Iyi Bayramlar!

Just when students started coming to class consistently, Bayram occurred. Kurban Bayramı or the Feast of Sacrifice is the second largest on the Muslim calendar religious celebrations. It is called Eid al-Adha in Arabic-speaking countries and commemorates the almost-sacrifice of Isaac by his father, Abraham. It always begins on the tenth day of the last month of the lunar-based Muslim calendar. This year, it began on October 25th and since the celebration lasts four days, it butted up to Cumhuriyet Bayramı or Republican Day, the anniversary of Atatürk’s declaration of Turkey’s Republic-hood. So Turks this year enjoyed 5 days off work instead of the regular 4 or as the message next to the smiling face of Prime Minister Erdoğan read on posters around the city center, a Çifte Bayramlar or Twin Celebration. 

During my classes leading up to Bayram, I asked my students to tell me how their families celebrated. In Turkey, Bayram is celebrated with an actual sacrifice--usually a sheep but sometimes a cow or a goat that is traditionally killed by the oldest member of the family and then enjoyed during the four day feast. If a family cannot afford an animal, the richer members of the village share. My students learned the words “cut” and “neck” and “butcher” to describe this process to me--sometimes by using a disturbing series of hand-gestures; one student grabbed his classmate’s head, twisted it to the left and made a sawing motion with his hand. Some explained that their father or grandfather did the butchering in their gardens while others (the city dwellers) told me their father just goes to the butcher shop and buys a dead one. Walking around Erzurum a few days before Bayram began, I definitely noticed an increased sheep population. Either packed onto trucks screeching down the street or being pulled down the street by ropes tied around their neck, they all had fearful eyes. Or maybe that is just me creating drama since I knew their fate. 

Although the Sacrifice is the traditional centerpiece of Bayram, today the focal point is travel. Everyone goes home for Bayram. And not just to one’s hometown but usually to the village of one’s parents. As I learned over and over when talking to my students and co -workers, asking where they were going for Bayram if I already knew where they were from was a null question. Some of my students bused 20+ hours to Istanbul and cities on the west coast to be with their families. Only two of my co-workers who have families on the other side of the country chose to stay in Erzurum for the first time to avoid those buses and pre-Thanksgiving price levels plane tickets.

According to my students, after the journey home, the visiting begins. The younger members of the family visit the older and stay for a certain amount of time before visiting the next oldest family members. The younger family members kiss the older ones’ hands and receive candy in return. I did not get to witness these gatherings myself but I imagine there is a lot of sitting and talking. The verb “to sit” is also used to mean spending time with people and every Turkish living room I’ve entered has couches lining almost every wall. 

My Bayram was full of travel (I experienced the Bayram bus station crowds) but not too much sitting (except for on those buses). With six days off work, the Erzurum crew retreated to Georgia, our close but extremely different neighbor. I had a wonderful few days of lively, endless Georgian toasts, a crash course in Orthodox Christianity and Soviet occupation and beautiful views of fall colors in the mountains. I tumbled back over the border feeling like I knew a lot less about that part of the world than I thought I did just in time for the Cumhuriyet parade to begin. Soldiers and school children sang the national anthem under a gigantic poster of Atatürk’s face as we sat down in a tea house to have some much needed çay. In typical small town Turkish fashion, the owner refused to charge visitors who came into his teahouse on Republic Day. Ah, it felt good to be back in Turkey. More details about my venture into the best city in Europe (according to my boss, followed by Amsterdam and Brussels) to follow. For now, I’m off to class and to plan a Halloween Party for the American Corner tomorrow night. Luckily, all the Bayram candy is on clearance. 

Teaching and Dancing. Or Charades and Dancing.

I completed my first week of teaching. My students did eventually find their way to my classroom. And they are lovely people. Emily compared her feelings about the first week of teaching to how she feels about working out. Nervous before starting but completely satisfied afterward. That’s more or less how I’ve felt about teaching this week too.

The rumors were true that my students know hardly any English.  But that does not diminish how hard they try and how eager they are to understand. I do a lot of charades, a lot of exaggerated emotions, and a lot of writing on the board while speaking. If I can cut some of those things out by the end of the year and just speak to them, I will be pleased. 

