Family Visit to Turkey

March 20-28, 2016

After the Bursa trip, I was excited for my family’s visit to Turkey. My mother, father, older sister, and younger brother would be coming from March 20-29 for a total of 10 days. This is something I had been anticipating since January. I had booked their domestic flights and made accommodations for both Istanbul and Antalya. Everything was queued up and the only thing pending was their arrival.

In front of Ayasofya with older sister, younger brother, and parents.

The Day Before

I flew to Istanbul one day before, on Saturday, March 19^th. I was on a Pegasus flight that flew into the Sabiha Gockcen Airport around 10:30am. I had planned to spend a night with a Pakistani-American woman named Sophia Umar and her husband in their apartment in an upper-class neighborhood known as 4.Levent. Sophia and I connected online through “Muppies,” a Muslim professionals network. I was scheduled to catch a bus to her house after my flight, but as soon as I got out of the airport around 11am, I saw that I had several missed calls from Kari, the Fulbright program advisor. I became nervous because it can only mean something bad if the Fulbright Commission is trying to reach you. They had warned us not to travel this weekend, but I had informed them that I couldn’t change my plans because my family was set to arrive on March 20. I feared the calls were related to security. When I called Kari back, my suspicions came true. Unbeknownst to me was that a suicide bombing had taken place at İstiklal Avenue (central shopping street) at 10:55am that morning and the Commission needed to know I was safe. I was shocked that yet another attack in Turkey had taken place. The attack reportedly killed 5 people and injured 36 others.

Disturbed by the news, I cautiously walked towards the buses lined up outside the airport. I needed to find bus E3 to take me to Sophia’s neighborhood. A husky, charming bus driver was smoking a cigarette outside bus E3 when I approached him. He told me that the bus was scheduled to run at noon. As if he could read my emotions, he puffed out smoke, turned to me and said: “Oturmak ester misin?” Would you like to sit? I smiled and answered, “Evet, lütfen, eğer problem yok.” Yes, please, if it’s not a problem. With my curls bouncing on my shoulders and red lipstick drawing unnecessary attention, I quickly realized that my appearance was not the most appropriate given the events of the day. But how was I supposed to know? The driver then boarded the bus and we talked in Turkish; by now, I was comfortable fluently answering the basic curiosity questions of Turks: Where are you from? What do you do? Are you single? How old are you? After the driver’s fourth cigarette, I couldn’t bear the second hand smoke any longer so I offered him Dentee gum from my purse. Out of politeness, he took a piece. We continued chatting while chewing gum to kill time. At least he stopped smoking.

Finally, around noon, the bus filled up with more passengers and we embarked on the bus route. At one of the stops, the driver bought coffee for himself and me. I felt uncomfortable by this gesture of special treatment, so I offered my cup to the gentleman sitting next to me. He and others around me insisted I drink it, “ikram” they said, our treat. They could tell I was a foreigner. This isn’t the first time I received special treatment from Turks; their hospitality and respect for foreigners, especially Americans, is indescribable. I’ve acknowledged this privilege and sometimes when I would feel too guilty, I downplay my American-ess and up-play my Pakistani-ness, but my rapid-fire English in an American accent do not help me with these missions. This hospitality reveals the immense amount of respect and love Turks have for Americans. I feel double the love when they learn of my Pakistani origin.

When the bus came to the final stop, where I needed to get off, the driver asked me if I wanted to have lunch. Again, these gestures of hospitality are far too common, but as a young girl traveling on my own, I often take caution. I politely declined and told him I was running late for another scheduled lunch. I wanted to thank him for his kindness though—letting me sit on the bus for an hour, chatting with me, keeping me company, buying me coffee. Saying “teşekkür ederim” didn’t feel enough. So, I whipped out the Dentee gum pack, smiled, and offered it to him, adding in mumble-jumble Turkish: “If you ever feel the urge to pull out a cigarette again, I hope you reach for gum instead.” He smiled graciously and thanked me for the American commodity. We wished each other well. Even though our paths may never cross again, I was grateful that they did for the brief period.

Sophia picked me up from the bus station (near a big mall) and we walked to her apartment. She had set up a guest room for me and I met her husband. It was a stormy day and news kept pouring in about the attack on all news channels. We heeded the warnings about staying in and watched a movie in the living room instead of going to Prince’s Island or to the Istanbul Art Museum as originally planned.

Muppies dinner with Sophia, her husband, and friends.

