Yunus Emre and Bird Heaven

Our first excursion outside of Ankara took place yesterday.  With Mehmet Gulsen as able tour guide we left traveling west from Ankara through Polatli with our first destination the tomb of Yunus Emre in the town that bears his name.  Yunus Emre lived in the 12th century and was a mystic poet who wrote about love and life.  He is revered by the Turkish people.  His final resting place is in a small town and is little visited (from what I could tell).  Along with three tombs (more on that later), there is a small but very beautiful mosque, a small museum and a "culture house" (a house done in old Ottoman style).  Mehmet conversed with the caretaker and learned that the first tomb ended up being next to the high speed rail between Ankara and Eskisehir and local people had dreams where Yunus Emre complained to them about his sleep being disturbed by the close trains.  He was dug up (and found to be a non-decomposed body after 800 some years!) and moved a little way.  This was his second tomb.  For reasons I am not clear on, he was thence moved to his third and current tomb, about 50 feet from the second tomb.

The mosque at the Yunus Emre tomb

The third and current tomb

Randy and Mehmet at the current tomb

The second tomb

Alice with third tomb and mosque behind

A statue of Yunus Emre

Inside the wonderfully tiled mosque

Tile detail

More tile

Another tile example

We then drove the back roads through sheep and goats (see pictures) to the town of Mihaliccik.  Randy was hungry so we found an open lokanta on the main square.  The chef/owner was also a landholder on nearby village Dinek and grew his own vegetables.  We had the best ever Turkish green beans and I bought his last jar of them to take home - home grown from his garden.  We also ate the local cheese (rather bland) and yoghurt and Randy had chicken and potatoes.  Mehmet and I drank the local spring (cesme) water.

A sheep (part of a large herd) crosses our path in the hinterland of Turkey

The shepherd dog who watched over the sheep herd

A herd of Ankara goats also crossed our path.  The sheepherder offered to catch one so I could see it up close but that generous offer was declined

Chef/owner of the best place to eat in Mihaliccik

Mehmet and Randy waiting anxiously for food

The local cheese made from "mixed" milks

The best green beans ever!!

This is the place to go in Mihaliccik and worth coming from a distance to eat at

We then drove over the mountains through a beautiful snow laden fir forest to the first hydroelectric plant in Turkey and its dam.  This was at Sariyar.  We could actually drive over the dam.  Next was a bonus visit to the tomb of Yunus Emre's master Tabduk Emre at the town of Emremsultan (appropriately named).  This tomb was not as impressive but it was nice to see where the master was laid as a kind of symmetry to the day.

We then went to Nallihan, a town with some history to it as one of the han towns on the route from the western Turkish coast to Ankara.  The hans were built by the Selcuk turks one walking day apart from each other for travelers and their beasts to lodge at.  While the han at Nallihan is no longer there the town had a few less historic buildings and press for poppies next to its city hall.  Our next and penultimate stop was at Bird Heaven (Kus Cenneti), a bird viewing place next to a wetlands.  The talkative caretaker did not see many (if any) visitors and was anxious to share his high powered binoculars with us and tell us about the many birds that lived there.  It was a particularly beautiful place with colorful rock formations in the mountains.  The main bird we saw was the ruddy duck, a very pretty yellow, black and white large duck.   They were there in great numbers.  We hope to return later in spring when even more species are present.  Lastly, we stopped at Beypazari, a historic town that is something of a tourist destination.  Our first choice restaurant was closed but we did quite well at Konak and ate the typical cuisine including the taharna soup.  We walked a bit but it was dark so we need to make another trip to this appealing destination.  They are famed for carrots so Mehmet bought himself and me a bunch.  All in all it was an amazing trip full of surprises and learning.  We can't wait for the next one!

The snow forests.  We were told that hunters sometime hunt for wild sheep here.

One of the spectacular views along the drive - like a mini Grand Canyon

View to the lower side of the dam at Sariyar

Mehmet, Randy and our trusty Megane car on the dam

Final resting place of Yunus Emre's master Tabduk Emre

Historic city hall of Nallihan (a mansion from the late 1800's)

Ruddy ducks at the Bird Heaven wetland preserve

View across Bird Heaven to the green and red colored mountains

The friendly caretaker of Bird Heaven (Kus Cenneti)

Alice and Mehmet at Beypazari, known for its carrots (note large and a little scary carrot statue behind)

Visiting Old Friends

We were happy to connect with several people we had not seen in a long time this past week.  First we met Orhan and Tahir Dengiz at our favorite Ankara mall - Panora - to shop for a new laptop for Alice.  We visited the Sony and the Apple store and narrowed down the search to a couple of models.  Then we had dinner at one of the several upscale, international restaurants in the mall.  We downed Efes beers (so refreshing) and had a relaxing time.

