As I mentioned previously, our trip to Van required us to change once again in Diyarbakir. The transit from Mardin to Van only confirmed that we had made the right decision not to spend time in Diyarbakir. Unfortunately, the dolmuş we took did not go to the main bus terminal in Diyarbakir. Instead, it arrived at another, smaller, dolmuş stop about 10 minutes driving from the bus terminal. Just as before, there were many small, parentless children (much like India as I described before). Furthermore, we did not arrive there until around sunset. We asked how to get to the main bus terminal and a guy offered to help us.
His voice was raspy and he seemed a bit sketchy. I felt very uncomfortable with the situation, but because I could not speak Turkish it was completely out of my hands. He took us to a taxi and we got in (the guy was sitting in the front with the 4 of us crammed in the back seat). The taxi took us through the streets of Diyarbakir in the dark. There was eerie sense about the place and I did not like it. When we arrived at the bus terminal, the guy we paid. The guy taking us did not offer to help pay for his portion or anything. So basically, this guy took advantage of us as tourists and got himself a free taxi ride. The taxi also charged us more than we originally understood we would be charged. I was pissed and felt like we had been screwed, but at the same time I was happy to be safely inside the bus terminal. We ate dinner and waited for our 9pm bus direct to Van (the bus ride to Van is supposed to take 7 hours through the mountains so it was an overnight bus).
The roads across the mountains were incredibly bad. They were basically all dirt and gravel and the bus could not go much faster than about 10 MPH. Furthermore, once we got up into the really high elevations, there was still blotches of snow on the ground, requiring the bus to be especially careful. These mountains were also dangerous because they are known as hiding places for the PKK. In fact, at 2AM Elif noticed some Turkish soldiers walking along the side of the road and into the woods. The next morning, we had heard word that a large PKK bust had taken place the previous evening in the mountains to the west of Van. So basically, we witnessed the bust as it was happening, which is kinda ridiculous!
The next morning we arrived in Van at a very early 4am. We found the Bayram Hotel very close to where the bus let us off and decided to set up camp there for fairly cheap. Once we checked into our rooms, we decided it would be a good idea to take a little nap (one is awfully tired after a long bus ride). The plan was to sleep until 8 or so so we had the full day to really enjoy Van. However, we ended up sleeping until 10 instead. Oops? Actually, Sonya and I woke up before Emily and Elif and we made our way down to the local museum in Van which featured several exhibits on the Urartians. Unfortunately, not all of the descriptions were in English but what can ya do?
After getting up, we went to a traditional Van breakfast. Van is famous for its breakfast which consisted of several types of cheese, bread, cucumbers and tomatoes (like any Turkish breakfast), butter, eggs, sausage, various types of jelly, home made honey, olives, and of course Turkish tea. It was delicious! :) (See pictures)
After our late breakfast, we decided to make our way towards Akdamar Island, a famous island situated in the southern portion of Lake Van. To get there, we had to take a dolmuş to the southern part of the lake (Van is on the eastern side). One interesting fact about the dolmuşes in Turkey is that they perform many functions. In addition to just carrying passengers, they can also carry newspapers, mail, and other sorts of items that need to be delivered. All of these things of course come at a price, and the driver maximizes his profit. Well, on our way to the ferry, we stopped in a small town and picked up some passengers. These passengers happened to be three live chicken! What's more...they took the chickens and held them upside down to paralyze them and tied them together so there was no cage! It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. The drive just took them and tossed them into the back of the Van in front of us like it was nothing! They just sat on the floor board (see pictures)!
So after our little joyride we made it to the ferry and waited along the shoreline to be taken to Akdamar. Surprisingly, we met a guy who was there to visit Akdamar with his girlfriend. The surprising part was that he knew English and I struck a conversation with him in English. He asked if we knew the story of Akdamar Island and we did not, so he told us. The short version is that a woman was living on the island and in love with this man and so after her husband would sleep, he would swim to the island and meet her (with her shining a light to guide him). One day the king found out and turned off the light, allowing him to drown in the water. As a result she also killed herself out of grief. This is not exact but it goes something like that. We also got some general info about the area and where we could go. Elif particularly appreciated me getting this info because she was beyond tired of translating.
We spent the better part of the afternoon enjoying the island. In the center of the island was a beautiful abandoned Armenian church built before the year 1000. The outside has depictions from Adam and Eve carved on it. It was beautiful. The real treat in my opinion was the scenery of the island itself. Because the island is in the higher altitudes of the mountains in Eastern Turkey, spring was in full swing by the end of April. The temperature was in the upper 60s and flowers were blooming. Additionally, surrounding the lake were picturesque snow covered mountains. The island itself had a couple of rock faces, giving it a bit of varied geography. Covering the island was green grass. I would rank this place in the top 5 most beautiful places I have ever seen. Whats more, it was not crowded at all, making it absolutely perfect! Please see the pictures on the right to get a fuller appreciation of what I am saying about this.
After spending part of the afternoon at the lake we made our way back to Van. Unfortunately, the dolmus we wanted to take was waiting too long. He kept waiting for more people and we told him we wanted to go (we had been waiting for an hour). When a large bus on the way to Van passed by, we flagged it down and they took us to Van for a small fee of 5 TL (same price as the dolmus). The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around Van. There was some really neat shops there. This is where I bought the kacak cay (illegal tea)! :) We also walked around in these shops under the street and I took a picture of this advertisement where they showed a woman with a red headscarf on and red panties. I though the display together was ironic. Maybe guys get excited if there is a matching headscarf to go with the panties? I also thought putting them on the same manikin had to go against some kind of Islamic law. Oh well.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Day 4 - Mardin (April 26, 2009)
At around 9am we found a bus and began our trip to Mardin. We got on a large bus heading further east. We ended up sitting across the aisle from this Turkish guy in his mid 30s. He looked curiously at us for a while and then (as always with Turkish people) his curiosity got the best of him. To my surprise, he was able to speak a little in English and we had a very limited conversation (as he knew about as much English as I did Turkish at the time).
Elif watched this interaction but didn't say anything. I am not sure if she was just tired or amused or a combination. When we found out he was a school teacher, her interest was sufficiently peeked and she decided to join in the conversation. This was especially interesting for her because she is majoring in educational psychology at Boğaziçi. In her classes, they talked about teaching conditions in the east, but rarely does anyone get a chance to have the classroom materials come alive like that. It was really neat for her.
She also told me if I had any questions that she would be happy to translate for me if I wanted. This lead to a slight altercation between us because I was hoping for a more literal translation than what she was giving me. We ended up getting into a really big fight and not talking for that day or much during our time together in Van. It was really a shame. Being together on a trip like that for too long tends to take its effect on people. I was curious about the GAP Project (Southeastern Anatolia Project). The project is an interesting yet slightly controversial project spearheaded by the Turkish government to develop the Southeastern region. The teacher had an overall positive view of it, which was interesting to see.
We made our ways up the hills and finally into Mardin (after passing the quote etched into the side of the mountain that said "Happy is the man who can call himself a Turk." Nothing like a little Turkish nationalism in the middle of Kurdistan! The landscape between Urfa and Mardin was very pretty. Elif said it had reminded her a lot of Wyoming. There were many fields, few trees and an occasional small mountain. It's funny that she has seen more of my country than I have and I have seen more of her country than she has.
Upon leaving the small bus area, we deposited our bags with the bus company and we went to tour the Saffron Monastery (Deyrülzafarân Manastırı). Emily had been obsessing about this place since pretty much the beginning of the trip, so she was very happy that we had finally made it. The Saffron Monastery is an important religious place for the Syrian Orthodox Church. What I thought was neat is that the official language is still Aramaic there. All of the people associated with the monastery speak it and all of the signs posted were in Aramaic and of course Turkish. Luckily, our tour guide did know some English, but he would always speak in Turkish first. Our explanations were shorter and so we were probably not getting the whole picture. We did, however, get to go to the 2nd level (most others were not allowed) and we saw the living quarters of where guests can say. If you are Syrian orthodox, they will house you for free on your travels! I look Syrian Orthodox, right? ;)
The other big attraction of this site is that from the courtyard you can see into Syria. The city of Mardin is quite close to the Syrian border (only a few miles) and it is situated on a large hill (some might even consider it a small mountain) overlooking vast plains. I was surprised by how flat the land was (after all the mountains we had seen). I imagine that some of the landscape we saw would be similar to looking over the Great Plains from the rolling hills before Rocky Mountains (but I don't know this for sure because I have never been to the Rockies). Anyways...it was cool.
After we toured the monastery, we took a taxi cab back to Mardin. We spent the rest of the time walking along the hill and investigating interesting sites, which included another Syrian church (where we were offered some homemade wine) and a mosque. I don't remember many of the other sites. Truthfully, I was not all that impressed with Mardin. It was pretty but it was not my favorite stop on the trip. In all fairness, I will say I was in a sour mood after I exchanged words with Elif and my bad mood may have influenced my perceptions of the city. Perhaps one day I will get the opportunity to go back and give it another chance. It was a very pretty place.
That evening we got in a dolmuş and began our trip to Van via Diyarbakir.
Elif watched this interaction but didn't say anything. I am not sure if she was just tired or amused or a combination. When we found out he was a school teacher, her interest was sufficiently peeked and she decided to join in the conversation. This was especially interesting for her because she is majoring in educational psychology at Boğaziçi. In her classes, they talked about teaching conditions in the east, but rarely does anyone get a chance to have the classroom materials come alive like that. It was really neat for her.
She also told me if I had any questions that she would be happy to translate for me if I wanted. This lead to a slight altercation between us because I was hoping for a more literal translation than what she was giving me. We ended up getting into a really big fight and not talking for that day or much during our time together in Van. It was really a shame. Being together on a trip like that for too long tends to take its effect on people. I was curious about the GAP Project (Southeastern Anatolia Project). The project is an interesting yet slightly controversial project spearheaded by the Turkish government to develop the Southeastern region. The teacher had an overall positive view of it, which was interesting to see.
