Roma People

Turk Telecom vs. Beşiktaş

Check out Deron Williams (number 8, black jersey) cross over and drive the lane for a lay-up as Beşiktaş fans show their diehard support.

Arkadaşlar, öğrenciler ve Sema

Friends, students and the Sema.

A few weeks back, we were happy to welcome Alexandra Frankel and Erik Erkkila, fellow ETAs from nearby Afyon, to Konya. A little about the city where they teach: its full name is Afyonkarahisar, which literally means “black fortress of opium” (afyon = opium; kara = black; hisar = fortress). Opium was widely grown in this city and an old fortress is situated on a large black volcanic rock formation here as well, hence the name. They came with two of their colleagues and spent the day taking in Konya’s attractions.

Album cover. Chillin' in Meram. Abdullah Saykili's photo.

Return visit to Rumi's tomb.

Friend I made near the Alâeddin Cami. I bought a keychain from him. He was very happy that I'm Pakistani.

Side view from the Alâeddin Cami, women walking on the ledge.

Courtyard of Mevlana Museum, boy had trouble getting up.

After lunch, several cups of çay and a lengthy chill session, we went to Konya’s Cultural Center to watch the whirling dervises, enjoy the video I took:

My Classes:

Here we are after so many posts and I haven’t even talked about my classes. I teach 3 hazırlık classes, which are English language classes taken for one year before participating students continue on into their field of study. Hazırlık literally means “preparation.” The idea is for them to get a solid year of English under their belts before they continue their education. Many students view it as a laid back gap year before real college starts, so as you can imagine, I’ve come across some students who just aren’t that much into it, but I’d say most of my students are and work really hard. My three other classes are in the Economics and International Relations faculties. No, I’m not actually teaching ECON and IR, just teaching ECON and IR majors Advanced English. The textbook we use isn’t that great though because the level of English is just way too high for some of my students, but I have to work with what I’ve got.

One of my hazırlık classes. I told them to make funny faces; only one did…look in the back!

Group photo!

In my backyard

Konya’ya

Leaving Ankara was a bit of a hassle. The van that brought us to the otogar (bus station) arrived a bit late. We had to shove all of our bags into the back and almost missed our bus to Konya because of the traffic. In the end, we made it by grabbing our stuff from the van and running through the otogar to catch the bus. Then we were on our way! It was only a 3 and a half hour trek that was complimented by free refreshments including çay and cookies. Traveling by bus in Turkey is pretty convenient, comfortable and preferred by many for a variety of reasons, but I imagine that the free çay is the main incentive!

Elma çay (apple tea) I had in a carpet shop.

James working his magic.

Yasin Bey (left), EB (center), and James (right) outside of the Mevlana Museum.

Mevlana Museum, view from the entrance.

Rose.

Courtyard.

Flow.

Selimiye Camii at night.

Mevlana at night.

We also visited the Alaaddin Camii and Tepesi, the Museum of Wooden Artifacts and Stone Carving, the Tile Museum, and an ancient Greek village just on the outskirts of Konya called Sille. Pictures from these locations will be in the albums section soon.

Hoşçakalın Ankara

This is the wrap-up post about Ankara. I’m a bit behind on my entries and I have plenty to post about Konya since we’ve been here for more than a week now. Tomorrow is my first day of teaching so wish me luck!

Saying goodbye to Ankara was tough, but the orientation was a nice way to ease us into our year in Turkey. Since we were surrounded by fellow Americans, we weren’t thrown into the program on our own. We had some time to explore Ankara, study some Turkish, and receive instruction on English teaching and how to adjust to life in Turkey. I can’t say enough about the other Fulbright ETAs. They are all unique in their own way and are just very impressive people. Although we were only in Ankara for 10 days, it felt much longer and we didn’t waste our last few days together. We frequented the Balcon Cafe, one hangout spot, and a few of us spent time in Ankara’s Botanical Gardens together in between trying to secure Turkish cell phones and trying to get our laundry done. We also visited the Kocatepe Mosque and had some great meals throughout the city.

