mailing address here:

Carolyn Morris, CIEE c/o
Active Languages
Ataturk Blvd, Selcan Han, NO 127

Turkish Language Unit (ACTOM) Floor 6

06640 Bakanliklar

Ankara

Ignore the space between the lines there - i dont know whats up with that. And, the "i" in Bakanliklar doesnt have a dot above it.

Thats it for now. But I have internet now! yay! more tomorrow? possibly

tamam

sorry guys - internet is hard to come by here. my host family said they were working on the wireless issue, but who knows when/if i will ever get it. so for now i have to bring my laptop to METU if i want internet. and im not normally here. and unfortunately, i forgot my camera and cord, so no more pictures again. :-\

otherwise, everything is going pretty well. i have to register for classes next week. i have to track down the professor and the head of the department and get them to sign a piece of paper saying its okay for me to take the class. classes "start" on the 19th, but apparently they just have like opening ceremonies that day. so professors probably wont be around... and then, most classes dont really start until after the end of ramadan (middle of october). so it should be interesting trying to find these people.

speaking of ramazan (what turkish people call ramadan), it started today. theres a big tent in a park i pass every day where people can go and get free meals after sunset. i think its mainly for homeless, but its also for people who are just passing on the way home or whatever.

i had dinner with my host family tonight and they told me they dont like Bush (he came up on the news) and they like Clinton. thats pretty much how all Turkish people feel. and that brings up another thing i meant to write on here...

we were walking through this neighborhood the other day and some kids started following us, out of curiosity. one of our directors told them we were from america and they laughed and then asked, "Are they going to occupy our country?" so apparently were not well liked here...

i have a free day on sunday so expect some good updates. sorry again.

im okay

so they found a truck full of explosives today here. just wanted to let you know nothing happened and im okay. so no worries.

no pictures again :(

my camera battery died and i cant charge it at the moment. so sorry.

we went to the museum of anatolian civilizations today. had lots of artifacts from ancient roman times, as well as hitite, greek, etc. there was a whole section full of artifacts that were found in ankara. i took lots of pictures and will post em later.

we also went to the citadel. it was really neat. its on the top of a hill in the middle of the city. so the view from the top was great. we had lunch at the citadel, too. and our desert was fresh, homemade baklavah. mmmm :)

i met my host sister tonight. she was really cool. she has an american boyfriend who came on the same program last year. he is apparently coming back next semester, too. she speaks some english, and her mom understands a little? but i need to learn turkish! i will be meeting her mom and brother tomorrow when i move in. they sound really nice. i think i lucked out.

i assume i will have internet at their house? not sure though. but look forward to more pictures

im finally feeling bettter! i was pretty sick on wednesday with a 100 degree fever - crappy. yesterday was still kinda bad, but now im better. yay!

if you guys leave me a message on the chat box thing, and i do appreciate those, make sure you leave your name too. i have been able to deduce from most of them who wrote them, but for future notice :)

i should have internet on sunday because i will be moving into my host familys place. so look forward to some phone calls? possibly.

turkish classes are going pretty well. its really an easy language once you get past the pronunciation. for example, to make a noun plural. you add -ler or -lar to the end of the word. to figure out which to use. you look at the last vowel in the word. and theres no gender ! here are a few words for you to practice!

merhaba - hello
bir - one (pronounced beer)
pembe - pink (pronounced pembay)

yeh thats all i got. this keyboard is set to english so my vocabularly is limited to the words that dont use the crazy turkish letters. im off to dinner now. may be going to the turkish baths tomorrow....

so tired

sorry for the lack of pictures guys. i kept forgetting to grab my cable. i havent taken too many yet, but heres what i have:

i guess he didnt want me to leave

this is the view from my dorm. it looks neat at night

i dont know what building this is, but ataturk is all over it (thats him on the horse)


this was our live music at that restaurant


this is turkey`s version of construction signs. yeh rope light!



this is the kocatepe mosque in ankara. its really big and pretty new. theres a shopping center underneath it. i took this picture from the top of the building where we have turkish class.

and here are pictures of the slums, i mean, my dorm. sorry for the retarded sideways pictures.


the study room

our broken shower door


the water "closet"


yeap. good times.

more to come.