We made our ways up the hills and finally into Mardin (after passing the quote etched into the side of the mountain that said "Happy is the man who can call himself a Turk." Nothing like a little Turkish nationalism in the middle of Kurdistan! The landscape between Urfa and Mardin was very pretty. Elif said it had reminded her a lot of Wyoming. There were many fields, few trees and an occasional small mountain. It's funny that she has seen more of my country than I have and I have seen more of her country than she has.
Upon leaving the small bus area, we deposited our bags with the bus company and we went to tour the Saffron Monastery (Deyrülzafarân Manastırı). Emily had been obsessing about this place since pretty much the beginning of the trip, so she was very happy that we had finally made it. The Saffron Monastery is an important religious place for the Syrian Orthodox Church. What I thought was neat is that the official language is still Aramaic there. All of the people associated with the monastery speak it and all of the signs posted were in Aramaic and of course Turkish. Luckily, our tour guide did know some English, but he would always speak in Turkish first. Our explanations were shorter and so we were probably not getting the whole picture. We did, however, get to go to the 2nd level (most others were not allowed) and we saw the living quarters of where guests can say. If you are Syrian orthodox, they will house you for free on your travels! I look Syrian Orthodox, right? ;)
The other big attraction of this site is that from the courtyard you can see into Syria. The city of Mardin is quite close to the Syrian border (only a few miles) and it is situated on a large hill (some might even consider it a small mountain) overlooking vast plains. I was surprised by how flat the land was (after all the mountains we had seen). I imagine that some of the landscape we saw would be similar to looking over the Great Plains from the rolling hills before Rocky Mountains (but I don't know this for sure because I have never been to the Rockies). Anyways...it was cool.
After we toured the monastery, we took a taxi cab back to Mardin. We spent the rest of the time walking along the hill and investigating interesting sites, which included another Syrian church (where we were offered some homemade wine) and a mosque. I don't remember many of the other sites. Truthfully, I was not all that impressed with Mardin. It was pretty but it was not my favorite stop on the trip. In all fairness, I will say I was in a sour mood after I exchanged words with Elif and my bad mood may have influenced my perceptions of the city. Perhaps one day I will get the opportunity to go back and give it another chance. It was a very pretty place.
That evening we got in a dolmuş and began our trip to Van via Diyarbakir.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Day 3 – Şanlıurfa (April 25, 2009)
We woke up not too early and not too late (and I think I even woke up before our hosts did). We sat in the kitchen and talked with them after they woke up. I asked about their family, and he explained to me that they were all family and all related. If I spoke more Turkish, I probably could have gotten a lot more out of that conversation. At around noon they wanted to take us to breakfast. They told us they would put our things in the otogar for us so that we could pick them up later. At this point we felt a little awkward because one of the Kurdish guys was interested in one of the girls in our group and we thought he might have been a bit disappointed because he didn’t get what he wanted (also we think one reason they were so nice to us may have been because he was interested in her). For whatever reason, it seemed like it was time for us to go before we overstayed our welcome. They took us into town but could not find a parking place at the breakfast place they wanted. Because they didn’t try so hard, it was an indication to me that our time with them finished. When we left the car, we thanked them profusely.
We walked in the market and found a random traditional kebab place to eat. At lunch we were discussing the previous night, still trying to let it all sink in. We were a bit relieved to be on our own though. We at least got to make our own decisions again about what we could do and what we could see.
After eating, we headed down to find the Balıklı Göl, which literally translates as “Fishy Lake.” We first stopped off at a local salesman and each bought traditional Kurdish and Arabic headscarves. After we took pictures with our souvenirs, we made our way down to the lake. The lake, set inside a mosque is known for the copious amounts of carp in its waters. It is also famous biblically. Abraham was against the authority of King Nemrut and the King decided to throw him into the fire to show everybody that he was stronger and must be obeyed. But on the day of execution, when Abraham was thrown from the castle, the fire turned into water and the woods burning turned into fish. It also happened to be a very pretty lake, with a nice park around it (probably once upon a time serving as some desert oasis). Around the lake, there were also plenty of shops to buy souvenirs, but they were a bit expensive. The girl of course went shopping while I watched.
After the lake, we walked a short distance to Urfa Kale. This was an ancient fortress that used to defend Urfa on its highest point in the city. We climbed to the top to see it and enjoyed some amazing views of the city. Not too much of the fortress was preserved (no doubt it was built and destroyed many times in the city’s long history). To descend from the fortress, instead of going the way you came, we went down an ancient tunnel built in the rock by former inhabitants of Urfa. It was a small and narrow tunnel, probably making it easy for inhabitants to sneak down but very difficult for attackers to come up into the fortress.
We were unsure of where we were going to go, but then decided we wanted to see Harran. Harran is a place about 30 miles (45km) south of Urfa. The town is known as a tourist attraction for its large fortress that was built there and its mud that are still occupied by the locals to this day. After we had just decided our plan of action, Elif’s phone rang and it was our friends from last night (specifically the second in command leader himself). He asked us what we had done in Urfa and what our plans were for the rest of the day. We told him that we were going to go to the bus station and take a dolmuş to Harran.
He then said that the dolmuş would take too long and it would be difficult and then said that he was sending his personal driver to come pick us up. Wow! I guess we had not worn out our welcome just yet. So his driver picks us up and takes us to his office where we sit with him and have tea. Afterwards, we squeeze into the back of his car and we are taken the 45 minute drive this city. Once we get there, he pays our admission ticket. The driver walks around the site with us while the second in command guy sits in the car and waits for us. The fortress was really neat and there were two stories. One thing I really love about Turkey (as mentioned previously) is that you can climb around on the ruins. Overall it was a pretty impressive structure. We also met a high schooler who was giving tours and took our contact information because he wanted to practice his English. I never heard from him, but maybe one day I will. Who knows?
After we finished touring around Harran, we got back into the car and drove towards the otogar. Our friends said they wanted to take us out to dinner to a place that was a bit out of the way (about two hours outside of Urfa). When we got to the bus station, they didn’t tell us where we were going or what we were doing exactly. They just kind of told us to go from one car to the other. We left their other car and got into a black SUV with tinted windows. It was literally just like the mafia in the movies! Once in the car, they started driving ridiculously fast. At first I thought it was awesome because I could say that I had never gone that fast in a car before. However, when they were going about 230km/h (143 mph), it was a bit too fast even for me! When I asked if they should slow down in case they got pulled over by the police, the leader turned around and looked at me and said, “Biz polisiz” (or something like that), which literally translates to “we are the police.” At that time I fully understood and appreciated the situation we were in. These guys could do anything they wanted and nothing would happen. They could kill us, drag our bodies out into the wilderness in Turkey and no one would ever find us. In some ways it was a very scary thought! Luckily, these guys were pretty harmless and the range of their activities pretty much involved doing anything they wanted much like a teenager with no rules would.
As we drove in the car, we began learning things that were interesting and frightening. For example, the guy driving us was not allowed to leave the country due to a pending court case. We also discovered that he had hit someone recently in his car. Other fun facts included that the government gives these people guns to keep order. I think they spoke more freely about these things than normal because we were foreigners. I wished so badly at this point that I could speak Turkish so I could fully understand what they were saying. Instead, I had to rely on what Elif was able to translate (she couldn’t translate everything because of the speed of the conversation).
After about an hour to an hour and a half (should have been easily 2 or 3 hours), we arrived at the restaurant they wanted to which they wanted to take us. The restaurant was serving us a 4 course meal with appetizer, salad, main entrée, and desert. They offered alcohol but after I understood exactly the kinds of danger I could be in if these guys decided they didn’t like us anymore, I decided to decline respectfully. The meal was absolutely phenomenal though! The appetizer was a melted cheese type dish that melted in my mouth. The main entrée was quite unique. It was a hashish kebab (as in the same stuff people smoke). However, the amount in food is so diluted that it would be impossible to eat enough to feel anything. It was a really delicious kebab though and it melted in my mouth. For dessert we had an assortment of different fruits.
After our meal, we drove back to the leader’s office (at the same breakneck speeds as before). This time I was much more worried because these guys had had alcohol to drink! We sat and drank tea and talked a bit more. At this time, he actually apologized to Elif for putting her in an uncomfortable position (privately he apologized to her). We understood that even though these guys have to do some very not nice things that break just about every law, deep down they had good hearts and they were legitimately just trying to show us a good time and some hospitality while we were in Southeastern Turkey. They offered me a coke and whiskey but I told them I didn’t want it. The other guy said I only didn’t drink because Elif told me not to, but I legitimately don’t like the drink. Also, I didn’t really want to drink with them after all I had learned! I didn’t think it would be safe. We had a nice talk and then they took us back to our hotel (we decided that after the first night we didn’t want to stay with them again). They warned us that the Southeast was not always a safe place and that we shouldn’t be so trusting next time. Then, they told the hotel owner that we were his friends and they should take special care of us. Then we said goodbye. The next morning in the otogar we saw Mustafa as we were leaving and said our goodbyes to him as well (he didn’t come with us to dinner the night before). We did not use their bus company to travel to Mardin because we had felt they had given us enough hospitality and did not want them to pay for our bus ticket as well (because they almost certainly would have done so). So ends our crazy times in Urfa.
We walked in the market and found a random traditional kebab place to eat. At lunch we were discussing the previous night, still trying to let it all sink in. We were a bit relieved to be on our own though. We at least got to make our own decisions again about what we could do and what we could see.
