Milestone: My First Turkish Pomegranate!

When I was just a wee little yabancı, oh so many moons ago, I was given a copy of D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. I can't remember who gave it to me or for what occasion I received it, but let me tell you, readers, I ate that stuff up. I couldn't put that book down for what seems like years. Of course, twelve years later, I realize how the D'Aulaires really took all of the good, bloody violence and rampant incest out of the myths to make them suitable for children, but to this day, I find Greek mythology absolutely fascinating. One of the myths I remember most vividly is that of Persephone and both her inevitable kidnapping by/forced marriage to Hades and her perennial imprisonment in the Underworld. All of this misfortune befalls Persephone because she is tricked by Hades into eating six pomegranate seeds while he holds her captive. This, according to the ancient Greek, results in the change in seasons on Earth. 


Twelve-year-old Mary loved this rationale, probably because it was packed with so much more creativity than any other scientific explanation could offer. And I remember being in the supermarket with my mom a few years after I had finally put down my copy of D'Aulaire's and seeing a sign for pomegranates in the produce aisle. So we bought one and figured out how to open it and how you eat it (it was a process, let me tell you, readers). 


And while pomegranate trees are not found in an overwhelming abundance in Balıkesir, you do stumble upon them from time to time. Typically, the fruit grows out of my short little arm's reach, but luckily, our local produce man had some for sale yesterday. Let me stress this to you: it's these little things that I have come to appreciate in nearly a month's time in Turkey-- figuring out how to negotiate in Turkish for my biweekly produce shopping trip, getting my first Turkish pomegranate. This one piece of fruit turned my entire week around so much that I took pictures of the whole process.

 As I was slicing this bad boy up for breakfast, I realized that it's these sorts of things that are going to get me through the next couple months in Turkey. And when I realized that, I realized that the pomegranate is a fitting analogy for my next eight months in Turkey, not to mention life in general.

Like life, a pomegranate is compromise of hundreds of experiences and pieces. None of them are perfect.

In fact, there are parts (both in life and in a pomegranate) that are not pretty. Sometimes, it's downright rotten and we can't seem to look past those nasty little blemishes on our good time.

I am very sure that these next eight months of my life are not going to be the prettiest, between living in a culture of which I don't know the language and missing the snot out of my friends and family. 

But, those moments of misery and misfortune are not going to color my entire experience here in Turkey. In fact, the setbacks and instances of stress that I would otherwise let rain on my parade are events that I am going to try and embrace. I will try my darnedest to take the good with the bad and let the good completely wash away the bad.

I don't want to remember only the bad. I want to appreciate the good. I want this experience to be one that is life-changing in a way that is only positive. I'm looking past the spots, past the blemishes and the setbacks. That way, I'll have a much better experience for the next eight months here in Turkey...

... and eating pomegranates.

To Ayvalık and Beyond!

For starters, let me explain that I chose this title because after the first my first trip around Turkey, I can only what this country has in store for me in terms of the limitless possibilities for adventure. With that said, this post should surely please those readers who have been less that pleased with the number of pictures I have posted thus far.

So, Ayvalık. It’s about a two to two-and-a-half hour drive from Balıkesir to this pretty North Aegean town, and man, was it worth the trip. The town and surrounding area was once predominantly Greek, which explains a large number of leftover Greek Orthodox churches. On this trip, we mainly stuck to the touristy beach route, since Russell and I were only there for the day. Let me stress, though: I WILL be back to Ayvalık. I don’t think I’ve had such a relaxing two hours at the beach in who knows how long. 

Now, without further ado, I present to you in all its beachy, beautiful glory… Ayvalık!

FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE AEGEAN! 

One of those houses in the distance will be mine someday.

Some cute little lunch place.

More beachfront property that I will someday own.

Fishermen off Sarımsaklı Beach.

Sarımsaklı Beach

This was some sort of booze/cruise party boat. How do we
feel about an end-of-the-year celebration, Fulbrighters?

YOU GUYS. MY FEET ARE IN THE AEGEAN SEA.
LOOK AT THEM. THEY'RE IN THE AEGEAN SEA.

And because I didn't come prepared, I had to buy a Strawberry
Shortcake towel for 15 TL. Beaching it like it's 1993.