That evening, after things seemed to have calmed down, we had dinner at an Italian pizza place called Upper Crust Pizza on Küçük Bebek Cadessi. I had organized this meet-up for Istanbul members of Muppies. There isn’t a big community of Muppies in Istanbul, unfortunately, but we had a turnout of about 6 people nonetheless, which was pretty good for a first go. The company included Sophia and her husband, a Pickering fellow studying abroad in Istanbul Salman Haji and his friend, and one other Pakistani girl named Nazia. Everyone introduced themselves and shared how/why they were in Istanbul.

There was a bookshelf next to our table and one book caught my attention: How to Become Rich by Donald Trump. As we waited for our pizzas, I humored the crowed by reading short excerpts from Trump’s book. “For many years I’ve said if someone screws you, screw them back,” writes Trump in a chapter titled Sometimes You Still Have to Screw Them. “When someone hurts you, just go after them as viciously and violently as you can.” I was appalled at such a published text! In another chapter titled, Have an Ego, Trump shamelessly writes, “As you know, this rule has been easy for me to follow. But hear me out—I’ve got a good reason for it. Having a well-developed ego, contrary to popular opinion, is a positive attribute. It is the center of our consciousness and serves to give us a sense of purpose.” The scary question is, will Trump’s ego help him win the General Election??

Family Arrives

The next morning, I had kahvaltı with Sophia and her husband, and hurried over to the hotel to drop off my belongings before picking up my parents. I didn’t realize this until I got off at the hotel, but I was being followed by a young Turkish man. I saw him lurking outside the hotel and I recognized him from my train ride. I picked up my pace and turned on different streets, but he managed to catch up. I confronted him and he said he wanted to help me. I told him I didn’t need any help but he insisted. He followed me on the train to the airport as well. My “longer route” made me late to pick up my parents, for which I was extremely embarrassed. As soon as I got to the airport, I ran as fast I could, dodging in between people until I lost sight of the man. My parents landed at 4:30pm and I arrived at 5:15pm. I felt horrible for being late, and my vision for welcoming them didn’t pan out. I had planned to wait at the arrivals gate with a hand-made sign that read “Hoşgeldiniz” (Welcome) with tulips around the word. Instead, I found them in the waiting area, wondering where their daughter was. They even had to use a stranger's phone to call me. Upon arrival, I hugged them and showed them the sign. It was so great to see them! I didn’t want to ruin the moment by telling them about a horror story of being followed, so I lied and told them there was extra traffic on the road because of what had happened yesterday. 

Touring Istanbul

Thanks to Attia’s hotel points, we stayed at the fancy Double Tree by Hilton Istanbul – Old Town hotel. It was quite luxurious, with comfortable bedding, a hamam in the basement, and buffet-style breakfast included. We even got complimentary cookies upon check-in. Our stay at the Hilton hotel was lovely; we even took advantage of the hamam bath, steam room and the sauna (dry heat).

Istanbul view from Sulemaniye Mosque's courtyard.

We spent four days in Istanbul and I showed my family all the tourist sights that I was familiar with— Sulemaniye Mosque (my favorite!), Ayasofya, Blue Mosque, Topkapı Sarayı, and the Grand Bazaar. We also did new things that I hadn’t done before, such as a boat tour around the Bosphorus, shopping at the famous Egyptian Spice Bazaar, and going up to Piyerloti Hill via Eyüp Gondola aerial lift ride. There were a few hiccups in our trip, of course, including being tricked by taxi drivers. I’ll share three quick stories and then let the pictures tell the rest. 

The first story involves an aggressive, stubborn, and lying taxi driver who dropped us off Piyerloti Hill despite our wanting to go to Sultanahmet Square. He insisted that there was too much security in that area, tourists weren't allowed, and buildings were closed. He knew that Sultanahmet was only a five-minute ride away (and thus a cheaper fare) so instead, he cleverly decided to drop off the non-Turkish speaking tourists at a location that was 30 minutes away (for a fare of 80 lira). We paid the crooked man 60 lira and shooed him off, with Baba yelling at him in English and he yelling back in Turkish—and me understanding both of them and wishing it was over. This experience ruined the start of our day yet we managed to have a great time any way—because when you’re traveling, you just have to go with the flow. Even though we hadn’t requested to be at Piyerloti Hill, it turned out to be a fantastic spot with breathtaking views of the entire Istanbul, both east and west, Asian and European. You could see the Golden Horn Bridge and the Bosporus Bridge, the Galata Bridge and Faith Sultan Mehmet Bridge. You could outline all seven hills of the city with your finger and point to the mosques that smiled from afar. Oh, it was quite a sight!

