February 25 - March 6
For photos of our trip to Kayseri, and some local cultural events, see: http://anatolianphotos.shutterfly.com/
Seslerle Anadolu
Ercan, Meldan’s brother, thought we would be interested in attending a Turkish production called Seslerle Anadolu, or "Voice of Anadolu" at the Painting and Sculpture Museum in downtown Ankara. This production features traditional songs, dances, and stories, with, as always, exquisite costumes. As it was introduced and performed in Turkish, I did not always understand the significance of each piece, but nonetheless, we thoroughly enjoyed the performances of the dozen or so troupe members.
Some favorite pieces include: two live dancers/actors depicting the duo Karagoz and Hacivat (see above). Dressed like the traditional story tellers, the actors/dancers moved exactly like the popular shadow puppets of the two characters. Traditional folk dances, with, it seemed, a contemporary modern dance interpretation, were intriguing. And songs sung by professionals were very moving. Again, since they were performed in Turkish, I did not understand their significance, but they were beautiful nonetheless. Throughout the performances, the "Greek chorus" on the side made comments and often sang along as well. Additionally, each performer was also projected on a large screen at the back of the stage, but in a very creative way. The anchor to all the performances was a traditional story teller, who commented, for example, that, before TV, the Internet, and other recent technological wonders, these performances represent the country’s traditional ways of entertaining the populace.
After the show, as we were crossing the street, a taxi nearly backed into us. Oddly, Meldan and Ercan got into the cab, leaving Larry and me little choice but to get into a cab that came close to knocking us down. We should have known better. The taxi ride home was wild. And I sure wish these taxis had functioning seat belts. They generally don’t.
Kayseri
Larry was invited to give another lecture, courtesy of the U.S. State Department, this time at Erciyes Univerity in Kayseri, about a five hour bus ride Southeast of Ankara. The topic was on the significance of Obama’s election as U.S. President, and his first year in office. His talk was excellent, and well received by the students and faculty in the audience.
The Hilton Hotel, where we stayed, is located smack in the middle of the old part of the city. Walking out the hotel door, we wandered among the largest group of Seljuk architecture we’ve seen so far. Chief among the remaining Seljuk buildings were many medreses, or theological seminaries, generally associated with a specific mosque. All were in excellent shape, although all but one of those we visited were no longer in use as religious educational centers. One is currently used for the sale of books and/or educational supplies. Another once housed retail stores; it looks as though it is currently being either renovated or dismantled, we couldn’t tell which. Two former medreses were later used as a hospital and medical center; they sit next to each other in a beautiful urban park. They are listed in our guide book as a medical museum, but, alas, it is closed for many more months of renovations.
As expected in a conservative town, we saw many working mosques, including one old Seljuk one. There, the local caretaker took Larry and me on a tour of the simple, elegant mosque. Then he opened up the adjoining, still functioning medrese, or theological seminary. Rugs adorned the side "classrooms," really just side rooms accessed through stone arches opening to the central stone courtyard—all very old. We saw for the first time a steep narrow stairway leading into the minaret. Our unofficial guide, when saying goodbye to us, was very gracious, but, after shaking Larry’s hand, he would not shake mine, but gave me a different type of courteous "goodbye." Yes, this part of the country is very conservative indeed.
It is also not associated with the tourism industry. Mostly it is a bustling industrial and retail city of 600,000; the Hilton guests were primarily businessmen. We stood out like sore thumbs, which made us targets for the local touts desiring to sell us their rugs. As we wandered around the spectacular central fortress, across the street from the Hilton, one young man started talking excellent English with us. Because he was so young (17 he said), and his English was so good, we didn’t brush him off all that quickly. He offered to take us to the covered bazaar, which we hadn’t yet located but wanted to visit. We agreed because we’ve gotten pretty good at saying "no" to more rugs, unless, of course, we are with Kadir Bey in Ankara.