Tahir and Orhan Dengiz - two smart and handsome Turkish men!

Toasting with Efes - always a good idea!

Dinner at Midpoint at Panora Mall

Next was Mehmet Kurt and his lovely wife Baris.  She is an English teacher and we converse so easily with her.  Mehmet is a career Army officer who was also a student (M.S.) at University of Pittsburgh when I was there.  He has been a part time Ph.D. student at Auburn and aspires to come full time when he retires from the Army, perhaps in 2014.  They took us to a nearby restaurant with an enormous menu and I had a new kind of manti that is fried and in tomato sauce.  It is spicier than the regular (ev) manti and I liked it a lot.

Mehmet Kurt and Randy

The new kind of manti - little dumplings in a spicy tomato sauce with yoghurt on top - yum!

Alice and Baris

Finally, the generous and friendly Sakinc family arranged another mangal dinner with the Kulturel family - Mamila and Mustafa.  They are parents of my student and now Penn State professor Sadan Kulturel-Konak.  They were about to head for Isparta but took time from their preparations to have dinner with us.  This was an even better dinner because it included along with the amazing kofte and chicken piyaz (a bean salad that is one of my favorites), yoghurt and coban salad (shepherd salad which is onion, tomatoes and cucumbers).  Again, my Turkish got a workout and it is humbling to know how elementary my Turkish is after four plus years of study.  Well, it gives me motivation to keep working on it.  Warning - the pictures below will make you hungry!!

Piyaz at its best

Coban salad

Chicken wings mangal style

The best kofte

The youthful looking and sophisticated Kulturels

The mangal feast with friendly hosts - the Sakincs

Mangal Sefasi

We enjoyed an authentic mangal (which is bar b qued meat) with the Sakinc's - student Eren's family in Ankara.  Father Haydar and mother Serin along with sister Evrim and her husband Altan and very cute son Boran hosted us at Mangal Sefasi (this means Mangal Pleasure) which is a set of restaurants in Ankara.

Mangal is all about the meat.  We started with grilled chicken which was very juicy (all white meat and no bones or skin).  Then they brought out Randy's favorite - grilled chicken wings.  Finally, kofte which was very delicious and juicy.  The meats were served with a red pepper relish which was great if a little spicy for Randy.  Bread was also on the table.  I drank water while Randy guzzled Ayran (a yoghurt drink).  That is it - no veggies, no salad, no side starches, no deserts.  The restaurant was packed with hungry Turks and we sat at long wooden tables on benches with backs. 

Because we ate a lot of meat and Randy especially enjoyed it, the Sakinc's ordered extra kofte and chicken wings.  Despite our best efforts we could not finish it all and ended up with a couple to go boxes which were eaten the next day.  The Sakinc's speak almost no English so my Turkish got a real work out.  Between basic Turkish, hand gestures and resorting to the Turkish/English dictionary sometimes we all managed and had a great time.  The Sakinc's have a number of houses but two especially interested us.  These are a traditional (but built fairly recently) mountain house and a historic home built with a hammam (Turkish steam room).  They promised to take us to see these wonders someday.  Haydar is quite a gardener and we viewed photos of his amazing fruits and vegetables.  We were very happy to join with this friendly and multi-talented family and look forward to our next get together (which is actually tomorrow night for more mangal!).

Haydar Sakinc and daughter Evrim

Evrim and son Boran

Evrim, Boran and Altan

Serin and Alice

Serin, Alice and Randy

Family Sakinc and Smiths at Mangal Pleasure

Another view post dinner - we are happy but satiated

Randy's favorite - the grilled chicken wings - no Buffalo sauce but just as delicious as anything in the US!

Casa Smith

This post is devoted to our own bit of Turkey, Casa Smith.  We are 104 Blok/ Apt. 11.  It is located in the Middle Campus (there is a main campus and an eastern campus and we sit between them).  Actually we can walk to the main campus in about 10 minutes.  The eastern campus is a bit further and we have not yet ventured there.

There are four identical buildings rising six stories with four apartments on each floor.  We are on the third story and our place in the back which is nice because we look over a fir forest.  Our other exposure is over a children's playground.  The building beyond the playground is yet another building of faculty apartments (faculty apartments are called lojmans in Turkish) but these apartments are smaller than ours and not as nice.  In fact, we are told for the number of rooms, our's are the largest at Bilkent, just over 1000 square feet.

We have two bedrooms (a smaller master and a bigger spare), a very large living area, a decent kitchen and a bathroom with washing machine.  We have a larger balcony off the kitchen and a smaller one off the spare bedroom.  The floors are either tile or wood laminate.  The walls and curtains are all white as are the appliances.  We have a new gas stove/oven and a new (or newer) refrigerator.  The kitchen counters are marble, like nearly all Turkish homes.  The bathroom floor is heated and the rooms are heated by radiators (again, common).

