Ah...The Traveller God

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Well it has been quite sometime since I last wrote a blog and for that I apologize. My life has just been so busy and so full recently that I have hardly had time to write for myself let alone the time to put together a blog entry. I have spent the past month getting ready to start travelling again because although I was out of the country I have been almost entirely sedentary for 8 months. My last week in İstanbul was very difficult because I ended up making really good friends there. I wish I didn't have to leave, but my project was starting to feel stagnant. I started travelling again on last Wednesday but the past six days feel more like a month than a week.

My first stop was Adana where I immediately started making friends. I decided I didn't want to be in Adana itself and hopped a dolmuş to a little town called Kozan. I went because there is a beautiful castle there but ended up staying the whole day because I met a taxi driver, Fırat, who showed me all around the town and the surrounding area. We ended up becoming really good friends in the course of just a few hours. The next day I left for Hatay (ancient Antioch) because I has a friend who has a friend living there. After a little difficulty getting into the city I met my friend, a Dr. Bahaw from Sudan. He took me to the Öğretmin Evi (Teacher's House) where I stayed for two nights. During the next day I decided to see what was supposedly the first church in the world and ended up meeting two fantastic people. The first person, Metin, was the tourism guide at the church. I kind of wandered into the church without paying and he caught me on the way out but instead of making me pay he told me about the history of the whole area and invited me back into the church for a proper tour. The church was nothing more than a cave and in fact wasn't the first but it still has a very unique history. Then I wandered up the mountain where I met a young boy, 19 years old, who grew up wandering the mountains. He took me around on a very muddy hike through the mountains showing me the old walls of Antioch, a very old stone gate, all the farms around the area, and the old path to Syria.

The next day I went to Dr. Bahaw's hospital where he is a brain surgeon in a car full of other doctors. There I ended up waiting for his anesthesiologist friend Sevgi at a little place serving simit and tea for about an hour. The people there really like me and kept trying to feed me. The best however was when they brought me Dağ Çayı (mountain tea). It was so good. I could drink it for weeks on end without any substitute. Then I went up into the hospital for a bit to hang out and talk with people. I ended up chatting with the head of the hospital Mehmet Bey for about 2 hours about politics, Turkey, France (where he lived for 20 years) and everything in between. It was the first real conversation I have had in Turkish. Yes I mean I have had conversations in Turkish but this was about something real and relevant. It was absolutely amazing (although his French did come in handy sometimes). Then we went to lunch and I was off with Sevgi for the afternoon. After spending an hour at the auto service place (I had almost forgotten what a pain it is to own a car) we were off.

We met her friend Hanife and started the long foggy journey to St. Simon's Monastery. As we climbed the mountain pass in her very new VW it felt as if we were driving through the clouds all the way to the sky. When we first reached the top we could see nothing of the surrounding area but the longer we stayed the more the sky cleared. It was absolutely beautiful up there. You could see Hatay, the sea, and halfway to Syria. The ruins of the monastery were also incredible, mostly because it looked as if they hadn't been touched for centuries. I spent the rest of the evening with these two incredible women eating, drinking, and dancing. The food in Hatay is wonderful, the people, amazingly cosmopolitan, and there isn't a more historical city. It is by far the best time I have had traveling.

The next day we had breakfast and wandered around with another friend, this one a lawyer who is dating a doctor we knew (Filiz and Cengiz). We went to the synagogue and a protestant church. Much to my surprise at the church there was an American preacher who was giving the sermon. Me and my non-believing self were completely terrified, but beyond my horror it was really interesting to see an American preaching in Turkish with two Koreans as the musicians for the service. Very cosmopolitan...but still not my cup of tea. I left Hatay completely happy and satisfied for my next adventures in Antep.

On the way however I ended up meeting a student at Antep University. She helped me into town and helped me find Antep's Öğretmin Evi but in the end I ended up staying with her at her apartment. She then took me to a meeting of what they call the Rainbow Association. It was a group of about 15 Turkish women who are helping to organize scholarships for Antep University. The really different thing was that they were all devoutly Muslim. I went from an American preacher in a Protestant church to a house full of orthodox Muslim women. Talk about culture shock. They were all so kind and wonderful. We sat and chatted and ate and drank (tea of course). I also ended up meeting a wonderful woman Ayşegül who studies English Language and Literature at the University. She invited me to come to her feminism class the next day. As soon as I met her outside the University I realized how much I missed going to school. When we went to her feminism class (a random mix of English and Turkish with two Turkmen boys who had really funny accents) I really wished I was back at school! Just 7 more months and I get to start again!!! We then went to Translation class which was okay but boring for me. Tonight we will head to a play and tomorrow I think I will try to get at least a few of the touristy things in before I head to Haran for the evening. From Haran I will go to Mardin to stay with Leyla's family for a few weeks (to live village life, check the Mardin İHD, and wander around some of the historical places in Mardin, Midyat, and Batman). After that I have a few friends in Diyarbakır and I will be there for Newroz. One woman is a very well known poet in Turkey who has set up a culture association that I am interested in. Another is a Jazz musician and the third a student. I am really loving traveling but still I miss my friends in İstanbul. Oh well...I suppose life must move on. Hopefully the next entry will have more of my thoughts and ideas.

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