Saturday, October 30th, 2004

Heheh, it’s so funny here. Today I woke up and went into our floor’s bathroom and found a small flood and huge pile of rubble in the center of the room. And no one in sight! It’s so typical here. And who knows if they accidentally flooded the bathroom while busting up the floor, or if they busted up the floor because the bathroom was flooding! Classic.

Friday, October 29th, 2004

I just had a fascinating conversation with a Kurdish friend of mine in the political science department, along with another poli sci guy. We were talking about American politics, and my Kurdish buddy said he is worried about Kerry because the Armenian-Americans support him. Turkey has a very messy history with Armenia; both sides are still very concerned with a lot of violence that happen around 1915 and who was more bad during that time. Anyway, we ended up talking a lot about Kurdish rights in Turkey and the problems that surround that issue.

I asked if they thought that an independent Kurdish state could ever form. My friend thought yes; he thinks we’ll see it during our lifetimes. Perhaps as part of the Iraq mess we could see land given up in northern Iraq and south-eastern Turkey. I was surprised at this and questioned whether Turkey would ever willingly give up their borders. The other guy said he fears that in the future there will be a rather messy conflict that mirrors what happened in Yugoslavia. We talked about the equal rights movement in America and the steps that it has taken there. They were very envious and said that the Turkish government would kill and jail anyone involved in that before it ever built momentum.

The Kurdish issue is so interesting here. I can hardly comprehend the history, feelings and emotions that are behind it. Turkey has made some steps in recognizing the Kurdish people as legitimate people with equal rights, but I don’t really see those being realized in everyday life here. There is still great prejudice in the way people think and act towards Kurds. There are also many other ethnic groups here in Turkey that aren’t even recognized by the government as official minority groups. I think currently the government only acknowledges religious groups as minorities (please someone correct me if I’m wrong). I see this as a serious issue that has to be tackled if Turkey ever hopes of joining the EU. It will be difficult because so many Turks don’t even see it as an issue. One person said something interesting: “How would you feel if the black population in the US starting vying for independence?” Truthfully, I would be sad because it means our equal rights movement would have been all for nothing. I also don’t believe it would happen.

And wow, an independent Kurdish state would have enemies on all sides, with no support from superpowers like Israel receives. It would be very hard going.

There is so much here that I know so little about!!!

Also, this morning I went with Fatih Balci to the Middle Eastern Technical University campus, where he is studying Civil Engineering. This is actually an American school started in the 1950’s sometime. It really did remind me of an American campus, which was very strange. Anyway, Fatih is really friendly and nice. We only hung out for a few hours but it was a very good time. I hope to see more of him in the future.

Thursday, October 28th, 2004

Today was a very nice day. Started out the morning at BIM. The afternoon we had off, in preparation for the anniversary of the Turkish Republic tomorrow. It will be 81 years old! Yee haw.

In the afternoon I met up with my friend Feramuz. We set out on foot for the Ankara Citadel. This thing is a Byzantine castle whose walls surround the oldest part of the city. And seemingly one of the poorest. Houses were ramshackle, cobbled together affairs and poverty was evident everywhere. Yummy rotting garbage and poop smells mingled with cheap restaurant odors; grubby children were everywhere, with some offering cheap trinkets in exchange for a few lira. Well, 500,000 is not a few, but it is cheap!

The castle was an interesting thing, nothing great. But the view of the city was a different story. It was really neat to see Ankara in all of its smoggy splendor. There is such a haze over this city that any magnificence was quite diminished in my mind. Combine this with all the ciggys people smoke here and it’s pretty understandable why so many people die early. Any climbed up to the highest wall, sat on the edge and shared a deliciously juicy pomegranate. It was really nice.

Feramuz is a great guy. He’s a humanist, non-Muslim medical student and all around lover of life. We have a lot of great conversations about all sorts of things. He’s the guy who is really interested in Cuba, and we talked about that along with a lot more. Feramuz even invited me to come visit his city Adana, someplace in the south along the coast, during winter break. I think I’ll take him up on it!

After the citadel we went and visited some of his friends for dinner, which was followed by a few bottles of Turkish wine! I must say, it was wonderful to drink a bit of wine. This stuff was decent, a light red, and only 3,000,000 TL for a bottle ($2). It was great to relax with some liberal Turkish and Kurdish people, talk and laugh and just enjoy life. I really liked spending time with them and hope to do so more in the future. But I can’t talk any more now, its 3 am and I’m knackered!

Wednesday, October 27th, 2004

I think it would be good to clarify a bit about Ankara. It’s more modern than any other city in Turkey because it’s a new city! Before Atatürk came to power the government was based in Istanbul. He started his revolution from what was a very small village, and turned it into the capital of Turkey after he was successful. So, there really isn’t anything old here, except for one castle on a hill that I will visit soon! The buildings are approximately 70 years old, and most much newer. Everything was done in emulation of the west, so it really is much different than other Turkish places.

I’ve met some very interesting students here over the past few days. Unfortunately, I have serious problems remembering their names! I need to start carrying a pen and paper with me, to make notes of who people are. Otherwise, I’m going to start offending people. It’s so hard here, and some people do give me a bad time for forgetting names. I met some guy the other day named “Mehmetularin” or something like that. I couldn’t remember it, and he got kind of annoyed. I told him that Turkish names and words are very different for me, and difficult to remember. “That’s no excuse!” he bellowed. Heh. What a jerk. But still… if I ever want to have a job in International Relations, I’ll have to figure out a way to remember names.

There are many Kurdish students here, and it’s been good to learn about their experiences here in Turkey. Last night I met a guy who is really into Cuba. We had a lot of things to speak about; he was amazed and so happy to find out that I had been there! He is a health systems student who has a great interest in the Cuban system of preventative medicine. It was so nice to speak with him. One thing that’s very interesting: the Ankara University students are SO different to the Çankiri technical students. They’ve all, for the most part, very intellectual, thoughtful, articulate, and passionate students. I’ve only really met male students, but I think it applies to everyone. In Çankiri, the male students were more or less immature idiots! All I was asked about was football and sex! What a difference. I guess it comes from the fact that university entrance exams are very rigorous. Only the brightest actually get into the four-year universities. Anyway, what a refreshing change!

There have also been opportunities to speak with political science students, and it has been a good experience to compare what we are taught and what we read in the news. I’m impressed with the way students keep informed of current issues; it’s much better than the way we do in the states. Perhaps it comes from living in a developing country… I don’t know. Anyway, it’s been great relating with these guys. I’m thinking more and more about getting my master’s degree in International Relations… maybe at George Washington University? They have a top program and a specialization in Europe/Eurasia. That would be perfect for me! Plus, I have many friends and old classmates in the D.C. area… and Philly is close by too.

I’ve started work on my little research paper about Turkey. It will talk about culture, economics and politics. I’ve been gathering a lot of research over the past few weeks, so hopefully it will be decent. Maybe I’ll post it here once it’s completed. But don’t hold your breath… it’ll be a while.

