Monday, July 04, 2011

Independence Day - Back in USA

Day -1
July 4th
Weather - 81 degrees, mostly cloudy
Plans - R & R


Well, I'm now back in the good ol' US-of-A, and it feels good. No plans today besides unpacking, laundry, posting photos, and enjoying the holiday.

In case you'd like to view my photos, I have about 500 of them total from the trip. You can check them out here, on Picasa - https://picasaweb.google.com/117303597347979775218/TurkeyTrip

Back to celebrating! Happy 235th birthday, America!

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Day 14 - Travels to the States

Day 14
July 3rd
Weather - varying across 7 different time zones
Plans - A full 24 hour day, beginning at 4a in Istanbul and ending at 9p EST in New York (4a Istanbul time)... Flights from Ankara to Istanbul and Istanbul to NYC; train ride from NYC back to Harrisburg; crashing on my own bed.


The Dismissal

Each day as I've been blogging, I've been listening to music. As I began today's post (albeit a day early), the song "No Surprise" from Daughtry (music video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyl24HRGgSU) began playing, and it has a great place in today's post. The chorus is, in case you haven't heard it:

There's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow
I can't believe that I stayed 'til today

And you and I will be a tough act to follow

But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise

It's no question that, come tomorrow morning at 5:15am, I'll be out of this great hotel here in Ankara, and, by 9:30a I'll be on my way out of the country of Turkey.

I really can't believe that I stayed 'til today. For what it's worth, I can't believe I was fortunate enough to go on a trip here in the first place 14 days ago.

Turkey and me will be a tough act to follow, no doubt about that. I've become so much more cultured as a person, as a teacher, and as an American. I'm proud of the experience I had, and I'll find as time progresses, that will be absolutely "no surprise."

I'd stay a lot longer in this wonderful, growing, progressing, diverse, and culturally rich country, but there's someone special back home I can't wait to see again...

Devin


Maybe one day I'll see you again, too, Turkiye!

Day 13 - Ankara

Day 13
July 2nd
Weather - 88 degrees, a shower in the morning, mostly the sunny the remainder of the day
Plans - Anatolian Museum of History, Ataturk Mausoleum, Minister of Turkish-American Relations, Final Dinner


What a beautiful, huge capital city. I could've stayed here at least another few days, no doubt, but our term is coming to an end. So sad to see it slip so quick!

Anatolian Museum of History

A very satisfying place for those who like neolithic cultures, ancient history, pottery, archeology, or Hittites. I'm not much in this fandom, but I certainly enjoyed this place. This is where "King Midas' Tomb" is (I say that in quotations because there's no factual evidence to that), as well as some other things we saw at Catalhuyuk. I quickly mowed through this showcase (not that large, maybe the size of a football field's worth of ancient relics) and then headed outside to take shots of the beautiful roses after the shower we experienced. Gotta love the Rose Country (Turkey's nickname). Here's a photo of the "Mother Goddess" from where we were a few days ago in Catalhuyuk.

Afterward we traveled downstairs and previewed the kids center, sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation. WOW, what a neat place for kids! Down there there were 12 different workshops for them, from being paleontologists, to making coins, to investigating crime scenes using scientific / museum skills. If I were 10 years old, my mom would have to PRY me away from this place.

Afterward we walked to an uphill eatery to eat the only thing I had talked about not eating - the Turkish pita (pizza), served on a long tray and slivered by an old fashioned cook. My God, it was delicious - 1 part spicy, 1 part egg, and 1 part lamb, the 3 divisions were equally good.


Ataturk Mausoleum

To understand a Turk, one has to understand their hero, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Similar to our George Washington, this former general-turned president led his country out of it's "darkest age" into a beacon of democracy, and his people loved him for it.

When I teach my students about Ataturk, I call him the "democracy dictator" for shoving this new system of government down his people's throats. But they revered him and saw him as a nearly perfect leader, so they went along with his reforms. And there were many. Think about turning the former Ottoman Empire, ruled by the same family of sultans for 500+ years, into a democracy. And then think about doing that while your country is occupied by the UK, France, and most of all, the Greeks. On top of that, they badly lost a war, and were fighting a civil war with their own Armenian people.