It’s interesting experiment. Put someone who has been told not to speak Turkish (and basically can’t) in front of a group of students and try to get them to do workbook pages and play scattergories. Right now, it seems like a system that may work. Although many of them have been studying English in high school and before, I am, for many of them, their first contact with a native speaker. Think back to how much Spanish you knew after high school. And although I think they probably understand about 45% percent of what I say, some of them have already begun to imitate certain expression. I heard some “see you laters” when my students left class yesterday instead of “see you” which is a direct translation from the Turkish and what is often heard around Erzurum. I’ve been saying “good job!” at the end of nearly every sentence and yesterday one of my students said “Good job, teacher!” when I finally managed to pronounce his name correctly. 

Most of the English I’ve heard from them has been in incomplete sentences or sentences completed in Turkish. For example, “Teacher, at home book kaldim” for “I left my book at home.” That still got a “good job!” though, as did any attempt at communication has received this week. With these attempts, they are unintentionally helping me learn Turkish--and making me smile. All four of my classes are very sweet (with the possible exception of one that because of a few ringleaders, all coincidentally with the same name, Muhammad. These Muhammads insist on maintaining a soft roar of Turkish whispering throughout the entire class; I’m sure I’ll learn to like them eventually) and I’m excited to get to know them this year. My former RA life has taught me that memorizing names is of preeminent importance to get a group to take you seriously. And although I’ve done pretty well with the memorizing so far, my pronunciation is pretty awful. Luckily, my students think it’s hilarious.  I think it’s a way for them to have some greater authority on a topic--and I’m happy to give them that chance. They literally crack up at my struggles with Ö’s and Ü’s. “No, teacher, oooooo, no oooooo.” The same number of o’s indicate my lack of understanding that there is a difference between the two. We struggled for about 10 minutes for me to understand why it was hilarious that I called Mahmet, Mamet. It turns out when you don’t emphasize the “ha” in the middle, you call someone a “wooly mammoth”. That took a lot a charades and references to the movie Ice Age to get that across. 

How writing that paragraph made me feel confirms to me how much I am going to enjoy spending 4 hours a week with each group this year. “Teacher, it is much distant!” said Özkan to me when I told him that I would see him again on Tuesday. Yes, I agree, Özkan! It has been one week, but I’ve been having visions of grandeur of a career in teaching. Maybe this is the reason I’m here, it’s what I’m supposed to do! Maybe. We will see how week 2 and week 3 and the rest of the year go. 

In other news, we made our first attempt at entertaining last night. A joint birthday party for Elizabeth and one of our fellow lecturers, Nermin. And Uncle Dan, I’d call it a success. We served tea, a store-bought ice cream cake and figs and apricots. We didn’t buy alcohol because we were pretty positive that none of our guests drink. The first thing Zuhal said we she walked in was, “You don’t have alcohol? What kind of Americans are you?” We found out she was completely joking though when we told her that we did have some bottle of wine in Korey’s room and could grab them if she wanted. We already discovered that you don’t need alcohol to have a good time in Erzurum but we found out last night that you also don’t need it to have a spontaneous dance party. Dance exchange, I should say. Zu taught us some belly dancing moves, Burcu taught us some gypsy dances that I can’t remember the name of them and several tradition Turkish wedding dances. And we showed them the Cupid shuffle and the Cat Daddy along with the Macarena and YMCA. Nermin loved the Cupid Shuffle so much that she texted me last night to tell me she was still dancing to it when she got home. I feel the same way about the dances they taught us. Although my abs hurt from the belly dancing, I want to keep practicing the Turkish wedding ones. They involve holding pinkies in a circle and running and kicking to the music. I’m looking forward to our next party/practice session. 

Overall, a very satisfying week; I barely remember my anxiety at the beginning. I’m grateful to be only teaching 16 hours a week. I think I will fill my free time eventually but right now it’s great to have ample of time to lesson plan and do things that take all day due to my lack of Turkish and understanding of how things operate here. Like printing the syllabi for my classes. 

First Day of Teaching without the Teaching

I write this entry from the front lines. My classroom. Derslik 1-7 in the Yabancı Diller Yüksek Okulu--School of Foreign Languages. It’s 10:06 a.m. I’ve been here since 8. I’m supposed to teach two two-hour long classes of “Speaking” for Engineering students. I arrived at 7:45 with a vague outline of introduction dialogues and name game activities. My colleagues warned me over and over that the students do not take the first week of classes seriously. They told me that no one would come. I thought they meant “no one” in the way I use “no one” to describe how many people go to football games at Catholic. Some people still go. And although I may have to stop writing at any moment, for my 10 to 12 class, it seems like they literally meant no one. I feel like an RA who planned a program at 9 pm on a Friday. 