I can’t stop thinking about the importance of communication while I’m here. Every problem and every success that I have is firmly based on whether I can communicate effectively or not. They’re not cultural problems, which is what I anticipated before coming. It’s all about if we can describe what we need or hope for to each other in a way that the other understands. This is such an important lesson for me, and it’s showing me the areas in my life that are lacking in this kind of effective communication. It’s one of the things I need to work on most. Wow, Pat McFarlane was right in Oral Comm. all those years ago!

Tuesday, October 26th, 2004

I think today I’ll write a bit about the city. Ankara is an interesting place. It’s the capital city and much more modern than anywhere else in Turkey. But it’s an interesting sort of modern. A drab sort of modern. In most capital cities you find so many historical places, a great sense of time. Not here. A few tall buildings, busy streets, and apartment buildings everywhere. And it’s dirty. Turks have not yet figured out the importance of cleanliness, which is especially surprising considering my preconception of its value in Islam. There is trash everywhere.

Example: Süleyman and I were walking down the street, sharing some Turkish desert from a container. When we finished he threw it over his shoulder without a moment’s hesitation. It’s also common to see shopkeepers sweeping rubbish from their door, across the sidewalk, and into the street. In Çankiri, there is a small stream that runs through the town. It’s filled with rubbish: soda bottles, trash bags, rags, rotten fruit, cardboard boxes, and everything else. And yet people keep their homes immaculate. What a contradiction. It bothers me. When I speak with nationalists who are convinced Turkey will be a world power in 20 years, I’m often tempted to say, “Your people can’t even keep the street clean. How will you manage to run the world?” I haven’t yet said such a thing though.

Another thing is the large amount of air pollution. In Ankara it isn’t so bad, although it’s not good either. In Çankiri it was horrific. All the heating in Çankiri is done by coal. So once it gets cold there is a perpetual blanket of stinky smoke hovering over all the apartment buildings. This horrible haze that covers everything. Ankara has some natural gas heating, but most apartment buildings here do not. Once I woke up at about 5 a.m. in my dorm because of the smell. Almost suffocating. Which is better, to be too warm but able to breath, or comfortable but sucking in fumes? I chose to close the window, but I wasn’t happy about it.

It’s funny, most of the students I speak with don’t like being in Ankara. They speak with great fondness of Istanbul, or their home towns, and say that they can’t wait to leave. Even many faculty members complain about the city. History is so important to the Turkish people; perhaps the modernity doesn’t suit them as much as Atatürk hoped it would.

Another funny thing about Turkey is the rules. There are rules for everything. I’ll use my dorm as an example. There are rules for leaving to early and coming home too late. Every day between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. we must all sign a book saying that we are here. After 11 p.m. you must only whisper (except in the café), even though Turks don’t go to bed until much later. If I leave for the evening, I must sign a form saying I am leaving. And then they don’t let you back in until morning! When I get dinner I sign a form, and then take a plastic chip that says dinner on it. I walk about four feet, and then hand it to the person who lets me into the line for dinner! There are many more, but I won’t continue. It makes the Goshen College standards of living look like a heathen’s paradise! I now understand the meaning of “red tape” and why it’s a problem in Turkey.

Today at BIM I toured their server topography, and asked a lot of questions about the IT here. They are very advanced! The neatest thing by far was to see how much they use Linux. Debian Linux to be exact. It’s enabled them to invest far more money in hardware and bandwidth, since they don’t have to pay high licensing fees to use Microsoft operating systems. It’s the effective large scale use of Linux I’ve ever seen, and would make any open-source advocate very proud.

I’m making some good friendships in the department here. As always, the people are so warm and friendly. I can hardly believe my good fortune here… will things ever go badly?

Monday, October 25th, 2004

Well, another night of no sleep. What is going on here? I don’t know if it’s still the traffic noise, or the copious amounts of çay I drink during each day, but sleeping in Ankara has been a serious bitch. It results in my being a mess in the morning, so I stay in bed longer. Maybe it’s some sort of vicious cycle that can only be broken by staying up for two days straight and then having a normal night of rest. Maybe I’ll try it this weekend?

After lounging in bed too long this morning, I went out and continued my search for cheap restaurants. And found another one. I huge chicken döner sandwich, complete with tons of veggies (including pickled hot peppers; what a taste!) and a nice glass of ayran for 2,000,000 TL ($1.35). I love it!

I then hoofed it across town to the Data Processing Center at AU’s Tandoğan campus. It was a half hour’s walk but nice after a full meal. This’ll be a nice place to be for a week. I actually have my own desk, fast internet, and many friendly people around, as well as bottomless glasses of çay! There’s a funny Kurdish woman who works in the tea room who is really nice to me, and always tries to get me to smoke cigarettes. The Data Processing Center, or BIM as it’s called here, is the IT central of Ankara University. They write custom software for things such as accounting, registration, scheduling, and whatnot. They manage and maintain the network for the school. They build and repair computers that are used here. They code and maintain the web page. And everything else really… it’s all the stuff that I studied at Goshen so it suits me well! Today there’s not much for me to do other than type away here at my computer. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to go out and see what’s happening around the campus. It’s a good place to be; I’m happy to be here.

In other news, I spoke with dad, mom and Rachel today! I have a new phone number because my service with TelSim was crap. Now I’m with TurkCell, and can receive international calls! My number is 0537 527 4495. I don’t know what the country code is, what the process is, or anything really but feel free to try. Remember, I’m 8 hours ahead of you. If you need help email my mom at halderfamily@netins.net and she’ll sort you out, as she’s managed to connect.

Additionally, my friends Norah and Aaron are getting married! Yay! The wedding is soon and I’m not pleased that I cannot attend. If you want to see their website visit http://www.norahvsaaron.com and have a laugh. It’s really good.

***** UPDATE *****

Here are telephone instructions that my dad used to call me here in Turkey: I dialed 011 90 (0) 537 527 4495 - dropping the (0) for outside the country. So, I guess don’t dial the zero in parenthesis.

Sunday, October 24th, 2004

Well, this is my one month anniversary! I’ve been here exactly 31 days, and it’s gone pretty well really! I haven’t had any major freak outs, people are nice, friends have been made, tasty food has been eaten, and perhaps I’ve even learned a few things. I don’t know about the culture shock. I’m still anticipating something… maybe the difficulties in communication are it. I don’t know. I’ve felt well and I’m glad for that. We’ll see what happens in the future though. I mean, come on… what would a trip to Eurasia be without a little hysteria??? In my mind… not complete.

Anyway, let’s add another mark to the good days chart. The weather was gorgeous today, about 25 degrees Celsius, whatever that is. Nice, that’s what it is. Süleyman and I went out on the town today. First we went to the Tandoğan campus of Ankara University, where I’ll be visiting the Data Processing Center this week. What that is, I don’t know. Perhaps it’s where they do the computer science courses. Perhaps it’s where they just do all the grunt work for the university. Or maybe it’s just some out of the way corner that they’re going to distract me with. I don’t know! But we’ll find out. I get to go there tomorrow, having no idea who to meet, what I’ll see, or what I’ll actually be able to do. So, it’s a classically Turkish visit!

