Weeks 4-6

 Hello All! Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks!

Highlight 1: Suit Shopping!

Last week a few of the guys on the program went to get tailored suits! Turkey is known for their tailors and culture of suit-wearing. A particular Turkish favorite among men ages 65-80 seems to be the John Travolta "Saturday Night Fever" all-white suit. It's not uncommon to find an older man out for his daily stroll in the 90 degree heat in his all-white suit and loafers. 

Suit shops are as common as cafes here and seemingly as cheap. On every corner you can find a shop with rows of suits in every color, pattern, and texture all with a tailor at your beck and call. After a bit of research we found a particularly good one in the center of the city. We walked in and each immediately had two store attendants working to fit us out.

 After mentioning the color we were generally interested in, the pair set to work. They rummaged through rows of options and presented each to us with small comments like "Yes, very beautiful." or "Ah, it matches your eyes". Occasionally the two would break into performative bickering over the color of tie or pocket square. Eventually they would present the package of jacket, trousers, waistcoat, and tie and send you to the changing room. After trying on a few variations we eventually came to two finalists; a black and a grey. Every man must own a black suit they said and so I sent it to the checkout. I ended up adding the grey in as well. As a poetry professor-eque look, it was too good to pass up. They tailored each piece, and by the next day they were ready for pick up. In total, two quality tailored three-piece suits each with leather belt and shirt came to $200. Feel free to judge them or my modelling stance in the comments below ;)). Oh, and in keeping with the John Travolta theme, I snagged some photos with a Cadillac Fleetwood in front of the hotel. I thought it was a sort of Leadville gangster abroad theme.

Highlight 2: 15th of July Commemoration

Turkey has a long and tumultuous history of changes in government. After the creation of the multi-party system in the post-Atatürk era of the 1960's, Turkey has seen eight coups d'état. Three successful and four attempted, the most recent was only in 2016. On the 15th of July, 2016 citing democracy, human rights, and secularism a group within the Turkish Armed Forces attempted to wrest power from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In the attempt, 300 were killed, 2,100 injured, the Turkish Parliament destroyed by airstrikes, and over 40,000 arrested. It remains a important experience within the Turkish consciousness and a potent memory for Erdoğan.

A day before the national "holiday", Turkish flags the size of small buildings began appearing across the city. Outside our classroom a particularly large banner was unfurled. This outpouring of national imagery was no stronger than in the central shopping district of Kızılay. It happened that I was set to pick up my suits on the 15th of July in Kızılay. I hadn't intended to navigate the thousands of testosterone and nationalism fueled men chanting slogans, nor the equally numerous police and military officers, but it was too late. I found myself carrying two large black bags through nearly a dozen police checkpoints. Each checkpoint had three armed police officers with assault rifles, a metal detector, and "pat-downs". Clearly being a foreigner and also carrying large bags set me apart from the crowd. I was searched and questioned at least a dozen times through the dozen or so checkpoints. While this was a particularly unsettling experience, the at-times overwhelming presence of police and military in Turkey is a part of daily life.

Highlight 3: Kapadokya

This past weekend, our group took two days to travel to Kapadokya, or Cappadocia to English speakers. The landscape generally reminded me of the Western Slope of Colorado. Arid plateaus, foothills, and rock outcroppings dot the landscape. We found that the region's unique topography was created by a slurry of volcanic ash and an ancient lakebed. The layers of rock have weathered away at varying paces have created the spires and canyons that make Kapadokya famous. While the landscape reminded me strongly of home, the remnants of ancient human history there was completely foreign to me. 

Across the lands known as Kapadokya are hundreds of magnificent historical sites. Some from older inhabitants like the Hittites, Lyddites, and Persians, and others from the times of Alexander the Great, the Romans, groups of early Christians, and the groups of Turkic peoples. While control of the lands and their inhabitants have changed and fluctuated, it has always remained an important area in human history. 

First, we stopped at Tuz Gölü (Salt Lake). This lake is one of the largest saline lakes in the world and home to a large flamingo population. While we didn't see the flamingos the lake was quite beautiful. 

Ilhara Valley

Our second stop was Ilhara Valley, a 14 mile canyon full of ancient churches and monasteries carved into the canyon walls. We descended into the canyon, nearly getting our tour bus stuck on a tight curve. We walked several kilometers through the canyon along a small stream. Healthy populations of fish, frogs, snakes, and small birds moved around us. The canyon was clearly an vital green oasis in the surrounding desert. It was no surprise that the ancient Christians had chosen this as a vibrant, yet secluded, refuge for their communities. As we walked we saw the numerous churches above us. Their walls and stairs had crumbled over the centuries, but some archways and exposed rooms were visible from the floor below. 

Kaymakli Underground City

Our third, and my favorite stop, of the trip was to the Kaymakli underground city. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1980, the network of tunnels and rooms of the city go down as far as 130 meters. Only the top 50 meters are open to the public, but the size and scope of the city is still incredible. The title of city is somewhat a misnomer as it was only a temporary refuge for residents to avoid the invading parties crossing on the surface above. When threatened, the residents would retreat into the levels of the city and spend weeks or perhaps months. It was, and still is, difficult to imagine what life was like down there and how dirty, stuffy, and unsanitary it must have been. Even fed by a few ventilation shafts, the rooms are undeniably cave like. It was surreal to crouch through tunnels and small rooms so deep below the surface. 

Continuing from the underground city, we made our way into Kapadokya proper. Here, we saw the old cities of Kapadokya carved into the rocks. Layers of houses and mosques seemed to grow and protrude from the canyon walls. The oldest signs of inhabitation are in the spires themselves. Unlike the spires of Utah, here, each one has been carved into a so-called fairy house. While they are no longer inhabited, they were at one point the main type of home in the valley. 

Our last, notable stop of the trip was to the Göreme Open Air Museum. Similar to the Ilhara Valley, this area has several ancient Christian churches. What set this area apart was the well preserved iconography and frescos covering the walls from head to toe. Various styles of fresco were displayed in the different churches, but across almost all were the signs of destruction and alteration. We found that the majority of faces and hands had been chiseled out and scraped away. Iconoclasts and other groups had literally "defaced" the frescos over the centuries. Across the complex were red, painted crosses of the Knights Templar. Once again, it was incredibly to see so many layers of history present at once. Unfortunately, here photography was strictly forbidden, so no photos to post here. 

The frequency of stops, the saturation of history, and the hot weather made the weekend incredibly exhausting. It was hard to take in so much in such a short period of time. The speed of touring with a large group is certainly a drawback of tourism done in this way. 

A few things to look forward to in the coming weeks is having coffee with current Ambassador to Turkey, former Senator Jeffry Flake, trips to other cities and towns around Ankara, and as always good cups of coffee in local cafes. 

Cheers, 

Sam 

Here are some other of my favorite photos from the past few weeks in Ankara...