After eating, we headed down to find the Balıklı Göl, which literally translates as “Fishy Lake.” We first stopped off at a local salesman and each bought traditional Kurdish and Arabic headscarves. After we took pictures with our souvenirs, we made our way down to the lake. The lake, set inside a mosque is known for the copious amounts of carp in its waters. It is also famous biblically. Abraham was against the authority of King Nemrut and the King decided to throw him into the fire to show everybody that he was stronger and must be obeyed. But on the day of execution, when Abraham was thrown from the castle, the fire turned into water and the woods burning turned into fish. It also happened to be a very pretty lake, with a nice park around it (probably once upon a time serving as some desert oasis). Around the lake, there were also plenty of shops to buy souvenirs, but they were a bit expensive. The girl of course went shopping while I watched.
After the lake, we walked a short distance to Urfa Kale. This was an ancient fortress that used to defend Urfa on its highest point in the city. We climbed to the top to see it and enjoyed some amazing views of the city. Not too much of the fortress was preserved (no doubt it was built and destroyed many times in the city’s long history). To descend from the fortress, instead of going the way you came, we went down an ancient tunnel built in the rock by former inhabitants of Urfa. It was a small and narrow tunnel, probably making it easy for inhabitants to sneak down but very difficult for attackers to come up into the fortress.
We were unsure of where we were going to go, but then decided we wanted to see Harran. Harran is a place about 30 miles (45km) south of Urfa. The town is known as a tourist attraction for its large fortress that was built there and its mud that are still occupied by the locals to this day. After we had just decided our plan of action, Elif’s phone rang and it was our friends from last night (specifically the second in command leader himself). He asked us what we had done in Urfa and what our plans were for the rest of the day. We told him that we were going to go to the bus station and take a dolmuş to Harran.
He then said that the dolmuş would take too long and it would be difficult and then said that he was sending his personal driver to come pick us up. Wow! I guess we had not worn out our welcome just yet. So his driver picks us up and takes us to his office where we sit with him and have tea. Afterwards, we squeeze into the back of his car and we are taken the 45 minute drive this city. Once we get there, he pays our admission ticket. The driver walks around the site with us while the second in command guy sits in the car and waits for us. The fortress was really neat and there were two stories. One thing I really love about Turkey (as mentioned previously) is that you can climb around on the ruins. Overall it was a pretty impressive structure. We also met a high schooler who was giving tours and took our contact information because he wanted to practice his English. I never heard from him, but maybe one day I will. Who knows?
After we finished touring around Harran, we got back into the car and drove towards the otogar. Our friends said they wanted to take us out to dinner to a place that was a bit out of the way (about two hours outside of Urfa). When we got to the bus station, they didn’t tell us where we were going or what we were doing exactly. They just kind of told us to go from one car to the other. We left their other car and got into a black SUV with tinted windows. It was literally just like the mafia in the movies! Once in the car, they started driving ridiculously fast. At first I thought it was awesome because I could say that I had never gone that fast in a car before. However, when they were going about 230km/h (143 mph), it was a bit too fast even for me! When I asked if they should slow down in case they got pulled over by the police, the leader turned around and looked at me and said, “Biz polisiz” (or something like that), which literally translates to “we are the police.” At that time I fully understood and appreciated the situation we were in. These guys could do anything they wanted and nothing would happen. They could kill us, drag our bodies out into the wilderness in Turkey and no one would ever find us. In some ways it was a very scary thought! Luckily, these guys were pretty harmless and the range of their activities pretty much involved doing anything they wanted much like a teenager with no rules would.
As we drove in the car, we began learning things that were interesting and frightening. For example, the guy driving us was not allowed to leave the country due to a pending court case. We also discovered that he had hit someone recently in his car. Other fun facts included that the government gives these people guns to keep order. I think they spoke more freely about these things than normal because we were foreigners. I wished so badly at this point that I could speak Turkish so I could fully understand what they were saying. Instead, I had to rely on what Elif was able to translate (she couldn’t translate everything because of the speed of the conversation).
After about an hour to an hour and a half (should have been easily 2 or 3 hours), we arrived at the restaurant they wanted to which they wanted to take us. The restaurant was serving us a 4 course meal with appetizer, salad, main entrée, and desert. They offered alcohol but after I understood exactly the kinds of danger I could be in if these guys decided they didn’t like us anymore, I decided to decline respectfully. The meal was absolutely phenomenal though! The appetizer was a melted cheese type dish that melted in my mouth. The main entrée was quite unique. It was a hashish kebab (as in the same stuff people smoke). However, the amount in food is so diluted that it would be impossible to eat enough to feel anything. It was a really delicious kebab though and it melted in my mouth. For dessert we had an assortment of different fruits.
After our meal, we drove back to the leader’s office (at the same breakneck speeds as before). This time I was much more worried because these guys had had alcohol to drink! We sat and drank tea and talked a bit more. At this time, he actually apologized to Elif for putting her in an uncomfortable position (privately he apologized to her). We understood that even though these guys have to do some very not nice things that break just about every law, deep down they had good hearts and they were legitimately just trying to show us a good time and some hospitality while we were in Southeastern Turkey. They offered me a coke and whiskey but I told them I didn’t want it. The other guy said I only didn’t drink because Elif told me not to, but I legitimately don’t like the drink. Also, I didn’t really want to drink with them after all I had learned! I didn’t think it would be safe. We had a nice talk and then they took us back to our hotel (we decided that after the first night we didn’t want to stay with them again). They warned us that the Southeast was not always a safe place and that we shouldn’t be so trusting next time. Then, they told the hotel owner that we were his friends and they should take special care of us. Then we said goodbye. The next morning in the otogar we saw Mustafa as we were leaving and said our goodbyes to him as well (he didn’t come with us to dinner the night before). We did not use their bus company to travel to Mardin because we had felt they had given us enough hospitality and did not want them to pay for our bus ticket as well (because they almost certainly would have done so). So ends our crazy times in Urfa.
Day 2 – Şanlıurfa (April 24, 2009)
Our second day was originally planned to be in Urfa. However, we (and by we I mean I) did not actually anticipate how long it would take to travel between cities in our tour of the Southeast. One neat thing about Eastern Turkey and Turkey in general is that the bus trips themselves are always interesting for one reason or another.
We left relatively early on a bus out of Malatya (around 10am). We discovered that there was no direct bus to Urfa. The only way for us to get there would be to take a bus from Malatya to Diyarbakir. From Diyarbakir we would have to transfer to Urfa. The bus ride to Diyarbakir was absolutely beautiful. The high Anatolian plains quickly gave way to lush green mountain side. I took quite a few pictures outside the bus window as evidenced by my photo album on the right. Elif and I sat together on the bus and Em and Sonya sat together. Elif continued her efforts to try to get me to learn Turkish. Keep in mind that after two months with a worthless class that did not help at all my Turkish was less than stellar. On our first minibus to Diyarbakir we had a very nice guy serving us on the bus. He had darker skin like most people in the East. Since I had only seen one Kurdish person in my life (the driver the day before), I was still fascinated by the whole Kurdish issue. Elif told me that the guy serving us was probably Kurdish. We talked about it for the first bit of the bus ride and didn’t interact with him much.
When we was giving us a drink, Elif finally decided to ask him. He said he was not Kurdish and seemed a bit offended that we had asked (in Turkish of course). Elif then explained to him that I was learning Turkish and that he should practice with me if he wanted to help out. He was very excited about it and more than willing to help out. So with dictionary in hand (and Elif’s help) we slowly had a conversation. It was very very basic but it was great practice for me. We passed through his hometown which was between Elazığ and Diyarbakir.
In Elazığ, we stopped for lunch. Elif, Sonya, and Em stayed near the bus to have some simit as a snack. I was a bit more hungry and went across the parking lot in search of a kebab. I found these guys selling Adana kebab for a relatively cheap price. They asked where I was from and we were talking briefly about stuff (very briefly considering my Turkish skills). One of the guys told me that he was a Christian and that he had to keep it quiet (I think he only told me because he thought I was Christian since I am from America). The kebab was delicious. Elif had noticed I wandered off and came over to find me and began talking with the guys. She said they spoke about food but of course I didn’t catch what she was saying.
One thing I learned very quickly on this trip is that Turkish people are innately curious. Outside of Istanbul and the west coast, they are not too used to seeing foreigners. As a result, they will stare at you for a while and eventually start talking to you, generally asking some of the same questions every time but I don’t mind (except for when I am tired). If you have to interact with them for some business transaction, curiosity almost always gets the best of them. It is good for me though because sometimes I am shy about talking to people at first. If they weren’t so curious, I would never have been able to practice my Turkish so much! Elif said it was good for her too because most Turkish people aren’t so curious about other Turks and so she would not have been able to talk to as many Turkish people it weren’t for us. That made me feel good. At least I was useful for something on the trip!
On the bus ride to Diyarbakir my Turkish lessons continued. Elif said it was really funny because when he would teach me a word and I would repeat it, it would be in the Eastern accent. I don’t know too much about the Eastern accent. I only know that instead of saying “biliyorum” or “anliyorum” they say “biliyim” or “anliyim.” Also, every k sound sounds more like the ch in Hebrew or German (because they have this sound in Kurdish, which most of them speak). I was able to pick up these nuances on our trip, but that was about it.
When we arrived in Diyarbakir, our van was basically attacked by little children. It was absolutely nuts! It reminded me of one of those movies about India where the same thing happens. We were going to stay in Diyarbakir for a day after our trip to Marden, but seeing the children and the seedy people at the otogar (bus terminal), we were a bit skeptical about this. Also, our day of travel that we spent to Urfa (unplanned) necessitated us cutting a destination from our trip. After a short wait, we were on the dolmuş headed to Urfa. The landscape was quite different in this part of Turkey (surprising since we were backtracking south of the same route we took into Diyarbakir). Instead of high mountains, there were flat plans (as flat as possible). There were also no trees. Even though I had never seen the Great Plains in the United States, I imagine that this is what they probably looked like. Elif confirmed it for me and said it did (she took a road trip from Wyoming to St. Louis). I wondered if tornados happened here, but no one knew. We did get to see the sun set over the plains, which was beautiful. Another funny thing we saw on this ride was the gas station mosque at our rest stop. I definitely took a picture in front of it, which got me some funny looks from other Turks.
