New Year Thoughts

Well Christmas was always going to be different here in Ankara, and it sure was.  Although I am not a great fan of the Christmas build up in the UK, which can start in August, I did miss it to some extent.  We managed to get some decorations, as they decorate for New Year here, so we put up a tree and some lights.  Getting the turkey was a challenge, but as it got closer to Christmas they started to appear in the shops, cranberry sauce was sourced, but Christmas spirit was somewhat lacking.  There was some effort in work where we had mulled wine and Christmas cake on Christmas Eve, but the true spirit is with the family and friends back home, and this is the time of year that you miss them even more.  A parcel from home was received on Christmas Eve, packed with gifts and treats from back home, some of which I have listed as the things I miss on a previous blog, and also some yummy Baravelli's chocolate for being the 500th follower on Twitter, and my parents had also added some of their Chocstix to the parcel!

So we are now in the last few days of 2013, and it has given me a chance to reflect on what a year it has been.   May 2013 saw me hitting my 40th birthday, a milestone year for sure.  The first half of the year saw me completing my degree, I needed my degree to follow my dream of teaching in Turkey, and this is what drove me to study when I didn't feel like it, when I was tired after a busy day at work.  Working full time while studying for my BA was hard work, and sometimes I felt like giving up but I had my dream to follow.  I also spent my spare time at the beginning of the year completing a photography course.  Photography is a passion of mine, and I loved the course, and I do miss it.  I haven't taken as many photographs as I would have liked to while in Ankara but that is one of my New Year's resolutions!  And of course the other big thing that happened to me in 2013 was my move to Ankara.  I was offered a job in June to start work in September, so I had a busy time packing up my belongings and moving out of my flat in North Wales which I had called home for a couple of years, and of course leaving my job, where I had made some great friends during my time there, and I do miss them. I arrived in Turkey with a couple of suitcases, moved into my new home, and a couple of days later started my new job.

I have enjoyed my time so far in Ankara.  The city is cold right now, with temperatures hitting -15 some nights, but the people are warm and friendly.  I already know I would like to stay in Turkey at the end of my contract, but am undecided which city, but I have plenty of time to think about that!

I will be welcoming in 2014 in Istanbul this year, a city I have always wanted to visit so I am very excited. I only have a short time there, but I will try and see as much as possible.

So looking ahead to 2014, my blog has been a little neglected so I will hopefully write a lot more often, and I will definitely spend some time taking photographs, as this originally was to be a photography blog!  I also think its time to start learning Turkish.  I can speak a few words and generally be understood, but I want a little bit more than that, so time to attend classes!  I also plan on seeing a lot more of Turkey in the next few months.

Exercising Turkish Style

When I left the UK outdoor gyms were starting to pop up around the local area.  Not something I ever would think of using, especially in the UK with the weather being so unpredictable.

Ankara has similar gyms and parks, and there are a lot of them!  A lot of the parks have a 'carpet' running track, which is used by a lot of the locals, and I can understand why.  Ankara is such a hilly city, and all the roads and pavements are badly damaged with lots of potholes, it can be like an obstacle course and there is a high risk of injury.  The tracks are mainly flat and soft underfoot, so there is little chance of injury.

The tracks have distance markers around them, and lots of people walking and running around them.  Quite often you may be stuck in a 'traffic jam' behind a group of ladies who are busy chatting while strolling around the track.  Within a few minutes walk of my home there are at least three of these tracks, so there are plenty of them.

Most of the tracks then have outdoor gym equipment.  I'm not really convinced that they do any good, but again they seem to be very popular.  But exercising on this equipment is definitely not something I want to do!

On some of the equipment there are a few written instructions as how to use it, but obviously I am not able to understand this.  I am intrigued as to what this piece of equipment is for!?

Thanksgiving in Turkey

OK, so I am a Welshy living in Turkey.  One of my flatmates is American so I am experiencing my first Thanksgiving.

