Last weekend, CIEE made a study trip to Ankara and Konya. It was short, 3 days, but jam-packed. We began on Friday at 7:30am and made the 6 hour drive to Ankara, arriving just after 2. We stopped at a restaurant for Mantı (a lamb-stuffed Turkish noodle with yogurt and spices on top - delicious, but filling) and baklava before heading to our first sight, the Ankara archaeology museum. We saw some neat artifacts, but frankly I think that most of us are pretty ruin-ed out at this point in the semester. I never knew it was possible to have so many ruins in one country. After, we took a walking tour of the Ankara citadel - basically the highest point of the city where there's an old fortress. While also ruins, this was cool for a few reasons: The Turks are hilariously irreverent to the Romans who occupied this land before the Ottomans. Here you can see how Roman ruins have been used to aid in the construction of the city walls. There are chunks of temples, columns, reliefs, etc... that are just used as other bricks - often placed sideways.
I think that the Turks understood our Roman ruin overload, and were aiming for comic relief. We climbed to the top of the fortress walls, to see some beautiful views of the city:
One of the things that I did appreciate was the amount of green in the city. Very unlike the Istanbul I've come to know and love.
Students had the evening free, so a bunch of us found a student cafe to have dinner and relax in. The next day we woke up and headed immediately to Atatürk's Mausoleum. This was an incredibly unique experience. The compound was HUGE, and filled with Turks of all ages - tons of school trips, tourists, and older people. It become quickly clear that this is somewhere that people make a pilgrimage to, and understandably given the high level of nationalism in Turkey (There's a post on this and a few more observations I've made coming down the pike... bear with me!). When you enter, you walk down this huge walkway with high bushes, shielding the mausoleum itself and the courtyard at the end. It all comes upon you at once, and you are greeted with an overbearing Parthenon-looking building. There are approximately 10 people paid to stand there with huge Turkish flags, waving them around (as you can see in the photo below.
Only a certain number of people are allowed in the chamber at once, so we had to wait in line. One of the kids in our group, Will (below), made some friends with elementary school kids. Will's Turkish is impeccable for the amount of time that he has spent studying it, and the kids were amused by his ability. The rest of us stood around, smiling at the adorable kids and mumbling the occasional ''evet'' (yes) and tamam (okay).
When we were finally herded into the chamber, we were greeted with Atatürk's large and empty coffin, as he's buried deep below the surface in Islamic tradition. There's a wreath in front (there's someone standing in front of it in the photo below) that is changed about every 10 minutes, swapped with an identical one made of flowers from different areas of the country. While we were there, they laid the wreath from İzmir.
We barely had time to stuff a refreshing popsicle into our mouths before heading back to the bus and on to Konya. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, Konya is the home of Mevlana Rumi, the founder of the Mevlani Order of Sufi Islam. This is the sect that practices via whirling dervish ceremonies. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the practice (as I was before I came to Turkey), the whirling dervishes wear long, white (symbolic) dress robes and caps while spinning in circles in order to make a connection with Allah. They hold one hand palm-up, to symbolize what they are receiving from Allah, and one hand palm-down, to symbolize them passing on their blessings to the people on earth. Atatürk outlawed the Sufi lodges in which these ceremonies are had, through his secularization efforts. The only ceremonies legally allowed now are those put on for tourists in theaters. There are, however, still some hidden lodges that exist. One of the friends of our director had a connection to one of the lodges in Konya, and the leader was willing to host our group during their usual ceremony. Because it's hidden, the bus was not able to bring us up to the building itself. So, we were basically dropped on the side of the road, and hiked through the woods a bit to get there. It was absolutely worth it. When we arrived, we sat down and were given glasses of Turkish tea. The leader then explained the entire ceremony, the symbolism, what it takes to become a dervish, and a bit about Mevlani Sufism, before proceeding with the normal ceremony. We were not allowed to take photos, as this was a religious experience and not a tourist attraction, but here is a youtube video that shows a whirling dervish ceremony.
What I was unaware of was the fact that this ceremony was an experience both for the dervish and for the onlookers. One woman near where I was sitting was moved to tears by the ceremony. It was really beautiful, and I really appreciated the opportunity to see an authentic Sufi lodge, rather than the ceremonies put on for show in tourist centers.