We were talking about how we did not know where we would stay (and it was getting dark). A man sitting behind us overheard that we did not know where we would stay (Elif was asking someone about a hotel or something). He said he had some friends with an empty apartment in Urfa and suggested that maybe we could stay there. His friends said no. The guy working on the bus overheard what was going on and said that if we needed a place, he might be able to help us.
When we exited the bus, he helped us put our stuff into his car. He introduced himself to the rest of us as Mustafa. Another man was driving the car (whose name I forgot). It turns out the man driving was actually the owner of the bus company and also named Mustafa. Elif was talking about kebabs with them the whole time and said she “only came for the kebabs.” (Urfa is famous for them!). As a result, they took us to a kebab place. After sitting down, they order everyone ayran, a special liquid yogurt drink that is special to Turkey. Most Americans don’t like ayran, but it blends well with Turkish food (especially spicy Turkish food) and it definitely grows on you. This ayran was particularly delicious because it was homemade (my favorite kind). For dinner, our new friends ordered us a huge kebab plate mixed with every single type of kebab offered in the restaurant (karışık kebab). The plate included eggplant kebabs, urfa kebabs (a lamb kebab), beef kebab, chicken kebab, and lahmacun (Turkish pizza). Accompanying the large tray were wraps that could be used to make dürüms out of the meat. The meal was quite delicious (one of the better ones we had on our trip). Mustafa’s friend did not come inside, but Mustafa sat with us and Elif translated so that we could speak with him. Mustafa for some reason took a liking to me and started making fun of me for eating so much (we had gone the whole day without eating!). He referred to me as an “Arab” because apparently Arabs have a reputation for eating too much. At the end of the meal, we tried to pay but the waiter would not take our money and said that it had already been taken care of. Either Mustafa or his friend had taken care of the bill while we were eating. It was incredibly nice of them and one of my first tastes of Turkish hospitality (even though it was Kurdish hospitality in this case).
The next part of my story will sound incredibly unbelievable, but I promise it is all true. I have especially consulted with Elif during this part of the story to make sure that all of the facts are correct.
Following dinner, Mustafa asked us if we wanted to see some traditional Turkish entertainment. Not often having an opportunity to see real Turkish entertainment in the countryside, we readily agreed. They took us to a place where live music was being played. There was a singer, keyboard and a drum set. However, instead of a guitarist, an instrument called the saas was being used. The saas is similar to a guitar in appearance, but the sound is quite different. As a result the music was a fushion of rocklike music and traditional sounding Turkish music. It was really interesting.
Upon entering the place, we joined Mustafa’s friends. Mustafa asked if we wanted anything to drink. I ended up having a beer. We sat for about 30 minutes or so when they told us they wanted to go upstairs and took us up with them. The room was away from the music and much quieter, allowing for us to talk. We of course brought our drinks with us. The room itself was a traditional Turkish sitting room. There were no chairs. Instead, pillows were the perimeter of the room and a low table. My description doesn’t quite do it justice and you should definitely look at my pictures in the Urfa album if you are interested.
Upon sitting and speaking with these guys we learned something very interesting. The man that we met at the entertainment place was indeed the second in command of a very famous Kurdish clan from Urfa. For those of you that do not know, Kurdish people (especially in Eastern Turkey) still rely very much on clan relationships. The leader of the clan acts much like the chief in an Indian tribe (but they don’t like in tents or anything like that). This includes making major decisions on behalf of the people. In Turkey, the clans are stronger. For example, if the clan leader votes for a certain political party, all the members of the clan must vote for the same party or politician. This makes the clan leader very powerful and often very rich. Without knowing it, we ended up in the same room with one of the most powerful people in Urfa. In fact, because of the fighting between Turks and Kurds, the police force in Urfa during the 1990’s was completely ineffective. As a result, the government gives weapons and other support to this particular clan in order to maintain order and peace in Urfa. It has worked. A side effect (as we late found out ) was that these clan leaders had virtually unlimited power in their actions. This was both really neat and a bit scary. On one hand, they were living like kings and could give us anything we wanted, but on the other hand if we made them angry, they could drive us somewhere, kill us, and no one would ever be the wiser.
After sitting a bit, there was another room in another place that these guys preferred more and they took us there instead. When we walked in, the table had fresh fruit on it. I ended up sitting between Em and Mustafa. There was another table, which was ordered to be removed because they didn’t like the way it looked. Then, another of the Kurdish guys came, bringing alcohol. They explained that the place at which we were was a bit traditional and that normally alcohol is not served or permitted. However, because of the special status of these guys, we could have alcohol. They brought bottles of Efes and Raki (a special licorice drink that tastes much like Greek ouzo). I don’t particularly like Efes, but I felt compelled to drink it, as I feared it might be insulting to our hosts. We continued to sit, talk, and eat fruit for about 20 minutes. True to Turkish hospitality, Mustafa not only had his arm around me, he was hand feeding me fruit! Elif said he liked me…maybe a bit too much. She claims that he is my sugardaddy (I would like to emphasize that these were her words…not mine). It was strange to me that a man was hand feeding me fruit, but after having 2 beers these types of things seem more normal than they should.
After we waited about 20 minutes, a keyboard player, drums player, saas player, singer, and another performer (I can’t remember what he played) came to the room in which we were sitting. The group begins to perform traditional Kurdish and Turkish music for us. It was a very private performance considering there were 8 of us and 5 performers! We found out that our new friends, specifically the one in charge, had called up this guy (with whom I am now facebook friends) and told him to finish performing at his other performance venue so that he could come perform privately for us! After enjoying the sounds of Turkish music, they invited us to dance. We formed a circle, joined hands and did a traditional four-step Turkish dance (I did a similar dance in Doğubeyazıt and observed a similar one at a wedding in Yusufeli). It was interesting to learn and a lot of fun (I think the alcohol I had drank at this point helped with the normal problem of inhibition that I would normally have to dancing). We all had a really good time.
After we danced, the Kurdish guys wanted to hear an “American” song. I was picked to be the lucky one to sing. I had NO idea what to sing. I declined and they were a bit pushy (but in a playful and not aggressive sort of way). So I gave in and said I would sing something. I still had no clue what to sing. Then it hit me. These guys don’t speak a word of English. I could just make something up as long as it has a melody and no one would ever be the wiser! They would think it’s a legit American song! So the saas player began to play a chord realization (lucky for me I had endured the pain of aural skills and could figure out the chords and craft a melody – see it did come to use somewhere in my life!). I then began to make up a song to random words. I sang something like, “We started out in Istanbul today. We went to Sanliurfa today!” and then I had some verses. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it ended up being completely ridiculous and funny. Actually, because they didn’t understand, they asked Elif if I was making fun of them in English. I thought it was strange that they would ask that, but Elif said it was probably because that is what they would do if they were in our position.
So the night continued like that. After a while, these guys decided that they were hungry and ordered çığ köfte, a Turkish food that is made of raw meat and “cooked” by the addition of spices. It happens to be one of my favorite dishes and special to Urfa. The Urfa çığ köfte was much spicier than the same thing back in Istanbul. This was particularly remarkable to me because they did not merely want to buy çığ köfte that had already been prepared. Instead, they wanted the dish freshly made. For those of you who don’t know, this is not an easy dish to make and involves some manual labor as it is mixed by hand in a large metal container. Our Kurdish friends called someone and specially asked them to make it for them from scratch at 2:30am! Ridiculous!
Following the end of the night (at about 3am), we were all very tired and made our way back to Mustafa’s home (he was sharing it with the guy who drove us from the bus station). Each of us slept in two rooms. Sonya and Em slept in the living room and I slept with Elif in a bedroom (2 separate beds of course). The room we slept in was the room of a little girl and Elif and I wondered about where she might have been and what her life must be like. Then, we went to sleep. We later found out that for our night with these guys, they spent 1,200 Lira on us (about $800). That’s crazy!
We left relatively early on a bus out of Malatya (around 10am). We discovered that there was no direct bus to Urfa. The only way for us to get there would be to take a bus from Malatya to Diyarbakir. From Diyarbakir we would have to transfer to Urfa. The bus ride to Diyarbakir was absolutely beautiful. The high Anatolian plains quickly gave way to lush green mountain side. I took quite a few pictures outside the bus window as evidenced by my photo album on the right. Elif and I sat together on the bus and Em and Sonya sat together. Elif continued her efforts to try to get me to learn Turkish. Keep in mind that after two months with a worthless class that did not help at all my Turkish was less than stellar. On our first minibus to Diyarbakir we had a very nice guy serving us on the bus. He had darker skin like most people in the East. Since I had only seen one Kurdish person in my life (the driver the day before), I was still fascinated by the whole Kurdish issue. Elif told me that the guy serving us was probably Kurdish. We talked about it for the first bit of the bus ride and didn’t interact with him much.
When we was giving us a drink, Elif finally decided to ask him. He said he was not Kurdish and seemed a bit offended that we had asked (in Turkish of course). Elif then explained to him that I was learning Turkish and that he should practice with me if he wanted to help out. He was very excited about it and more than willing to help out. So with dictionary in hand (and Elif’s help) we slowly had a conversation. It was very very basic but it was great practice for me. We passed through his hometown which was between Elazığ and Diyarbakir.
