How to handle downed power lines-- only in Turkey!

(Justin) On our next bus trip from Beldibi to Antalya we suddenly came to a stop. It became clear that both sides of the 4-lane highway had been closed for perhaps an hour. Our hearts kinda sank as it looked like we'd be stuck for a while.

The problem was that power lines had somehow snapped off the electric tower on the nearby mountain. You could see the lines across the road and into the picnic grounds of the adjacent park. I got out and walked to the front of the scene, watching a lone worker scale the high transformer and begin reeling the line back up. However, the line was just high enough off the road for low-clearance cars to pass under in one lane. Trucks were stuck, and our bus was stuck between them. Many of the drivers were angry, yelling for someone to cut the lines and go. While wondering how this frustration would end, suddenly traffic started moving.
Someone, maybe a driver or worker on one of the trucks, had climbed on top of a tanker truck on the side of the road and was holding the power line up on his shoulder, creating enough clearance for everyone to pass. You'll have to zoom in to see him, but here is the picture of this unsung hero: 

I wouldn't have had the guts to hold that line, and we sincerely hope that this guy lived to tell the story.

Antalya Part 2: Olimpos (Olympos) and Chimaera

(Justin) We went to Antalya with a list of ancient places we wanted to see. The ruins of Olimpos (Olympus), an ancient Lycean and Greek city and national park, along with the ancient Chimaera, or "yanartaş," flaming rocks, was first up for my dad and I to explore. Fortunately, the weather was mostly sunny and high 50s, not bad for hiking.

Our resort was in Beldibi, about 30 mins south of Antalya city and just north of the resort town of Kemer. We took a bus (4TL/person) to Kemer (about 30 minutes) and got let out on the main highway (Kumluca-Kemer yolu) at the intercity bus station. From there, we caught a minibus (3TL/person) that told us it would drop us off close to Çıralı (another 30-40 minutes), the village where they are located.

View from the Kemer bus terminal.

This provided my dad an experience on local transport, where we stood in the aisle of the cramped minibus while elderly village women, fully covered, sat chatting. The road is quite curvy and one local woman got carsick as the driver passed plastic bags back to her while everyone pretended not to notice -- a first for me in Turkey. 

It was going to be a 7km walk downhill to Çıralı. After walking a bit, we flagged down a car to hitchike and some retired German-Turk locals dropped us off at the Çıralı beach and pointed in the direction of the ruins.

Olimpos ruins are at the far end of this beach where remains of fortresses can be seen. The tables are from a local restaurant hopeful to snag us, one of the few open in the off-season.

Mt. Olimpos and its snow-covered peak in the background. Palm trees and beachfront in the foreground. That's Antalya.

So, we walked and found the way obscured by the Çıralı river. We rolled up our pant legs and crossed, the water being quite cold but crystal clear-- much like the Mediterranean around us, a beautiful light blue color.

Dad crossing the rocky river. Not a typical senior citizen at this point.

We proceeded to the ruins where we took a few photos. Because it was the flood season, the waters were high and we didn't walk too far into Olympus. The winter wind was quite strong and we got a good lesson as to why it was dangerous for ancient Mediterranean sailors to sail during the winter (see Acts 27). This area is part of the Lycian Way, a backpackers' haven, and we saw plenty of internationals carrying their packs on the beach.

Olimpos was built on both sides of this river with a bridge connecting the two sides. Ruins of many buildings still stand, and in the center of the picture you can see what remains of the bridge.

Ancient tombs

Flood season meant water running through much of the ancient city dwellings.

We then trekked up the rocky bank of the Çıralı river, inspired by a covered elderly woman ahead of us who was balancing on rocks and clinging to branches like we were, back to Çıralı village. The village is filled with "pansions," bed-and-breakfast places, and restaurants-- all unfortunately closed for the off-season. From the village, it was another 3 kilometers to Mount Chimaera.

This hike took us through the village with its beautiful orchards and to the base of the mountain, where we had to buy tickets (5TL/person I think) and hike another kilometer uphill to the flaming rocks. (This blog has a good review of how to navigate the area during the tourist season.)

Methane gas seeping through pores in the mountain that have remained alight through millenia is what makes the place legendary. In ancient times the flaming mountainside served as a lighthouse for sailors. The ruins here are only partially excavated (This is common as Turkey has so many ancient sites and new discoveries are made seemingly daily). We watched tourists play around the flames, some using them to cook dinner, and hiked back down.

I almost stepped on this flame on the ground.

You can see the flame burning over my right shoulder.

Ruins at Chimaera.