Two boys did come to my 8 a.m. class. Enes and Bektaş. I should have guessed that something was fishy when they introduced themselves as medical students. I’m supposed to teach engineering and tourism students but I thought perhaps it was just a mix up in the schedule. We talked for about 40 minutes about our hometowns, families and  favorite food. After the 10 minute break, they informed me that they realized they were in the wrong class but since they were not sure where their correct class was, they wanted to stay and talk. I’ll take any students. And since I don’t have a roll sheet yet, maybe they mistaken and they are mine. We ended “class” (or maybe just hang out time) with playing word association. The first words that they associated with America were “military”, “strong” and “freedom.” Okay. Seems like I have a lot of work to do this year. Maybe that’s a reason I’m here? So that next year, they are able to associate other words with my country? 

It’s now 10:17. Enes and Bektaş are gone. Will anyone come to my 10 am class? Will they tomorrow? My colleagues also warned me that the level of the student’s will be very low. That’s pretty intimidating for a speaking teacher to be told that her students may not know how to speak at all. I was very impressed with how much English Enes and Bektaş knew and how well they understood me. They are students in the Medical Faculty though, the school that accepts only the students who score the highest on their entrance exams. 

10:22. Ibrahim, the man in the Yabancı Diller with all the keys, just popped his head in and asked if I did not have any students today. I answered, I don’t know. Which in retrospect was an incorrect thing to say. I should have just said no. Wait, I didn’t even say “I don’t know”, I said, “We don’t know.” Oh geez. Turkish. I’m so used to saying “we” since I’m often with another yabancı. 

I’m still not used to how well they treat us here. Could you imagine any University in the U.S. welcoming four new “lecturers” who are younger than everyone else and can barely speak your language? We went to a faculty meeting yesterday and the director often stopped to translate for us. A embassy official gave us a speech at orientation to pump us up about teaching. He told us that we were invaluable as native speakers at our Universities. He said that 50% of the Internet is written in English, our students will be expected to be proficient in a growing number of fields, etc. It seemed a little “rah-rah” State Department to me when he said it but the way they are treating us, it seems like they view us in that way again. 

10:55. Elizabeth popped in and we reminisced about our first few weeks of freshman year. Our conversation reminded me that our students are probably more nervous than we are. It is strange not to have a real first day. I have 62 more minutes. If no one shows up, I suppose I will be going to bed with a anticipation brewing in my stomach once again. Inşallah, I will not be the only one in this classroom tomorrow. 

11:07. Four girls came by and introduced themselves. But told me (in Turkish) that they were not coming today. I’m not sure why. They were carrying a lot of textbooks. Maybe today is just pick up your text book and leave day? I was given all the textbooks but since I don’t have a list, I did not want to give them out. The girls (I only only remember one of their names--Fatma) asked if I was Korey. What? How do they already know Korey? Korey teaches here in the afternoon so I thought maybe they were just checking out the room and would be back. No, apparently their speaking class is in the morning. But they told me that in Turkish, so I may be mistaken. 

11:14. I suppose I will write some emails. My low WIFI lifestyle has taught me that emails can be written at any time, they can be copied and pasted online much later. 

11:32. Three boys stopped by. One introduced himself right away in understandable English. He told me that he was a second year engineering student and he had Max (a former Fulbrighter) last year. He was showing his first year cousin and his friend around. First year cousin and friend looked terrified. And insisted that second year translate everything. Alas, they were not my students, they were scheduled for one of Korey’s classes this afternoon. Maybe everyone just overslept? 

16:59 Still sitting in the classroom, hoping someone will arrive. Just kidding. I left around  around noon. I’m back in my apartment. My afternoon was much more productive than the morning. I finally tried Erzurum’s famous cağ kebab--lamb meat on skewers served with lavash, yogurt, peppers and spicy salsa-type sauce. When you squint your eyes, it looks like Mexican food but the tastes are different. We went out to lunch with three of the directors of our school--including our boss, Mehmet Bey who I’ve mentioned before. Mehmet Bey likes to rank things. For example, cities: Erzurum, New York, Paris. Tblisi, Amsterdam, Brussels. And football teams: Trabzonspor, Barcelona, Manchester United. He also likes to drink something called “Şalgam” which translates to turnip. He let us try some at lunch. It must be akin to a gin and tonic of a non-alcohol drinking region. Because it burned my throat. I felt like I drinking salty vinegar. But I kind of liked it. 