Istanbul in all its glory from Piyerloti Hill.

The second story is that Attia almost got pick pocketed at the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. She felt someone’s hand tug at her iPhone inside her purse; luckily her reflexes made the culprit drop the phone and dash away. In the busy streets of squirming tourists and storekeepers loudly yelling deals, one must be very careful of their belongings. Mom indulged in spices and silver coffee cups. Attia bought jewelry and evil eye key chains. Baba bargained for electronic items such as car phone chargers. Dani was just hungry for food, though he did buy 5-lira selfie sticks. And me? I’m always shopping for gifts for others.

The last story is about tourist traps. We bought lokum (Turkish delight) at one shop upon entering the Spice Bazaar, and two shops later, realized we were overcharged. When an Indian guy approached us and told us that his shop sells lokum for a lower cost, Mama and Baba were not too thrilled. Everyone falls victim to the trap (remember how many times I did that when I moved here?); there’s just no way around it. We used caution thereon after.

Touring Antalya

Antalya’s trip was equally successful. We didn’t have the luxury of a Hilton hotel, but my spacious apartment sufficed. Mom and Dad slept in the third, unused room; Attia took my room; and Dani and I crashed on the living room couches. Alex was a friendly host and welcomed my family into our apartment, and even helped me prepare a homemade kahvaltı, which we enjoyed on our balcony. We invited her to all our adventures—she was like another sister, since we were missing Laraib and Maryum.

Like Istanbul, we managed to cram a lot of sights in a few, short days. We relaxed and ate mediye (stuffed mussels with aromatic rice) on Konyalatı and Lara beaches; spent a lovely afternoon walking around the Düden Şelalesi (Waterfall Park); enjoyed an entire day in Greek ruins at Side; and walked the curvy bazaar streets of Kaleiçi. We met our landlords for dinner at a restaurant, and then they invited us to their house for a full feast. My family also got to meet my Turkish Hocalarim (teachers), colleagues like Meltem and Asli at Akdeniz University, Konak Kafe Baba, and our Pakistani family (Adnan Bhai hosted us). Mom wanted more time to shop, but because Attia was moody, our scheduled trips were quite delayed. In fact, of my 3-page planned agenda, only one-half was covered. I suppose it’s better to over plan and not meet all the destinations than to under plan and run out of things to do. Plus, Antalya is SO big, it took me several months so see all of it; expecting my family to cover the same amount of ground in a few days was unrealistic for sure. Nonetheless, we had a lovely time in Antalya.

It was so lovely to see my family and be surrounded by their presence. Living abroad is taxing, and seeing familiar faces is comforting. I am happy that they got to see where I live, how I commute to work, where I work, who my friends and colleagues are. It’s one thing to share these details over the phone, and completely another to experience it first-hand. Hopefully the visit filled in the missing details in their heads when they thought about me in Turkey. They also got to see what makes me happy: speaking a foreign language, interacting with diverse types of peoples, finding solutions to my own problems—this is my “zone.” I like being independent, I like navigating my own path, and I love sharing it.

Family Departs

Sometimes visits can be renewing. For example, after meeting Muzaffer Hocam, Baba encouraged me to continue my Turkish lessons. “Why did you stop?” he asked me. “If the school won’t give you teaching hours, at least take advantage of this great opportunity.” This was the push I needed to re-motivate myself and find a renewed purpose of my life in Antalya. A day after their departure, I showed up to class sharply at 8:30 a.m.

When I dropped off my family at the Antalya airport at 6am, warm tears streamed down my cheek. I courageously held back my tears until after they passed through the security checkpoint. I walked outside, feeling sad and exhausted after 10 days of nonstop travel. I sat on the curb and waited for my bus, making zero effort to clean the tears that trickled down my neck onto my jacket. With my blurry vision, I saw a tiny bird fly nearby me, chirping for food. I had nothing to offer the baby bird. It had clearly survived on its own for so long, but suddenly it was lost again. I felt bad for the bird. I secretly prayed that its mother would come rescue it, feed it worms, tuck it under warm arms, and take it home.

Picnic at Orman Park

March 5, 2016

After much travel in February, we decided to stay in Antalya the first weekend of March. We had a picnic with our Pakistani friends on Saturday, March 5^th at a nearby park called Orman Park.