The 1920s in Turkey were a mess, but, out of the rubble emerges this guy, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, to lead them into the western and modernized world. And the Turks love him for this. The Mausoleum is a must see for anyone visiting Turkey, and we were fortunate enough to cut through the lines (upwards of an hour to enter the Mausoleum and the museum) and see Ataturk's personal belongings, his private library collection, and his role in the many battles that shaped his history as both the commander of the Turkish army and the leader of his people. Just an amazing story, one after another. And the place where he's kept is the perfect capture of their perfect man - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2hhaiVLAOI

We were also able to see the changing of the guard at the museum, which was a wonderful opportunity. Gurjan, our assistant on the tour, was with me when we watched. He's a member of the Turkish Navy, so he was very astutely aware of the discipline needed to drill and be one of the honorary guards of Ataturk's tomb. He kept nudging me in the side and in his accent, saying, "discipline, discipline, you see?" Here you can see the discipline - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAFBAWyXdUE


Minister of Turkish-American Relations

This short but incredible powerful woman came to our hotel and walked right ahead of me into this fantastic conference room on the roof. I said, "Oh, you must be our guest." And she introduced herself, but her first name, and I didn't think much of it. Little did I know this woman was the Turkish government's expert and representative to the entire Western Hemisphere. It was great to listen to her lecture and answer our questions. She was like a Turkish Hillary Clinton, without question. We enjoyed her candor in answering things about our interconnected view of the world, problems joining the EU, the Armenian struggle issue, Cyprus's issues, the Arab Spring, and more. What an incredible lady for Turkey to have, and for us to have as a guest!


Final Dinner

I was fearful of our last dinner, since the group planned this recreation skit on the day I was deathly sick. When I heard them describe all of this and also saw the practice, I thought, "My God, I'm going to watch the Titanic sink in Ankara." But the group pulled off a fun parody of our guide (Orhan), bus driver (Miten), assistant (Gurjan), and our TCF Reps, Hulya (the Istanbul Director) and Bonnie (the creator of the program from California). The 5 of them were brought to full laughter and tears as the group recreated some of the highlights of the trip, some improv, and some wholehearted laughter. Afterward we presented each of them with gifts, both monetary and as goods, and then shared some kind words. I was in charge of closing out the dinner by paying tribute to Gurjan and Miten, and I think I did well in giving them their place in our hearts. It's amazing to think that this fully-packed fortnight is now coming to a close. But, here it is, and we'll have to say goodbye to this wonderful country and the people we've met along the way, both from here and from back home!

Friday, July 01, 2011

Day 12 - Cappadocia (Kaymakli Underground & Carpetium)

Day 12
Friday, July 1st
Weather - 77 degrees, sunny
Plans - Kaymakli Underground City, scenic Cappadocia photo opportunities, Carpetium Turkish Carpets


Kaymakli Underground

The largest underground city is located not far from where we were yesterday. Developed as a place of sanctuary against frequent Persian attacks, the Greeks living here in Cappadocia needed a safe-haven every once in a while for the aggression. This was a decent place, and the underground city was quite a feat of human dominance. There were ventilation shafts, communal kitchens, and even wineries. It was a quick visit, too! Here's a video of traveling through the underground city - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaGcCuxPlR8

Scenic shots

Man, as if we couldn't get enough of the view...





Check out this video of the landscape, too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUDZUozy-EU


Carpetium

I really didn't predict the presentations at the Carpetium would be as incredible as they were, but, like many other things, I underestimated its splendor. First we received fine explanations as to how the thread is made and woven, most especially the expensive silk rugs, as seen in this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvO9Hzzik3Y

We then received the full sales pitch, which was the absolute most entertaining and enjoyable sales pitch I've ever seen. They must've had 100 rugs laid out in front of us, of every size, color, region, pattern, and material you could imagine. The best thing to describe it would be the rug circus, but better, and with food (great pita breads, pizza-like style) and wine (sarap). Heck, they even had a birthday cake for one of the ladies who was celebrating her day today!

Mark, Gary, and I talked about setting betting parameters as to how many women would buy carpets. He put the over/under at 5 and, while I originally took the under, I backed out and Mark supplanted my bet. It's a good thing because the ladies purchased 6 carpets, one of them a beautiful cotton/wool blend that was 10'x13' and about $4,500.

I had so much fun, even though I didn't buy anything. Mark completed his burpees for the day here, too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLYprVPw19Q


For now I'm off to dinner; tomorrow we have a nice 4 hour travel to the capital city, Ankara, where we'll meet much more contemporary issues of Turkey!