Botanical Gardens

The Atakule has some great panoramic views of Ankara.

Some Fulbrighters in the gardens.

Boy was selling tissues. I didn’t need any so I gave him 1 TL for a picture and he gave me this pose.

We also visited the Kocatepe Mosque, the largest mosque in Ankara. It was completed in 1987 in the Kızılay section of the city. The recitations of the imams here in Turkey are beautiful. It’s interesting to note the differences in accents when one recites the Qur’an. Since Turkish has the ü (U-umlaut) letter in its alphabet, it is used when pronouncing the د (dal) in Arabic, making a deeper sound for د (dal).

Kocatepe Camii

Fountain outside of the mosque.

The minbar, or pulpit.

Chandelier and ceiling.

Side entrance.

Welcome to Ankara

Sorry for the late post my friends, but orientation thus far has been quite busy and I’m just now getting around to updating y’all on what’s up!

First, I have to mention that anything I say on this blog is purely my own opinion and in no way reflects the U.S. Fulbright Program or its sponsor, the U.S. Department of State. I’m not a State Department sanctioned blogger; I’m just a lucky guy with a nice camera and a grant to teach English to Turks!

I arrived in Ankara on September 5th with most of my fellow Fulbright ETAs. We met in the baggage claim, embraced like long lost siblings and made our way to the hotel, the Niza Park Hotel. The next morning, we began our non-stop 10 day orientation and we have yet to slow down the pace! We’ve had intensive Turkish language lessons…Merhaba, nasılsın?…a crash course in Turkish politics and culture and lessons on English language teaching. We were welcomed by the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Amb. Francis J. Ricciardone at the hotel and also attended a special September 11th memorial service at his residence.

We’ve also visited a few cultural sites inculding the Anıtkabir (Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s mausoleum). Check out a few pictures from our visit:

anıtkabir - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's mausoleum

Guard outside of anıtkabir

Changing of the guard outside of anıtkabir.

Some fellow Fulbrighters!

We also were able to visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which documents the history of Anatolia and the great civilizations that have lived there.

A griffin panel sculpture extracted from the city walls of Gaziantep.

After the museum, a few of us made our way up to the Ankara Kadesi, which was the old city citadel built in the 7th Century.

View from inside the Ankara Kadesi.

My boys John (left) and Abdul Aziz (right).

View from the Ankara Kadesi.

Another view.

Couple at the top of the Ankara Kadesi.

We also had some time to browse through the surrounding areas of the Ankara Kadesi:

Almonds, dates and other such things being sold in a market nearby.

Browsing.

They see me rollin'. They see my mullet.

One of the cross streets near our hotel is Cinnah Caddesi, which is named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. The “C” in the Turkish alphabet is pronouced like the “J” in the English Alphabet, thus Cinnah = Jinnah. Caddesi means avenue in Turkish. Turkey and Pakistan enjoy very strong relations and its been that way for a very long time. In fact, whenever I tell Turks that I’m of Pakistani descent, they almost always mention the Turkish-Pakistani brotherhood. Here is a monument to the founder of Pakistan, in Ankara, the Capital of Turkey:

Monument to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan.

We have two more days of orientation before we head to our host cities on Thursday, September 15th. I’ll be making my way to Konya where I will be an English Teaching Assistant at Selçuk Üniversitesi. Be sure to look for my next blog update from Konya!

Look who we have here…

For the next nine months or so, I’ll be living life in Konya, Turkey, iA. If you’d like to visit, come join me! …or just follow my blog.

Turkey holds a special place in my heart. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to travel through this land with a good friend of mine. From Trabzon to Nevşehir to Konya to Bodrum to Bursa and finally Istanbul, we bussed across the country and took in the sites and country side.

Now I’m back, and I’m looking forward to more adventures. Konya is where the famous Persian Sufi poet Jalal ud-Din Rumi is buried, and his followers became know as whirling dervishes. Once know as the “citadel of Islam,” Konya will be home base for my second stint abroad.

I’ll post picture albums of my travels, links to songs and random thoughts in my head and anything else that I feel like you should know, see or hear!