There is no A/C in the building and no elevator.  A large common laundry room has free washing machines and driers (the latter are very rare in Turkey).  Parking is right outside the building.  There are steps that lead down the steep hill to the valley and up again on the other side to the main campus. I can walk to my office in the Rectorluk building in 10 to 15 (rather strenuous) minutes.  By road is much longer because it has to circle around the ravine.

The heating in Turkey is ferocious.  That is, it is super hot inside.  The Turks apparently love their winter heating and like it around 80 degrees or warmer.  So, we have to open windows to counter act this abundance of heat (even though we have turned all of our radiators to their lowest positions).  I expected to be shivering all winter (this is a cold place) but instead I can easily wear shorts and shirt sleeves inside and drink cold beer.  The air is also incredibly dry.  Ankara is a dry place also and there is no humidification of the air.  I don't need to use my blow drier as my hair dries within minutes naturally.

Large living room looking out on pine forest.  Rug courtesy of the Dengiz household.  Randy and Alice have matching desks on either side of the room.

The big bedroom which is the spare with two twin beds and a balcony.

The kitchen with balcony and eat in table.  No dishwasher (well, actually there is and his name is Randy) but good oven/stove and fridge.  A small, oval sink is set in the marble counter.

Bathtub/shower with great water pressure and plenty of hot water, sink with mirror.

Toilet and washer.  Heated floors in the bathroom.

Master bedroom that looks over playground (never seen a child there yet).

Other view towards the built in closet (Alice's domain - Randy uses the wardrobe in the spare bedroom).

Lojman blok 104.  Our apartment is on the third floor in the back left.  We park just in front of the building.

View from the walk to main campus of our building. 

Casa Smith - in middle - balcony off kitchen, living room window and spare room window

Pine forest behind the apartment - huge feral but friendly dogs live here

Other side of Casa Smith - small balcony off spare room and master bedroom window (the one with curtains open)

We count ourselves lucky with Casa Smith.  It is better equipped and more spacious than we dared hope for and the views of pine trees and glimpses of the city lights in the distance are added bonuses.  We are waiting for the spring weather when we can eat and drink each morning and evening on our balcony.  Bugs are not an issue here (no screens needed).  In fact the only animals we have seen from our windows are the beautiful birds called Saksagan (European Magpie or Pica Pica) and the large, presumably outdoor and homeless, dogs that roam. 

Work and Play

We started the paperwork (it is voluminous) to get official with the University and with the Turkish government.  It looks to be a long process but Bilkent is handling most of it.  My office at the department is pretty big with a great view (it is on the 5th floor).  The computer and furniture are dated (and actually the computer doesn't work at all right now) but no worries there.  At the ground floor of the building (which also houses the Rector, the mechanical engineering department and the computer science department) is a nice cafeteria with a good assortment of hot dishes and salads.  I am supposed to get a "lunch card" which if I understand it right will provide free lunches on campus for me.

The International Office lady also shared some information with us to help us settle in.  Most notably was how to walk from the apartment to the department. We took the long way (and in the snow) the first time which involved a steep downhill and uphill climb and took a good 30 to 40 minutes.  But there are a set of stairs that go down to a ravine and then up again which makes the trip less than 15 minutes and not so grueling.  These stairs also run near an on campus grocery store which stocks our favorite English paper - the Daily News - yeah!

We have shopped at a number of the stores nearby including the big one near us - Real at the Bilkent Center.  Real is basically a Turkish version of Walmart and we have bought food, household goods, etc. there.  They also take American Express (which is not common in Turkey). 

Friday night we went out with Mehmet Gulsen, my student from Pittsburgh who is now on the faculty at nearby Baskent University.  Mehmet helped us get some stuff from a hardware store and get extra keys cut to our apartment (we only got one set).  We ate on campus at the nice restaurant - the Forty Nine (I have no idea about the name!).  This gives a 25% discount to faculty so it was especially reasonable.  Randy and I had manti (a Turkish noodle dish) while Mehmet opted for the fish.  We also met Mehmet's friends, a Turkish/American couple who live in the building next to ours.

Saturday we completed the car paperwork (challenging because the car owner spoke almost no English) and got a loaner TV from my student Eren's father (who also arranged the car).  We shopped at Real (of course!) and ate leftovers at home.  That night we trudged up the hill (in windy cold) to the Bilkent Performance Hall where the orchestra performs.  The Bilkent Orchestra is quite well known and it did not disappoint.  The program was by composers that were unknown to us but the music was good and nicely performed.  The hall is comfortable and the price was not too bad (15 lira a ticket).  We will undoubtedly go again as they play each week and it is a short walk from our apartment. 