Dad and I were rather weary having hiked quite a bit (I should also note we also forewent lunch), but we still had a 10km journey back uphill to the main highway. So, after walking a bit we hitched a ride with a family of Turkish tourists who luckily were staying in Kemer and graciously gave us a ride all the way there. I enjoyed chatting with them about teaching as they were public school teachers in Izmir.

From Kemer we caught the bus back to our hotel and made it back in time for dinner. My dad is over 65 but was probably less tired than I was. I definitely recommend renting a car for an excursion like this if you don't fear driving in the country. We had a great adventure experiencing the great sites and hospitality of Turkey!

Book Review: The Yogurt Man Cometh by Kevin Revolinski

Some friends of ours lent us a copy of The Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American Teacher in Turkey as it's a humorous read about an American's crash course in living in Ankara and teaching at the same school where Justin teaches. We highly recommend the book to anyone living in Ankara or coming here for the first time.

Ankara was Revolinski's first real foray outside the U.S., he has since become a travel blogger. He captures the hilly slopes, the perils of public transit, and the difficulties of trying to teach English to private school students very well. Kevin was able to make friends quickly and accomplished a lot of sightseeing in Turkey in just a year's time, despite getting seriously ill in the process. The experience takes place in 1997-1998 and it's interesting to see how much the city has grown and changed even in just 15 years.

The book is a quick read, it's like a series of blog posts. It's the book that will get you closest to what our lives look like in Ankara. Trust us, you'll enjoy it even if you never plan on visiting here.

First Big Snow in Ankara

(Joni) Last night and today, we got our first big snowfall in Ankara. We've had some dustings before this, but nothing that accumulated much or stayed longer than a few hours. This was 3 or 4 inches, though, and it's COLD, so it's going to stay a while!

This was early in the morning. It kept snowing so we ended up with a bit more than what you see here.

Despite children everywhere clamoring for a snow day, the roads were good enough for Justin to have to go to school this morning, but Elias doesn't go to school on Tuesdays. So instead, we bundled up and decided to play in the snow for a few minutes in the parking lot next to our building. (I'm a wimp and don't like the cold, so we didn't stay out long.)

Elias' favorite things are "flopping" and "rolling" in the snow. He didn't inherit his mama's dislike of cold!

The snow was too powdery to pack into a snowman, but that didn't hamper Elias' enjoyment!

After we had been out for a little while and were about to head back in, one of the men from our building came out to clear the snow off the cars that were parked in the lot. The Turkish culture LOVES children, so he was pleased to see Elias out playing in the snow. He even showed Elias how to make a snowball, and the man told him to throw it at me! I chose not to translate that part of the Turkish for Elias... :) But what I did tell Elias was that he was NOT allowed to throw a snowball at the man! However, then the man said, "Come on, throw it at me!" So I told Elias the man wanted him to throw it at him, and Elias thought that was great! The man threw one back, and they exchanged a few snowballs... Elias' first snowball fight!

Then we were able to move on to my favorite part about playing in the snow... The hot cocoa to warm up with when you come inside!

Elias was so excited about having two big marshmallows floating in his!

So I'm not a fan of winter weather, but having a small child helps at least make it fun! Hopefully we'll get a mild winter this year and it won't last long.

Preschool Christmas Party

(Joni) As a general rule, people in Turkey don't celebrate Christmas. Because of this, we've been surprised and pleased to learn that Elias' international preschool in fact makes a HUGE deal of Christmas! They've been learning Christmas songs all month, doing Christmas crafts, having one day when everyone wore red and green, and then Friday was their huge Christmas party. (It was the same format as the one they threw for Halloween.)

Unfortunately, Justin had to work, but I was able to attend the Christmas presentation from Elias' class. The class filed in wearing adorable Rudolph hats they had made from their handprints.

Then they sang a series of songs in English. We had been hearing Elias sing them at home for weeks, so I knew he knew the words, but he must just not like performing with a group because he just sat in his chair rather than participating in the singing. Here are a few of the songs (Elias is seated on the far left.):
Then the highlight of the party was that Santa came!! He made his big entrance, and then one by one each child sat on his lap and answered the questions "What is your name? How old are you? What do you want from Santa?" The kids had varying levels of proficiency in English, but I could see a great improvement in the ability of the kids to answer those questions since the Halloween party. Elias still wouldn't answer them even though he obviously knows English. :) Here is Santa's entrance and Elias on Santa's lap. The lady helping him is Ms. Olga, the school's phonics teacher. Elias LOVES her, and you can see him answer her questions (He said "Yeah." to all her questions.) rather than Santa's.
One funny note about his class is that the boys in his class almost all said they wanted Angry Birds from Santa! Who knew Angry Birds was so popular among 4- & 5-year-olds in Turkey?! Although Santa asked them what they wanted, he gave them all the same gift, which was a small Santa that dances and sings Jingle Bells. (See it pictured below.)