As he led us through the old, impressive, covered bazaar, I saw piles of the exact kind of scarf I have been looking for during the five and a half months I’ve been here. "Slow down!" I asked him and Larry. But they were engrossed in conversation, so I kept up – the alleyways were complex here and I didn’t want to lose them – thinking we could backtrack later and I could pick out some scarves. Eventually we ended up in an even older bedestan, or many centuries old retail center, where (surprise!) his uncle has a rug shop. When we told both of them that we have enough rugs thank you, the uncle, looking a little cross, asked incredulously, "You don’t want any rugs?" and gave his nephew a disapproving look. We were probably the only tourists in a long time to make our way into this maze of old shops. But we didn’t want any rugs, or even to look at any, and found our way back to the Hilton with our young man’s help, who seemed as eager as we were to leave his uncle’s shop. I never did get my scarves.
The one thing I really wanted to see in Kayseri was the huge mountain, Mt. Erciyes (after which the university was named) that looms over the city like Mt. Rainier looms over Seattle. Mt. Erciyes is about the same height as Mt. Rainier (@ 12,000 feet high), and was one of two large volcanic mountains that blew their stacks thousands of years ago, resulting in today’s moonscape, wild landscape that is Cappadoccia, not far from Kayseri. You would think that in 48 hours in Kayseri, I would be able to catch a glimpse of this large mountain so close by. But, no, as with Antalya at first, the clouds effectively hid the mountain, revealing only the lower foothills which were impressive in their own right. But I wanted to see Mt. Erciyes. Sigh. I guess I’ll just have to keep my fifteen year old memory alive. We were here at the time and saw the mountain clearly enough; I just didn’t get a photograph at the time. I know, I know, just because I didn’t capture it on film (or pixels) doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. But I’m still disappointed.
Returning by bus to Ankara from Kayseri, we had our first experience of being stopped by the national Jandarma (military police, I think that means), who gathered everybody’s I.D. and checked them for potential movement of Kurds from the Southeast. Photocopies of our passports were sufficient (we generally don’t travel with the originals, unless we need to board a plane), and were returned to us almost immediately. But all the other Turkish passengers had to wait fifteen or twenty minutes for the return of their I.D.s. Everywhere these days, there seems to be an increase in police and military presence. This is due, I believe, to recent arrests of military personnel for their alleged participation in takeover plans in 2003 (which came to light just recently), and also a long, bitter strike of some municipal workers in Ankara over privatization plans.
Social/educational whirlwind
Since returning from Kayseri, we have been on a whirlwind lecture/movie/reception/seminar /cooking class schedule. Here is a brief summary:
Sunday, Feb. 8 – a reception at the U.S. ambassador’s home, and lecture by Ozden Toker, daughter of Ismet Inonu, Ataturk’s right hand man, and second president of the Turkish republic. The 80 year old Mrs. Toker, who looks and sounds like she’s fifty years old, and beautiful, told us stories of growing up in the presence of the two most powerful men in the country, and of her mother’s transition from traditional Turkish women’s role to the modernization of women’s status in the new country. Fascinating. The U.S. Ambassador is a cold fish, just bordering on rude. But his wife is very gracious.
Monday, Mar. 1 – back to the U.S. Ambassador’s residence for the screening of the movie, "Split: a Divided America," a documentary montage of interviews dealing with the "Red State/Blue State" split in our country, and some of the more contentious issues of the day, including religion, campaign finance, and so on. The film was well made and quite interesting but somewhat superficial, failing to address the underlying causes of the deep divides in the U.S. The filmmaker, Kelly Nyks, is planning a sequel to this documentary. Our theory as to why this film is being shown throughout Turkey, with the filmmaker accompanying the showing, is that the tour is sponsored by the U.S. State Dept. and, thus, was selected for its non-controversial or "non-partisan" stance. Kelly Nyks is a superb filmmaker and speaker (and a nice person; we spent lots of time with him at the following reception), but he is no Michael Moore. The Ambassador was not there on this night, but his wife was as pleasant as ever.