Of course one of the problems with living in Turkey is being able to locate the ingredients for a celebration.  So the hunt began.  We found cranberry sauce a few weeks ago, but then we tried to find a turkey.  You would have thought finding a turkey in Turkey would be easy, but we were met with the familiar 'Hindi, yok', everywhere we went (no turkey).  Hmm this called for plan B, so chicken it is!  Sprouts are apparently available in Ankara, but we opted out of that one.

We located a baker that could make pumpkin pie for us (gluten and dairy free), but unfortunately they were unable to produce the pie for us on this occasion.  Hmm maybe for Christmas though.....

So we kinda had a plan, so the day arrived, and we set to work.  Our guests were due to arrive at one, so we had to be organised.  So, we cooked chicken with roast potatoes, vegetables and stuffing.  Dessert was chocolate cake and baklava (which was pretty amazing).

So a day with good food (soooo much food), and very good company.  My first ever Thanksgiving had a very International feel, with friends from America, Slovakia, Iraq and Turkey.  Another new experience in my new life here in Ankara.

Missing the home comforts

Of course when you move to another country you want to try new things and moving to Turkey for me was no exception.  The food is fantastic (as long as I don't cook it!) and I am willing to try most things here, although I'm not sure about trying Kokorec, which is made from intestines, Iskembe which is tripe (I did try tripe once in France and vowed never to eat it again!) and Beyin, which is brain.  My students assure me that they are all delicious, and that I should at least give them a try.  They find my reaction to these food highly amusing, especially when they hear that I have tried frog's legs and snails in France (the thought of these foods horrify my Turkish students).  The fruit and vegetables here are fantastic, so fresh and full of flavour, and it is now pomegranate season!

But there obviously things I miss about home.  Friends on Facebook doing a countdown to Christmas make you think about the things you miss, and will miss while being overseas at Christmas.  These are in no particular order (apart from number one of course)

1. Family and Friends.  The Turkish people are really friendly, and so are the people I live and work with, but nobody can replace my family and friends from back at home.  Keeping in touch with people back home is very important to me and this was one of the reasons I started my blog, so they could read about what I have been up to.  Of course we have emails, Skype, Facebook but this can never replace the face to face contact I am used to.  I think of everyone back at home often, and I miss everyone a lot.

2. Mum's Christmas Dinner - Yes I will miss this for sure!  We will attempt to cook a Christmas dinner in the flat on Boxing Day, but I know it won't be as good as what I have back at home!

3. Rowntree's Fruit Pastilles.  OK this may seem to be a strange one to most.  Strangely I never used to like them, but over the last couple of years I had to give up a lot of the food I love because of food intolerances, so Fruit Pastilles became my sweet of choice.  I was kindly given a supply as part of a leaving present from work colleagues, but alas the supply is no longer!

4. Vitam-R.  OK so marmite is quite popular in the UK but I can't say I am a fan, but I found an alternative that I preferred.  Marmite's flavour is too in your face for me, so I changed to Vitam-R, less salt and more flavour.  Don't think I will find anything like it here in Ankara.

5. Gluten Free/Dairy Free Products.  I am unable to eat wheat (although while I have been here I have been sneaking some bread in with my kebabs).  I can usually get away with a small amount of the wraps, but I generally know I have eaten something I shouldn't have.  I have found gluten free pasta and Alpro soya milk, which are both very expensive, but for me a necessity.  But the only bread I have found is grim!  I have not been able to find any Rye flour (it all seems to contain wheat) and rice milk (and xanthan gum) to make my own, which I had started to do in the UK.  The hunt continues.

6. Bacon.  I never thought I would miss this, as I didn't eat much of it in the UK, but sometimes all you want is a bacon butty (made with Genius gluten free bread), with brown sauce.

7. Thinking ahead for Christmas, Terry's Dark chocolate orange.  This to me is a sign that Christmas is here.  This year will be the first time I will be working on Christmas Day, so celebrations will be on Boxing Day.