Then they had a spread of Christmas cookies, which Elias enjoyed immensely.

And they sent him home with a huge bag of fun things.

Clockwise from top: Paper bag with wreath craft, dancing Santa, cookie on a stick, bag of cookies/candy from his teacher, stocking craft with bag of popcorn/cookie/candy/winter rubber duckie, and gingerbread man/Christmas tree/snowman crafts.

So it was a fun Christmas celebration! And now Elias is off school for 10 days, which is practically unheard-of in Turkey. Since they don't celebrate Christmas, they don't have a school holiday. But I'm sure the International Preschool teachers enjoy the break! :)

The End of the World (Kıyamet Günü)

I wanted to chronicle something about the last week. Friday, December 21st was the day that supposedly the Mayan calendar ended (even though this supposedly isn't true) along with the world. This was a big deal in Turkey and the talk of my students and co-workers the past couple weeks. Şirince, a Turkish village on the Mediterranean, was somehow prophesied to be a "safe" haven and saw its population swell as a result. Tom Cruise was even rumored to be coming.

On Thursday, one of the 4th grade teachers had an "Apocalypse" (Kıyamet Günü) party and several students promised not to be in school on Friday. Indeed, Friday's attendance in my classes was the lowest all year.

One of the local malls had a clever marketing scheme around the day. This poster reads "The apocalypse is happening at Kentpark Mall! 110% (off)" The fine print says "100% Kentpark Mall, 10% off all purchases over 100 lira." Clever!

When I got to school on Friday I was reminded that we still had until about 1:20pm local time before the apocalypse was supposed to happen (times for each city were tweeted out quite a bit). Thankfully, the world didn't end while I was with my 2nd grade class. But the low attendance made it one of the most well-behaved classes of the semester.

Aşure

Aşure (Ashure) is a Muslim holiday commemorating several events in Islamic history. It is traditionally the day Noah's ark settled on dry land. Tradition holds that Noah's family made a Thanksgiving-like meal with what they had left after so long on the ark--namely some beans, dried fruit, and a bit of meat from the animals they sacrificed. This was made into a stew called aşure, or Noah's Pudding. Muslims celebrate this event over a season, making aşure pudding and giving it out to neighbors as a symbol of friendship and goodwill.

Three neighbors brought us some aşure as a treat. All of them had nuts, pomegranate, and figs which made it quite sweet. Two of them also had beans and chickpeas, which contrasted with the sweetness. All of them were very high in calories, which is why it's traditionally a cold-weather treat. 

The first bowl we received - it was beanless and the one we liked best.

The beans made this one a little iffy for us!

Turkish culture says that when someone gives you a food item, you return their dish with another food item in it, so Joni returned the bowls to the neighbors with some homemade pumpkin bread. It coincided with our own Thanksgiving, so we enjoyed the parallels. Justin attempted to explain the parallel to one of the neighbors and it was met with an "Okay." :-) We were very thankful that we had several neighbors wanting to reach out to us in this cultural way, regardless of whether we loved the dish or not!

Parent-Teacher Conferences and Other Meetings

(Justin) This past weekend I had a working Saturday; I had to be at school by 11am. I wish I had a picture of the freshly planted flowers in the front flowerbed, given that it gets below freezing every night now and these plants will be dead in less than a week. Why the urgency for a Saturday? It was Parent-Teacher Conference Day!

I survived my first veli toplantası, or parent-teacher meeting. For 90 minutes, parents queued up to talk to me about their kids. Most of them wanted to know if their 2-4th grader was speaking and pronouncing English properly. I wanted them to know more about their kids behavior, so that's what I focused on. Some parents were surprised that their child was naughty in my class, but most are used to hearing such things. This was the single best test I've had of my rapid-fire-mode Turkish, and it went well. Probably averaged something like 30 seconds per parent.

Much less fun have been the teacher meetings of recent weeks, including something called Şube Öğretmenler Kurulu (abbreviated ŞÖK, which sounds kind of like "SHOCK!" This is a teachers' meeting where every student in every grade is discussed individually by the homeroom teacher and all of the branch teachers, like myself. These averaged 2.5 hours for each grade, and are held three times a year(!). What's frustrating about meetings is that there is a lot of talk about problems without much hope of solutions.

