Things that will not be as fun in NC without my Turkish Fulbright BFs

Sarah Assian inspired me to compile a list of "Turkishisms" that we will never forget....

1. Calling old ladies "teyze".

2. Wearing "teyze pants" around the house.

3. Making fun of apaçi hair styles.

4. Overnight bus rides, especially since there are no hostesses, cakes or çay.

5. Turkish kolonya

6. "Meeting up" at the Mediterranean or some 2,000 year old city for the weekend.

7. Yelling çok ayıp! to young boys on the street because of their foul mouths.

8. Gastamonu, Gastamonu, dep,dep, dep

9. Telling the garcon, "bir tane of this and bir tane of that".

10. Wearing my Ataturk necklace and shirt and having people be impressed

11. Talking about people in English.

12. Playin with those erkeks......................

iyi şanslar arkadaşlar!!! This was quite the year!

America......Land of the Free

I have been back stateside for about a week now and I have to say it is good to be back. Its weird at times when I think that I was living in a small mountain city with the occasional donkey on the road just a couple weeks ago. I really miss the close friends that I met there and the ability to go to the Mediterranean or Europe on the weekends. ::) I will dearly miss the fashionable and fun Silan, my Turkish mother Selma, crazy Hayati and the Fulbright group as a whole.

For now I am living with my family in Fayetteville North Carolina for awhile. This summer I am looking for a secondary school teaching job for the fall. I am excited about starting over and hopeful for the future!

Thanks for everyone's support!!!

Voting and Politics.....Turkey Style

I’ve never been one of those people who is passionate about politics. I never really liked civics class or paid much attention to political upheavals around the world. Since living in Turkey, with a political connoisseur as a roommate, I have taken more of an interest in the subject.

It is an interesting time to be in Turkey right now. Not only is the Arab world i turmoil with uprisings and overthrows, Turkey has a critical election coming up. This country has no doubt been a shinning star as an economic and political power in the past few years and it has shown itself as a major player not only in the Muslim world, but everywhere.

The main political parties here are the AKP(Justice and Development Party, Religious), CHP(Republican People’s Party...Socialist) and MHP(Nationalist Action Party, grey wolves, nationalist) and everyone has an opinion about them. In my small town of Kastamonu, there are vans with politicians painted on the sides and big speakers that pump out messages and music to the people. They have been driving up and down the the streets everyday from morning til night for the past month. I have attended the CHP and MHP rallies where the leaders of those parties have come to energize the town with campaign promises and why they should dislike the other guys.

I attempted to attend the AKP rally, but was stuck in the courthouse because we were told that the Prime Minister would visit there after his speech at the center of town. He never came to the court house because of a security threat and was whisked away by helicopter after his address to the town. Later that day as I walked down the main street, I noticed many police, ambulances and secret police cars ( black with tinted windows and people screaming into walkie talkies) rush by me. Tory and I did not know what was going on at that time, but it was definitely bad. Our friend Silan met up with us and told us that there was a bomb threat at the hospital down the street and that Prime Minister Erdogan’s caravan had been bombed on the way out of the city. When we came home and turned on the tv, we realized that there was a shootout happening at that very moment between the police and members of the terrorist organization, the PKK. We watched in horror and read in all the major newspapers about what was going on just 15 min down the road from my flat.

In a country that is currently in a bloody civil war with the PKK, the organization ran by Turkey’s largest minority, this was the first terrorist attack in this town. Most of the violence is in the southeastern part of the country. There has also been bombings in Istanbul since I have been here. There was a show of unity by the people of Kastamonu that day when they all came into the streets and blew whistles and honked their horns to say “Get out of my town!” to the terrorists. There was also a rally the next day that we missed because we left on a previously planned trip to Antalya. Unfortunatly, a well loved police officer was killed and the town morned his loss over the next few days.

Back to the elections and voting.......The AKP is the current ruling party and is controverial both here and abroad because of its Islamic roots. Some Turks and American for that matter http://www.economist.com/node/18774786 , believe that Mr. Erdogan, the Prime Minister and AKP leader, will eventually turn Turkey into Iran.

My town is small and conservative and has an overwhelming support for the AKP.

All I know is, it will be quite a fascinating and possible less friendly next few years if the AKP wins again.....which most agree that they have a pretty good chance. June 12th is election day and I am interested to see what happens next.

Around Kastamonu.....

Cappadocia, Turkey

Safranbolu, Turkey

The last weekend in May, Tory, 3 of our students(Selma, Ozgur and Ozcan) and I traveled to the town of Safranbolu. The town is famous for safron...of course and for their large amount of restored houses from the days of the Ottoman Empire. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the restored homes. It was a very cute place and I was able to buy some good souvenirs. We also met up with 3 other Fulbrighters Hayfa, Sarah and Rachel. We had a blast that day......

I'm Back!

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. This is the first time that i could get on the Blogger website. It was blocked for some time here in Turkey. Yes, I am still in Kastamonu, Turkey and nothing much has gone on since my trip to Spain.

All the Fulbrighters February. It was a blast to see everyone! We all talked about our experiences in our respective towns.....many have had very challenging times. We heard from the YOK president, Fulbright president and the new ambassador to Turkey. All had very optimistic and forward thinking things to say.....but I think that they have a lot more to figure out before moving forward so fast. Ambassador Ricciardone was very nice and talked about his time as a Fulbrighter and how we are the most important part of international diplomacy.

Mostly, Tory and I have been in Kastamonu. I feel like I am hibernating for the winter! We have been making more friends here and have had some surprisingly fun times here in KTown. Last month we were invited to the annual doctor's ball and danced with the "who's who" of Kastamonu's medical community. The ball was held at a beautiful resort about 35 min away from town.

Another weekend, Selma (our Turkish mother) took us to the village Daday for a day. We ate their famous Etli Ekmek (meat bread), did a little shopping for local crafts and rode a horse! I feel like we are finally getting a better connection with the locals.

In a couple weeks my friends Susan, Maritza and Dee will come from NC to visit Istanbul!!! I can't wait! We will have so much fun in Istanbul. We will shop, sightsee, take a bosphorus cruise and maybe go to a Besiktas game! Can't wait for the girls to see this exotic city.

Other plans include going to the beach in Antalya for a final hoorah with all the Fulbrighters and maybe a quick trip to Paris with few friends before heading home to NC.

Hope all is well. I have plenty of new pictures to post. They will be up soon.

Gaudi, Cathedrals and the Invisible Man...OH MY!

I flew over to Barcelona, Spain for a week during the semester break this year. What can I say.....Barcelona is a beautiful city! Its super clean, the food is great and the shopping is even better. It has a distinctly European feel, but new and modern at the same time.

I was accompanied by my friend and fellow Fulbrighter, Tess. We walked all around the city and enjoyed the architecture of Gaudi and some of the local cuisine. Sites that I loved were Park Guell, La Pedrera, Casa Batillo, Picasso Museum and La Bocharia (for fresh fruits!).