8. Fluffy socks.  Haha yes I am missing my fluffy socks that I wear around the flat.  When I left the UK they hadn't arrived in the shops yet.  Ankara is starting to get a bit cool in the evenings!  I have looked around the shops, but the ones here just don't cut it!

9. My comfy bed.  I can't seem to get comfortable in my bed in Turkey for some reason and of course your own bed at home is so familiar.

10. Rubis - For any chocolate fans who haven't tried this, you should give it a go.  Rubis is a fortified wine, think along the lines of port, with a hint of chocolate - http://www.rubiswine.com/.  I always get myself a bottle for over Christmas, but this year it will be missing from my Christmas treats.

Don't get me wrong I love living in Turkey, but sometimes you just miss those home comforts.....

A Trip to the Hairdressers

OK, this is something I have been avoiding since arriving in Ankara 10 weeks ago.  I hate visiting the hairdresser in the UK, so not being able to communicate is asking for trouble!

This Welshy always gets stressed before any haircut, so unsurprisingly I was a little nervous.  Someone from work had said that he would take us so he could tell the hairdresser what we wanted.  He explained briefly to the hairdresser what we wanted and off he went, leaving us in the hands of the staff at the salon.

The main difference between hairdressers in the UK and ones in Turkey, are that in the UK they are mainly women, here they are (almost) always men.

So I knew there would be no usual hairdresser conversation 'Are you going/Have you been on holiday?', 'Are you going anywhere nice tonight?' and I think today I realised how much the little touches like that put you at ease.

So after having my hair washed, I was directed to a chair, and the hairdresser set to work with his razor comb, there seemed to be a lot of hair coming off, but I knew I couldn't do a great deal once that first 'chop' had been made, so although a little shorter than I wanted, it looked OK......

And then he started to dry my hair.  'Hmmm not a technique I have seen before' I thought, and then he stepped back proudly showing the 'ringlet' type curls in my hair!  Nooooooo!!  I like my hair dead straight and all I could think was 'How will the GHDs cope with straightening this!?'  I think the look on my face and my shouting 'Stop' indicated that something was wrong.  OK hand signal time, ummm smooth hair.... Ah he understands, ringlets promptly straightened.  I am, however amazed that he could dry my hair soooo straight without the help of straighteners.  Hmmm one plus for a Turkish hairdresser Also the cut is good, just a little shorter than I wanted, the price was cheap.  Hmmm one big minus for the hairdresser, he pointed out my grey hairs, and tried to get me to have a colour......

So haircut finally done, and another job I hate doing, shoe shopping, also done.  Generally it is difficult to find women's shoes in anything bigger than a 40, so being a 41 I knew it would be a problem but mission accomplished!  Maybe clothes shopping next......

Kocatepe Mosque

So one day during Bayram, we decided to visit the largest Mosque in Ankara, Kocatepe Mosque.

We had an idea of the location after looking at the map, and surely even we couldn't miss a huge mosque, and for once we were right!  Mission accomplished!  The mosque can be seen (and heard) from most areas of central Ankara.  Our first sighting was of the four minarets, the slim towers that can be seen on most modern mosques.

We stepped round the corner, and my reaction was one that had become quite familiar when seeing some of the sights of Turkey.  'WOW', and it most certainly was 'WOW'.

We were welcomed by a couple of cheeky chappies, who insisted on having their photos taken...

This is typical of people in Turkey, always friendly and have a smile for you.

We continued walking to the mosque, and learnt that this was in fact the back, so another 'WOW' was in order when we saw this sight.

Even with some building work going on the sight was stunning.  The inside didn't disappoint either. With shoes removed, and headscarves on we took our first step into the mosque.  

A beautiful mosque, which I hope to visit again soon.

A day in Eskisehir

So during Bayram (after we had managed to get our train tickets), we set off for a day in Eskisehir, just 90 minutes away from Ankara on the high speed railway.