In Elazığ, we stopped for lunch. Elif, Sonya, and Em stayed near the bus to have some simit as a snack. I was a bit more hungry and went across the parking lot in search of a kebab. I found these guys selling Adana kebab for a relatively cheap price. They asked where I was from and we were talking briefly about stuff (very briefly considering my Turkish skills). One of the guys told me that he was a Christian and that he had to keep it quiet (I think he only told me because he thought I was Christian since I am from America). The kebab was delicious. Elif had noticed I wandered off and came over to find me and began talking with the guys. She said they spoke about food but of course I didn’t catch what she was saying.
One thing I learned very quickly on this trip is that Turkish people are innately curious. Outside of Istanbul and the west coast, they are not too used to seeing foreigners. As a result, they will stare at you for a while and eventually start talking to you, generally asking some of the same questions every time but I don’t mind (except for when I am tired). If you have to interact with them for some business transaction, curiosity almost always gets the best of them. It is good for me though because sometimes I am shy about talking to people at first. If they weren’t so curious, I would never have been able to practice my Turkish so much! Elif said it was good for her too because most Turkish people aren’t so curious about other Turks and so she would not have been able to talk to as many Turkish people it weren’t for us. That made me feel good. At least I was useful for something on the trip!
On the bus ride to Diyarbakir my Turkish lessons continued. Elif said it was really funny because when he would teach me a word and I would repeat it, it would be in the Eastern accent. I don’t know too much about the Eastern accent. I only know that instead of saying “biliyorum” or “anliyorum” they say “biliyim” or “anliyim.” Also, every k sound sounds more like the ch in Hebrew or German (because they have this sound in Kurdish, which most of them speak). I was able to pick up these nuances on our trip, but that was about it.
When we arrived in Diyarbakir, our van was basically attacked by little children. It was absolutely nuts! It reminded me of one of those movies about India where the same thing happens. We were going to stay in Diyarbakir for a day after our trip to Marden, but seeing the children and the seedy people at the otogar (bus terminal), we were a bit skeptical about this. Also, our day of travel that we spent to Urfa (unplanned) necessitated us cutting a destination from our trip. After a short wait, we were on the dolmuş headed to Urfa. The landscape was quite different in this part of Turkey (surprising since we were backtracking south of the same route we took into Diyarbakir). Instead of high mountains, there were flat plans (as flat as possible). There were also no trees. Even though I had never seen the Great Plains in the United States, I imagine that this is what they probably looked like. Elif confirmed it for me and said it did (she took a road trip from Wyoming to St. Louis). I wondered if tornados happened here, but no one knew. We did get to see the sun set over the plains, which was beautiful. Another funny thing we saw on this ride was the gas station mosque at our rest stop. I definitely took a picture in front of it, which got me some funny looks from other Turks.
We were talking about how we did not know where we would stay (and it was getting dark). A man sitting behind us overheard that we did not know where we would stay (Elif was asking someone about a hotel or something). He said he had some friends with an empty apartment in Urfa and suggested that maybe we could stay there. His friends said no. The guy working on the bus overheard what was going on and said that if we needed a place, he might be able to help us.
When we exited the bus, he helped us put our stuff into his car. He introduced himself to the rest of us as Mustafa. Another man was driving the car (whose name I forgot). It turns out the man driving was actually the owner of the bus company and also named Mustafa. Elif was talking about kebabs with them the whole time and said she “only came for the kebabs.” (Urfa is famous for them!). As a result, they took us to a kebab place. After sitting down, they order everyone ayran, a special liquid yogurt drink that is special to Turkey. Most Americans don’t like ayran, but it blends well with Turkish food (especially spicy Turkish food) and it definitely grows on you. This ayran was particularly delicious because it was homemade (my favorite kind). For dinner, our new friends ordered us a huge kebab plate mixed with every single type of kebab offered in the restaurant (karışık kebab). The plate included eggplant kebabs, urfa kebabs (a lamb kebab), beef kebab, chicken kebab, and lahmacun (Turkish pizza). Accompanying the large tray were wraps that could be used to make dürüms out of the meat. The meal was quite delicious (one of the better ones we had on our trip). Mustafa’s friend did not come inside, but Mustafa sat with us and Elif translated so that we could speak with him. Mustafa for some reason took a liking to me and started making fun of me for eating so much (we had gone the whole day without eating!). He referred to me as an “Arab” because apparently Arabs have a reputation for eating too much. At the end of the meal, we tried to pay but the waiter would not take our money and said that it had already been taken care of. Either Mustafa or his friend had taken care of the bill while we were eating. It was incredibly nice of them and one of my first tastes of Turkish hospitality (even though it was Kurdish hospitality in this case).
The next part of my story will sound incredibly unbelievable, but I promise it is all true. I have especially consulted with Elif during this part of the story to make sure that all of the facts are correct.
Following dinner, Mustafa asked us if we wanted to see some traditional Turkish entertainment. Not often having an opportunity to see real Turkish entertainment in the countryside, we readily agreed. They took us to a place where live music was being played. There was a singer, keyboard and a drum set. However, instead of a guitarist, an instrument called the saas was being used. The saas is similar to a guitar in appearance, but the sound is quite different. As a result the music was a fushion of rocklike music and traditional sounding Turkish music. It was really interesting.
Upon entering the place, we joined Mustafa’s friends. Mustafa asked if we wanted anything to drink. I ended up having a beer. We sat for about 30 minutes or so when they told us they wanted to go upstairs and took us up with them. The room was away from the music and much quieter, allowing for us to talk. We of course brought our drinks with us. The room itself was a traditional Turkish sitting room. There were no chairs. Instead, pillows were the perimeter of the room and a low table. My description doesn’t quite do it justice and you should definitely look at my pictures in the Urfa album if you are interested.
Upon sitting and speaking with these guys we learned something very interesting. The man that we met at the entertainment place was indeed the second in command of a very famous Kurdish clan from Urfa. For those of you that do not know, Kurdish people (especially in Eastern Turkey) still rely very much on clan relationships. The leader of the clan acts much like the chief in an Indian tribe (but they don’t like in tents or anything like that). This includes making major decisions on behalf of the people. In Turkey, the clans are stronger. For example, if the clan leader votes for a certain political party, all the members of the clan must vote for the same party or politician. This makes the clan leader very powerful and often very rich. Without knowing it, we ended up in the same room with one of the most powerful people in Urfa. In fact, because of the fighting between Turks and Kurds, the police force in Urfa during the 1990’s was completely ineffective. As a result, the government gives weapons and other support to this particular clan in order to maintain order and peace in Urfa. It has worked. A side effect (as we late found out ) was that these clan leaders had virtually unlimited power in their actions. This was both really neat and a bit scary. On one hand, they were living like kings and could give us anything we wanted, but on the other hand if we made them angry, they could drive us somewhere, kill us, and no one would ever be the wiser.
After sitting a bit, there was another room in another place that these guys preferred more and they took us there instead. When we walked in, the table had fresh fruit on it. I ended up sitting between Em and Mustafa. There was another table, which was ordered to be removed because they didn’t like the way it looked. Then, another of the Kurdish guys came, bringing alcohol. They explained that the place at which we were was a bit traditional and that normally alcohol is not served or permitted. However, because of the special status of these guys, we could have alcohol. They brought bottles of Efes and Raki (a special licorice drink that tastes much like Greek ouzo). I don’t particularly like Efes, but I felt compelled to drink it, as I feared it might be insulting to our hosts. We continued to sit, talk, and eat fruit for about 20 minutes. True to Turkish hospitality, Mustafa not only had his arm around me, he was hand feeding me fruit! Elif said he liked me…maybe a bit too much. She claims that he is my sugardaddy (I would like to emphasize that these were her words…not mine). It was strange to me that a man was hand feeding me fruit, but after having 2 beers these types of things seem more normal than they should.
After we waited about 20 minutes, a keyboard player, drums player, saas player, singer, and another performer (I can’t remember what he played) came to the room in which we were sitting. The group begins to perform traditional Kurdish and Turkish music for us. It was a very private performance considering there were 8 of us and 5 performers! We found out that our new friends, specifically the one in charge, had called up this guy (with whom I am now facebook friends) and told him to finish performing at his other performance venue so that he could come perform privately for us! After enjoying the sounds of Turkish music, they invited us to dance. We formed a circle, joined hands and did a traditional four-step Turkish dance (I did a similar dance in Doğubeyazıt and observed a similar one at a wedding in Yusufeli). It was interesting to learn and a lot of fun (I think the alcohol I had drank at this point helped with the normal problem of inhibition that I would normally have to dancing). We all had a really good time.
After we danced, the Kurdish guys wanted to hear an “American” song. I was picked to be the lucky one to sing. I had NO idea what to sing. I declined and they were a bit pushy (but in a playful and not aggressive sort of way). So I gave in and said I would sing something. I still had no clue what to sing. Then it hit me. These guys don’t speak a word of English. I could just make something up as long as it has a melody and no one would ever be the wiser! They would think it’s a legit American song! So the saas player began to play a chord realization (lucky for me I had endured the pain of aural skills and could figure out the chords and craft a melody – see it did come to use somewhere in my life!). I then began to make up a song to random words. I sang something like, “We started out in Istanbul today. We went to Sanliurfa today!” and then I had some verses. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it ended up being completely ridiculous and funny. Actually, because they didn’t understand, they asked Elif if I was making fun of them in English. I thought it was strange that they would ask that, but Elif said it was probably because that is what they would do if they were in our position.
So the night continued like that. After a while, these guys decided that they were hungry and ordered çığ köfte, a Turkish food that is made of raw meat and “cooked” by the addition of spices. It happens to be one of my favorite dishes and special to Urfa. The Urfa çığ köfte was much spicier than the same thing back in Istanbul. This was particularly remarkable to me because they did not merely want to buy çığ köfte that had already been prepared. Instead, they wanted the dish freshly made. For those of you who don’t know, this is not an easy dish to make and involves some manual labor as it is mixed by hand in a large metal container. Our Kurdish friends called someone and specially asked them to make it for them from scratch at 2:30am! Ridiculous!
