You're going to Ankara? Neden??

Last week (I'll spare the excruciating details) we finally became Turkish!! We had to go to the crazy polis station at six in the morning and literally fight the crowds to get in but after 7 hours our paper work was finally complete! Not to mention we made some more friends while we were there including Penina, Tyler, Mark, & Ian. On wednesday night we organized a potluck at Mark & Ian's and we've pretty much established that potlucks will be happening every wednesday night for the rest of the semester - tonight its at my place & I'm contributing skillet cookies (back by popular demand from last week). Should be heaps good! On thursday Julia and I went back to the Polis station to get our actual permits (işte bu!) And spent the rest of the day gezmeking and purchasing up the wazoo. Galatasaray sneaks? Check. $2 watch? Check. Earrings? Check. Kurdish blanket & three gorgeous pillows? Check check & check - so stoked about these guys! (:

Last weekend Katie Nolan organized a way for us to join her on a gezmek to Ankara (Turkey's capital for those who are unawares...coughcoughMOMcough (: and apparently a boring city too) Every time we told our classmates we were going to Ankara, their response every time was ''what?? why?? there is nothing to do there! are you really wanting to see Ataturk's grave?'' Anyway, we decided that if nothing else, we were getting out of the city and we'd be together & have fun anyway. Plus, it was going to be my first time couch surfing! (couchsurfing.com) so neden olmus? (why not?) Thus, the four of us caught a midnight bus to Ankara & we're all so thankful Erin was able to sleep on the 7 hour bus ride while the rest of us truly enjoyed the silent uncomfortable HOT (çoook sıcak!) bus (:

We arrived early in the morning on Saturday & eventually find a Simit Sarayı restaurant for breakfast (after turning down several offers of directions to McDonald's haha) We spent the rest of the morning gezmeking around with our huge backpacks. Eventually we found the Kocatepe Mosque - a huge (though recently built) Ankaran landmark. It was still too early in the morning for the Cami to be opened to visitors so we dined at a nearby kahvehane & caught a little tavula (backgammon) action. Finally we were able to go inside the mosque and my was it çok büyük (so big)! We spent a really long time wandering inside its massive ornate walls & taking pictures. Afterward we caught up with Katie's friend in a small restaurant. We read each other's Turkish coffee grounds (traditional fortune-telling technique) & for those who truly know me, I feel obligated to confess that the π symbol totally appeared in my cup! How does it know i love math so much?? hahahah (: Eventually the waiter gave us a free 80s Dance Hits Vol. 3 mix CD and we were off to buy some tatlı for our Couch Surfing host! We found a delish dates & nuts shop complete with stuffed life-size camel & spinning dervish as its decor. After many many samples & finally purchasing a box of chocolate covered dates, we were off to Adelaïde's (our host) house.

Our host was so nice! She is french & is currently teaching french to Turkish students in Ankara. She was incredible but probably a little bit weirded out by our Turkish language habits (i.e. imitating our professor who has an abnormally deep & drawn out voice). We visited with her for a while, dropped our bags, & were back on the streets within an hour or two. My roommate is from Ankara actually & she was able to tell us about a spinning restaurant at the top of a really tall tower where you can see the whole city! We found it and enjoyed a most delicious meal (even quail!) Çok Şık!! Not to mention, we were serenaded nearly 90% of the evening by the fabulous Céline Dion. After our meal, our waiter led us upstairs where a private party (400 peeps + live band) was going down. We're pretty sure that the party-goers truly appreciated the incredible dance stylings of four crazy (and sloppily underdressed - oh also i hadn't showered in 5 days) American girls! We had fun anyway...

We slept like babies & in the morning Adelaïde had prepared DELİCİOUS breakfast for us! Eggs, veggies, pancakes, fresh squeezed orange juice, tea, the works! It was hard to get going after that (: but eventually she took us on a dolmuş (ne taksi ne ötöbüs - neither a taxi nor a bus, kind of in between) and we got off at a great & maze-y bazaar. The bazaar led up to the Cıtadel - an old Ankaran castle dating back to the 7th century! We hiked up the castle grounds which were so pretty & once you get inside the Citadel walls, you're in an amazing village with stacked up houses and winding dirt alleys. Laundry hanging from windows, carpets being beaten outside, children playing all around. So awesome to just poke around this place! Eventually we make it up to the actual castle area - and what's going on inside the castle walls? A bunch of little boys playing soccer! Of course we joined & had SOOO much fun playing with them (for what, two hours maybe?) They were hilarious! Again we got to practice our Turkish and the kids were eager to practice their English (''what nationality are you?'' ''hello! how are you? i am fine also thank you!'' etc etc) Ahh man İ simply cannot describe that feeling! It was so so fun to play soccer finally and with these little hilarious guys in an old castle?? so cool! Luckily the weather was fabulous too!

We finally end the match, do a quick photoshoot with our teammates & climb up the top of the castle walls where you can see all of Ankara and beyond for miles! Another photoshoot - this time the obligatory jumping pictures (: and we eventually  make it back down to a small restaurant on the hill - with a gorgeous view - for kahve (coffee). After that we start looking for a place to eat dinner. Unfortunately the city pretty much shuts down on Sundays after 6pm so this made things difficult. We did wander through another market like bazaar and the guys kept handing us fish to hold & take pictures of (: haha gross! Finally we found an open restaurant and enjoyed kebaps & pilav (mmm) I don't really have time to go into the details but let's just say one of the workers may have had a small crush on me... He actually drove us home after dinner so at least we got back for free right? Don't worry, mom, I only use this tactic on the really attractive boys - just kidding (check the photos).

Ahhh we enjoyed the next couple hours chatting with Adelaïde & finally took the metro back to our bus stop & journeyed home to Istanbul. Unfortunately I got sick and I am still getting over it - hopefully soon! My friend (& Turkish tutor) Mali brought me oranges & orange juice & soup this morning when he found out I was missing class (: I think I'm starting to feel better but we'll see.

Last night Allie & I started planning our trip to Bulgaria (: We are going tomorrow night with Mark & İan (australian friends who are awesome & actually part of campus crusade on their campus & totally think i should do a summer project in australia - not a bad idea right?) and Katie & Pauline might also join us. We will be couch surfing again so İ'll let you know how it goes!

Look for pics on facebook - sorry i cant get this stupid blog to work right! Love you!!! xox