After checking the campus out (which was lovely by the way; very green with lots of trees and gardens), we headed to visit Atatürk’s Mausoleum, the resting place holding modern Turkey’s father and founder. This thing was huge in every way. It rests on a large hill in the west of the city, and is surrounded by tree-lined gardens. You climb a massive hill that finally leads to a long corridor, lined with imposing lion statues. After walking even farther, you come to a courtyard where the main action is. Three sides are lined with museums holding photos, various Atatürk memorabilia, and even his old cars. The fourth side contains the massive mausoleum. You climb a big set of steps and enter through bronze doors into a spacious marble-lined hall, where Atatürk’s sarcophagus lies. It was an interesting visit. Something very notable: the visitors were all Turks. I saw maybe a few Germans, but the vast majority was the country’s citizens paying homage to their founder. He is still very much alive after all these years.

Following this stop, we met one of Süleyman’s friends and made our way to the city center, near the Kızılay area (where I will attend language school!). We swung through a huge bookstore called Dost, which is apparently the largest and best in Ankara. I found what I was hoping to find: Turkish literature in English! I purchased a book by Orhan Pamuk, his first, called The White Castle. Unfortunately I paid 19,500,000 TL for it. It’s about $13, not that bad I guess, but when you’re used to spending $5 on Amazon.com for used book it seems a bit much. Anyway, the book looks great. It’s about a young Italian scholar who is captured by pirates during a trip between Venice and Naples, and is sold at the Istanbul slave market. He and his Turkish savant master (that’s what it says on the back) develop some sort of serious friendship and end up joining a Sultan’s army on a trip to the White Castle. Whatever that is. It seems interesting, and I like the idea of a west meets east cultural exchange as the premise of the book. Also, critics are comparing it to Kafka and Gabriel García Márquez! So it seems promising; I can’t wait to start it!

Following this we headed to a restaurant for some tasty İskender kebabs! Yummmmmm. I love this stuff! It’s thin sliced döner kebab meat on bread with a very flavorful tomato sauce and yogurt. Very good… I want more!!! I answered a lot of questions from Süleyman’s friend, many of which amazed me. An example: he had read a theory the newspaper that America was doomed in the foreseeable future due to the combination of climate change and an African American uprising! He asked when I thought this might happen, and was surprised to hear my answer of “not in a million years”. It’s so amazing what people believe about our country. I hate to think of how many similar ideas I have about other places that are just as completely off base. It makes you think…

Saturday, October 23rd, 2004

Ah, a nice day for my first weekend in Ankara. I began my Saturday with a huge bout of lethargy! After finally dragging myself out of bed at 3 p.m. I stumbled down to the café and managed to motion myself a meal. Following that (and a few cups of çay) I returned to my room where I daydreamed, listened to music, read my book, and played a few rousing rounds of Worms Armageddon on my laptop! If any of you haven’t, please try this game. It’s basically teams of earthworms with funny voices trying to blow each other up with exploding sheep and other silly weapons! Very nice way to avoid the real world I think!

In the evening I met up with Süleyman. We had a nice time and got to know each other quite a bit more. We played pool, tavla, drank tea, smoked ciggies (not too many!) and chatted about all sorts of things. I met some students and discussed all sorts of issues with them. One was a nationalist who was convinced that in 20 years Turkey will be the major world power, have an incredibly prosperous economic alliance with Russia and control the European Union. Wow. He had an answer for everything; unfortunately his answers were all ridiculously idealistic and highly entertaining. One thing of note was that he said Neil Armstrong heard the Muslim call to prayer from the moon and converted on the spot! Heheheh. What a weirdo.

Süleyman is a great guy; he studies English literature and writes tons of poetry. He’s a very soft spoken guy but very passionate, and I think is a fine friend. Tomorrow we will visit some places in Ankara, go to some bookshops, and basically just see the town. I’m so glad to have a friend in him. It makes being here so much easier. I also met his roommate named ________ (I’ll have to ask again) who also knows English, and is a good guy. I hope to spend a lot of time with them over these upcoming months.

Friday, October 22nd, 2004

Mmmm… today for lunch I had a chicken donor kebab and ayran (yogurt drink) at a café close to where I live. Total cost: 1,250,000 lira or about $0.85!!! Man… I love cheap food!!! I even gave them a good tip, just because I felt guilty for having such a nice meal at less than a dollar.

Today was my last official day at the EU Research Center. I was sad and my friends there were as well. I think that if some of my later visits are crappy, I’ll just skip out a go back to the center! It’s a great place for working, and everyone is very kind. Plus, one of the research assistants is a complete babe and seemed to like me!!! Hahaahaha… I don’t think I could handle anything like that, but it’s nice just the same.

Went to Volga’s for dinner tonight. It was yum: pide (like really thin crust pizza), some tasty macaroni stuff with spinach and mushrooms, and of course çorba (soup) and çay! So nice. One of his friends came over and we watched a bootleg copy of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Wow, what a movie. I loved the crazy memory shred way in which the thing is filmed. Such a great idea. And Jim Carrey is awesome when he’s not being goofy and funny. A much better role for him. Now I want to see the Man on the Moon thing he did about Andy Kaufman (sp?). Neeto.

I don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow. Perhaps hang out with Süleyman or go see some sights. My time here is funny. Like I keep saying. Also, I need to do laundry. All the important things. Ugh. I’m fearing that my writings are becoming quite mundane and annoying. Please bear with me if there are any of you left. It’ll get better once I settle in a bit more.

Thursday, October 21st, 2004

I’m settling into life in Ankara. More or less. I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night, which makes mornings difficult. But I think it’s due to the busyness of the place; the city doesn’t slow down until late at night. Turks stay up late and the capital city is no exception. I live on one of the main roads… according to my map its name is Gazi Mustafa Kemal (named after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey… everything is named after him). It never stops. There are cars, huge trucks, the occasional tractor, and all throughout the night. My first few nights at the Barn in Gtown were the same way. I was up at six a.m. because of the semis on Main Street. But no worries; I’ll be used to it soon.

So, my schedule looks like this:

Mornings: I am supposed to attend Turkish language classes at the Tömer institute of Ankara University. Except, in classic Turkish style, they signed me up for a class that’s almost over. And as they’re only in Turkish, I would be at a loss. The people at the institute even said so. Hakan, one of my teacher friends, told me to go anyway. But I haven’t! Heh heh. The new classes start on November 1st. I’ll think I’ll begin at that point. So, since I haven’t been sleeping well at night, I use the morning for a bit of a lie in. Which is crucial for my sanity here, so it’s all good.

Afternoons: I visit various campuses and various departments. My future schedule includes the Department of Statistics, the Biotechnology people, and Information Systems. Right now I am visiting the European Union Research Center, which is a fantastic place. My friend there is a guy named Erhan, who is a research fellow preparing for his Master’s degree. His topic is American foreign policy, and specifically think tanks. We get along well and ask each other lots of questions. I’m enjoying my time there very much. If the other places aren’t as exciting I think I will just start hanging out there anyway. They have a decent library with English books on the Turkish economy and politics, as well as many helpful people. I’ve also found some great websites with tons of very current info. I may just be able to write a moderately decent paper about Turkey while I’m here!