Tuesday, Mar. 2 – I return to Hacettepe, Beytepe, for the first time in a long time to attend a morning seminar. The first speaker, Akiba Harper, from Spellman College, spoke on "Turning Jazz Into Literature." Focusing on Langston Hughes’s poetry, she performed, more than read, excerpts from the poet’s works and charmed everybody in the room with her excellent presentation and skill in reciting and even singing the works. She was very convincing in conveying Hughes’s verbal "music" based on the rhythm and form of jazz instruments and vocals.
The second speaker was Bercin Erol, a close friend of Meldan’s and one of our companions at various dinners and events. She gave "A Brief Overview of Black Turks in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey." Excellent! After a long, excellent lunch, the department met with the Spellman College speaker and two of her colleagues, to plan a potential collaboration with Middle East Technical University, Hacettepe, and Spellman, in creating a summer program for up to 20 Spellman students in Ankara in 2011. I was invited to participate in the planning meeting and shared the enthusiasm of nearly everyone in the room. Oddly, the department had been quite unreceptive to this idea as recently as three weeks ago. But now, after meeting the individuals from Spellman, hearing that excellent presentation on poetry and jazz, and sensing the contagious enthusiasm of the Spellman visitors, the department members are now quite happy with the summer project.
Today is Wednesday March 3, as I write this. Tonight we have another lecture (Urartian ivories); so too tomorrow night (the history of Gori, Georgia). Tomorrow I also participate for the first time in an English language conversation club. [editor’s note several days later. I think I have a new vocation, standup comic. The students loved my jokes. Hmmm. Or were they just being polite? Hmmm. Or were they lauging AT me?] The next night a concert at Bilkent. Saturday I attend a Turkish cooking lesson, then in the evening we have a fancy dinner to go to. Sunday, a farewell party for a U.S. embassy staffer [editor's note: we skipped this one--too tired]. Next week a ballet, then another party. Because of all the events to come, I decided to go ahead and describe what we’ve been up to for the past week, rather than waiting until all the events have come and gone. If I wait, I’m likely to get them all mixed up in my mind. Several weeks ago, I was feeling bored and homesick. Today I would welcome a little boredom. I think I’ll go read a little. I’m only on page 11 of the book I started a week ago!
Some favorite pieces include: two live dancers/actors depicting the duo Karagoz and Hacivat (see above). Dressed like the traditional story tellers, the actors/dancers moved exactly like the popular shadow puppets of the two characters. Traditional folk dances, with, it seemed, a contemporary modern dance interpretation, were intriguing. And songs sung by professionals were very moving. Again, since they were performed in Turkish, I did not understand their significance, but they were beautiful nonetheless. Throughout the performances, the "Greek chorus" on the side made comments and often sang along as well. Additionally, each performer was also projected on a large screen at the back of the stage, but in a very creative way. The anchor to all the performances was a traditional story teller, who commented, for example, that, before TV, the Internet, and other recent technological wonders, these performances represent the country’s traditional ways of entertaining the populace.
After the show, as we were crossing the street, a taxi nearly backed into us. Oddly, Meldan and Ercan got into the cab, leaving Larry and me little choice but to get into a cab that came close to knocking us down. We should have known better. The taxi ride home was wild. And I sure wish these taxis had functioning seat belts. They generally don’t.
Kayseri
Larry was invited to give another lecture, courtesy of the U.S. State Department, this time at Erciyes Univerity in Kayseri, about a five hour bus ride Southeast of Ankara. The topic was on the significance of Obama’s election as U.S. President, and his first year in office. His talk was excellent, and well received by the students and faculty in the audience.
The Hilton Hotel, where we stayed, is located smack in the middle of the old part of the city. Walking out the hotel door, we wandered among the largest group of Seljuk architecture we’ve seen so far. Chief among the remaining Seljuk buildings were many medreses, or theological seminaries, generally associated with a specific mosque. All were in excellent shape, although all but one of those we visited were no longer in use as religious educational centers. One is currently used for the sale of books and/or educational supplies. Another once housed retail stores; it looks as though it is currently being either renovated or dismantled, we couldn’t tell which. Two former medreses were later used as a hospital and medical center; they sit next to each other in a beautiful urban park. They are listed in our guide book as a medical museum, but, alas, it is closed for many more months of renovations.