Walking along a highway to Orman Park.

Getting to Orman Park was quite an adventure, however. Alex and I were traveling with Qasid Bhai from Meltem. We took a bus which we thought would drop us off at the entrance of Orman Park. It did drop us off at an entrance, but this entrance was under construction and therefore the lower end of the park was not in use. We walked along the fenced area hoping to find a way in, but based on the number of bulldozers I saw, I knew this couldn’t be where the others were. After asking the village locals, we went back to the bus stop. At this point, Qasid Bhai offered us two options: to walk straight up the road or wait for a second bus. It was scorching hot and we didn’t think the walk would take that long, so we set afoot to find the real Orman Park.

The road was a highway, twisting and turning up an incline. We regretted our decision once we had walked about 10 minutes away from the bus stop. Adnan Bhai people (his wife Madiha Bhabi and our friend Suhaib Bhai) had already reached the park and were waiting for us. We told them our situation and Suhaib Bhai reassured us that it was only 15 minutes away. He lied, he didn’t know how far away from the park we were. At one point, a nice Turkish woman stopped her clunky, red car to offer us a ride. However, as soon as we got in it, her engine stopped working. This was both funny and awful—our bad luck got passed onto her. We got out of the car to give the car a push but to no avail. Finally, we thanked her for her kind gesture and started walking again. After about another 10 minutes, we saw her pass by us, but this time, she didn’t stop to help us. I guess she learned her lesson, but in our defense, it wasn't our fault.

I moaned and groaned as we continued walking uphill. Every now and then I would wave at a passing bus or car, hoping a nice person would let us hitchhike with them. This was out of pure fun but I held a breath of hope nonetheless. At about the half-way mark, we stumbled upon the statue of Mr. Atatürk. It was Mount Rushmore-style; his huge face was carved out of stone. We took some photos, rested a bit, and then continued our trek. After another 15 minutes of walking alongside the busy highway, we saw Adnan Bhai standing with his car near the right entrance of Orman Park. We finally made it!

  

We apologized to everyone, and helped carried the food supplies to a picnic area. We found two tables next to each other, and decided to settle there. We used one table for prep work, and the other was set for lunch. I helped Madiha Bhabi make Pakistani parathas (flat blood fried in oil) over a gas stove, and she later fried chapli chicken kebabs (flat kebabs), the dough of which she had prepared at home. Adnan Bhai made fresh Pakistani chai, and once the table was set, we all gathered around to eat a delicious meal.

 

After a filling meal, we played badminton and ludu, took photos overseeing all of Antalya, and walked around the park to enjoy the fresh air. It was a lovely picnic day and spent with great people. I am so grateful for low-key weekends like these.

Candlight Dinner

On Saturday, November 21^st, we invited our university representative Metlem and our close colleague-friend, Asli, for dinner. This davat (invitation) was long overdue, since we are so grateful for everything they have done for us since day one. Alex and I started our day by buying fresh vegetables form our local market. We often do grocery shopping once a month, since it is cheaper (and often healthier) to eat at home than at restaurants. However, because of our busy schedule, it is sometimes easier to eat out. In any case, we blasted some music and prepared a fancy meal for our esteemed guests.

The menu included curried chicken, roasted chicken pieces, roasted cherry tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms with roasted cashews (made my me) and pasta and homemade pasta sauce (made by Alex). We also served bread with goat cheese and better, ice tea and diet cola, and salad. Now let me remind you that we do not have an oven or a microwave, so the timing of preparing these meals was essential to ensuring that the food stayed warm until the arrival of our guests, which was at 6:30pm. We also lit candles to give it an romantic appeal.

When our guests arrived, we chatted a bit before serving dinner. Meltem and Asli were coming from the mall, and the boys were full from lunch so they didn’t eat much dinner. Demir, the younger and the more mischievous of the two, made videos with his iPad and converted the video snippets into funny action trailers using an app. In of the snippets, for example, as he danced in our living room, a comet flew through and killed him. In another video, he transformed into a monster and roared in our living room. Otay, the older brother, has a calmer demeanor than Demir but is equally witty. Upon arriving, Otay told his mother “why do the Americans have antique furniture?”

Playing with mischievous Demir.

