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!