I’m also one step closer to getting Wifi. The electrician came today. I also have roll sheets for my classes. So, tomorrow, if/when anyone comes, I will be ready! 

Monday evening...

I still not started teaching my English classes. Term officially started today though. The lines at the ATM machines where 10 people long all day and there were no tables at the outdoor cafeteria that my fellow English teachers and I prefer. But the new energy on campus from the students’ arrival certainly outweighed that inconvenience. I had gotten used to the relatively quiet atmosphere of tree-lined Atatürk’s campus, now I will get used to the bustle of sidewalks crowded with students (I’m so surprised how young some of them look!). Some of those students will have to deal with me from 8 a.m. to noon every Monday through Thursday. I was supposed to start teaching today but due to a delay in quantifying the results of the placement test, we will start Wednesday. I’m nervous. I’ll be paired up with another professor who will teach the grammar, reading and writing sections of an English course. I will teach the speaking and listening sections. I’m excited to start though too. If it goes well, maybe the most obvious and simple answer for why I came to Turkey will be revealed: to, well, teach English. 

But for at least one more day, I am still free to explore Erzurum, drink çay, and fill out paperwork. (By the way: I finally got my residency permit application in today. Two days before the 30-days-in-Turkey-without-applying-and-you-will-allegedly-be-deported deadline. Tax number attainment is next on the list!)

Yabanci, Yabanci

Week one in Erzurum comes quietly to an end. We do not start teaching until October 1st so we still have one more week to get settled and met other people in our department or faculty:the “Yabancı Diller Yüksek Okulu” or School of Foreign Languages. And after this week, I certainly feel more settled that I did we first arrived. We have Internet in two of our three apartments. My apartment is unfortunately the odd one out, I don’t have a phone jack so I need to learn more Turkish before I can ask for that. We have become familiar with the city’s grocery stores, everything that we need is within walking distance. I joined a gym with two of my Turkish colleagues on Wednesday. Women go on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, men go on the opposite days. And we have sampled some of Erzurum’s finest cuisine (hence, the gym membership): ezogelin soup made of mint and lentils, kadayıf dolması or a baklava-type dessert made of shredded wheat and walnuts, ciğ kofte or seasoned cold meatballs wrapped in lettuce, and what I think is my favorite so far, mantı, a ravoili that is eaten with yogurt sauce. And of course, çay--the tea that is served with nearly every interaction with everyone from the laundromat man to the person at the apartment lease office. 

Mehmet Bey, our director, says that he wants us to be as comfortable as possible here since he thinks it is necessary for us to be good teachers. I think that is probably true and it is very kind of him to be constantly asking what else he can do to help us. It seems, however, like he got the entire city on board as well. One of my professors at Catholic, Zeyneb Hanım, often told me that people in Eastern Turkey are even warmer and more hospitable than people in the West. It has been a little surreal to see that hospitality in action. 

I will attempt to give a rundown of the week through examples how Erzurumis seem to bend over backwards to help us, the “yabancı” or foreigners in town. I know, however, that the list will be incomplete. On Sunday, we attempted to find the Target-esque Carrefour store to get some necessities for our apartments. We google mapped but the lack of street signs made it difficult to find. We were wandering around a neighborhood south of our campus for a while until we finally worked up the courage to ask a woman and her daughter for directions. Instead of telling us, she beckoned us onto a bus with her, insisted that we sit by her and then told us when to get off, right in front of the Carrefour. When we arrived at the mall where Carrefour can be found in the basement, we decided to check the authenticity of a rumor that all McDonalds have WIFI. We didn’t get a chance to check though because when we asked a McDonald’s employee if “WIFI var mı?”, he asked for our laptops and typed in his personal password so we could access the mall employee’s network. 

