Saturday, February 12th, 2005

Tomorrow I’ll be embarking on a new journey here in Turkey. I’m leaving Ankara for a few weeks and heading to Iskenderun. For those of you who don’t know, and I assume it’s around 99% here, Iskenderun is located in the south-central part of Turkey, very close to the border with Syria. This coastal city was originally called Alexandretta, and was founded to commemorate Alexander the Great’s victory over the Persian emperor named Darius in 332 BC. Actually, Iskender is Turkish for Alexander, so the name has stuck around. In Roman times it was a major trading center and to this day remains an important port for Turkey. The city is very multicultural, with Christian and Jewish communities and churches being the main features of the city.

Iskenderun is also interesting because it is located in the region of Hatay, which according to the Rough Guide to Turkey, “extends like a stumpy finger into Syria.” Hehehe, I like that description! Hatay is the newest part of modern Turkey. It became a part of Turkey in 1938 after a brief period of independence. Many people in Hatay speak Arabic as their first language, and there are very close ties to Syria here. There was even some unrest in the city of Antakya in 1983 because of this, but all appears to be much better now. So no doubt I will learn about many new traditions and customs here. And, most importantly to me at the moment, it’s warm! It’s been around 20°F in Ankara recently, but in Iskenderun it has been around 50°F! I’m anticipating a cathartic burning of my winter coat when I reach the town on Monday.

“But Simon,” you ask, “why are you really going to Iskenderun? It’s not warm enough to swim, you know.” Well, yes, although I hear the temperature doesn’t stop the tourists! My real reason for going to Iskenderun is that I’m employed! Well, kind of. If you’ve been reading this thing with some regularity you’ll remember that my father works in international education. His organization has some projects going on in Turkey at the moment, which is how I managed to get my original internship here. Well, since I’ve enjoyed my time here I was interested in staying around. So, with the approval of my dad’s board I have become the official Community Colleges for International Development “Volunteer Program Facilitator in Turkey.” Heheh. Pretty funny.

Now don’t cry nepotism here, because everything goes through the board of directors, not my father. I’ll be visiting a technical school in Iskenderun that is going to participate in CCID’s exchange programs, with the goal of helping them set up the necessary components for the program to begin. This will include doing course evaluations, interviewing instructors, taking pictures of facilities, getting to know the city, etc. It’s a great opportunity for me to stay in the country for a while longer and see a new party of Turkey, as my internship has run its course. I’ve actually already been at work a bit here in Ankara, but the real deal begins when I arrive in Iskenderun on Monday.

Which will be an interesting journey in itself. I’m taking the bus, which is the major mode of cross-country travel for the average Turk. I’m traveling with ULUSOY, a company that is supposedly one of the best in the business here. My bus leaves at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday evening, and I’ll be pulling up in Iskenderun around 10 a.m. Monday morning. It should be an interesting journey, although I probably will be asleep for most of it. At least I hope so!

I doubt I’ll be tapping away on the laptop, but I’ll try to scribble down some notes on what I see along the way for your collective benefit. And that’s it… I’ll report to you next from Iskenderun!