The railway is still quite new, the section between Ankara and Eskisehir opening in 2009.  They are now working on extending this to Istanbul.  Ankara station is impressive, and very clean, unlike what I remember of stations in the UK, and the train was waiting on the platform for everyone to board, again unlike the rail service in the UK where trains are always late.  So a good start.... We boarded onto a very clean carriage, and the seats were very comfortable.  The train set off right on schedule!

The train passed (quickly) through a lot of farmland, and this gave me the opportunity to see my first sights of Kurban Bayram.  Families taking their reluctant sheep to be slaughtered.  One was really dragging it's feet as it's owner was pulling on the rope it was tied to.  While in Eskisehir I also saw families emptying the boot of their car, which was full of meat.  This is then shared amongst family, friends, neighbours and people in need.

The train arrived in Eskisehir on time.  I'm starting to like this rail travel! We set off on foot to see what this city had to offer and was quite impressed.

Kent Park was a beautiful park with lots of water and it's very own beach.  I must return during the summer! As I am from the coast in the UK, I think this will be very welcome during the summer months.


After Kent Park we headed along the river back to the old town.

 While in the old town we ate Cigborek, which is a deep fried pastry with mince meat.  Probably not the best idea for someone on a wheat free diet, but as a local dish it had to be tried!

After a couple of Efes in a bar, it was time to head off back to the train station to return to Ankara.

Eskisehir has so much to see, that a return visit will definitely be planned in the near future.

A Rainy Day in Ankara

So what do you do on a rainy day in Ankara.  My first thoughts were to stay indoors, but no, this is Bayram and I have a week off work.  The rainy season is approaching so I had better get used to it.

There is one place that the students have been insisting that we should visit, somewhere that is very important to them and the people of Turkey.  So we quickly checked the directions, and set off to catch the bus to Kizilay.  Once we had arrived at Kizilay we headed for the Metro and it was another straightforward journey just 3 stops down the line.  We got off the Metro and checked directions, and only a short walk we could see a lot of cars heading in the same direction.  We must be in the right place!  We went through the security check of the gatehouse, and was then offered lemon cologne and sweets 'Iyi Bayramlar!'  We continued following the crowds and came across this sight.....

The Road of Lions- 262 metres of Pedestrian walkway which is lined with 12 pairs of lions like the one pictured above. It was all very grand but I wasn't prepared for what was at the end of the Road of Lions. The Ceremonial Plaza was right in front of me and The Hall of Honour to my left.

I took a sharp intake of breath as I saw the sight, Wow, this really was something special.  My students were right, this was one place we couldn't miss seeing while in Ankara.  We were at Anitkabir, the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemel Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, and a man who did so much for the country during his lifetime.  I had recently held a conversation class where my students had told me about Ataturk and what he did for the country, and how respected he was throughout Turkey today.  Anitkabir confirmed this for me, even on this wet day during Kurban Bayram lots of people had turned out to visit Anitkabir.

A truly stunning place, for a truly inspirational man.  I will be back for a return visit, maybe when it's not raining so much.

Lost in Translation

So after making my decision to come to Turkey I decided to try and learn a few words to get by with in my new city of Ankara.  I can exchange pleasantries but anything beyond this is not within my capabilities.

So after receiving a wasp sting on my way to work, I faced my first trip to the Eczane (pharmacy) for some medication.  Armed with my dictionary I found the word sting, of which there were many options, so I showed the lady behind the counter the dictionary and pointed to my hand where the sting was swelling up nicely.  I was met with a blank stare.  So this resulted in myself and my flatmate doing impressions of a wasp attacking my hand.  Result!!  She understood and packed me off with a couple of tubes of cream.