The following evening, we were wandering around Atatürk’s campus. We found a movie theater that seems to show second rate films and also noticed a sign advertising the viewing of the Trabzonspor football match on the second floor. We decided to peer in but had no plans to stay and watch the game that night. The security guy outside the building was determined to find us something else to do when he saw we did not want to see the game. He kept making suggestions in Turkish: There is a coffee shop around the corner. Do you need any food? We have a restaurant and grocery store. Did you see the movie theater? Oh, if I only I could tell him more clearly that we were just looking around and would be back! Speaking of accommodating security guards, we could not have completed our wireless installation process without the help of the computer center’s security man. The wireless king of Atatürk U determined that the problem with Emily and Elizabeth’s router was that he did not have the correct phone number to program. He told them to go back and call the operator from their apartment and find out their phone number. Of course, they do not have a landline. When he heard that, he told us to follow him. He marched us down to the entrance of the building, unplugged the security guy’s desk phone and handed it to us. The security asked no questions and just nodded and welcomed us to Turkey. Sidenote: They do not live that close to the computer center. That security guy could not receive any calls for about an hour. 

Our greatest, most entertaining, example of hospitality took place Wednesday night in a packed room of about 300 Turkish men and 20 women on the fourth floor of an apartment building in the city center. Istanbul’s Galatasaray v. Manchester United. First game of the Champion’s League for the season. It was an experience in itself to be in the midst of so much emotion in such a small place. There was such a crescendo of noises and cheers during the breakaways (and the instant replays of these breakaways) that I was  more entertained by my fellow spectators than the match itself. We would not have been in that room without the excessive help of some Erzurumis on the street below. We were (once again) wondering the city looking for a place to watch the game (Additional sidenote: I did not suddenly become a sports fan upon moving to Turkey: Korey loves soccer and was leading the way, I was happy to find out what locals do in the evenings) when an older man on his cell phone intuited that was what we looking for. He took it upon himself to get us there. This involved him shouting into a nearby teahouse for a young man to lead us the few blocks and four flights of stairs to the viewing party, which was held in what is usually a snow boarding school, by the way. The owner of the shop made an entire row of people move over so we could all sit together. At half time, we were asked by the children sitting behind us if we were Man U fans. Thankfully, we had learned the appropriate answer from one of our co workers the day before; “Hayır! CIM BOM BOM!” I still do not know what that means but it is what Galatasaray fans scream from the stands and satisfied the little kid. 

In a few hours, we are headed to Kars and Anı for the weekend. Kars is a city about three hours East of here. Apparently, there is not much to see there. But we all read and enjoyed Orhan Pamuk’s “Snow” which takes place in the city and it has the reputation of being the only place in Turkey that is colder than Erzurum so we thought now would be a good time to go. Anı is the former capital of Armenia that is now a ghost town. Also, any step I take east of Atatürk’s campus is “the furthest East I’ve ever been”, so that is pretty cool. Our Turkish colleagues seem surprised we are visiting either site. Of course, when we went to the bus station to buy tickets, we were immediately asked by a random traveler where we were headed and then led over to the appropriate ticker counter. We have no place to stay in Kars tonight but I’m not concerned at all that we will be homeless. 

So first conclusion about why I am here in Eastern Turkey? Maybe to teach me unconditional kindness and patience? Even and especially towards foreigners who can barely speak my language? 

More and better pictures to follow! But here are some shots of the campus. 

Erzurum Arrival!

We were told over and over at orientation that if we were unsatisfied with something in your new town, just voice your complaint and you will be taken care of. So far, that has proven to be our defining theme of our two days here in Erzurum. I will explain. But I should first say that I didn’t intend my first blog post about Erzurum to be solely about the logistical pitfalls of finding adequate accommodations, hunting for the “stuff” that the former Fulbrighters left us for our apartments, and starting the daunting paperwork process of applying for residency cards--but honestly, that’s all that is in my mind right now. I want to write about the landscape and the lovely three new friends who have taken us under their wings and the soup that I had for dinner. But I keep thinking about how I really need to scrub my new bathroom floor to get all the dirt out and how I am going to refrigerate my groceries once I buy them. 