Turk Dondurma! Finally, the stretchy frozen treat
and I became acquaintances .

Red snapper for dinner? Oh yes.

I love Turkey.

Home Shweet Home!

Complaints have been registered that I don't have enough pictures up of my Turkish adventures. First of all, I haven't yet had many adventures, but adventures are in the near future: Balıkesir is going to Ayvalık this weekend, so be on the lookout for some awesome beach adventures.

For now, however, let's take an in-depth look into the home life of the Fulbright ETAs of Balıkesir, not unlike the Housewives of New Jersey and just as glamorous.

My wittle Turkish bedroom! (The Turkish dictionary is just for show at this point.)

My ginormous closet, hey!

Our darling little kitchen.

This picture makes this hallway look freakishly long.

Our living room and Russell, making his second appearance in the blog!

Our massive dining room and living room where we shall keep the Balıkesir Thanksgiving tradition alive! 

I figured since my living situation was looking a little precarious earlier in the summer. Pictures of the neighborhood to follow tonight (hopefully)!

The First Sunday... and Monday.

Our first Sunday in Balıkesir was fairly chill. We did a lot of hanging around in town and in our apartment. We found a bookstore in town, but we didn't stay there longer. However, this is a perfect segue into introducing my new plan as to how I'm going to learn Turkish. 


If you know me (which I hope you do, because why else would you be reading my blog? Just kidding, you can totally read my blog!), you might recall that I have a strong propensity for all things Harry Potter. Therein lies the secret code I need to crack the most widely used Turkic language. Don't tell J.K. Rowling, but I found PDF copies of the books online and I put them on my Kindle to further assist me in my cause. (I'm still bitter about not getting my early invite to Pottermore.) 

I can feel the fluency already.

Unfortunately, I didn't find any Turkish Harry Potter just yet... should have gotten them in Ankara like I had planned. Oh well. I'm not only interested in getting the Turkish versions of Potter to better my Turkish and make me a transcontinental Potter fan; I'm really interested to see how fabricated English words like "Diagon Alley" and "Quidditch" translate. Nerd status? You bet your bottom dollar.

However, I did find another of my favorite adolescent book series (I mean, it's not like I read anything else anyway) which I'm thinking would also be interesting to read. I know I have a few friends who'd be interested in them as well. (I won't shout you out here guys, no worries.)

I'd like to stress how much I looked like a creep taking pictures of children's
literature in this Turkish bookstore. All for the sake of this blog. But can I get an amen for my boy Rick Riordan?!

Also, we mark this first Sunday with our first trip to the mall in Balıkesir, which is (debatedly) named Yaylada. Once again, I failed to find a watch that I like... this has been my goal for roughly two weeks. I did, however, get my hands on a blow dryer and some pide, which is more or less Turkish pizza.

I had to physically restrain myself just to get a picture before I wolfed this sucker down.

"I'm Russell Guajardo, and I support this pide."
(Just kidding, he didn't say that. But it probably would have made that pide even more delicious.)

This was the sixth attempt on my part to get a picture of Greg mesmerized by this McCafe dispenser. Less mesmerized by the fact that he found it in Turkey, more by the fact that it was all in Turkish.

We also came back to Cafe Ramon for a Galatasaray game, but I think I've put most of my support towards Fenerbahçe, especially since Beşiktaş LOST last night. We'll see. I still have nine months to make an executive decision.


Prior to watching the Beşiktaş game at Ramon's, we had a meeting with the Rector of our university. He's like the Donald Farish of Balıkesir, but with a mustache and no beard. Oh, and he's Turkish. Minor detail? Additionally, we were given out own office (!!!!) and hung out around town with some of our co-workers, where we had a remarkably interesting and hilarious discussion on football and how the Smurfs are communists.

We also established that the creation of Smurfette has something to do with original sin.

Oh also, yesterday was my first official day of being employed by Balıkesir University. It consisted of me meeting a class of forty-five first-year students, being left alone with them for about eight minutes, and then being told they're not even my students anyway. I'm actually starting my classes today, which consist of one class for about four hours. I'm not entirely sure what to talk about for four hours. Thank goodness it's syllabus week? That's a bad attitude, but-- oh wait, I don't even have a syllabus. Okay then. This should be REAL fun.