Suppose there is a child who is violent, curses his teachers and classmates, gets his friends to behave naughtily, and destroys school property. Suppose also his parents think it's the teachers' job to teach the kids proper behavior and respect-- not the parents' job. In America, such a kid would be held outside of class in detention, sent home, or suspended in order to preserve the classroom environment for the rest of the students. In Turkey, that's illegal until at least 5th grade. Some schools do it if their administration is brave enough. Not ours. So, the solution to really problematic kids is often... to do nothing. "Sabırlı olmamız lazım," or "We need to be patient." I mentioned previously that there is no special education in the schools; for kids that are physically or mentally disabled, there is little to do other than love the kid and hope for the best. The school psychologists can help kids deal with anger and emotional issues, but can do little to help a kid with a disability. This can make for a very difficult classroom environment. 

So, ŞÖK serves more as a way for teachers to share information about the child's background. In many cases, I felt greater sympathy for the child. She cries because her dad is in jail, he is violent because his parents are divorcing, etc. But then you think, "We're going to meet three times a year to hear these stories again for as long as this kid is at the school. I've seen plenty of 10th graders who behave very badly and have been the subject of these meetings for 10 years without any change. This is depressing." 

In the end, it's mostly the good kids' parents who come speak to you. The really difficult children have neglectful parents or their parents just don't want to hear about their kid's behavior. I think every teacher reading this can nod their head and say, "Exactly."

I won't write about the "teacher's council" meetings we have with all teachers and the principal, but these are also interesting depending on the principal's way of running things. The "normal" way in Turkey is for it to be strictly controlled top-down with no speaking by subordinates. My principal, however, opens the floor to new ideas and thoughts, which sometimes create controversy leading to longer meetings...

Commemorating 10th of November in Ankara

(Justin) A couple weeks ago I wrote about how Turkey would celebrate its Republic Day holiday just after Kurban Bayram. I unfortunately forgot to take my camera to school to take pictures of that morning's ceremony. Just a short time after Republic Day, Turkey annually commemorates the death of Atatürk, which took place on 10 November, 1938. (This travel blog post gives a brief overview on Atatürk for more info.)

10 November is much less appropriate for amateur picture taking; it's more like a funeral, so I grabbed these pics from the school's Facebook page. Even though the holiday fell on a Saturday, all students and faculty were required to be at the school gym by 8:30am for a ceremony. Students first filed solemnly by a stage with a bust of Atatürk, guarded by two high schoolers with mock flames.

Many students brought flowers to lay on the stage and there were funeral wreaths around as well. Here are the 3rd graders posing with their flowers in front of a larger bust of Atatürk in the school's foyer.

Then everyone formed lines with their classes and stood at attention. There were speeches, a Powerpoint of Atatürk's life and honors, poems read by students, and we joined the entire nation in a moment of silence at exactly 9:05am, the moment of Atatürk's death.  All students and faculty (except K and 1st grade) stood at attention for the entire ceremony, which lasted about an hour.

I would say most Americans can't fathom dressing up and then loading kids onto school buses in the pouring rain for an early Saturday morning ceremony that will only last an hour, and then everyone goes home. But everyone does it with pride and contentment. This ceremony was much more silent and solemn than other holidays. 

Much of Ankara's population braved the pouring rain to visit Anıtkabir, the mausoleum where Atatürk is buried.There was an official ceremony there at the same time as ours.

Below is what it would look like on a sunnier day.

There were similar ceremonies all over the country. At the 9:05 moment of silence, sirens wail, people park their cars, and most everyone stands at attention. This picture got my attention via Twitter. It shows a man getting a shoeshine at 9:04. The captain is "A photograph that explains many things."

It is difficult to describe to people the love and devotion that Türks have for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He is, in a word, everywhere.

Bayram Vacation, Part 5: Ephesus

(Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4.)

Another exceptionally cool thing about the resort we were staying at is that it was only 10 minutes away from the site of ancient Ephesus by public transportation. It was so amazing to see this historic, beautiful, biblical site! We were very happy that Elias gets to say he got to go there, even if he probably won't remember it.

Justin and Elias in front of the Great Amphitheater

Elias and me inside the Great Amphitheater (See Acts 19 for one thing that happened there!)

We went fairly early in the morning (for Turkey, at least), but we were surprised how many people were already there. This is obviously a destination for tour groups, and it's easy to see why. This place was cool.

The Temple of Hadrian

Elias and me in front of the Library of Celsus.

Looking down on the commercial market

Elias and Justin in front of the fountain outside the Amphitheater

An unexpected thing about Ephesus was that it was absolutely full of stray cats! (Most places in Turkey have too many stray dogs for there to be many cats about.) Elias, of course, adores cats, so this was definitely his favorite part.

Elias trying to climb onto a ledge to visit a kitty inside the Library of Celsus.