The evenings are free. So far I’ve had fun. The first night I just hid in my room! Don’t know why, just felt like it. The second night I visited a guy I met in Çankiri named Volga. He studied Tourism there and now lives in Ankara with his mom. His English is excellent, and he’s a very fascinating guy. Quite different than the average Turk. One noteworthy thing: he’s Christian! He was born Muslim but felt that many things in the religion were not for him, such as the inequality of men and women and the inaccessibility of speaking with imams (religious teachers). He said when he would go to an imam with questions or problems, they would become upset with him and tell him that he should just believe. It pushed him away from the religion. He then visited a Christian church (not sure what kind) and had a much different experience. So he read the Bible a few times, asked a lot of questions and eventually became a Christian. Fascinating! I’m planning on asking him more questions as it really is a very rare thing for a person here to do.

Anyway, I hung out at his house with his mom and his friends, and ended up spending the night. It was a good time… we’ve planned to get together Friday night and perhaps see a bit of the town, which will be very good of course.

Tonight I ventured to the basement café here at the dorm with the intent of reading my book (now One Hundred Years of Solitude, yee haw for GGM!) and drinking lots of tea. I sat next to a guy and began to read. After a few pages he asked me if I was an English lit student! It turns out that he is, and figured I was a Turkish student here! Hahah. We began talking and got along quite well. His name is Süleyman (Soloman if you didn’t guess) and is a second year student here. We talked and drank tea together and basically had a nice time. We have plans to see each other over the weekend and continue friendship, maybe by playing tabla (backgammon; I don’t know if I’m getting the Turkish right) or whatever else, I don’t know. But it’s nice to be making some friends.

I feel like Ankara will be good for me, although I still miss people in Çankiri. I’m wondering more and more about what I will do after my program ends here. Do I go back to Çankiri, do I try to make a go of it here in Ankara? I don’t even know what my options are. It’s the bad part about being here independently. I have to find my own way. When my father comes in November it will be good, as I’ll have the opportunity to meet some people and perhaps find out about other opportunities. But already I’m wondering about what will be possible. Who knows…? I’ll just have to be Turkish and take it as it comes, without worrying too much. If that’s possible… I don’t know!

Tuesday, October 19th, 2004

Well, I arrived in Ankara today after a very sad round of goodbyes. I spent the previous evening with friends, and tears were shed. But fun was also had. I got into a great conversation with Yildiz via Elif about books. We have read many in common, most notably The Unbearable Lightness of Being! I was so happy! We got into the conversation b/c we were at her place and I noticed a big pile of books by Nietzsche (yar, spelling?), Victor Hugo and a bunch of other randoms. So she showed me her reading list which includes Rushdie, Steinbeck, Marx and Lenin and all sorts of stuff. So kindred spirits, yay! I wish so much that I could speak Turkish. I think the communication is my culture shock. Just not being able to express myself to anyone. Even people who know English don’t really know it here. There are so many misunderstandings and mistakes, and it’s hard to find anyone who would 1) sit down and listen to what I’m going through, and 2) actually be able to grasp what I’m going on about. So ya. I’m grateful for the little things, because there often isn’t much else!

Anyway, Ankara is packed. People everywhere. Classic capital city I suppose. I live close to the center of town, about 2 min from an underground station which is nice. Oh, for students (me) 20 rides on the underground costs 12,000,000 or about $8. Cheap! The city center is wonderful: cafes, restaurants, shops, markets, and teeming with young people. I haven’t bothered to meet anyone; I’ve just been hiding in my dorm room tonight. I’m staying in a student dormitory and am feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I think I’ll wait a bit before I try and meet people.

I feel like I’m starting all over again. I guess I am. It’s like I haven’t even been in Turkey before. The main thing of course is the language. If I get lost, I’m screwed. Find a taxi and hang my head in shame! Maybe there are some that can help me, I don’t know. I just wish I could communicate.

I’m staring a sit in on language classes starting tomorrow morning. Trouble is, they’re only in Turkish and they’ve already been going for three weeks. So I don’t know what I’ll be able to get from them. My one hope is that there are some native English speakers in this thing that I can befriend. Some connections would be nice. Then in the afternoon I’m visiting Ankara University’s Center for European Union Research, or something like that. I’ll be able to ask smart people loads of questions and find out about Turkey like crazy. So who hoo!

I’ll write more once I know what the story is. Hopefully I don’t get lost tomorrow!

P.S. I’m reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez. I love it! It’s the first book of his I’ve ever read and I’m so glad I picked it up.

Monday, October 18th, 2004

Well, today is my last day in Çankiri. I feel a little weird about it. Ankara shall be awesome I’m sure, but the relationships here will be tough to sever. Not that I’m really cutting them off, but distance does have an effect on things. It’s like starting over again. In many ways it will be nice: the city is great, lots to do, more English speaking friends to meet, language classes, visits to fascinating places. So ya, we’ll see what happens. The transition will be tough though.

Today I gave two presentations: one on CCID and the other on Goshen College. It was fun and weird all at the same time. Both were to groups of administrators at Çankiri College, including Prof. Dr. Balci, the head honcho guy. He was very receptive and happy, so I guess things went well. I’m just glad that it’s over with.

In Ankara I’ll be doing things like attending a Turkish language institute, visiting governmental agencies and NGOs, taking field trips, meeting students, and who knows what else. It should be a really nice time. I’ll be living in a privately run, very nice dormitory, so hopefully that lives up to its reputation. There will be students there, which will be very nice. More friends!

All I have left to do in Çankiri is pack my things and say my goodbyes (for now). I’ll write more when I get to Ankara.

Saturday, October 16th, 2004

I forgot to mention, yesterday was the first day of Ramadan. This holiday happens once a year and is a time of fasting and abstaining from all sorts of things. The days work like this: at 5 am or so everyone gets up and prepares a breakfast. You eat and are merry. Closer to six, the imam does the first call to prayer. From then on, no one may eat, or drink, or smoke, or have sex, or really anything else that might be a pleasure for your body. This lasts for about 12 hours, until the evening call to prayer once it is dark. Dinner is prepared to be ready to eat after the prayer. Once it is called, everyone feasts!

The fasting is considered a gift to God, to show that you will sacrifice bodily urges for spiritual fulfillment. Many say it’s also a good way to understand what it is like to not to have enough food, water, etc. For me, it’s also a great way to understand a bit more about Islam. I have been fasting for the first two days. It’s interesting. I’ve been much more tired, a bit more irritable, and incredibly thirsty. I’m talking parched!!!! I hate to imagine what the serious smokers feel like, as they must go without ciggies each day for 12 hours!

After my first day of fasting, I went to Selo’s house for dinner. It was very nice: soup, bread, salad, garlicy spinach stuff, eggplant with minced meat, and pudding. After such a meal I couldn’t help but pass out. I woke up at 10 pm, stayed and drank tea for an hour, then went home. Partied out. This could be a problem; I’m so tired anyway that fasting just kicks my butt. I might have to alternate days, or take a rest every three days, or something like that. I need to make sure I stay healthy.

