Hello! Well - three days, 16 flight hours, four planes and a bus later, we arrived at our hotel on Sunday, 4pm Turkey time (that's 9am for you guys - we're ahead 7 hours). After a brief meeting, a quick bite to eat at a nearby kebap restaurant, we hit the sack for some much-needed rest!
Our first day began in earnest this morning with another Turkish language lesson and a lecture on contemporary Turkish history - specifically the reforms before and after Ataturk. If you don't know who he is (or can't remember from 9th grade social studies), he's essentially the pride and joy of modern Turkish politics. His picture is EVERYWHERE, sort of like Mao in China or the pope in Ireland. He is responsible for so much of what you see in modern-day Turkey, from the incredibly logical language, to the secular state, to the rights and freedoms of women and minority groups. The people here really revere him like I've never seen for a political leader, until maybe this last year in regards to Obama.
In fact, we met a woman today when touring Ataturk's mausoleum who mentioned Obama as a frame of reference when explaining the Turkish pride concerning their leader. I think that's something to remember. But moving on to the mausoleum itself: it was quite impressive. It's a beautiful structure in which every detail symbolizes something Ataturk said or felt about Turkey, or something Turkey felt about the man himself. For example, the walkway to the main structure (see pics) is designed purposefully with random breaks in the stones so that you would have to keep your head down while walking, thereby carrying yourself with the appropriately demure posture. Along the walkway are 24 lions, one for each hour of the day,to provide continual protection. I won't bore you with the rest of the architectural details (I bought a book if you want to read it), but trust me - it was really amazing. Check out the stonework inside the mausoleum itself - the mosaic tiles designed in the fashion of prayer rugs, and the beautiful marble (which, by the way, is one of Turkey's famous exports... 60% of the world's marble supply, actually!).
And in case you were wondering, you were right - the food is absolutely incredible. A few of us stopped for drinks before meeting the rest of the group for dinner, and we were served fresh fruit at the bar with our drinks (how un-american!). We ate dinner outside, which appears to be a year-round affair here with this gorgeous we ather, and took our time over several courses. I could really get used to this!
More tomorrow. Iyi uykular!
(PICTURES: stone work in Ataturk's mausoleum, changing of the guards, the walkway, the view of Ankara from the site, our guides - Ali and Secil.)
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