It’s as if we are in survival mode right now. Figuring how to improve our shelter, find our next meal, and, as always, find internet, internet, internet. The hour or so we spent in an Internet Cafe this evening was not enough time to read about everything that is going on in the Middle East. I wish I knew enough Turkish to ask people how aware they were of the events or even read a newspaper article. It’s a strange thing to not have a clear enough idea of what’s going on in a region so close, when my parents and friends at home probably know much more. This lack of Internet should not last much longer. Getting a router and setting up wireless in my apartment is just one of the many logistical tasks that will get done in time. And so many things have been accomplished already! In Turkey, there is apparently a saying: “TTT:  things take time.” With this saying in mind, things seem to have be moving quite rapidly. When we arrived in our on campus apartment from the airport, Emily, Elizabeth and I were all placed together in a one bedroom. Our first hour in Erzurum was spent sitting on the three beds debating whether or not we should insist that we get another place. We finally agreed to follow the advice at orientation. We met Mehmet Bey, the head of the English Department, shortly after and he promised us that they would find another apartment. So now I am living in the original one and Emily and Elizabeth are a few buildings away in another apartment. Korey is one floor above me. 

My apartment is not nice. But it is not bad. And it has improved! When I told one of my co workers that both my shower and the lights in the living room did not work, there were six Turkish men in my apartment that afternoon fixing them. Now my shower and lights are fully operational and the handles of my window are new too (I didn’t even notice they were broken). I also now have a couch and a table and chairs. The two extra beds have been removed as well. If I understood more Turkish, I would know where exactly this furniture came from. I just know that one of the workers asked where my furniture was and when I told him I did not have any, he came  back with the couch and table. It still needs quite a bit of cleaning, Internet (!), and well, kitchen appliances...not sure where to begin there. But yavaş, yavaş, with time, these things will be worked out. Korey and I have a fridge, microwave and portable stove top to split between our two apartments (left by previous Fulbrighters, thank you!) so the situation is not in the least bit dire. And overall, I really like this place. It seems huge--probably because I thought it would have to house three people--and I’m confident that if I ever have a problem, there will be workers there in the afternoon to fix it.  Or at least that is my hope. For now, I will busy myself with cleaning and unpacking. 

These next two weeks before classes begin seem like they will be full of similar home improvements and other tasks. Today we started the residency permit process and purchased cell phones. I only have 6 numbers in my phone but it already feels wonderful to be connected somehow. I hate to admit it but I’m a prime example of the iPhone generation and it feels relaxing to have some continuity with my former ways. I would not have had a phone (or really been able to do anything today...) if it were not for the help of Nermin, Birgül, and Zoo. All three are lecturers in the English Faculty at Atatürk. Nermin is officially in charge of helping us but her friends Birgül and Zoo seem happy to tag along. They took us out to lunch at their favorite place called Beyti and even insisted on paying. They recommended that we ordered Beyti Kaşarlı. As Elizabeth describes, it looked like an enchilada dish. Ground meat wrapped in tortilla-like bread with melted cheese and tomatoes on top. The spices made it taste completely different though and it was topped with a huge dollap of yogurt instead of sour cream. They are dieting though so they only had a soup called ezogelin. We later tried it for dinner and although I can not recognize any of the tastes, it was delicious. 

After lunch, we went to buy cell phones. Our new friends led us to a small mall made up completely of cell phone stores. We would have never been able to find it on our own. Nor we would have been able to argue the salesperson down to 65 lira instead of 100. (Side note: We were initially told that that was the price for the women, Korey had to pay 70. He changed his mind in the end but I thought he was serious.) They also registered the phones in their name since they had the proper ID, at the suggestion of the store owner (what?). We just sat and tried to listen while another employee served us tea. Could you imagine any that of that happening at an AT & T store? No, seriously, think for a second about what you would say if someone offered you tea as they told you about different data plans. To add to the confusion, an employee (not one that had been helping us) handed Emily a novel in Turkish at the end and told her it was a gift for all of us. It was called “Aşk” or “Love” and was by an author that we had coincidentally been talking about at lunch. Someday I hope to have enough Turkish to read it . . . and find out why he gave it to us. 

Whew. Descriptions of the city and our surroundings are to come. Honestly, I’m holding off because I do not yet have the words. I can’t figure out any comparisons, which is my automatic default to get used to a new place. Korey says it reminds him of Turen, Italy; Elizabeth says it is vaguely like Colorado Springs. I am at a loss. We haven’t seen too much yet. Just the campus and the main street in town. And the surrounding mountains. Tomorrow is Saturday and since we won’t be able to get any logistic work done, we plan on exploring the city more fully. I have good feelings about it. We have walked to get everywhere and the streets are full of people (albeit mainly men) and the weather has been gorgeous. Sunny and cool and not humid at all. 