Friday, October 15th, 2004

Wow, ten days without an update. I’m sorry to keep you all waiting (if any of you are, in fact, reading this). To make a long story short, I’ve developed a social life. Which means that my hour of writing each day before bed has disappeared. And daytimes have been rather busy, with lots of popping round to visit various places. So the writing has suffered. I’m sorry. I really am; not just for you, but because I won’t have an intricately detailed lowdown of the past 1.5 weeks.

Anyway, the social life is good. My main friend is Elif. We do a lot of chilling, mostly with her housemates, Zeynep and Yasmine. Zeynep is a funny, pudgy girl who smokes like crazy, laughs a lot and cooks very tasty food. Yasmine is more quiet, studies computer science, and is very enjoyable to be around. Elif is rather crazy. She’s from Istanbul, loves to laugh and yell very loud and quickly. She has nicknames for everyone. We get along very well. I taught them how to swear in English the other day, which has been an absolute riot. I will not repeat the learned words here since all might not appreciate them as much as I do, but wow… Turkish girls screaming obscenities at each other provides me with hours of entertainment!

Another good friend is Ildis. She doesn’t live with the girls but is close by and comes over a lot. She’s a bit older, more intellectual and very thoughtful. I really wish we had a shared language as I think we feel very similarly about many things. Ildis used to have a business designing bridal dresses, but now is in school studying Tourism. I’m not sure what happened with the business; I think it probably ended when the economy went crazy four or so years ago. But she still designs sometimes, and gets paid by a local dressmaker for various projects.

The last close friend is Umut. He’s a funny sort who likes to joke around, especially about dirty things. So we get along great. He speaks English very well and makes an excellent translator when needed. I don’t know what else to say really.

We do a lot of making meals, drinking çay, smoking cigarettes (not me), listening to crappy cassette tapes very loudly, playing tabla (backgammon) in cafes, and wondering around the rather boring streets of Çankiri. It’s a very good time. I meet various people through them, get to talk a lot, as questions about Turkey, and basically have a good group of friends who are a similar age. Elif and I also go to a lot of restaurants, which is wonderful for me because I can try all different kinds of food. And man is it cheap. We can get a meal consisting of soup starters, huge entrees of kepabs or whatever, salad, ayran (yummy yogurty drink), and çay at the end, all for about 14,000,000 TL, or basically $9. And that’s at one of the nicest restaurants in town. There’s one that students eat at a lot due to its cheapness and quality, where we’ve had a nice meal for two costing maybe $4 or $4.50.

At these prices I can afford to eat out all the time, which is really nice. Not worrying about money here is really nice. Especially because everyone worries about money. I mean everyone. Without the strong family connections I think students here would be living on bread and water. Maybe some are anyway. Seriously. Which is why I feel good when I can pay for a meal. It’s not handout and I think it goes a long way. So I will continue to do so as much as possible.

On the studying side of things, last week I visited some factories. Turkey has been pumping tons of IMF money into developing a serious manufacturing sector that exports mucho. And I visited a planned industrial area, a place where the government subsidizes industry in order to get many to open plants there. I toured a textile factory, an electronic counter factory, and a salt factory. It was interesting stuff. I asked a lot of questions, especially about the textiles, as I’ve read too much about sweatshop products and had some concerns. It was interesting to find out that the government monitors a minimum wage very strictly and re-evaluates it often. I asked if it was a living wage, but they found that question difficult to understand. “Of course, they said, families survive on it.” But my question of is it enough did not really sink in. It would be good to speak with workers sometime, which is a meeting I will try to arrange. One interesting thing to note is that all the textile workers received health insurance! This seems very progressive and noteworthy.

The salt factory was fascinating. All the processing was completely automated. At the beginning, workers broke up the rock salt with jack hammers, then fed it into the system. On the other end it came out and worker bagged it and packed it. The whole middle process only required two guys to monitor the computers. Very advanced and impressive.

The one thing that gets me here is worker safety. I saw so many people in loud areas without ear plugs, workers spray painting without masks, and everyone in dangerous areas without hard hats. Managers thought my questions about these things to be funny. “They can buy earplugs if they want to, but no one does.” Interesting. Is this due to bad education? I’ve noticed that the current generation of older parents (mid thirties to fifties) all have bad teeth. Selo said it’s because they simply didn’t know that you’re supposed to brush your teeth each day. Their parents never taught them so they didn’t do it. Now everyone has false teeth, or more likely just really bad teeth. Maybe this is the same way? I wonder what the factory conditions are like in similar countries. Do human rights organizations conduct audits of factories in Turkey? Not in any I visited. It seems like an important area of focus, especially with the EU desires that are so important right now.

Oh, I must sleep. I have more to write about, which I’ll do this weekend. Topics include moving to Ankara in a few days, CCID related activities that I have been involved with, possible employment opportunities, and other junk that I can’t think of right now. I’ll try to be more diligent in the future…

Tuesday, October 5th, 2004

Today was a very boring day at school. One of my culture shocks is the way people do scheduling in Turkey. And by this I mean the way they don’t do scheduling. During the morning I was going to type a bunch of stuff, but the power kept going out and my laptop battery wasn’t charged, so I couldn’t really do anything. So I was in the teacher’s office, sitting in a comfy chair with my Turkish modern political history book and attempting to read. I kept nodding up, so I devised a clever ruse to enable copious amounts of nap taking. I turned the chair away from the door and sat with my book open in my lap. Whenever anyone came in I simply lifted up the book and started to read. After they left, I closed my eyes and slept, only to repeat the process during the next break time. Mwahahaha… they knew nothing!

Anyway, in the afternoon I had these meetings scheduled. Which I didn’t know about, because no one told me that they were occurring ahead of time. I had told Hakan that I could go with him to his daughter Nílŭfer’s school for a short amount of time to visit her class. We arranged it all and it seemed to work. When I told Selo he said, “Oh, wait, but you have to meet with so-and-so as well as Dr. Balci this afternoon.” Great. Thanks for informing me! So, I had to cancel on Hakan, which made his daughter cry. Bummer.

So I keep asking about when this meeting is going to occur. Selo says, “Wait, wait, I can take you after the next class section.” So I wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, Selo admits that he does not have the time to take me. So we get Mikiel (???) to take me instead. When we finally arrive, the guy is gone. So, we wonder up and down the hall waiting for him to return. We visited at least every teacher’s office once, had tea in each, and even talked to the vice principal twice. I must have had 15 glasses of çay! Finally, we realized that the guy wasn’t coming back. So I returned to Selo to find out about the Balci meeting. “Oh, you don’t have that meeting today.” When I called him out on this random scheduling chaos, he just gave me a funny smile and didn’t say anything. Fortunately, another English teacher, Oktay, was there and took my side, saying that Selo needed to get in gear as far as telling me about things in advance.

It’s funny. I can handle the more impulsive nature of the culture, but sometimes that lack of communication is really annoying. And it really is centered upon a few people, as the other teachers are very accommodating. Which means that either people just ignore what I say or actually don’t understand what I say and chooses to do nothing about it. It might be a bit of both. But all in all, people are quite nice to me and have done a lot for me, so I can’t complain a lot. I just try to communicate my wishes and see what happens.