After dinner, we cut a bee-shaped cake which our guests had kindly brought for us as dessert. We also enjoyed ice-cream for dessert while sipping on çay. Demir continued to entertain us with us relentless energy, transforming into all sorts of animals such as money, rat, even a chicken. I love playing with me. His energy reminds of my own mischievous childhood, thriving on the attention of anyone who would give it to me. I have since matured, of course, but I always admire the naïve and carefree attitude of little kids.

Later that evening, Meltem and her kids left to do their homework. Asli accompanied us to Kaleiçi where we experienced the night life for the second time. We enjoyed a live band at one of the pubs and then rented motor-engine scooters for 30 minutes. In an odd way, this was a liberating experience. We powered through the cobble-stone sidewalks of Kaleiçi, screamed as we passed strangers, and raced on as if we were competing in Olympic games. Around 1am, we returned home and quickly fell asleep, realizing that we had a big day tomorrow: Pamukkale.

Düden Waterfalls & Perge

Saturday, November 7, 2015

On Saturday, we went to Düden Şelalesi with our university rep Meltem and our colleague and good friend, Aslı. Meltem brought her two adorable sons and Aslı brought her boyfriend, Receb, who was very kind. We drove to the waterfall in Meltem’s car. We did get lost a few times on the road, but managed to find the waterfall regardless. When we got there, I was impressed that there was a whole park built around this natural wonder. We walked around on a self-guided tour, stopping every so often to snap some photos. We marveled at the beauty of the waterfall—its gushing and whooshing created an enjoyable mist. It actually reminded me of Niagara Falls in Buffalo, New York and Canada. My family visited Niagara Falls about 10 years ago, and I remember wearing rain jackets because it was so cold being by the water.

Düden Şelalesi (Waterfalls) in Antalya.

We ate lunch at a restaurant near the waterfall. Because it was so chilly, we wrapped ourselves in cozy blankets provided by the restaurant. I ate balık (fish) cooked in a clay pot, with sides of tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, and potatoes.

Later that afternoon, we drove to Perge (pronounced “per-gay”), another Romans ruins site. We crashed a tour being given to elderly American citizens. We walked around the agora (Roman marketplace) and the public baths. Like Side, there were Corinthian, Doric, and Ionic columns everywhere—some columns remained fully in tact, some were cracked, some lied in debris, and some appeared to have been chopped in half. During the tour, I met a woman from Maine and became very excited. We made small talk and I told her I went to college in that state. I love Maine so much!!

At one the public paths at Perge, ancient Roman ruins.

 During the trip, I enjoyed playing with Meltem’s two boys; they are so adorable and mischievous, especially the youngest one, Demir. Demir is a clever yet dramatic little boy. He says the funniest things. For example, when he does not want to go to school, he tells his mother “give me a knife, I will kill myself.” When he does not want to do homework, he says “I wish school was never invented” or “I wish my homework was to burn my homework.” Hilarious! Where does he learn these things?! I sat in the back seat with Oktay and Demir on the ride back home and played games with them. I love little kids. I miss not being able to hold my baby nephew, Azi. I wonder when I will see him again. Maybe he can visit Turkey with his Dada (paternal grandfather).

Oktay consoling Demir after a cat scratch.

Before going home, we made a stop at Metro, a wholesales store. It’s similar to America’s Costo stores. It sells everything in large quantities for low prices, and its target audience is store or restaurant owners. Alex and I bought chocolate, sunflower seeds, çay cups, and a few nar. An embarrassing but funny thing happened to me. When I walked to the fresh produce section, I saw a crate full of pomegranates and when I saw the price—3 TL—I could not believe it. I got excited because Alex and I love nar and if it were actually this cheap, we would buy the whole crate. Meltem, Aslı, and Receb were in disbelief. When they inquired about the price, I learned that the pomegranates were actually 3TL per pound. I felt so embarrassed! But we all laughed in good jest.

Jumbo bag of sunflower seeds at Metro.

Internet! & Kaleiçi Night Life

It’s that time of the season where someone is coming down with a cold and the germs are rapidly replicating. Almost everyone at school is sniffling…even Alex and I have runny noses. While Alex is sicker than I am, we are both exhausted from a long week of work.

This week was eventful. We got our scores back for our Turkish exam (I did well, 85%) and continued to work with our graduate students during speaking clubs. They are all nervous about taking their IELTS exam because their score (from a scale of 1-9) will determine which universities they qualify to study at. We help them by giving them practice speaking exercises and encouraging them to stay calm. Our “MEB” (graduate) students are scheduled to take the IETLS on different days.

