Kapadokya'da: In Cappadocia

Describing the landscape of Cappadocia can be silly. Guidebooks use terms like: lunar-like, fairy chimneys, mushrooms, phalluses, but in Turkish, they're called kalelar (castles). The area was formed by several erupting volcanoes which deposited harder layers on top of softer layers of sediment. The erosion left behind the various castle shapes, valleys, and gorges. So, here are a few (!) of our pictures:

One of the (dormant) volcanoes, Hasan Dağ




And some people think that aliens were really responsible for forming all this:

Mevlâna Müzesi: The Mevlana Museum

During our second day in Konya, we went to the town's main attraction: the Mevlana Museum. It is part museum, mostly shrine for the mystic theologian / poet most people in the West know as Rumi. It turns out that "Rumi" only means that he came from the Selcuk Sultanate of Rum in the 13th century. His ideas are alive and influential (he established the whirling dervish tradition), and here, he is known as Mevlana (Our Guide). In the Unitarian Universalist church we attended in Medford, Masschusetts, one of Rumi's verses was used as a hymn:
Come, come whoever you are
Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving
Ours is no caravan of despair
Come, yet again, come
There were a huge mix of people at the shrine: many pilgrims, a busload of Russian tourists, and us. Inside the shrine, there was a tomb where the pilgrims were praying. We couldn't take any photographs inside, unfortunately. The tiles, woodwork, and stonework were spectacularly beautiful. Here are a few of pictures from outside the shrine:



And one picture I copied from the internet of the interior of the tomb:

See what I mean?

İlk gün okulda: First day at school

On Monday, Alex started his Turkish language program at Boğaziçi Üniversitesi and I enrolled at the Tömer language school (off Istiklal Caddesi). We both took placement tests. Alex's lasted two hours and included written and oral sections. Mine lasted for much less time because I only completed 30 of the 100 questions. I was guessing by question 25, so I figured enough was enough. Surprise, surprise I am in the very beginning level! Alex finds out today what level he tested into--he's hoping for upper intermediate.
The weather is getting increasingly hot this week, and the humidity is near 70%. Needless to say, we are melting. It does cool down mercifully in the evenings, and with the window open in the room, the air is pleasant for sleeping. When we moved in, there wasn't a screen on the window. So we promptly got 5 million mosquito bites. My neck looks like a vampire festival. But, while I was hanging the laundry on the balcony I noticed something... window screens. Well, duh, I put a screen in the window.
The other major quality of life improvement just happened today. For the last two weeks, the litter box has been kept in the kitchen! I hated this, very much. The cats kick the litter and chunks across the floor. I got the roommates to let me move the box to the "emergency" bathroom in the hallway. Like with like, you know... (Now the cats need to cooperate, ha ha ha ha.)
Since my language classes don't start until July 7, I have several days to explore the city (and move cat boxes). I still have to find tutoring opportunities, which will take some creative effort. Wish me luck...

Konya'da, 17 Hazıran: In Konya, June 17

We arrived at the Otogar in Konya very early, around 6am. There's a tram that goes directly to the historic center. While we were waiting, an old man started a conversation with us in part German and part Turkish. Plus he wanted to talk politics with the intro that Politics in Turkey is very bad, which Alex tried to diffuse with Politics is bad everywhere. But, that wasn't enough, he wanted to talk tell us how President Bush and the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, are like brothers. We were quite pleased when the tram arrived...
We were even more pleased when we could enjoy breakfast in the Çay Bahçe (Tea Garden) on Alaaddin Tepesi (Aladdin Hill).



After breakfast, we spent an hour wandering around Konya because the Lonely Planet map only names a few of the streets and once you're off the path, well... Of course, it's all very interesting and we start a series of observations on hijab. For young women, how they dress is both fashion and identity politics. The most chic wear jeans and an above the knee manteau, tailored at the waist. The headscarf is colorful and color-coordinated with some other part of the ensemble (especially shoes). Shiny, satiny materials are popular. The headscarf itself is tight over the crown of the head and the hair is piled high under it. We saw many variations with shorter skirts, patterned tights, jeans, long sleeve knit tops layered under spaghetti strap tops. Men and boys generally have button shirts with slacks or jeans, but we saw some in t-shirts. The older men often wear skull caps and carry prayer beads.
We finally found the Sahib-i Ata Külliyesi (a mosque complex that includes a school, tomb, cemetary, courtyard, library, soup kitchen) and we weren't allowed in the mosque. However, there was a museum attached to the tomb which we could visit, and we saw:



Then we went to the Archaeology Museum next door which displays artifacts from the Selcuks, Romans, Hittites, and even earlier.