Lunch, however, was good. I ate with students from the Tourism department, including Elif. I like her a lot. We have a good time talking, and I can speak pretty freely without worrying that she won’t understand me. It’s so funny; the girls are way more willing to talk than the guys. Some guys that I know from Hakan’s English classes came and visited with us for a while, which was good. Unfortunately they only have questions about football and sex. Which, according to Elif, is all that Turkish guys think about, so I guess it makes sense. Girls actually have intelligent questions and fun comments, and I end up enjoying the time with them much more. They also all think I’m handsome. Serious confidence booster. So thumbs up for Turkish women!

After work (I snuck out at 5 pm by hitching a ride with a history teacher I met last week!) I dashed home, changed, and then hoofed it to Elif’s flat. Today was Umut’s 21st birthday and we had planned a surprise for him. We bought a cake, assembled his friends at the same old house place that Elif and I went on during our date/hangout/whatever and waited for Umut. He finally showed and was classically unsurprised. I guess his friends did a bad job of covering it up. We hung out, drank Cokes, danced to random Turkish music, and eventually ate the cake. It was nice, although very different than the student birthday parties that I’m used to. Umut was pleased but ultimately would rather have been out clubbing, which is impossible to do in Çankiri. So we settled for crap Turkish pop and cola. It was good bonding time though, which is something I’ve desired here.

I crashed at Elif’s on her couch for the night. By about 11 pm I am just partied out. It’s ok though, student life here is just like back in Goshen and people are very accommodating. I’m really enjoying being with the students here; it’s given me a whole other dimension of life here to explore, and its one that I appreciate greatly.

Monday, October 4th, 2004

A new experience today: paid a visit to a factory just outside of Çankiri. Not just any factory, mind you, but one that produces GINORMOUS ANTI-AIRCRAFT CANNONS!!! Blammo and all of that. It was weird, but a good view into how an industry works here in Turkey. We met with guy who runs the place, Talât Yüzbaşıoğlu, in his cavernous office and had a chat about how it all works. He was a very funny man, open and frank about everything. He came right up, hugged me and shook my hand profusely, telling me that he was my new uncle. After the obligatory çay and complimentary small talk, I began to ask him some questions about the factory.

This factory is a government run thing which produces Howitzer anti-aircraft guns as well as something else called the “Panther,” and conducts various research and development. The manager made special note that his guns can shoot 40 kilometers, while the American guns can only reach 38. “The only time Turkey is better than America!” he joyfully exclaimed in broken English. His factory is the only one licensed to make these things in all of Turkey. It’s interesting that even though it is a government run factory that produces only for the Turkish army, he still runs it with private funds. It is not subsidized. If he makes crappy guns, the government doesn’t buy them and he looses a lot of money, which means no salaries for himself and the rest of the plant. It’s a very interesting situation. I asked him if there are private military suppliers in Turkey. He replied yes; in fact, he owns 15% of the shares in the largest one. But there is no competition between his factory and that one, as no one else can make what he makes.

I talked a bit about the military supply sector in the USA and how it functions, with various companies bidding on a project and designing prototypes, and the government then picking a specific project. I asked him that since Turkey is attempting a push towards privatization, does he see this kind of system approaching his industry. If so, when? And will he survive it? Talât hailed our competitive market as “much superior” to the Turkish system at present. He said that in America, when companies bid on a military research project they receive military money to complete the research. So, even if they do not receive the project in the end, the workers are fully compensated for their time spent on the project. In Turkey, if you don’t get the bid you’re screwed, and just eat the cost. Talât felt that the competition would be very healthy for the industry, and that his company could succeed in this type of environment. He predicted that in 10 years a system like this would be more or less place.

Talât was also very critical of the Turkish government, which he said has as much bureaucracy as the Soviet Union! Even the lowliest government officials are provided cars and drivers, and everyone always opts to protect themselves over bettering the system. This was not a complete surprise to me but was very interesting to hear straight from the horse’s mouth. I wonder how Turkey will manage to reform such a cumbersome and costly government. This government can hardly collect taxes due to horribly collected records and lack of a central information system. These are perhaps some of the real questions behind Turkey’s troubles at joining the E.U. Such a badly run government would be a drain on the other countries of the union which carry their weight. Erdogan has been doing a seemingly good job of changing laws that effect human rights and equal opportunities (although whether they are being carried out is another question). But will he be able to reform his own governmental offices and still carry the respect that is needed to lead a nation? I understand why the EU says it will need at least 10 years before Turkey can join… perhaps even more are needed.

After this we took a walking tour of the factory, which was very modern and high-tech, featuring giganto vertical lathes and computer guided lasers that cut within 1/10,000 of a millimeter or something. I can’t remember how many billions of dollars they’ve put into this thing, but it was a staggering amount. The finished anti-aircraft guns that they produce are bigger than my garage at home. Quite incredible.

In the evening I visited Elif and her friends at home. We hung out, ate pizza, drank çay and Turkish coffee and talked about all sorts of stuff. Her housemate Zeynep read my fortune from the grounds in my coffee cup. Very cool, but definitely an elaborate b.s.ing. Entertaining though. I like spending time with these people very much.

Tomorrow is Umut’s birthday, so we are going to surprise him with a little party. I can’t wait; it should be a nice way to meet some more people and carry on social life outside of academics. I’m really happy with how things are turning out here. I’ll be very sad to leave Çankiri in a few weeks… I’m certain.

Sunday, October 3rd, 2004

Woke up by noon at Elif’s house. We had a tasty brunch, then she helped me find my way home. I’m beginning to figure this city out a bit, which is nice. The day was good but tiring, as I had been up all night. So today is an abridged entry.

I went out with Hakan, Selo and Mikiel to do some bike riding. We headed out of town along some country roads. What a beautiful evening. The hills here are either gorgeously craggy like miniature mountains, or smoothed out bubbles that look like a large pile of bare earth does after a rainstorm. I love ‘em. Especially since I’m an Iowa country boy who has never lived close to anything that even remotely resembles a rock (gravel roads excluded).

We stopped halfway at a park in the middle of no where, which seemed to be filled with drunk old men having barbeques. I got to try a bit of Turkish rakı, an alcoholic liquor which tastes like licorice. Good stuff. Also snarfed a few chunks of spicy barbequed meet with bread. I wish I knew more old guys like this!

Afterwards we went to visit some students who had prepared a very special dinner for me. It’s called maklube, and it’s one of the most special meals they have in Turkey. We ate it from a large platter (maybe 4 ft diameter?) on the floor, with it setting on a cloth which covered our laps. In the center of the dish was a huge pile of rice, beef, peppers, potatoes, garlic, and a whole lot more. Around this they had written the word “welcome” with salad, wrapping it around like spokes coming from the center of a bicycle wheel. They filled the empty space with yogurt. It was simply incredible. The food pile in the center even had a single olive in it, with the person finding it receiving a prize. Of course, I was the one who found it (because no one else would take dumb thing!) and received a collection of writings by some Islamic mystic, in English. It was very nice of them.