There is a strange accent here. We keep trying to recognize what makes it different from Ankara. We concluded that it may be a bit more breathy. Luckily we know barely enough Turkish that it does not matter. Nermin, Birgül, and Zoo say that we will be able to understand in three months and speaking by the end of the year. I really hope that’s true. And since most of people we’ve met speak to us in Turkish even if it’s clear we don’t understand, I am close to believing them. 

So, this is it! This is my Erzurum life now. And Korey, Emily and Elizabeth are my new little family. I certainly lucked out with them. As you can probably determine, I am very grateful to have two weeks before classes begin. I am far from the mind of English teaching. But I plan on being so very soon! I doubt future blog posts will be this lengthy--this is the production of no internet connection to bring me distractions.  We all jokingly asked each other this morning what we did before we went to bed without wireless or our cell phones. I read my locally published Erzurum guide book. 

So many expectations!

Merhabalar! I now know to make that greeting plural when speaking to more than one person (instead of the singular “Merhaba”). Although, now that I think about it, it may still be inappropriate since you are supposed to use it only when eye contact is made, never to an empty room, for example. Maybe I will have to alter it again before my entry. Anyway, proper greetings is just one of the many facts we have been inundated with since our 10 day orientation in Ankara began. 

I arrived her without any problems. I secretly enjoy airplane food and openly love the movies so I had very enjoyable ride. I met fellow Fulbrighters on each leg of journey so it was great to have some people to chat with during our layovers. 

About 12 hours after I left Detroit, I arrived at our hotel in Ankara. Since our daily orientation sessions in its basement, this hotel has become my first Turkish home. Our days have been full of lectures on topics ranging from modern Tukish political history to gender issues to Turkish language (essential) to various cultural tidbits like when and how to say hello. The rest of the orientation will include instruction how to actually teach English which I am very eager to receive!

I think the most valuable part (and I even hesitate there, so many parts have been valuable!) of orientation has been the opinions I’ve heard about where I’ll be spending the next 10 months: ERZURUM. Judging by the mix of reviews I’ve heard, I feel as if it could be called the “Detroit” of Turkey. Examples: “You are going to Erzurum? For 10 months? Why?” “You know it’s cold there, right?” “I hope you like winter sports.” “No one speaks English in the East.” “Last time I was in Erzurum, there were only two cars there.” [NOTE: that was in 1963.] “You know it’s cold there, right?” “They had the Youth Olympics there!” “You know it’s a lot more conservative than Ankara.” “Are there even bars in Erzurum?” “You know it’s cold there, right?” YES, I know it’s cold! I’m used stereotypes about places from people who may have no experience with the place. So I’m taking everything with a grain of salt. I’m only taking our University contact seriously. And he told us about Erzurum’s lit ski slopes that open at 5 pm and stay open until late in the night, about its treeless, inviting mountains, about its unique “cağ kebab” sandwich (the Coney Dog of Anatolia!), and streets of restaurants that were enclosed with roofs long ago to keep out the cold and snow. Needless to say, I am optimistic and excited. My three co-English Teaching Assistants are excited and proud as well to be the most eastern Fulbrighters in Turkey. East side! Only time will tell, but I have a great feeling about my city. I can’t wait to move there on Thursday.

To appease my number one reader (here’s your shout-out Libby Hagemeyer), I will talk about the food. However, I will not be able to do it justice. First of all, I’ve decided to make learning how to cook one of my goals this semester. Because, wow,Turkey has the most diverse, tasty food I’ve had since, well, the last time I was in Turkey...and I’ve eaten almost every meal in a hotel. Let’s see, for lunch today, I had lentil soup, rice, a beef and pepper stew-like dish to put over the rice, tomato and cucumber salad and a chunk of fresh feta cheese (it does not even taste like the feta we buy at Sam’s Club). Breakfast usually consists of more feta, bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and olives--but for lunch and dinner there has been a different spread each night. Like I said, I’m not to explain it fully. I will have to try again--but I am putting it in writing now that I am determined to learn to cook!

Week 1 comes to a close. My commutes to Georgetown have already proved to be worth it. I spent some time with some Turkish friends that I met last summer this evening and although my speaking skills are close to comical, they insisted that we speak in Turkish the entire time. You can imagine that our topics of conversation were limited but they were kind and yavaş, yavaş--slowly, slowly--I will get better...inşallah!

Here's a picture of our group in front of Anıtkabır, Atatürk (the founder of modern Turkey)'s mausoleum.