The next day we only had one sight on our agenda: Çatalhöyük. It is this large archaeological dig outside of Konya, that has been the origin of some of the most famous cave and wall paintings. Here is a photo of one of the dig sights. I have to be honest, it wasn't the most exciting thing I've ever seen, especially as most of it was covered in sand bags and the interesting parts have been removed. Additionally, the tents that were erected to preserve the sight essentially cut it off from the outside world making it uncomfortable hot and dry inside - I would not be at all surprised if the temperature exceeded 120 degrees Fahrenheit. We had an archaeologist that gave us a tour, however, and he was excited enough for all 23 of us. It's hard not to find it a little interesting when your guide thinks it is the center of the universe.
After Çatalhöyük, we were headed to the airport. While we were waiting, we played this game called celebrity heads - each person is given a sticky note with a celebrity's name on it, which they stick on their forehead. You are not allowed to look at your own sticky, but everyone can see it, and you try to figure out who you are by asking questions to the other players. It was really fun, and made for great entertainment, I am sure, for the other people at the airport. One of the security guards came over and peeled the sticker off one girls head, looked at it, smirked, stuck it back on, and continued on his way. I'm sure all the little kids were asking their parents, "what are those weird Americans doing?"
After a short, but bumpy, plane ride, and a longer bus ride, we were finally back at school. It was a great weekend, but I'm glad to be back on campus for a while!
BRUNCH AT KILYOS
May 1st is International Workers' Day, which is celebrated like Labor Day in the US. We had the day off from classes, so we decided to visit one of the Black Sea beaches a little north of school. So, on Tuesday morning, we went to town, picked up our obligatory brunch items - balkaymak, ekmek, karişik meyve suyu, peynir, olives, jam, and the freshest strawberries (çilekler) I've ever had - and hopped on a dolmuş to Kilyos. When we arrived, we found a great little town, and a long, long beach. The size of it reminded me of Popham at home. Here's our brunch spread:
Here's a photo looking our to the Black Sea. You may not be able to see them very well, but there are about 30 oil tankers hanging out off shore, waiting for their turn to enter the Bosphorus.
Here's a photo of the town itself. It's cut from a panoramic photo I took, so please excuse the quality...
It was a great way to spend our day off, although I should have been doing homework... I hope to get back to Kilyos before I leave - it's just very beautiful, and not crowded, like much of the area. Hope everyone back home also had a great week!
I think that the Turks understood our Roman ruin overload, and were aiming for comic relief. We climbed to the top of the fortress walls, to see some beautiful views of the city:
One of the things that I did appreciate was the amount of green in the city. Very unlike the Istanbul I've come to know and love.
Students had the evening free, so a bunch of us found a student cafe to have dinner and relax in. The next day we woke up and headed immediately to Atatürk's Mausoleum. This was an incredibly unique experience. The compound was HUGE, and filled with Turks of all ages - tons of school trips, tourists, and older people. It become quickly clear that this is somewhere that people make a pilgrimage to, and understandably given the high level of nationalism in Turkey (There's a post on this and a few more observations I've made coming down the pike... bear with me!). When you enter, you walk down this huge walkway with high bushes, shielding the mausoleum itself and the courtyard at the end. It all comes upon you at once, and you are greeted with an overbearing Parthenon-looking building. There are approximately 10 people paid to stand there with huge Turkish flags, waving them around (as you can see in the photo below.
Only a certain number of people are allowed in the chamber at once, so we had to wait in line. One of the kids in our group, Will (below), made some friends with elementary school kids. Will's Turkish is impeccable for the amount of time that he has spent studying it, and the kids were amused by his ability. The rest of us stood around, smiling at the adorable kids and mumbling the occasional ''evet'' (yes) and tamam (okay).
When we were finally herded into the chamber, we were greeted with Atatürk's large and empty coffin, as he's buried deep below the surface in Islamic tradition. There's a wreath in front (there's someone standing in front of it in the photo below) that is changed about every 10 minutes, swapped with an identical one made of flowers from different areas of the country. While we were there, they laid the wreath from İzmir.