Today was another interesting trip out.  We decided it was time to venture away from Ankara and as it's Bayram next week (woohoo no work!!) a day trip to Eskisehir would be on the cards.  Just 90 minutes on a high speed train.  So today's challenge was to book a train ticket.  We headed off into Ankara with our trusty post it note, with the information we needed and tried to locate the train station.  Easier said than done, so we stopped a gummy local and asked for directions, only to be met with that blank stare we have come to recognise.  So we started to fire off words we knew, and still no luck.  OK this called for drastic action, in the middle of a busy park, I looked at him seriously and did my best 'choo choo' impression!  He just looked at me as if I was crazy.  Eventually he grasped what we were trying to say and told us to follow him.  He took us to an unmanned station onto the platform.  We tried to explain that we wanted to buy tickets for Tuesday, and then came a garbled reply pointing down the train tracks.  He then grabbed another local to help.  So we eventually worked out we need to be in the main station for tickets.  Both men got on the train with us, and as we arrived in Ankara station, the first guy pointed at the other guy, so we bid out farewells and followed the second guy who took us part of the way through the station, and pointed the way for us to go, but by which time we were adopted by a third gent who took us the rest of the way.  Feeling like a pair of batons in a relay we arrived at the station at which point buying tickets was such an easy task!!

Buying fruit and vegetables at the local market is always fun and I think the stallholders probably look forward to the entertainment of the English speakers trying to communicate.  They chatter away to us in Turkish even after we tell them we can't understand them, but generally with pointing and hand signals we can generally buy what we need for the week ahead.

Students always make me laugh with some of the things they say. We were given a Turkish dessert the other day and was told it was sugar with spaghetti!?!?  I think there may have been some confusion with pasta which is the Turkish word for cake.  I was disappointed as I was looking forward to a sweet spaghetti kind of thing....

The students are very keen to tell us where to visit and where not to visit, and we are working through the list but they seem to expect us to have visited all the places by now.

I am sure there will be plenty of other challenges with the Turkish language and I will be sure to let you know......

First Impressions

My first impressions on arrival in Ankara were...... It's big!  Three weeks later and my impressions haven't really changed.  Having come from the sleepy seaside town of Llandudno in North Wales with a population of approximately 30,000 to the crazy inland city of Ankara with a population of approximately 5 million it is a little bit of a culture shock.

I arrived at 8pm in the evening, so my first sight of Ankara was the city in lights.  It was pretty daunting for this small town welshy, but I was ready to take it on.  I had travelled from Fethiye on the coast by bus, a journey that had taken 9 hours, passing through some stunning areas of Turkey.  During the bus journey I realised I should have learnt more of the language as I was unable to communicate with anyone, and there were regular announcements which I obviously couldn't understand.  I am trying to pick up more of the language but it is a very slow process, but I will succeed!  The area I am living doesn't have many English speakers, apart from a few ex-pats that I have met at the local market.  So at the moment I am getting by with the few words I do know and a lot of sign language.

The road system is interesting, it appears there are no rules of the road or at least no regard to any rules should there be any, and it can sometimes appear like dodgems in a fairground.  There seems to be a rank system where buses get priority, but I guess that is due to their size and the fact they just drive on through the traffic. The journey to work is like being on a white knuckle ride at Alton Towers.  The hills are steep and the corners are severe.  I have been known to close my eyes on numerous journeys as I hold on tight to the seat in front.  

The first morning in my new home, and I was woken up with the sounds of the call to prayer at the nearby mosque, which is a sound you would normally hear in Turkey, but it was accompanied by a sound that was a little different.  At 5.30am I was a little dazed and confused, but then I worked out what it was.  The local street dogs were joining in with the call to prayer with howling.  Now in the area I live there are a large number of street dogs so this sound is a little eerie when you first hear it.  It only happens during the morning and evening call to prayer.  I guess during the day the dogs have more important business to attend to like sleeping.

There a a lot of street dogs, but they appear to be well looked after by the locals, who feed them their leftovers.  They are often seen chilling out in the sun.  I haven't seen so many cats in the area though, which is something that has surprised me after seeing large numbers of cats in other parts of Turkey that I have visited.

Ankara seems to be a friendly city, and although there will be a lot to get used to, I think it is somewhere I could possibly in the future call my home.  Let's just go with it and see where the next few months takes me.