Voices Newspaper Altinkum Didim Turkey

THIS is the enduring story of an American woman’s temporary infatuation with Turkey that led to an enduring connection to this foreign land. Emily begins her trek from her Minnesota roots to the cusp of the Aegean Sea to Fevzı Paşa, near Akbük. You can read more of her stories on her blog: www.ohhhsweetturkey.blogspot.com

I WAS in my last year of fine arts study in 2006; making things and bartending to support myself when I was first introduced to this dynamic country that would later become my second home. I knew I wanted to study abroad before the opportunity ceased to exist. I had longed to be just a student not working full time while juggling classes.

I had always had a love of travel but never had the reason to live abroad for an extended period of time. I went to my counselor to discuss my options. I didn’t speak Spanish well enough to go to the other Americas. I could have gone to England or Australia but they just didn’t seem exotic enough.

My counselor Mark Sipruit kept saying: “What about Turkey, what about Turkey” every time I went to visit him. He had come here for many years and had set up an exchange programme between students from San Diego State University and Anatolian Anadolu University, in Eskişehir.

At first I was hesitant…where is that exactly? What language do they speak? Is it considered the Middle East or Europe? What religion? Honestly the only things I really knew was a bit of Ottoman Empire history and that when I had backpacked Greece I found out they had a long standing feud with Turkey and that we needed visas to go there - so I scratched that idea. I knew this experience would transform me but little did I know how or how much.

I had made my decision, seized the day (carpe diem), reassured my family it was an opportunity of a lifetime and very safe. Several essays and paperwork later I was accepted to the exchange program in Eskişehir. My dream, to make art in a foreign land!

I packed up my San Diego, California life; stored my surf board, art supplies and other worldly possessions in the garage. Debated back and forth long and hard what I should bring for 6 months abroad; what clothes, what’s the weather like, it is a Muslim country so just how conservative must I dress? Reminder, I am coming from California the tiny clothes capitol of the world. Tampons, shampoo what do they have there?

I had mentioned I was going in passing classes and an acquaintance that turned lifelong friend, Valencia joined me for the adventure. I had a few going away parties, kissed my friends and family goodbye, ate my last burrito and boarded the plane.

I kept looking at this dark man with his yellow sweater twirling his matching yellow prayer beads thinking how intense his eyes were and wondering how the people in Turkey would be? This intense eyed, dark man turned out to be as warm as his yellow shirt.

He shared his thought with us about Turkey, calmed our nerves and shared his story of roots from the Middle East but had settled in the United States for many years. He so feverishly twirled his prayer beads because he was trying to quit smoking.

Three flights and 20 hours later we, two exhausted but ecstatic American girls, found ourselves in Istanbul…you need to say it not Istanbul but Istaanbul…with proud soft long a. We plopped off the plane, searched for our lives in bags and contemplated our next move when we heard over the loud speaker “Miss Emily, miss Valencia please come to the information desk” …oh my goodness where is that? Who is here for us?
We were greeted by another kind eyed, smiling, English speaking university student who had ridden the train 5 hours from Eskisehir to come and help us feel welcomed to “The Turkey”

Our new friend helped us exchange our money and boarded the tram out into Istanbul. He found our stop and helped us lug our two huge bags each around the chaos that is the big city. I vividly remember pulling our big red suitcases up the pedestrian walkway stairs feeling like a salmon against the current as Turks flooded down and we struggled to fight our way up the stairs.

Just as the current was about to aggravate me to no end the “call to prayer “, Azan began over the loud speakers and I just froze in the sea of congestion, looked at Valencia and mouthed “wow”…that is beautiful and thought we are “not in Kansas anymore” to borrow Dorothy’s words.

We proceeded to lug our bags up and down the windy, narrow, cobblestone side streets looking for the hotel set up by the university. We never would have found it without our new friend’s patience and help. I don’t understand if there is a street system or not to this day.

We settled in for the night, exhausted and excited as we were we somehow found sleep. That same magical, defining sound that I found so exotic and amazing last night pierced through our hotel window at 5 am! 5am the first “call the prayer” from the mosque that was right next door. We both flew out of bed…WTF? Good morning Istanbul. Hoşgeldınız!

We wandered starved up to the top floor of the hotel looking for breakfast. Oh the views, I had to catch my breath, the seas all around and the minarets popping up from the concrete of the city. We quickly snapped out of it and remembered our starved bellies finding the breakfast buffet.

What is this? Lunch? We found some “normal” to us breakfast fixings; eggs, sausages, bread, jams, cheese, coffee (even though it was instant and would later find out is the norm and add filter coffee to my “I miss this list”).

But then there was tomatoes, cucumbers and olives, things I would never consider chopping up for breakfast but one of the many things I have come to love in “The Turkey.” We ate as much as we could before setting out for our first day of exploration; Aya Sophia, Blue mosque, Topkapi palace.

Whenever I travel to a new county I think it is polite to at least try to learn please, thank you and hello in any language.

So we butchered our Lütfen, Teşekkürler and Merhaba that day as we experienced famous Turkish hospitality and a great pride in showing us their country. And we still had months of learning ahead of us.