Following the end of the night (at about 3am), we were all very tired and made our way back to Mustafa’s home (he was sharing it with the guy who drove us from the bus station). Each of us slept in two rooms. Sonya and Em slept in the living room and I slept with Elif in a bedroom (2 separate beds of course). The room we slept in was the room of a little girl and Elif and I wondered about where she might have been and what her life must be like. Then, we went to sleep. We later found out that for our night with these guys, they spent 1,200 Lira on us (about $800). That’s crazy!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Day 1 – Malatya (April 23, 2009)
As always with traveling, our day started in Istanbul at a very early 4:00am. Luckily, I had had the good sense to pack the night before, but because I am a huge procrastinator (as most of you know) that good sense didn’t kick in until about midnight. So I awoke getting a grand total of about two hours of sleep. By 4:30 I was out the door and we had called a taxi to come pick us up to the airport. We met Emily and Sonya at the Superdorm and waited 10 minutes for Sonya (who had just gotten up when we called to tell her the taxi cab was ready). The most hysterical realization (the girls thought it was more funny than I did) by everyone was that despite the fact I was traveling with three girls, I was carrying the most stuff. I argued that it was because I did not have a smaller duffle bag, but the girls just laughed about it.
After a relatively cheap taxi ride (50 TL for all of us) we made it to the airport. At 5am, its pretty incredible just how few people there are on the road. Would you believe that we made it from Hisarüstü to the airport in 20 minutes! For Istanbul, that is incredible! The airport is about twice as far as Taksim and in normal traffic it takes about 45 minutes to get to Taksim square! That is how incredible it was! After a bit of trouble with Emily and Sonya’s tickets, we were all checked in and ready to go for our 6:50am flight to Malatya.
The flight across the Marmara Sea and Central Anatolia took about 1 and a half hours. Elif was surprisingly awake (we sat near each other) and decided that 7am was a good time for a Turkish lesson. She was making me practice by only speaking in Turkish and only letting me respond in Turkish. Let me point out that at this time, my Turkish was downright awful. I could barely string two sentences together…so as you can imagine it was a slow and tedious process. It was impressive to me that Elif had the patience for it at 7AM. It was good for me to practice so I thank her for that.
As the plane descended on Malatya, we could immediately tell that we were in a different world. Kilometers of concrete in Istanbul were replaced with high fields. The mountains towards the end of our flight were all snow-covered (which as you can imagine excited me very much) and the fields were a sort of brownish color. We were descending right into the middle of the Central Anatolian plains.
Because I was the one with the biggest bag, I was also the only one of the four of us who checked their bag. The girls went to the bathroom and waited outside while I retrieved my things. As I was waiting for my bag, a Turkish man and I started conversing. His family was from Malatya (he had flown home to celebrate the holiday with them) but he worked in Istanbul. I told him that I was a student and told him about the plans for our trip. He was very enthusiastic and wanted to show us around Malatya. Unfortunately, we did not have much time in Malatya (only 1 day) and I had to respectfully decline his offer. He gave me his number anyway and told me that it would make him very happy if I called him. I never did.
We excited the airport and took the bus to the city center, not knowing exactly what we would do. We arrived at the main square and found a very large statue of Ismet Inönü, the second President of Turkey and a close friend of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Being the political science nerd that I am, I got very excited and took a picture in front of the statue. Unfortunately, an annoying kid would not stop asking for money and wouldn’t even get out of my picture, so he ended up being in it as well.
After taking the pictures, we found our way to the tourist office and were greeted by a man who looked like he had come straight out of San Francisco in the 1960’s. He had long grayish hair down to his shoulders and a mustache. He introduced himself as “Kemal from Malatya” and told us that he was the person who worked in the tourism office in Malatya. Surprisingly, he spoke decent English. He explained that it was because he had spent a number of years working with tourists in Sultanahmet. He was very friendly (maybe even a bit too friendly towards Spnya – telling her that she should live with him for a month or two for free and teach him English). We explained to him that the main reason we had come to Malatya was that we wanted to see Mt. Nemrut. He said that he would be able to help us with that and explained that because of the length of the drive and the cold weather that it would be best if we did not start our journey to Nemrut until at least 12 or 1pm. In the meantime, he suggested that we leave our luggage with him and walk around Malatya (he even suggested where we should go).
We took his suggestions and first made our way to the metal markets. Whole there was nothing too special or touristic about it, it was neat to get a small glimpse into Turkish village life. The metal making was done with traditional tools (not the use of machines) and they made everything from hot water heaters to pots to cauldrons. Anything that could be made of medal was being made by these guys. Also interesting was the fact that there were very few young people in these shops. They were mostly men of forty or older. This indicated to me that it might be a dying art here in Turkey and that it wouldn’t be around much longer. Its really a shame if that is the case because it was neat to see these guys in action. There is no way you could ever see anything like this in the United States.
After a walk around the metal market as it was called, we walked to the bazaar of Malatya. In this place they were mostly selling the commodity for which Malatya is most known. Malatya is very famous for kayısı (apricots). In the first store, the owner let us try apricot lokum (Turkish delight) and it was absolutely delicious. I enjoyed it so much that I bought some for a snack on our trip. We then walked up through the market and found a poster of Barack Obama in front of apricots. Being Americans, we were both surprised and amused! The reason for the poster was because when Obama visited Turkey, he talked about Turkey solving their debt deficit through exporting fruits such as apricots. Because Malatya is the apricot capital of Turkey, they interpreted the speech as indirectly referencing them. This of course led to the Obama poster that we all found so comical. The store owner behind the Obama poster beckoned us to come into his shop and try the many different apricot products he possessed. In this shop there was everything from apricot soap to chocolate covered apricots to different kinds of apricot candies to apricot döner. Anything you can imagine that could be made out of apricots, this guy had. The best part was that he let us try it all for free. We were so full after eating in the store that we didn’t even need lunch! It was fantastic! Of course the girls bought some apricot products for themselves.
Other than the apricot and metal bazaars there really isn’t all that much to do in Malatya so we headed back to the tourist office and met Kemal. He had a driver waiting to take us to Mt. Nemrut for 50 TL per person (which is actually fairly cheap to rent your own driver for the kind of trip we were doing). So we get into the car and we are off on our way to Nemrut Dağı. The three girls sat in the back together and I sat up front. In Turkey, especially if you don’t know the driver, it is always customary for the man to sit in the front because it is possible to get a man who will harass a lady in the front seat by grabbing her leg or something. I have never seen it happen, but I would rather follow the norm just in case. It was also cool for me because I got a bird’s eye view of our surroundings and our ride through the countryside.
The road began in the relatively flat high plains. We soon made our way into the tall mountains south of Malatya. When we were planning our trip to the East, we had briefly flirted with the idea of renting a car to see more places and drive to places like Nemrut for much cheaper. As soon as we began our ascent to Nemrut, which totaled about 3 hours one way, it became clear that renting a car would have been a very bad idea. The road to Nemrut was quite confusing and not very well marked. There were several points where we made turns that only someone who had travelled this route many times would have known to make. Even with a map it would have been difficult. Secondly, the road conditions were very poor. Many times we were driving around very steep cliffs on dirt roads. It was definitely not a road for the novice driver.
We stopped in a small place about an hour into the drive to have some lunch. It was a bit expensive, but it was delicious. I guess the expense is the premium we pay for the convenience of a good meal in the middle of nowhere. The scenery was also really neat including small waterfall close by and mountains all around. Elif sent me to our drive to ask in Turkish if he would like to join us. He respectfully declined, but it made him smile. We continued and stopped at a small convenience store for a bathroom break. The bathrooms were Eastern style toilets (my first of many experiences with them) and it was not very clean.
The driver was very interesting as well. Living in Istanbul I was of course mildly aware of the Kurdish issue in Turkey. However, I had never seen a Kurd before. Our driver was Kurdish and I had many questions. Unfortunately, he spoke very little English. Elif had a lengthy conversation with him. I am not sure about the contents of it. She said she learned some really interesting stuff and would tell us later. Unfortunately, she forgot a lot of what he said (which is totally understandable in a conversation over the course of three hours).
As we approached the summit of Mt. Nemrut, we began to see snow. At first it was in small patches, but as we got closer, it was very high around us. The road contained many sharp turns as we progressed up the last bit of road before the end. Finally our three hour journey came to an end at the Güneş Hotel. At the hotel, cars cannot go any further. From this point we had to walk 3km to the stop with the last little bit in deep snow (the first two-thirds had been bulldozed).
Finally, after what seemed like a full day of travelling we reached the summit of Nemrut. I was very glad we made this trip. For those of you who don’t know about it, Nemrut is like the Turkish version of our Mt. Rushmore. Large stone heads were carved out of rock. Due to earthquakes they had fallen and are dismembered from their heads. King Antiochus, a megalomaniac of an independent kingdom that signed a non-aggression pact with Rome had these statues built. He was the king of an independent kingdom. He believed himself immortal and god-like and therefore built his own statue with those of the Gods. Also on the top of Nemrut Dağı is a large burial mound that is believed to be the final resting place of King Antiochus. The entire area was really neat and definitely worth the three hour trip. The heads and bodies looked like they were carved out of pure stone. The way in which the stones were assembled was pretty fascinating to me. I was definitely happy we made the trip to the mountain.
Because it was mid spring, the mountain summit was still very cold. It was much colder than I had anticipated. We were lucky even to get to go to Nemrut because some years during the time we went the mountain is still closed due to winter weather.