Went back to Selo’s, now I’m crashing at home. Too tired. Goodnight.

Saturday, October 2nd, 2004

Welp, what a day. Schedules are so funny here, because they are planned out and then not followed. Instance: all week we talk about this picnic thing on Saturday. “Be ready at 10 am for the picnic.” “Don’t forget about the picnic.” Etc. So I get up and get ready for the picnic. Hour later Selo shows up. Ready for the picnic Selo? “Oh, there’s no picnic today. It doesn’t work out.” HA. So we walked to his place. On the way, stopped to play basketball with Selo’s son Alperen and his friend. I got my butt kicked. I’m sure they were amused that the American was the worst basketball player there. Lay-ups were fine but anything else bricked like a drunken mason. Ah well.

Called Elif, the tourism student, to see if she wanted to hang out tonight. The call was met with great surprise. We made plans to meet up at 6.

Had a seriously yummy brunch thingy in front of the tv at Selo’s. His kids were out so it was just us and Nermin. Highlights included huge tasty olives, these great baked thin dough wraps with cheese in the middle, lots of fruit and veggies, and honeycomb on bread. I’m not going to be able to come back to America.

Went out with Selo and Nermin, watched while they bought a new bed. Met some folks, drank some çay, blah blah blah. Good stuff. At 4:30 we went to Bekir’s house where he had cooked some meat and potato stuff in a pot made of earth located in his backyard. I think it was called gŭneç. Also had broccoli soup. Quite nice. His son (forgot the name, I am such a jerk) gave me a necklace that has a protective somethingorrather from the Koran on it that will keep me safe. It was very nice of him. I have been given so many gifts. How can I ever hope to mirror their care and hospitality?

Jetted and met up with Elif. Selo dropped us at a nice restaurant after berating her with comments (in Turkish) like “His father is an influential man. If you treat him badly it will not be good for us,” “Don’t even think about trying anything with him,” and “If he comes back hungry you will not be able to see him again.” Good grief!!!! If he’s this protective of me, what will happen to him when his own kids get old enough to hang out with girls?

Anyway, it was an awesome evening. I NOW HAVE FRIENDS!!! PLURAL, MIND YOU!!! We sat at this restaurant, which is a really old Turkish house converted up a bit, drank çay, coffee and talked about all sorts of stuff. Her English is very good. She’s from Istanbul and finds Çankiri very lame by comparison. I don’t blame her. She’s quite progressive and funny while still being classically Turkish. It’s cool to see; she’s a great example of the secular/traditional balancing act that goes on here.

After that, we hoofed it across town and to her flat. It was cool; we’d hear a something happening and just barge in and check it out. She’s a fearless girl which is nice. Back at the flat, met her roommate and a friend. We hung out, watching music videos on tv and talking. I told them funny stories about the professors at school, and they showed me photos and answered my questions about being a student in Turkey. We played a bunch of OK and all of a sudden it was 2 am. After being invited to stay and accepting, Elif and I sat up talking until we passed out at 4 from exhaustion. What an evening.

I really like her; she’s a great friend and kindred spirit. Hopefully my colleagues won’t worry too much. Selo called at 2 am to see if I was ok! Crazy. I told him not to do it anymore so hopefully he’ll calm down. I hope to spend a lot more time with Elif, and Umut too. They make what I’m experiencing here all the better.

Friday, October 1st, 2004

Ahhh, a very nice day indeed. Started at the second campus, sat in with Hakan’s English class that I had taken part in before. More good stuff; the students are used to me and we have fun. Hakan is very happy and says my presence helps, which feels quite nice. A funny story though: Hakan played a nasty trick on me during the morning break. He’s standing by the window, puffing on a ciggy, and suddenly says, “Hey, you know I met a student from Indiana once. It was a few years ago… I think his name was Chris… yes, Chris Westerbeek.” I was shocked. You’re joking, right? Chris went to Goshen in my year! “No, I’m serious. I met him in London. He was visiting someone.” I was amazed. Small world after all and all that. Started gushing about Chris. Oh yeah, classes together, really funny & smart guy. He could be an investment banker some day; I’d let him manage my money. Can’t believe you know him! And on and on. As I was about to burst from delirium and wonder, Hakan breaks it. “Just kidding,” he says. “I looked you up on Google and found a picture of you two.” And with that he busts up into hearty laughter. I was had. Completely and utterly.

I’m now plotting on a way to get him back. I don’t know how, don’t know when, but it’ll happen! If you have ideas please let me know.

Over lunch Selo, Hakan and I went out for lunch to an out of the way, dark and dingy restaurant in the old section of Çankiri. This place is the only spot in town where you can get a special dish (blanking on the name). Consisted of beef stewed in a light sauce with nice little onions and cloves of garlic. Mouth-watering, melt on your tongue type of tastiness. I need to learn to cook these things. Had a good talk with Selo and Hakan. I’ve been receiving many invitations to hang out with students. A high percentage are female. Hakan is all for it but Selo has reservations. He was worried that these girls are going to get me into some sort of “awkward occasion” that might be bad news. We talked it through though. I think it was good to let them know my intentions (honorable) and see that I’m willing to discuss things in order to come to an understanding. So I feel like progress was made. And now I have his blessing to hang out with girls. Mwa ha ha.

After lunch I went and bought myself a mobile! It’s a very basic old school thing that I got for about $50. You buy a counter card (it’s not exactly minutes, no one seems to be able to explain it to me) and enter in the code, and you gain talk time and message credits. When it runs out, you just buy another card. The biggest one available costs $15. Considering the un-staggering amount of talking I have to do on the thing, I’ll probably manage for a month or so on one card. And when I leave, they’ll buy back the phone! Swell. You can call me if you want, as it doesn’t cost for me to receive calls. The number is 0566-256-8795. I don’t know the country code. So ya… I’m 8 hours ahead. If you wake me up at night I’ll end you!

And finally, I went with Hakan and Selo to a mosque. Friday is the holy day, and everyone who can goes to the mosque over lunch. It was pretty amazing really. In the courtyard of this thing, with minarets towering over you, feet, hands and face are washed. You drop your shoes at the entrance and head inside. Everyone sits cross legged or on their knees and listens to the prayers. The imam doesn’t speak them, he sings them, and they are absolutely beautiful. I had goose bumps. After the sermon everyone gets up and stands together. The imam begins to pray, and a number of actions are performed. First a lifting of hands to the face. Then standing, bending to touch the knees, standing, then prostrating on the ground with forehead on the floor. Up. Then down. Up. Then stand. Then repeat. The worshipers responded at various times. I didn’t know the scoop but followed along and did my own little prayers. After the kneeling is finished, the whole group looks left, then right, then is finished. Most people leave, but some stay to repeat it up to maybe ten times? I can’t quite remember. The whole thing was breathtaking. And it’s the same God in my mind, so I have no qualms about worshipping. In fact, it was nice. For me the service was purely aesthetic, so I could create my own prayers and messages without the obligatory crappy praise song and 10 minute too long sermon. I hope to experience this again. On the way out, Hakan said that many believe that two angels accompany every person, one on the left and one on the right. The looking from side to side at the end of the prayers is to acknowledge these guardians. Neat!

