My Turkish Delights

Today I had my last lecture of the semester.  It seems appropriate that my last class was my Turkish lesson.  Today, we each did a small presentation ofanytopic of our choosing.  I chose to talk about the beautiful new friends I have made since being in Istanbul (Yeni Arkadaşlarim).  I presented a photo of each person/group of people and talked a bit about who they are and where they’re from.

So, classes are finished! Now, I just have three final exams over the next two weeks, wrapping everything up on June 7th.  It seems so crazy that my time in Istanbul is almost finished.  It was a semester I’ve been planning for, and thinking about for so long….where has the time gone?

One thing Turks love if Football (known as soccer to most of us).  It goes beyond a passion for the sport; it’s as if the performance of their favourite team completely consumes them.  Riots break out when a match is lost, and hours of street chanting and horn honking takes place after a big win. There is a football league through out Turkey, of which a few teams are local to Istanbul.  One team, Besiktas, is known for its outrageous and rowdy fans.  A few weeks ago, the fans acted completely out of hand, and as a punishment all men were banned from the next two Besiktas matches.  This meant, that all women and children had free entrance into these ‘male-free’ games.  A few of my friends and I hopped on the chance to be part of the Turkish football experience. 

Last Thursday we dressed in appropriate team colours (black and white) and entered into the Besiktas stadium (capacity of over 30,000).  The women were going absolutely crazy in support of their teams - collectively cheering different chants (which everyone seemed to know), standing on top of their seats, jumping up and down, and rattling on any piece of metal they could get their hands on.  30,000 women passionately cheering for their team is quite an unusual event - it was the highest pitched cheering I’ve ever heard at a sporting match. 

The good news is that our local team, Besiktas, won the game 1-0 (you can only imagine how the women responded to this win), and I got to experience what it means to be a football fanatic in Turkey.

A week ago I boarded a coach bus in Istanbul with my three friends; Cara, Rachel, and Connor.  We slept on and off for 13 hours, and when the journey was finished we found ourselves in Fethiye, Turkey: the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.  Fethiye is positioned on the south western coast of Turkey on the Mediterranean Sea.  The landscape consists of clear, kool-aid blue water, with snow topped mountains in the distance.  It was really strange to see snow since the weather was consistently above 20 degrees everyday!

On Thursday, upon arrival we checked into a local hostel, freshened up, and set out for a hike up one of the mountain sides.  We hiked uphill for 8km but the reward at the end was so worth it.  We explored the neighbouring region of Kayaköy which is a ghost town of 4000 abandoned stone houses.  Just after WWI there was a population exchange between Greece and Turkey.  All Ottoman Christians went to Greece, and any Greek Muslim came to Turkey.  Kayaköy was first built many, many decades ago, but was abandoned after this population exchange in 1923. Thursday was not only the first day of our trip, but it was also my 22nd birthday! When we returned to our hostel later that day the owner informed us that he had prepared a special BBQ dinner for the four of us to celebrate my birthday! We enjoyed a delicious meal with the hostel staff and when we were finished they flicked off the lights and presented me with a chocolate birthday cake with a single glowing candle! I was so lucky to be able to spend my birthday in a beautiful place, with beautiful people; it was a birthday I’ll never forget!

On Friday we rented a car and set out for a road trip up the cost line! We first headed to an area called Daylan with is famous for its hot springs and magical mud baths.  It is believed that the mud (containing mildly radioactive minerals such as chloride, sodium, hydrogen sulphide and bromine) has beneficial effects on the skins.  We found a local who agreed to take us to the mud baths in his tiny motor boat.  In Dalyan there is a main mud bath which is quite large and attracts most of the tourists.  But, our local guide took us to a smaller, secluded bath on the mountain side.  We got off the boat, changed into our swim suits behind a bush, and waded into the beautifully warm hot springs.  We were surrounded by the mountain side, and an open field with wild sheep trotting around.  Just beside the hot spring pool is a river, which is where the magical mud comes from.  And! the best part is that we had this whole area to ourselves! Our guide instructed us to get into the river, dive to the bottom and collect a handful of mud.  Once the proper mud was collected we spread it all over our bodies and waited for it to dry - it was like a face mask for your whole body!  Once the mud had hardened we went back into the hot spring pool and washed it off.  After we’d dried off and changed back into our clothes we could actually feel that our skin was softer!  Once we were back in Fethiye that night, we went to a BYOF (bring your own fish) for dinner.  First, we went to the local fish market and purchased our fish; between the four of us we shared a sea bass and prawns.  Then, we brought our fish to a restaurant where they prepared it to perfection!

Saturday, we took a boat cruise on the Mediterranean.  Originally we were suppose to see a cave and the national park called Butterfly Valley, but the water was too rough from a storm earlier in the week, restricting us from seeing these sights.  So instead, we just sailed around, soaked up the sun and jumped off the side of the boat for a quick swim every now and then.  It was another perfect day.

Sunday was a beach day.  We took a shuttle bus to Turkey’s longest beach, Patara Beach.  We travelled to this area at the perfect time - the weather was amazing, but the sights weren’t yet packed with tourists.  We enjoyed a calm day at the beach, and jumped into the playful waves when the sun got too hot. We missed the shuttle bus back to Fethiye, so we hitched a ride with a man from France who is living in Fethiye for the summer; he was really lovely. On Sunday evening, Rachel and Connor caught a bus back to Istanbul and Cara and I extended our holiday one more day (since Monday was a national holiday and classes were cancelled).

Our final adventure, on Monday, was scuba diving in Kaş (pronounced cash).  Cara is a certified scuba diver so she was free to dive and discover on her own.  Since this was my first dive I did what’s called a ‘discovery dive, meaning I was with an instructor the entire time, and he controlled my air levels for me.  So all I needed to do was kick my flippers and away I went.  We didn’t see a lot of exotic fish, but the most mesmerizing thing was how clear the water was.  At one point I sat on the sea floor and looked out, it was as if I was sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool - the water was unbelievably clear! We had a 2 hour journey back to Fethiye from Kaş and we arrived just 15 minutes before our next bus left for Istanbul.  Again, we slept on and off for most the journey and woke up back home, in Istanbul again.

Gah! Sorry it’s taken me so long to update you on what’s happening in Turkey!

Here’s the 411 since I last updated you:

Cara and I spent 2 lovely days in Izmir; were hosted by a Turkish class mate of mine, Can (pronounced Jan). On our first day his younger sister showed us around town in exchange for the chance to practice her English. In the evening we enjoyed a meze dinner and live Turkish music with Can and his cousin. It was a really lovely evening.

On our second day we took a shuttle to Ephesus - one of the best preserved cities I’ve seen since being here. We had a blast exploring the ancient city and imagining what the place used to be!

Later that same night, we took a bus through the night from Izmir back to Istanbul, concluding the adventures of our spring break.

Begama might not have much to offer in the way of entertainment, but the ancient ruins for the Acropolis some how make up for the fact that there is a whole lot of nothing to do in this small town.  In retrospect, it would have been better to simply visit Bergama on a day trip, rather than spend a whole night… but how were we to know? Regardless of the lack of activity in Bergama, we had the best time exploring the Acropolis this morning.  The earliest parts of this settlement are said to have been built in the 6th and 7th century BC.  My favourite part was the theater, which is the steepest theater in the world (approximately 70 degrees). And in terms of size, it is also one of the largest theaters in the world.  The theater was built into the side of the hill to take advantage of the slope and provide an unbelievable view. 

After dawdling around in Bergama for the afternoon we caught an afternoon bus to the metropolitan city of Izmir. We plan to tour Izmir tomorrow, and Ephesus the day after.