Later in the afternoon, we went back to the hill to visit the Alaaddin Camii. There were a lot of pilgrims and we may have been the only tourists at the time. This mosque was built by the Selcuks in the 13th century. Inside the prayer hall is supported by some thirty columns that were taken from ruins of Roman buildings. From the courtyard, there was a good view of Konya.


Down the hill, there was the stone and woodwork museum--more interesting old stuff. And, finally, it was time for tea again. The waitress exhausted her English with "Hello," burst into giggles, and ran to find someone else to serve us. The cafe seemed to be popular and it was great for people watching. During the call to prayer, they turned down the pop music and turned it up again later. After dinner we walked around the Şehir Merkezi (City Market) which was divided into large areas dominated by like products--bikes, clothes, luggage, rugs, food, etc. We walked back to Otel Ulusan as it got dark, and collapsed to the sound of shop keepers ending their day.

İstanbul'da, 16 Hazıran: In Istanbul, June 16

OK, we're going to take a little time travel back to Monday. In the morning, our mission was to buy a bus ticket going East and where exactly was still an open question. We walked up to Taksim Square and found a ticket agency that listed a few of the towns we were interested in. Without much fuss, we got tickets to Konya (about 10 hours southeast of Istanbul). We were told to come back to the office at 6pm for the "servis" shuttle to the Büyük İstanbul Otogar (The BIG Istanbul Bus Station). No problem!
Then the next item on the agenda was to get phone call from Alex's colleague, Deborah, who was travelling with friends to Bulgaria and would be in Istanbul for the day. Deborah is working at Space Camp in Izmir, Turkey this summer and she had a week off to travel. Just by chance, as we were walking away from the ticket agency, I heard Alex's phone ring, which he had set to "Bullfrog" and thus didn't recognize as his own phone ;P Anyway, we met up, had lunch, walked around Taksim, and this is what we saw:

More people from the Turkish class at the University of Arizona! What a small world...
Anyway, after hanging out all afternoon, we realized we should probably pack. It was not the finest packing job, as we would learn later throughout our trip. We got ourselves up to the ticket agency on time, and then we waited... for an hour... for the servis to arrive (our real bus was scheduled to leave at 8pm). When the shuttle finally arrived, the driver looked like he had a commando mission to perform. We hurtled through traffic, barely missing pedestrians, ignoring red lights, out-maneuvering all others to get to that Otogar. We made it just in time, but not in time for anything else (like dinner). At least Turkish intercity busses actually have snacks, tea, and water for free. The first rest stop was at midnight, near Ankara, and I was hungry enough to have a reststop meal. (Luckily, there was no punishment for this folly). There was one more stop at 4am, and we arrived in Konya around 6am. The next day...

Yolculu Haber: Travel News

Just a quick note from an Internet Cafe in Goreme, Cappadocia. We've been out looking at amazing cave dwellings / ruins of monastaries in the full sun. And, now we're a lovely shade of pink! Tomorrow we'll take a tour of an underground city and surrounding valleys. We have tons of photos to upload, but that has to wait until we're back in Istanbul. So, your patience will be rewarded...

Sakin bir gün: A calm day

Yesterday, after our long walk around the neighborhood, our new roommate, Sinem, moved into the apartment. She and her sister valiently struggled to put together the frame for an Ikea futon. We helped with the deconstruction when they discovered the problem. Afterwards, she invited us to have "drinks" at her boss's apartment. Her sister drove there, which turned out to be an adventure all in itself through the winding one-way, one-lane roads. More than once we encountered cars coming through the wrong way... Alex and I were totally disoriented by the time we got to the apartment. It was in the basement of a building with a massive stone spiral staircase. To our surprise, Sinem's sister announced that she had to leave and there was a moment when both Alex and I thought, "How will we ever get back to our place???" Sinem assured us that it was walking distance (!) and she wouldn't abandon us :) We spent the evening in the garden,
even after the power went out for a couple of hours. When we finally did walk home at 1am, it took only 15 minutes to get back. Plus, the streets were filled with people hanging out in cafes. I guess we enjoyed an early night in comparison. So, today, we didn't quite have the same level of energy for getting out and about. This example set the standard for the day:

Alice was wiped out from chewing up those cords, indeed!
Tomorrow we'll do a little more...