With Seval at her Kaleiçi office.

On Wednesday, a friend we had met in Ankara at the Ambassador’s Reception invited us to her office. Seval, who is the head of the Antalya Municipality and works closely with the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, was upset that we did not contact her once we arrived to Antalya. She graciously welcomed us and told us about her work. She even took us to her mother’s house for dinner that evening. It turns out she and her mother live very close to us in Meltem—one block away!

With our beautiful landlord, Sanay.

On Friday, we really wanted to go home and take a long nap but instead, we met our landlord, Sanay, at Mark Antalya mall to buy Internet. She has kindly offered to open the account in her name. Yasir accompanied us on this errand and served as our translator. Before making the transaction, Sanay treated us to Turkish khave as ikram (a treat out of respect). She also read our fortunes.

There is a tradition in Turkey, enjoyed mainly by women, that after drink Turkish coffee, you place the saucer on top of your tiny cup, flip it towards you (so that the cup is upside down), rotate the cup and saucer in circular motion three times in front of you, and wait for the mud-like coffee beans to drain out on the saucer. You can place a coin or a ring on top of the cup to expedite the process of cooling down (since metals absorb heat). After the ‘mud’ has fully drained out on the saucer, you flip your cup in the rightful position, and ask someone to read your fortune based on the remnants of the coffee stains inside the cup. The fortune teller examines the animals and shapes created by the coffee stains, and extrapolates fortunes based on them. On Friday, Sanay speculated the following things about my fortune—I think some of them are quite true!

·      I’ve read a lot of books, but I appear calm

·      I am competitive

·      I will go to Egypt in the near future

·      I learn from other’s lessons and try not to repeat their mistakes

After buying the Internet—finally!—we decided to have dinner together at Ataturk Park. Alex was still feeling sick, but the coffee had completely energized me. We sat at a table overlooking the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, all of Kaleiçi, and beautiful sunset over the Toros Mountains. Yasir and I ordered chicken wings, while Sanay and Alex ordered pasta. I was not very hungry so I fed most of my dinner to the hungry cats.

Breathtaking sunset over the Toros Mountains.

Later, at about 9pm, we met some school friends and Konak Kafe friends at the Raven Pub, one of the many nightly hang out spots in Kaleiçi. There were about 10 of us in total, friends of friends. I was really excited to practice my Spanish with the band singer before he performed at 10:30pm. He sang English songs and the pub became very lively. I didn’t realize that Old City was where the night scene was for Antalya. It almost looked like a college town, squirming with students in every corner, town people smoking in the streets, foreigners chattering away, music booming from every restaurant. Not that Alex and I are much of partiers, but now we know where to go. J Anyhow, at about midnight, we taxied home with Azim (Indian) and Milad (Afghan), our two friends from Konak Kafe.

Greenery in Alanya

Long Weekend: October 30-31, 2015

On Saturday, we took an excursion to Alanya, also located within Antalya. It was two hours away, so we rented a car. Yasir and Omer took turns driving. We ate fresh fish when driving up the beautiful Alanya mountains, which were both lusciously green and breathtaking. It was so picturesque. Imagine walking into a painter’s masterpiece, and becoming incredulous of the beauty you encounter. Perhaps the photos I am attaching to this blog post can provide you with some idea of what I experienced. I also happened to be wearing green that day—pure coincidence—so I felt especially camouflaged.

In Alanya, we also visited the Dim Cave, which was 400km in total distance: one side was 350km while other side was only 50km. It was spooky and cold in the dimly lit cave. Caves are such an interesting natural wonder—created partly by nature and partly by creatures, including humans and animals. I must admit, the serendipitous visit to the cave one day before Halloween was quite fitting.

Dim Cave in Alanya.

Just when I think we’ve reached the epitome of our adventure, I’m proven wrong. After the cave, Yasir and Omer took us to a castle (whose name escapes me) where we saw a breathtaking view of the Alanya cityscape. When brochures talk about the famous “turquoise coast,” I now know what they mean. Oh it was exquisite. See for yourself.

Cityview of Alanya within Antalya province.

Sunday we spent all day studying for our Turkish exam. We took a break to learn of the Election Results. The Justice and Development Party (AK) won Turkey once again after a five-month break. This means they have regained a parliamentary majority. With these results, AK party now claims 316 seats in the 550-seat parliament, which is enough to win a majority government on its own. Some people were very happy, others were not. Such is politics.