At one point, I put my backpack down to get some water out, and I was immediately accosted by a meowing cat who tried to get in my backpack! This seemed like strange behavior until we later saw this man who was carrying around a bag of food and feeding the cats. When I put my bag down, the cat must've thought I was him!

  

Justin had been to Ephesus in 2009 but was glad to take his family this time. We didn't get to hit Selçuk to see the Church of John, House of Mary, or the Ephesus museum, so perhaps another time.

A Tale of Two Holidays

(Justin) The neat thing about Turkey is the co-existence of religious reverence and secular democracy. We experienced it firsthand this week: 

A local supermarket advertises options for your sacrifice holiday.

The Muslim world was geared up for Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, where Muslims celebrate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Ishmael. (FYI-- Abraham's birthplace is located in modern southern Turkey.) Schools, banks, and other institutions were closed last week from Wednesday to Sunday (plus Monday, see below). To celebrate, families typically gather together from all over for a large meal. There is often a live animal slaughtered for the meal and also for ritual sacrifice. For example, there is a large place on the western outskirts of Ankara (and other parts of town) where cattle and sheep are sold for slaughter and you can either take the cow up to the hillside to be sacrificed or pay for someone to do it for you. Other people will simply buy meat for the meals from their local butcher. Families distribute some of the meat to the less-fortunate, and there are charities that collect money for the poor if you aren't distributing anything yourself. Children may get candy and other sweets. Here's a good post by an ex-pat woman who has often taken part in the holiday rituals. Those who don't have family obligations seem to travel to the beach or elsewhere for a nice vacation, which is what we did.

Because Muslim holidays revolve around the lunar calendar, the holiday moves around and this year buttresses October 29th, Turkey's Cumhuriyet Bayramı or "Republic Day," which commemorates Atatürk's declaration in 1923 that Turkey was officially a republic. This is one of the biggest secular holidays in Turkey and an important day for Kemalists, those who want to preserve the legacy of Atatürk and his principles to guide the country. There are typically ceremonies honoring Atatürk at all the schools (even though they are closed, students and faculty attend a ceremony in the morning), a ceremony at his grave with air force flyovers, and banks and such are closed.

Banners of Atatürk like this one and Turkish flags will be flown all over town on Monday.

However, this year there was some clash of political ideologies. The current ruling government is not the party of Atatürk and is more religious conservative. They have made some changes to how Turkish national holidays are celebrated. This has led to some restrictions on marches and other demonstrations were planned for Monday. Ankara's mayor sent out a notice for schools to remain closed on October 29th and not to celebrate Republic Day until October 30th (as part of their normal school day). However, the school I work at is very Kemalist and held Monday's ceremonies as planned (after all, everyone had already made their travel plans around being back at school for the 29th).

In any case, it was interesting to experience two of the biggest holidays in Turkey together over the course of six days.

Mom & Dad's Visit, Part 2

(Joni) Click here to read the first part, then read on for the rest of our adventures with my parents.

On Saturday, we went to one of the huge shopping centers (Anatolium mall & Nata Vega Outlets) that also has a super-cool aquarium which we had never visited.

Forgive me that this picture looks a little off-kilter. It's a printed photo that I just took a picture of... Still lets you see how cute we are!

On Sunday, we took Mom & Dad to visit the international, English-speaking fellowship, and that was fun for them to see. Then, we went out to lunch with some of our dearest friends here.

Then that afternoon we visited our favorite park in the city.

We rode the Ferris Wheel too!

On Monday, Justin was surprised to get the afternoon off, so he took me out on a date while Grandma & Grandpa kept Elias! That was a win for everybody! (Here, American movies are played in English with Turkish subtitles, so we greatly enjoyed The Bourne Legacy!) While we were out, Elias had a great time with Grandma & Grandpa. Grandma snapped this picture of Elias & Grandpa playing on Grandpa's iPhone.

They called it the Turkish-English game. Really it was just the Google Translate app, but Elias thought it was hilarious when Grandpa's phone spoke in Turkish!

Then on Tuesday, we visited Anıtkabir, the mausoleum and museum of Turkey's founder and hero, Atatürk.

It's built on a high hill, so there is an amazing view of the city every way you look!

There is a cool walk leading up to the mausoleum with stone lions on either side, and Elias thought it was funny to put his hand in their mouths. Chomp!

Then Wednesday it was time for them to leave again. We had so much fun together that Elias tried to stow away in Grandma's suitcase!

We are blessed and grateful beyond measure to not only live in such a neat place as this, but also to have family who loves us so much to come visit and enjoy it with us! We had such a great time with them!