Since we had made the trek all the way up to the top, I really wanted to stay for sunset. However, the weather got very cold very fast. I was freezing in my jeans and long-sleeved shirt. I had not brought a jacket, thinking it wouldn’t be that cold. Elif and Em decided they had had enough of the cold after exploring the summit and began their decent. I told them I wanted to watch the sunset but because it was so cold, they told me that they would wait at the car for me. Sonya decided to stay with me.
A tour group came and ruined the peaceful scenery with loud talking. It was so cold that we saw one man wearing what seemed to be a makeshift pink headscarf! It was very funny! I can’t make fun of him too much though because they spoke to us and did offer us a glass of wine while we were waiting for the sun to set. We also met a group of students from Ankara, but because we didn’t write down each other’s names, we never heard from them again.
The sunset was a bit disappointing because it was cloudy. I was stubborn and wanted to see it any way. On a clear day I think it would have been REALLY awesome. Oh well.
Sonya and I hiked down to the car and we began our journey back to Malatya. We were all exhausted after waking up so early in the morning to fly to Malatya. The road leading down was dark and dangerous. Apparently, our driver told Elif that he was driving slow because if he drives too fast, it makes him more tired. As a result, Elif tried to keep conversation up and ask questions for 3 hours while everyone else slept. It sucked for her because I know she was really tired too. She did not get to sleep in the car like everyone else.
Three hours late, we arrived at our hotel (recommended and set up for us by Kemal while we were on our day trip, which was really nice of him. We ended up with a 4 bed room and a not so nice bathroom. Kemal was there waiting for us to make arrangements. He really seemed to like us and as Turkish culture dictates, h e wanted to have a çay with us (it is a Turkish tradition to have çay with guests and its rude for a guest to refuse). However, when he saw how exhausted we were, he decided not to push it. We went upstairs and I fell asleep almost immediately. A great start to a great trip.
After a relatively cheap taxi ride (50 TL for all of us) we made it to the airport. At 5am, its pretty incredible just how few people there are on the road. Would you believe that we made it from Hisarüstü to the airport in 20 minutes! For Istanbul, that is incredible! The airport is about twice as far as Taksim and in normal traffic it takes about 45 minutes to get to Taksim square! That is how incredible it was! After a bit of trouble with Emily and Sonya’s tickets, we were all checked in and ready to go for our 6:50am flight to Malatya.
The flight across the Marmara Sea and Central Anatolia took about 1 and a half hours. Elif was surprisingly awake (we sat near each other) and decided that 7am was a good time for a Turkish lesson. She was making me practice by only speaking in Turkish and only letting me respond in Turkish. Let me point out that at this time, my Turkish was downright awful. I could barely string two sentences together…so as you can imagine it was a slow and tedious process. It was impressive to me that Elif had the patience for it at 7AM. It was good for me to practice so I thank her for that.
As the plane descended on Malatya, we could immediately tell that we were in a different world. Kilometers of concrete in Istanbul were replaced with high fields. The mountains towards the end of our flight were all snow-covered (which as you can imagine excited me very much) and the fields were a sort of brownish color. We were descending right into the middle of the Central Anatolian plains.
Because I was the one with the biggest bag, I was also the only one of the four of us who checked their bag. The girls went to the bathroom and waited outside while I retrieved my things. As I was waiting for my bag, a Turkish man and I started conversing. His family was from Malatya (he had flown home to celebrate the holiday with them) but he worked in Istanbul. I told him that I was a student and told him about the plans for our trip. He was very enthusiastic and wanted to show us around Malatya. Unfortunately, we did not have much time in Malatya (only 1 day) and I had to respectfully decline his offer. He gave me his number anyway and told me that it would make him very happy if I called him. I never did.
We excited the airport and took the bus to the city center, not knowing exactly what we would do. We arrived at the main square and found a very large statue of Ismet Inönü, the second President of Turkey and a close friend of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Being the political science nerd that I am, I got very excited and took a picture in front of the statue. Unfortunately, an annoying kid would not stop asking for money and wouldn’t even get out of my picture, so he ended up being in it as well.
After taking the pictures, we found our way to the tourist office and were greeted by a man who looked like he had come straight out of San Francisco in the 1960’s. He had long grayish hair down to his shoulders and a mustache. He introduced himself as “Kemal from Malatya” and told us that he was the person who worked in the tourism office in Malatya. Surprisingly, he spoke decent English. He explained that it was because he had spent a number of years working with tourists in Sultanahmet. He was very friendly (maybe even a bit too friendly towards Spnya – telling her that she should live with him for a month or two for free and teach him English). We explained to him that the main reason we had come to Malatya was that we wanted to see Mt. Nemrut. He said that he would be able to help us with that and explained that because of the length of the drive and the cold weather that it would be best if we did not start our journey to Nemrut until at least 12 or 1pm. In the meantime, he suggested that we leave our luggage with him and walk around Malatya (he even suggested where we should go).
We took his suggestions and first made our way to the metal markets. Whole there was nothing too special or touristic about it, it was neat to get a small glimpse into Turkish village life. The metal making was done with traditional tools (not the use of machines) and they made everything from hot water heaters to pots to cauldrons. Anything that could be made of medal was being made by these guys. Also interesting was the fact that there were very few young people in these shops. They were mostly men of forty or older. This indicated to me that it might be a dying art here in Turkey and that it wouldn’t be around much longer. Its really a shame if that is the case because it was neat to see these guys in action. There is no way you could ever see anything like this in the United States.
After a walk around the metal market as it was called, we walked to the bazaar of Malatya. In this place they were mostly selling the commodity for which Malatya is most known. Malatya is very famous for kayısı (apricots). In the first store, the owner let us try apricot lokum (Turkish delight) and it was absolutely delicious. I enjoyed it so much that I bought some for a snack on our trip. We then walked up through the market and found a poster of Barack Obama in front of apricots. Being Americans, we were both surprised and amused! The reason for the poster was because when Obama visited Turkey, he talked about Turkey solving their debt deficit through exporting fruits such as apricots. Because Malatya is the apricot capital of Turkey, they interpreted the speech as indirectly referencing them. This of course led to the Obama poster that we all found so comical. The store owner behind the Obama poster beckoned us to come into his shop and try the many different apricot products he possessed. In this shop there was everything from apricot soap to chocolate covered apricots to different kinds of apricot candies to apricot döner. Anything you can imagine that could be made out of apricots, this guy had. The best part was that he let us try it all for free. We were so full after eating in the store that we didn’t even need lunch! It was fantastic! Of course the girls bought some apricot products for themselves.
Other than the apricot and metal bazaars there really isn’t all that much to do in Malatya so we headed back to the tourist office and met Kemal. He had a driver waiting to take us to Mt. Nemrut for 50 TL per person (which is actually fairly cheap to rent your own driver for the kind of trip we were doing). So we get into the car and we are off on our way to Nemrut Dağı. The three girls sat in the back together and I sat up front. In Turkey, especially if you don’t know the driver, it is always customary for the man to sit in the front because it is possible to get a man who will harass a lady in the front seat by grabbing her leg or something. I have never seen it happen, but I would rather follow the norm just in case. It was also cool for me because I got a bird’s eye view of our surroundings and our ride through the countryside.
The road began in the relatively flat high plains. We soon made our way into the tall mountains south of Malatya. When we were planning our trip to the East, we had briefly flirted with the idea of renting a car to see more places and drive to places like Nemrut for much cheaper. As soon as we began our ascent to Nemrut, which totaled about 3 hours one way, it became clear that renting a car would have been a very bad idea. The road to Nemrut was quite confusing and not very well marked. There were several points where we made turns that only someone who had travelled this route many times would have known to make. Even with a map it would have been difficult. Secondly, the road conditions were very poor. Many times we were driving around very steep cliffs on dirt roads. It was definitely not a road for the novice driver.
We stopped in a small place about an hour into the drive to have some lunch. It was a bit expensive, but it was delicious. I guess the expense is the premium we pay for the convenience of a good meal in the middle of nowhere. The scenery was also really neat including small waterfall close by and mountains all around. Elif sent me to our drive to ask in Turkish if he would like to join us. He respectfully declined, but it made him smile. We continued and stopped at a small convenience store for a bathroom break. The bathrooms were Eastern style toilets (my first of many experiences with them) and it was not very clean.
The driver was very interesting as well. Living in Istanbul I was of course mildly aware of the Kurdish issue in Turkey. However, I had never seen a Kurd before. Our driver was Kurdish and I had many questions. Unfortunately, he spoke very little English. Elif had a lengthy conversation with him. I am not sure about the contents of it. She said she learned some really interesting stuff and would tell us later. Unfortunately, she forgot a lot of what he said (which is totally understandable in a conversation over the course of three hours).
As we approached the summit of Mt. Nemrut, we began to see snow. At first it was in small patches, but as we got closer, it was very high around us. The road contained many sharp turns as we progressed up the last bit of road before the end. Finally our three hour journey came to an end at the Güneş Hotel. At the hotel, cars cannot go any further. From this point we had to walk 3km to the stop with the last little bit in deep snow (the first two-thirds had been bulldozed).
Finally, after what seemed like a full day of travelling we reached the summit of Nemrut. I was very glad we made this trip. For those of you who don’t know about it, Nemrut is like the Turkish version of our Mt. Rushmore. Large stone heads were carved out of rock. Due to earthquakes they had fallen and are dismembered from their heads. King Antiochus, a megalomaniac of an independent kingdom that signed a non-aggression pact with Rome had these statues built. He was the king of an independent kingdom. He believed himself immortal and god-like and therefore built his own statue with those of the Gods. Also on the top of Nemrut Dağı is a large burial mound that is believed to be the final resting place of King Antiochus. The entire area was really neat and definitely worth the three hour trip. The heads and bodies looked like they were carved out of pure stone. The way in which the stones were assembled was pretty fascinating to me. I was definitely happy we made the trip to the mountain.