As expected in a conservative town, we saw many working mosques, including one old Seljuk one. There, the local caretaker took Larry and me on a tour of the simple, elegant mosque. Then he opened up the adjoining, still functioning medrese, or theological seminary. Rugs adorned the side "classrooms," really just side rooms accessed through stone arches opening to the central stone courtyard—all very old. We saw for the first time a steep narrow stairway leading into the minaret. Our unofficial guide, when saying goodbye to us, was very gracious, but, after shaking Larry’s hand, he would not shake mine, but gave me a different type of courteous "goodbye." Yes, this part of the country is very conservative indeed.
It is also not associated with the tourism industry. Mostly it is a bustling industrial and retail city of 600,000; the Hilton guests were primarily businessmen. We stood out like sore thumbs, which made us targets for the local touts desiring to sell us their rugs. As we wandered around the spectacular central fortress, across the street from the Hilton, one young man started talking excellent English with us. Because he was so young (17 he said), and his English was so good, we didn’t brush him off all that quickly. He offered to take us to the covered bazaar, which we hadn’t yet located but wanted to visit. We agreed because we’ve gotten pretty good at saying "no" to more rugs, unless, of course, we are with Kadir Bey in Ankara.
As he led us through the old, impressive, covered bazaar, I saw piles of the exact kind of scarf I have been looking for during the five and a half months I’ve been here. "Slow down!" I asked him and Larry. But they were engrossed in conversation, so I kept up – the alleyways were complex here and I didn’t want to lose them – thinking we could backtrack later and I could pick out some scarves. Eventually we ended up in an even older bedestan, or many centuries old retail center, where (surprise!) his uncle has a rug shop. When we told both of them that we have enough rugs thank you, the uncle, looking a little cross, asked incredulously, "You don’t want any rugs?" and gave his nephew a disapproving look. We were probably the only tourists in a long time to make our way into this maze of old shops. But we didn’t want any rugs, or even to look at any, and found our way back to the Hilton with our young man’s help, who seemed as eager as we were to leave his uncle’s shop. I never did get my scarves.
The one thing I really wanted to see in Kayseri was the huge mountain, Mt. Erciyes (after which the university was named) that looms over the city like Mt. Rainier looms over Seattle. Mt. Erciyes is about the same height as Mt. Rainier (@ 12,000 feet high), and was one of two large volcanic mountains that blew their stacks thousands of years ago, resulting in today’s moonscape, wild landscape that is Cappadoccia, not far from Kayseri. You would think that in 48 hours in Kayseri, I would be able to catch a glimpse of this large mountain so close by. But, no, as with Antalya at first, the clouds effectively hid the mountain, revealing only the lower foothills which were impressive in their own right. But I wanted to see Mt. Erciyes. Sigh. I guess I’ll just have to keep my fifteen year old memory alive. We were here at the time and saw the mountain clearly enough; I just didn’t get a photograph at the time. I know, I know, just because I didn’t capture it on film (or pixels) doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. But I’m still disappointed.
Returning by bus to Ankara from Kayseri, we had our first experience of being stopped by the national Jandarma (military police, I think that means), who gathered everybody’s I.D. and checked them for potential movement of Kurds from the Southeast. Photocopies of our passports were sufficient (we generally don’t travel with the originals, unless we need to board a plane), and were returned to us almost immediately. But all the other Turkish passengers had to wait fifteen or twenty minutes for the return of their I.D.s. Everywhere these days, there seems to be an increase in police and military presence. This is due, I believe, to recent arrests of military personnel for their alleged participation in takeover plans in 2003 (which came to light just recently), and also a long, bitter strike of some municipal workers in Ankara over privatization plans.
Social/educational whirlwind
Since returning from Kayseri, we have been on a whirlwind lecture/movie/reception/seminar /cooking class schedule. Here is a brief summary:
Sunday, Feb. 8 – a reception at the U.S. ambassador’s home, and lecture by Ozden Toker, daughter of Ismet Inonu, Ataturk’s right hand man, and second president of the Turkish republic. The 80 year old Mrs. Toker, who looks and sounds like she’s fifty years old, and beautiful, told us stories of growing up in the presence of the two most powerful men in the country, and of her mother’s transition from traditional Turkish women’s role to the modernization of women’s status in the new country. Fascinating. The U.S. Ambassador is a cold fish, just bordering on rude. But his wife is very gracious.