Alice at new office at Bilkent Industrial Engineering Department.  I guess I am official!

Friday morning we woke up to snow!!  View from our living room.

Snow view from one way in our bedroom.

Snow view from the other way in our bedroom.

Alice and Mehmet Gulsen at the Forty Nine Restaurant at the Bilkent campus.  No booze served anymore (new government regulations which say that alcohol and campuses do not mix) but plenty of yummy food.

Saying Au Revoir to Istanbul and Arriving in Ankara

I have decided to briefly title my posts to more organized.  After another wonderful breakfast at the Cinar (cooked to order omelets, full European spread of cheese, breads and meats and full Turkish spread of olives, tomatoes, cucumber, honey, jams with the bonuses of grilled mushrooms and muslis and other goodies, along with a rarity in Turkey - good brewed coffee) we made a final walk along the sea.  Our animal friends were there - the well fed street cats and the big, lazy street dogs along with assorted land and sea birds.  The Mamara sea is beautiful particularly in the morning with the day's new light and the many ships awaiting transit through the Bosphorus (heading north for the Black Sea).

Our car delivery man was late (the horrible Istanbul traffic) but arrived around 10:30 AM.  The car is a Renault Megane which looks a little tired.  Most cars in Turkey are gray or silver and this one is no exception.  It has this weird key that is a plastic square with a push button start on the dashboard.  No place to connect an ipod and no cruise control but it has four doors, a big trunk and automatic transmission.  The super guys at the Cinar loaded all of our luggage (a tight fit) and we headed out with Clive (our invaluable GPS who is a Turkish veteran and named after Clive Owen whose voice he resembles) to guide us.  It took a while to get out of Istanbul with the bridge traffic (we had the bonus of a lane closed on the bridge :-( ).

Running low on diesel fuel we found our favorite Turkish gas station (Opet) and filled up.  It was well over 200 lira!!  The drive was nice - Randy started falling asleep a couple hours into it so I drove for a few hours while he napped.  This is our first time in Turkey in winter and the snow on the mountains is beautiful.  The highway between Istanbul and Ankara is good and the traffic is not too heavy.  We arrived in Ankara less than five hours later.

We got to Bilkent University where our apartment key was waiting at the security check point (there is security everywhere in Turkey) and we got to see our new home for the first time.  The apartment we have is in the building next to the one we viewed last summer but the building is totally different and much nicer.  Apparently the apartments are largest on campus for faculty and ours is clean and well laid out.  More on Casa Smith in a later post.  We couldn't work the key though and rang the neighbor's door for help.  A man answered and I asked him if he spoke English, Well, duh, he did since he turned out to be a British native who teaches English at Bilkent (and is married to a Turk).   We got in and unloaded all of the luggage.

We drove to the Dengiz house in Golbasi, a suburb to the south about 20 minutes away.  There, Berna and Tahir greeted us with kofte, celery root salad, etc.  It was so nice to be back there and visit with them.  Berna was off to the States early in the morning to be with her daughter Burcin who is about to have a baby.

The next day saw us moving in at Casa Smith.  With repeated calls and emails to resolve apartment issues, things happened amazingly quickly for Turkey.  We got a second twin bed for the spare bedroom delivered and set up, a washing machine delivered and set up, and the internet fixed (it was not working).  That evening we were invited first for a quick dinner with the Sumers who live a short five minutes away then to the Ankara Ballet with the Fulbright group.  We got to meet a few other senior Fulbright scholars (I am the only one at Bilkent this year) and saw a very nice production of Harem which included traditional Ottoman music and costumes.  The production was of high quality and the Opera House was a relic from the early Republic days of the 1930's. 

Sunrise over Bosphorus from our room at the Cinar Hotel in Istanbul.

Randy with some friendly and well kept street cats along the sea near the hotel.  Note ships in background waiting for transit up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea.

Berna Dengiz gets some last minute work in after dinner at the Dengiz house in Golbasi (Ankara).

Cevahir Sumer cooked us a splendid dinner of roast meat, pureed potatoes, eggplant, celery root and her special red pepper spread, which she does the best in the world.

Our beloved Cinar Hotel in Istanbul (yes, these are out of order again despite the fact that I upload them in order - what does Blogspot do to jumble them??)

One of the neighborhood dogs outside of the Cinar Hotel.  These Anatolia dogs are huge and they all seem docile.

Randy in the Megane driving from Istanbul to Ankara.

Two important things - on the left, our GPS Clive and on the right, my new Ipad mini which we used to play music as we can't bear much Turkish radio (it is really bad) and we have no hook up to hear music from an Ipad or Ipod through the car speakers.

Alice with our friend Sofia Sahin at the Sumer house Thursday evening.

Our day concluded with the first night spent at our new home in Turkey.