Because it was mid spring, the mountain summit was still very cold. It was much colder than I had anticipated. We were lucky even to get to go to Nemrut because some years during the time we went the mountain is still closed due to winter weather.
Since we had made the trek all the way up to the top, I really wanted to stay for sunset. However, the weather got very cold very fast. I was freezing in my jeans and long-sleeved shirt. I had not brought a jacket, thinking it wouldn’t be that cold. Elif and Em decided they had had enough of the cold after exploring the summit and began their decent. I told them I wanted to watch the sunset but because it was so cold, they told me that they would wait at the car for me. Sonya decided to stay with me.
A tour group came and ruined the peaceful scenery with loud talking. It was so cold that we saw one man wearing what seemed to be a makeshift pink headscarf! It was very funny! I can’t make fun of him too much though because they spoke to us and did offer us a glass of wine while we were waiting for the sun to set. We also met a group of students from Ankara, but because we didn’t write down each other’s names, we never heard from them again.
The sunset was a bit disappointing because it was cloudy. I was stubborn and wanted to see it any way. On a clear day I think it would have been REALLY awesome. Oh well.
Sonya and I hiked down to the car and we began our journey back to Malatya. We were all exhausted after waking up so early in the morning to fly to Malatya. The road leading down was dark and dangerous. Apparently, our driver told Elif that he was driving slow because if he drives too fast, it makes him more tired. As a result, Elif tried to keep conversation up and ask questions for 3 hours while everyone else slept. It sucked for her because I know she was really tired too. She did not get to sleep in the car like everyone else.
Three hours late, we arrived at our hotel (recommended and set up for us by Kemal while we were on our day trip, which was really nice of him. We ended up with a 4 bed room and a not so nice bathroom. Kemal was there waiting for us to make arrangements. He really seemed to like us and as Turkish culture dictates, h e wanted to have a çay with us (it is a Turkish tradition to have çay with guests and its rude for a guest to refuse). However, when he saw how exhausted we were, he decided not to push it. We went upstairs and I fell asleep almost immediately. A great start to a great trip.
Ilkbahar Tatil (Spring Break) in Eastern Turkey
I have been itching to write this series of blog entries ever since my trip ended in early May. However, due to the constraints of finals and more traveling, it was not until now that I could start writing this series of blogs. Before telling you about my trip, I want to make a few general observations and reflections before the trip.
My desire to take a trip to the east came from flipping through other people’s guidebooks and seeing cool pictures. I thought to myself that it would be really neat to see these places. I was completely unaware of many realities about the east. As I prepared for my trip, I asked Turkish friends and people I respect here about their thoughts of this trip. The reaction I received by almost everyone was that I was crazy and that I should not go to the east. According to them, it would be much better and safer to see the beautiful places in the Mediterranean and Aegean Region. In fact, I had several friends who chose this option instead.
Many of you may be unaware of this, but there are huge regional disparities and differences in Turkey. In general the east is populated by Kurdish people and tends to be more conservative. During the conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK, dolmuşes were stopped and everyone inside was executed by the terrorists. This had not happened for a number of years, but certainly there was something to be concerned about. The east is also considered in general to be more conservative, clinging to the traditional Islamic norms that are reminiscent of the Middle East more than Turkey.
After consulting a friend, he told me I should ask one of my professors about what traveling to the east was like and if it was safe so that I could get a good gauge of things. I took his advice and consulted my Political Economy professor, the department head of the political science department. I respected her and felt that perhaps she could give me the best guidance. I explained to her that I was going on this trip with three girls (2 Americans and 1 Turkish girl) and asked if it would be okay or what potential dangers I could face. She proceeded to tell me that it might be difficult for us to stay in the same hotel room. In Eastern Turkey, due to their conservative nature, she thought they would even go far as to ask us for a marriage license when we were booking our rooms. She strongly felt that I should bring another guy so that we could share a room and keep the girls from being embarrassed by how the hotel staff might treat them in the East. I discussed this option with the girls and told them what I found out, but because we already had four people, we thought it might be too much to bring another person. Furthermore, despite the fact that I had a Turkish girl with me, she said that I might need to bring a Turkish guy to make arrangements. She said that because Elif is a girl, they might not listen to her due to the belief the prevailing sexist beliefs in that part of the country. She also explained that most people go to the East on a tour from Cappadocia or something and that it might be easier and safer to do it that way.
On another side note, while discussing these different issues with her and others, I found at that there is a prevailing belief in the Western part of Turkey that the East is rugged, undeveloped, and unsafe. Furthermore, it seemed to me that they considered the people in the Eastern part of Turkey to be very conservative (so much so that it might cause problems for us on our trip). Interestingly, all of the people that I spoke to that gave me these warnings and felt so strongly about us not going to the East had NEVER been. These were the main things I knew about Eastern Turkey beforehand and you should consider these ideas and how they changed as you read my Spring Break account.
My desire to take a trip to the east came from flipping through other people’s guidebooks and seeing cool pictures. I thought to myself that it would be really neat to see these places. I was completely unaware of many realities about the east. As I prepared for my trip, I asked Turkish friends and people I respect here about their thoughts of this trip. The reaction I received by almost everyone was that I was crazy and that I should not go to the east. According to them, it would be much better and safer to see the beautiful places in the Mediterranean and Aegean Region. In fact, I had several friends who chose this option instead.
Many of you may be unaware of this, but there are huge regional disparities and differences in Turkey. In general the east is populated by Kurdish people and tends to be more conservative. During the conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK, dolmuşes were stopped and everyone inside was executed by the terrorists. This had not happened for a number of years, but certainly there was something to be concerned about. The east is also considered in general to be more conservative, clinging to the traditional Islamic norms that are reminiscent of the Middle East more than Turkey.
After consulting a friend, he told me I should ask one of my professors about what traveling to the east was like and if it was safe so that I could get a good gauge of things. I took his advice and consulted my Political Economy professor, the department head of the political science department. I respected her and felt that perhaps she could give me the best guidance. I explained to her that I was going on this trip with three girls (2 Americans and 1 Turkish girl) and asked if it would be okay or what potential dangers I could face. She proceeded to tell me that it might be difficult for us to stay in the same hotel room. In Eastern Turkey, due to their conservative nature, she thought they would even go far as to ask us for a marriage license when we were booking our rooms. She strongly felt that I should bring another guy so that we could share a room and keep the girls from being embarrassed by how the hotel staff might treat them in the East. I discussed this option with the girls and told them what I found out, but because we already had four people, we thought it might be too much to bring another person. Furthermore, despite the fact that I had a Turkish girl with me, she said that I might need to bring a Turkish guy to make arrangements. She said that because Elif is a girl, they might not listen to her due to the belief the prevailing sexist beliefs in that part of the country. She also explained that most people go to the East on a tour from Cappadocia or something and that it might be easier and safer to do it that way.
On another side note, while discussing these different issues with her and others, I found at that there is a prevailing belief in the Western part of Turkey that the East is rugged, undeveloped, and unsafe. Furthermore, it seemed to me that they considered the people in the Eastern part of Turkey to be very conservative (so much so that it might cause problems for us on our trip). Interestingly, all of the people that I spoke to that gave me these warnings and felt so strongly about us not going to the East had NEVER been. These were the main things I knew about Eastern Turkey beforehand and you should consider these ideas and how they changed as you read my Spring Break account.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sunday, April 19th
Sadly, on Sunday I had to say goodbye to Germany. When we woke up, Brenton’s parents had gone to church. Upon returning, they had 4 chocolate Milka candy bars! One of the many things Germany is famous for is of course its chocolate. It was awesome that his parents bought some to give to me. They also had another of my favorites for breakfast on Sunday…lox! Oh my goodness you cannot imagine how happy I was to have them! Then, when I told them I couldn’t find them easily in Turkey (there are some specialty expensive places that have them) they gave me more. When I told them it was too much, they said, “No, no. We can have these any time but you can’t so you should eat them now.” It was very sweet of them.
Afterwards, we made our way to the airport and I said my goodbyes and thanked them for a lovely weekend in Germany. Upon boarding the plane, I ended up sitting next to this Turkish woman who was about 9 years older than me who spoke only German and Turkish. Armed with my dictionary, we slowly made conversation in Turkish. At the end she gave me her email address and occasionally we still talk. She was in Germany because her boyfriend is living there and she works at a hotel in Istanbul as a receptionist. For me it was particularly exciting because it was the first time (albeit slowly and painfully) that I had a conversation in Turkish that involved more than just “Merhaba” (Hello) and “Nasilsin?” (How are you?).
One thing I did not get to do that I desperately wanted to while I was in Germany was go to a beer garden. Brenton was kind enough to inform me that on the way home from the airport in Germany, he and his parents stopped off at a beer garden for the afternoon. Oh well…maybe next time. All in all it was a lovely trip and I was very glad I ventured out of Turkey for the weekend (and I was able to renew my visa…score!)
Afterwards, we made our way to the airport and I said my goodbyes and thanked them for a lovely weekend in Germany. Upon boarding the plane, I ended up sitting next to this Turkish woman who was about 9 years older than me who spoke only German and Turkish. Armed with my dictionary, we slowly made conversation in Turkish. At the end she gave me her email address and occasionally we still talk. She was in Germany because her boyfriend is living there and she works at a hotel in Istanbul as a receptionist. For me it was particularly exciting because it was the first time (albeit slowly and painfully) that I had a conversation in Turkish that involved more than just “Merhaba” (Hello) and “Nasilsin?” (How are you?).
One thing I did not get to do that I desperately wanted to while I was in Germany was go to a beer garden. Brenton was kind enough to inform me that on the way home from the airport in Germany, he and his parents stopped off at a beer garden for the afternoon. Oh well…maybe next time. All in all it was a lovely trip and I was very glad I ventured out of Turkey for the weekend (and I was able to renew my visa…score!)
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