Hey everyone!
I know I have been HORRIBLE about updating this thing…I have been so overwhelmed by the task of relating all the things I have experienced to you that I haven’t posted! L
Things are going really well—I am thoroughly enjoying Turkey and the Turkish people. I have
been so lucky to experience so many unique and exciting things. We have been really blessed with some amazing new Turkish friends who
have been showing us all that Ankara has to offer!
Here’s just a few of the awesome things I’ve been able to do in the past month:
· Overnight train to Istanbul: Aya Sofia, City Cistern, Topkapı Palace, Dolmabaçe Palace, Sultan Ahmet Camii, Grand Bazaar, etc.
· Karadeniz (Black Sea) festival: Crazy energetic folk music and fast line dancing! Some friends and I got pulled into a giant line dance with tons of crazy Trabzoners.
· Passed my first (of three) Turkish courses with flying colors! (final exam: 99.25/100 J) My teacher Çidğem Dilçin, is awesome and I look forward to class (almost) everyday.
· I’m getting along great with my Turkish family—I feel like I am pretty much one of the bunch around here now…except for the language barrier of course. My mom is divorced and retired from Turk Telecom. My host siblings are twins turning 23 next month—Burkay studies Finance at Hacettepe University and Burcu studies Environmental Engineering at ODTÜ. We have been getting along great and I’m always excited to taste some new delicious meal here. I have been eating very well, and I have been a bit worried that I may be importing a few extra pounds back to America when I leave! This leads me to my next point…
· Running at ODTÜ! The campus is surrounded by a HUGE forest artificially created when the Americans built this university in the 1950s. In the forest there are tons of trails, wild dogs, logging roads, even a lake and a dam! I have been exploring the acres of wilderness on long runs three times a week and it provides a welcome break from the bustle and pollution of the city. I have made several Turkish friends who I will run with next week. If I’m lucky, I may be able to borrow a mountain bike and maybe even a tent for some additional expeditions!
· Back at Penn State: I haven’t forgotten you guys—I love you all so much and I’m bummed I missed spring break and the NIT (go Lions!!). I am currently applying for the Honors College SLO RA position and I have a Skype interview with Dina (the coordinator) this week! I’ll keep you all posted…
· This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel with some friends to the city of Mersin on the Mediterranean Sea. There we experienced amazing weather and a beautiful and relaxing time. We brought back HUGE lemons from my friend’s lemon trees at his house. The bus ride back was a bit rough—we left at 12:15 AM and arrived in Ankara at about 7:30. Unfortunately between Mersin and Ankara I got about 30 mins of sleep because the bus was old and the road was torn up. Every few seconds we would go over a bump and my head would slam into the window L Nevertheless it was an amazing weekend and I’m getting more and more excited for more upcoming trips.
That’s all for now—I will be better about updating this in the future! Look for a post on Turkish politics coming soon...
Merhabalar everybody!
This is Ben, writing to you from Ankara, Turkey! I arrived safely and with all my various belongings at about 19.00 local time (which is 7 hours ahead of everyone on the East Coast).
I have only been in the country a few hours, but already I feel welcome and am starting to get comfortable. I am staying in a dorm room with 3 other Turkish students for this week, and then I will move to my host family's house at the end of this week. For the rest of this week, I will be having a cultural orientation in addition to the usual orientation you would expect at a university.
The dorms here are very similar to American ones, except that it is much more quiet (no Halo, TV, or Justin Ogden) and there is no decoration really (because this is a temporary dorm for students who could not go home over the break). Until the start of the spring semester in about 2 weeks, everyone is just loafing around, playing games on the computer, downloading movies illegally, and doing typical college student things.
I have to go now—görüşürüz! (see you later!)