Monday, Mar. 1 – back to the U.S. Ambassador’s residence for the screening of the movie, "Split: a Divided America," a documentary montage of interviews dealing with the "Red State/Blue State" split in our country, and some of the more contentious issues of the day, including religion, campaign finance, and so on. The film was well made and quite interesting but somewhat superficial, failing to address the underlying causes of the deep divides in the U.S. The filmmaker, Kelly Nyks, is planning a sequel to this documentary. Our theory as to why this film is being shown throughout Turkey, with the filmmaker accompanying the showing, is that the tour is sponsored by the U.S. State Dept. and, thus, was selected for its non-controversial or "non-partisan" stance. Kelly Nyks is a superb filmmaker and speaker (and a nice person; we spent lots of time with him at the following reception), but he is no Michael Moore. The Ambassador was not there on this night, but his wife was as pleasant as ever.
Tuesday, Mar. 2 – I return to Hacettepe, Beytepe, for the first time in a long time to attend a morning seminar. The first speaker, Akiba Harper, from Spellman College, spoke on "Turning Jazz Into Literature." Focusing on Langston Hughes’s poetry, she performed, more than read, excerpts from the poet’s works and charmed everybody in the room with her excellent presentation and skill in reciting and even singing the works. She was very convincing in conveying Hughes’s verbal "music" based on the rhythm and form of jazz instruments and vocals.
The second speaker was Bercin Erol, a close friend of Meldan’s and one of our companions at various dinners and events. She gave "A Brief Overview of Black Turks in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey." Excellent! After a long, excellent lunch, the department met with the Spellman College speaker and two of her colleagues, to plan a potential collaboration with Middle East Technical University, Hacettepe, and Spellman, in creating a summer program for up to 20 Spellman students in Ankara in 2011. I was invited to participate in the planning meeting and shared the enthusiasm of nearly everyone in the room. Oddly, the department had been quite unreceptive to this idea as recently as three weeks ago. But now, after meeting the individuals from Spellman, hearing that excellent presentation on poetry and jazz, and sensing the contagious enthusiasm of the Spellman visitors, the department members are now quite happy with the summer project.
Today is Wednesday March 3, as I write this. Tonight we have another lecture (Urartian ivories); so too tomorrow night (the history of Gori, Georgia). Tomorrow I also participate for the first time in an English language conversation club. [editor’s note several days later. I think I have a new vocation, standup comic. The students loved my jokes. Hmmm. Or were they just being polite? Hmmm. Or were they lauging AT me?] The next night a concert at Bilkent. Saturday I attend a Turkish cooking lesson, then in the evening we have a fancy dinner to go to. Sunday, a farewell party for a U.S. embassy staffer [editor's note: we skipped this one--too tired]. Next week a ballet, then another party. Because of all the events to come, I decided to go ahead and describe what we’ve been up to for the past week, rather than waiting until all the events have come and gone. If I wait, I’m likely to get them all mixed up in my mind. Several weeks ago, I was feeling bored and homesick. Today I would welcome a little boredom. I think I’ll go read a little. I’m only on page 11 of the book I started a week ago!
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteThis is Susan Martin, formerly of CS at HBL. I've been following your journey, and enjoying it immensely.
I hope you and yours are OK over there. Just read about the earthquake in the southeastern part this morning.
--susan
Wow! A voice from my past! How nice to hear from you. Wait, are you the Susan who is one of my official followers? I thought it was a colleague from ECSU. Now I'm confused.
ReplyDeleteThe earthquake struck quite a bit east of here. I thought I felt a jolt in the middle of the night, but reports say that it wasn't felt this far west. Maybe I should have reported it.
Well, now I'd better post some pictures to go with the words above. I'm a little behind. Take care and please keep in touch. - EEE