The
Journey to Antalya deserved its own post.
For
the most part, the journey was smooth, unlike the hustle and bustle of my
journey to Ankara. Alex and I had a hearty lunch and departed the hotel at
1:30p to catch our 4p flight, which was booked by the Turkish Fulbright
Commission. We said goodbye to our peers as we passed them, and it was
impossible to track everyone down. We hugged Mevlude Hanim goodbye, jam-packed
our luggage and our bodies into one taxi, and off we went. Our driver was a
young 20-something man who tried to teach us some Turkish words in exchange for
English words. I was sweating buckets that day because of a stomachache and
dizziness; but the driver made the 45-minute ride to the airport enjoyable
through up-beat Turkish music and good conversation.
One
thing that is repeatedly happening to Alex and me is that Turkish people are trying to
guess our ethnicities/backgrounds/origins. When we tell them we are from New Jersey and Virginia,
respectively, they do not believe us. They politely rephrase the question to
“where are your ancestors from?” I proudly tell them I’m Pakistani, because
it is true, I was in fact born in Pakistan so part of me is Pakistani and then I’m
American. But for Alex, who is of Italian heritage from generations ago, it feels weird to call herself Italian because she was not born or raised in that country. She says she doesn’t mind owning the
Italian part of her background, but she and her parents were born and raised in
America. For convenience-sake, however, we now just tell everyone our 'true' origins so they
don’t have to scratch their heads and ask a follow-up question. We were
definitely warned of this at one of the renewal grantee
sessions during orientation: Turkish people’s curiosity stems from ignorance, not malice. That
said, it is our responsibility as a Fulbrighter to showcase America’s
diversity, so we shouldn’t shy away from owning our American identity and
educating the Turkish people that America truly is a melting pot.
A
nice bell-hop helped Alex and me push our luggage to the check-in counter,
where we encountered—wait for it—yes, more baggage fees! Can you believe that
only 15 kilo is allowed per person to travel domestically? Ridiculous. Alex and I each had two bags of
23 kilo each, because our understanding was that 23 kilos (50 pounds) is a normal baggage allowance. Anyway, we got a receipt with our luggage weight printed on it, and just like the
Istanbul Airport, the ladies at the counter withheld our passports until we went to the sales office
(half way across the airport) to pay the fees. I think I’m becoming a
professional at Turkish airport travel, if I must say so myself. To those
coming to visit, please, please be weary of this concept: they will make you weigh
your checked luggage (pack lightly!), and they will withhold your passport at
the desk until you pay overweight baggage fees (again, pack lightly!). Enough on
that—the horse has been beaten to death, right? Moving on.
Security
was miserable; they made us open our carry-on items only to discover beautiful
jewelry and not harmful weapons. We waited at our gate for a good hour before
boarding, and my nausea had calmed although I was still at unease. And then,
out of nowhere, we spotted Casey at the airport! He was traveling to Malatya
with a few other Fulbrighters. A selfie bayram.
 |
| View of Toros Mountains from our flight. |
The
flight to Antalya was short, about an hour or so. I had zero appetite so I skipped the white cheese sandwich
and snacks that were offered, and instead, drank water. The view outside the window was amazing—the
majestic Toros Mountains and the glistening Mediterranean Sea screamed “Hoşgeldiniz!” (Welcome!) to us.
We
retrieved our luggage at the domestic
section of the airport. You know what they say; fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice,
shame on me. Proud to say, ladies and gentlemen, we were not fooled. Outside
the arrival gate, our university representative, Meltem, (whom we had met earlier at
orientation) and her friend picked us up and drove us to the campus’ Social
Facilities Hotel, where we had pizza for dinner and spent the night.
