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!
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.
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!
rumisapprentice 