My Commute

Most days I walk back and forth from our lojman (worker housing in Turkey) on the Bilkent University Middle Campus to my office in the Rektorluk Building in the main campus.  This is not a long walk but it is not flat.  In fact, most of the walk in the morning to work is uphill while that of returning is downhill.

In between is a large ravine and the most direct path (and the one I take) is stairs down the ravine and then back up on the other side.  I once counted the steps up needed to get from my apartment to my office and it was over 140.  This does not include the 60 to 80 steps going down the ravine and the 32 steps that go from the entry door of our lojman to the third floor.  This is along with some fairly steep inclines.  In any case, it is a good and nature filled walk that improves the quadriceps and the aerobic capacity.  It is also a pretty walk as the pictures below will attest.

There is a campus store en route and I often stop on the way home for the English newspaper (we prefer the Daily News) and some groceries if they are needed.  Not too much, though, as I have to carry whatever I buy along with the school items I transport daily.

There is a lot to be said for the lojman.  They are convenient, secure, ready to move in and enable a car free lifestyle.  The campus is also a privilege to live in - green, quiet, surrounded by culture and learning, and in the center of upscale Ankara.  Thank you Bilkent University for making our residency so carefree and delightful.

Our lojman - building 104.  We live on the backside on the 3rd floor

In spring, frogs popped up in the drainage ditch outside the lojman.  These are plump and very noisy fellows

The walk along the drainage ditch

The stairs down the ravine

More stairs down

At the bottom of the ravine is a parking lot and greenhouses

And, a preschool

Once spring came, flowers abounded along my commute

Starting the climb up the ravine

More steps upwards

The store on the main campus side of the ravine with the electrical engineering building behind

More steps leading up to the road which will lead to the Rektorluk building

One of the beautiful and plentiful magpies in a tree along the way

The UNICEF building which I pass by

More steps lead to the road

Walking along the road, but still at an incline up

The Rektorluk Building is in sight

Arrival

I take the elevator to the third floor.  I would walk but I cannot identify a stairwell that reaches from the ground floor to the third floor directly