My Take on Soccer in Turkey

If you've been reading my blog, which I'd be surprised if you were, you would know that I just had my first real Turkish soccer ("football" from here on out) two nights ago. Well, during my short time in Turkey, I've developed a theory on how to make friends via football. 

In case you're not aware, Turkey has three majorly popular teams: 

Beşiktaş

Fenerbahçe

Galatasaray

My theory/plan? I'm going to buy one jersey for each team, and wear them accordingly. Boom-- conversation starter as well as an instant way to get Turks to love me. It makes me appear as though I know a lot about Turkish football, which I don't, and that I care about whatever team's outcome (which I do, since I do in fact like watching soccer matches.) Apparently, Fenerbahçe are the Yankees of the world Turkish football and everyone likes them. So far, I like their uniforms the best, and that's what I'm basing my fandom on until I learn more. I'll report back on how well this plan works. Tonight, I try and conquer Galatasaray with my charming yabancı ways. 

Holler at your girl, Balıkesir!

To fill you in: the last few days of orientation in Ankara pretty much dealt with us learning how to teach English at our respective universities in a very general manner. Also, I had to say goodbye to all my new buddies! Womp times fifty-nine!

On a far more exciting note, WE MADE IT TO BALIKESİR! It only took about nine hours by bus! Our first half day was great-- we were met by our two contact people at the bus station, had tea, and visited on of the university campuses/buildings. 

Then we finally got see our apartment, which is super great, especially since we live there rent-free. It could be haunted, which makes it even better. Pictures'll be up soon, as will pictures of Balıkesir in general.


So you have an idea of the feel of my next few posts, we are literally the only Americans here for miles. I might be the only American female in the entire province. If this fact is true, I wouldn't be surprised in the least. Oh, and so you know, foreigners in Turkey are called "yabancı" if singular and "yabancılar" if they enter towns by the droves. Personally, I embrace my yabancı-ness, as you will see it certainly has upsides.


On our second day here, we found a nice little cafe. More important that its level of niceness is the  overpowering fact that it has free wireless internet, something our free apartment unfortunately lacks. Anyway, when we came back to the cafe later that night (after seeing the main campus and meeting coworkers), we came to realize that it turns into an all-out football bar (sans beer) at night. I inadvertently watched my first Turkish soccer game-- Fenerbahçe versus Gaziantepspor. We also scored awesome balcony seats. Why? YABANCI STATUS! We made friends and watched soccer! It was the best!


Oh, also... this cafe-- and every other restaurant in Balıkesir likes to make us feel at home when we enter their establishment by playing the most hardcore rap they have. It's great. And can I just say, kids LOVE us. They love shouting one-word phrases of English at us and asking us our names. And can I just say, I love it as much as they love us. Perfect symbiotic relationship.


The next day was pretty chill, we made our way back to our new cafe hangout, did some food shopping, and watched yabancı sinema all night. Yabancı sinema, dear readers, are American films dubbed over in Turkish.  Spoiler: films dubbed in Turkish make everything funnier, and interestingly enough, Turkish voice-overs make Jackie Chan a better actor. Who knew?

Ten percent better in Turkish.

Seventy-five percent better in Turkish.

Why wouldn't you just assume he'd be one hundred percent better in Turkish?

Tonight's yabancı feature is 3:10 to Yuma, so we'll see how Russell Crowe measures up in Türkçe. I'm thinking it'll be promising. 


After my next post, which should help those of you not familiar with Turkish soccer teams and Turkish soccer in general, I pinky-promise to put up some pictures from around town. I'll mark myself as a full-fledge yabancı for the entertainment of my readers. 

September 11th in Ankara

Merhaba, little readers! Typically, I like to approach my blog posts (all three of them) with a sense of humor. I thought I would be doing something similar today, but much to my surprise, today was a surprising and enlightening experience to say the least.

As I mentioned, after putting on a great show at our news conference the U.S. Ambassador invited us to his home for a September 11th memorial service. I don't think I was the only one to accept his invitation with the ulterior motive of discovering where an ambassador lives. So, we dressed in our Sunday best and marched our way out to the American Embassy in Ankara.