Afternoon was great. Met a new friend named Umut I was sitting in the office after Selo left for classes, reading this insanely dense pdf from the Turkish economic planning agency (like 250 pages of something written in a second language, ran through the Babelfish web translator into a third language, then translated by hand back to English. Yar). Some student comes in a starts rattling off some Turkish (this happens at least three times a day). As I was busy explaining that I don’t speak any, another student pops his head in and says “So you’re the American!” He had heard about my presence on campus but had never seen me. He’s a computer science major that wants to take the English exams and become an English teacher. He learned English by working in a tourist town as a dancer, and then guide. He’s also DJed in clubs! I started playing him electronic stuff off my laptop and ended up discussing all sorts of things. He’s essentially fluent; it was amazing. We probably hung out for two hours. So I sense a good friendship here… he’s my first male friend outside of the teachers, and I think it’s a much needed outlet for me. We’ll probably start hanging out quite a bit; he also said he goes to Ankara every few weeks, so when I’m there we can go out to clubs. Eeeeeexcellent (Mr. Burns style)!

Oh, received an invitation to go to some party from the tourism studies girl that I talked to the other day. Couldn’t make it as I already had plans to go to Hakan’s house but got the number. So my social life is definitely on the up and up. It’s surprising to me that I’ve only been here a week and have so many social opportunities. It’s this whole pseudo-celebrity thing. I think Kurt Vonnegut said something like “You are what people think you are.” Rather than who you are. Which is me. Seemingly ultra-cool American who is really a huge dork. But they don’t know that. They’ve been shammed by their own preconceptions. Actually, I think he said that we are what we pretend to be. Which doesn’t apply here because I can’t even talk to most people. Umm…

Anyway...

Went to Hakan’s again for dinner. It was great; I love his family. They are so cool! We had a wonderful dinner (of course) of yummo yougurty çhorba (soup), these tasty meat ball thingys, friend potatoes, rice and some strange drink made of carrot juice and yeast. Seriously. I even peeled the potatoes myself! Good stuff. Turkish coffee afterwards, then over to the neighbors where we stayed up drinking tea until midnight. Good stuff, lots of great talking and just hanging out with really nice people.

Also, if a bird poops on your head in Turkey it’s considered a blessing!

Thursday, September 30th, 2004

Up at far too early of a time. Selo was to come and get me but was late. I’m thinking that perhaps I will buy a mobile phone so that I can be in better contact with the few people I am around. Maybe I can keep it and bring it back to the states after I leave… I don’t know. Even though I can only call three people it would probably pay for itself. And I’m sure I’ll meet more, so it’ll work itself out.

I met with Selo’s English class today. What a different scene than Hakan’s class. The students were much rowdier, and it didn’t seem like he had a whole lot of control over them. Perhaps it was because I was there. I’m not sure. He had me do a few activities with them but nothing major. Spelling names and the like. I think Hakan teaches much more advanced classes… or just has a much more effective style. Probably both.

Some tourism students, females I have to admit, invited me to go out with them this weekend. Selo teased me about the attention from the ladies but told me that I should do it. So I probably will… they seem to speak English very well and will be a refreshing change from the professor crowd. The profs are nice, but I miss my peers. It’s funny; females are much more assertive than males are here. I receive many invites to come to a girl’s home or whatever, but never anything from guys. I wonder what the deal is.

After lunch I helped translate some letters and documents for the school. It seems that the Foreign Relations Dept. is actually not a department for students, but one for actual foreign relations. It’s just that most of the professors in the department teach classes as well. It’s so odd to help with translations. You get asked the funniest questions and see some amazing combinations of words. It’s nice to help though. It makes me feel like I’m being useful here.

After Selo left for his classes I did some research on governmental economics websites. Kept falling asleep though. Finally at 4:10 I shut the office door and passed out on the couch for a good hour. No one came in luckily. It’s so funny; I know I’m doing a lot here but still feel like I’m not doing anything. It’s hard to explain. I do wonder about this research project and how far I should go with it. I’m not worry too much now though, as I have a presentation on GC to prepare for next Friday. This should be cake, but I still want to do a good job. So I may start on it soon. Try to dazzle them. However, setting the bar to high may be a bad thing. They may end up expecting some sort of Master’s thesis on the economy if I give them too much at the beginning. I don’t know… they treat me like I can do no wrong, but I would hate to disappoint.

Bekir Gülbidi invited me to his house for dinner, so off we went. At 7:00 pm I might add. It seems that university profs work late, as there are many evening classes and late office hours. I am quite often at the school for 11 hours a day. So I actually feel quite good about my nap. I think I shall be culturally insensitive and take them more often!!!

Bekir lives 2 kilometers outside of the city center in a country house he built himself. It turns out that his Master’s is not in Computer Science but in Construction! He studied C.S. for his doctorate. The house and property was very beautiful. Simple but very pleasing. They have a large garden where they grow tasty fruits and veggies organic style.

Anyway, we had a good dinner and nice talks. I met his three sons who were very enjoyable. The four year old kept calling me “Baba Simon”, which means “Father Simon”. Very touching. The one thing that threw me, and this is perhaps my first culture shock (although not that distressing) is that I was not allowed to see his wife. I knew that Bekir is a devout Muslim, although I did not understand the extent of it. He explained that after their marriage, he wife is not allowed to see another man. Ever. This was a definite surprise. We kept the door to the living room shut. Dinner was prepared out of site. We ate the dinner while she stayed upstairs, then returned to the living room. She cleaned up, made us coffee, and all the other things that hosts do. And I never saw her. I guess guy has seen her other than Bakir since they were married. That was 17 years ago. Wow!

After he dropped me off at home (arms laden with apples, pomegranates, hazelnuts and more from their garden) I had a very random encounter. I was in my room getting ready for bed when I heard a knock on the door. Actually, I was on the can when the knock occurred. I ignored it in hope that whoever it was would go away. No such luck. More knocking. Went to the door and answered. The night watchman comes in with a hearty “Merhaba (hello)”, unfolds a mat out, dumps a ton of sunflower seeds onto it, and motions for me to start eating. Which we did. For 40 minutes. The funny thing for me is, this happened at 11:20 pm. Crazy Turks and their late night shenanigans! I even tried to drop hints like “yawwwwnnnn” and folding my clothes and cleaning off my bed. Nothing. I speak no Turkish, he speaks no English. So we were stuck.

Finally at midnight (I had stopped eating the dumb seeds twenty minutes earlier) he grins, hands me the huge bag from which he had poured, and says goodnight. Heh… it has not been more awkward here. The whole thing is really quite funny. And it says something nice about the Turkish people. He received nothing from me, not even conversation, just simply enjoyed sharing sunflower seeds together. They are a generous group of people. Sometimes the generosity works in the wrong ways (at least not in ways that I’m used to), but it permeates what they do. Or at least how they treat me. And I think that is well worth remembering.