We barely had time to stuff a refreshing popsicle into our mouths before heading back to the bus and on to Konya. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, Konya is the home of Mevlana Rumi, the founder of the Mevlani Order of Sufi Islam. This is the sect that practices via whirling dervish ceremonies. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the practice (as I was before I came to Turkey), the whirling dervishes wear long, white (symbolic) dress robes and caps while spinning in circles in order to make a connection with Allah. They hold one hand palm-up, to symbolize what they are receiving from Allah, and one hand palm-down, to symbolize them passing on their blessings to the people on earth. Atatürk outlawed the Sufi lodges in which these ceremonies are had, through his secularization efforts. The only ceremonies legally allowed now are those put on for tourists in theaters. There are, however, still some hidden lodges that exist. One of the friends of our director had a connection to one of the lodges in Konya, and the leader was willing to host our group during their usual ceremony. Because it's hidden, the bus was not able to bring us up to the building itself. So, we were basically dropped on the side of the road, and hiked through the woods a bit to get there. It was absolutely worth it. When we arrived, we sat down and were given glasses of Turkish tea. The leader then explained the entire ceremony, the symbolism, what it takes to become a dervish, and a bit about Mevlani Sufism, before proceeding with the normal ceremony. We were not allowed to take photos, as this was a religious experience and not a tourist attraction, but here is a youtube video that shows a whirling dervish ceremony.
What I was unaware of was the fact that this ceremony was an experience both for the dervish and for the onlookers. One woman near where I was sitting was moved to tears by the ceremony. It was really beautiful, and I really appreciated the opportunity to see an authentic Sufi lodge, rather than the ceremonies put on for show in tourist centers.
The next day we only had one sight on our agenda: Çatalhöyük. It is this large archaeological dig outside of Konya, that has been the origin of some of the most famous cave and wall paintings. Here is a photo of one of the dig sights. I have to be honest, it wasn't the most exciting thing I've ever seen, especially as most of it was covered in sand bags and the interesting parts have been removed. Additionally, the tents that were erected to preserve the sight essentially cut it off from the outside world making it uncomfortable hot and dry inside - I would not be at all surprised if the temperature exceeded 120 degrees Fahrenheit. We had an archaeologist that gave us a tour, however, and he was excited enough for all 23 of us. It's hard not to find it a little interesting when your guide thinks it is the center of the universe.
After Çatalhöyük, we were headed to the airport. While we were waiting, we played this game called celebrity heads - each person is given a sticky note with a celebrity's name on it, which they stick on their forehead. You are not allowed to look at your own sticky, but everyone can see it, and you try to figure out who you are by asking questions to the other players. It was really fun, and made for great entertainment, I am sure, for the other people at the airport. One of the security guards came over and peeled the sticker off one girls head, looked at it, smirked, stuck it back on, and continued on his way. I'm sure all the little kids were asking their parents, "what are those weird Americans doing?"
After a short, but bumpy, plane ride, and a longer bus ride, we were finally back at school. It was a great weekend, but I'm glad to be back on campus for a while!
BRUNCH AT KILYOS
May 1st is International Workers' Day, which is celebrated like Labor Day in the US. We had the day off from classes, so we decided to visit one of the Black Sea beaches a little north of school. So, on Tuesday morning, we went to town, picked up our obligatory brunch items - balkaymak, ekmek, karişik meyve suyu, peynir, olives, jam, and the freshest strawberries (çilekler) I've ever had - and hopped on a dolmuş to Kilyos. When we arrived, we found a great little town, and a long, long beach. The size of it reminded me of Popham at home. Here's our brunch spread:
Here's a photo looking our to the Black Sea. You may not be able to see them very well, but there are about 30 oil tankers hanging out off shore, waiting for their turn to enter the Bosphorus.
Here's a photo of the town itself. It's cut from a panoramic photo I took, so please excuse the quality...
It was a great way to spend our day off, although I should have been doing homework... I hope to get back to Kilyos before I leave - it's just very beautiful, and not crowded, like much of the area. Hope everyone back home also had a great week!
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