The embassy staff scheduled the memorial service to coincide with the timeline of events of September 11th as per Eastern Standard Time; they had a staff member deliver her own beautiful renditions of "TheStar-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" prior and in between a ringing of a bell to signify each of the four plane crashes from that morning. A U.S. Marine color guard unit lowered the flag to half-mast in honor of the those who lost their lives ten years ago.

I don't know if it was the singing, or the Marines, or even hearing the words of the U.S. Ambassador, but in that moment I had a few personal revelations. Typically, I have a tendency to judge those who blindly proclaim that America is the greatest country ever to be established. I can't help but think, "Really? On what evidence are you basing this claim? In what context and in what contest are we the best?" People just seem to say this blindly, and that's fine. I have nothing against national pride, it's an amazing and unifying force that human beings have developed over time.

On further reflection, when the tragedies of September 11th occurred, I think my twelve-year-old self (and subsequent past versions of myself) viewed those events merely as tragedies against humanity in general. I am aware that they were violent acts taken against our country, of course, but I don't think the synthesis of these two ideas has ever hit me as bluntly and with such emotion as they have today. Maybe it's because I'm now a part of a program that aims to bridge cultural differences and turn the closing of those cultural differences into cultural understanding and exchange. Maybe I buy into the Fulbright Program's publicized goals too easily and that I want to believe that what I do in the next nine months in Turkey might have the slightest infinitesimal difference in the world. Call me naive if you'd like, that's fine. But standing on the well-manicured lawn of the American Ambassador's house, I realized that I missed home and that no matter where I am in the world, I will always miss home. I know it shouldn't take four thousand miles of distance to make me feel pride in being American, but it certainly helped. Standing there with fifty other Americans away from home made it feel a little more like home, and it made me feel proud that from four thousands miles away, we could not only recognize a tragedy ten years in the past, but a tragedy that truly revived Americans' pride in their nation. Being there with fifty strangers and feeling that bond of being an American with that, that made me proud. It makes me proud that such feelings can exist among strangers and it makes me proud that I am hear with those strangers trying to change things in the world. While I miss home, I am proud of what I am doing here. I am proud to be from a country that has given me the opportunity to do something with the next nine months of my life. I hope I make my family and my country proud. I am proud to say that I got choked up at the sound of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America." I'm glad to be in Turkey on behalf of the United States and I truly hope I do good here.

On a lighter note, the next day I visited Gençlik Park in Ankara with a few friends. It contains an amusement park and, if I'm not mistaken, the park is lit up all crazy-like at night. Of course, I was there during the day, but it was still super pretty!

Not pictured: the park lit up at night.

More Ankara Adventures and the Not-Castle of Ankara

Merhaba, readers!

 After our Turkish lessons in the morning, we had a really nice lunch at Boyacizade Konağı, a really beautiful restaurant in the historic section of Ankara. We had a great view of the entire city and, as usual, ate awesome Turkish food. I am going to get so fat in the next nine months.

Hey there, Ankara!

Just getting a little artsy, nbd.

On our way out... so cultural!

My most recent adventures took me to the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara. We all know that museums are frequently awesome, but this was particularly baller. It contains artifacts from as far back as the Paleolithic Age all the way through the Classic Period (I think). It was a real nerdfest, and I loved it.

Don't worry, Indiana Jones, I did your job for you... Turkey had the Holy Grail the whole time!

The museum had twelve reliefs depicting the Epic of Gilgamesh. THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH.  Nerd heaven.

Here's another Epic of Gilgamesh relief for your nerdy enjoyment.

This guys is just super cool looking.

Educational signage! 

A recreation of Çatalhoyük!

After our tour of the museum, a group of us thought we were headed to the famous castle in Ankara. Once we got back to the hotel after this adventure, we were informed that we had not gone to the castle. WHATEVER. Our adventure was still great, even if it was to some sort of eastern refugee camp.

Entering the non-castle.

Just creeping on my buddies!

Being a tourist in all the wrong places.

Eric, our resident mountain goat.

Again, the non-castle... appearing to resemble a castle.

Messing with my camera settings.

Just some random street.

I just liked this building.

Overall, we had a really fun day, even if we didn't make it to our intended destination. Tomorrow we'll be heading to the Ambassador's... hopefully we make it to the right embassy! (Just kidding, we totally will. We have the address this time.)