Orientation Day 13: Survey & Final Words

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Today is the last day of orientation! Woo!

I enjoyed the my last breakfast at the Niza Park Otel, knowing that this luxury would soon be taken from me. Everyone hurried to the final 9am call—the waiters actually rang a bell every day at 9am sharp to remind us to go downstairs to the conference room. Some waiters were more effective than others.

There was already a sad tone to the day. Something was coming to an end. As exhausting as orientation was, it was a really great bonding activity for all of us, and in many ways, brought us closer together. We are the 2015-2016 Fulbright Turkey cohort, and there’s something special about affiliation to a common experience. Everyone’s experience in their host city will be unique, but we will all leave a mark in Turkey during these next 9 months as the 2015-2016 Fulbright Turkey cohort.

Mevlude Hanim ("Hanim" means "Ms." while "Bey" means "Mr."), the woman behind the entire orientation program, and our beloved “Mama”, kicked off the last day of orientation with a “Past Experiences: Things You Should Do and Not Do”. The presentation was quite entertaining. There were anecdotes of real stories, good and bad, that happened to Fulbrighters in the past. The anecdotes were written out like a story on a slide, followed by another slide with a Do and Do Not commentary. Mevlude Hanim showcased that the Fulbright experience has brought out the best and the worst in grantees. While some have taken advantage of the program by organizing theatrical plays at their schools, becoming fluent in Turkish, getting involved in the community, and breaking down stereotypes about America, others spoiled their experience by not following school rules and Commission regulations especially regarding travel, skipping classes to travel, conducting malicious acts towards their roommates, and getting involved with the legal system.

After our last coffee break, we took a survey and provided feedback on speakers and the presentations. They wanted honest feedback to improve the program for future years. There was Turkish folk music playing so as grantees completed their survey, they joined the crowd in the front and participated in celebratory dancing.

With Prof. Dr. Ersel and Ms. Seher

My favorite part of the last day was “Final Words” by Professor Dr. Ersel Aydini. Dr. Ersel’s academic background combined with his life experiences make him a wise and humble human being. This was apparent in his speech.

Dr. Ersel wore his executive director of the Turkish Fulbright Commission hat for the first of the speech, noting that preparation was critical for our experiences and that the Commission has given us that through the intense orientation program. Orientation was critical to help connect all the actors behind the program—Turkish Fulbright Commission, U.S. State Department, ETAs, participating universities—so that there is a network of support always there for us. “Now it’s up to you,” he said, “to make or break your experiences.” He reminded us that this is “development program”, that the universities where we will be teaching are developing state/public schools. “You’ll see imperfections,” he said. The Fulbright program is giving a little push to the large Turkish government initiative to build universities across the country. Be gentle with your criticism and propose constructive feedback, he said.

Dr. Ersel, who has taught at the Harvard Kennedy School, then wore his academic hat and advised us to keep in perspective that Turkey is undergoing a huge transformation, that it’s a huge opportunity for us to be here during this critical time. “Most things are in metamorphosis,” he said. “Everything is in hybrid form—civil society, education system, democratic process.” Turkey’s rich history makes it an interesting place to be, and we should make real observations about what’s happening around us. In that sense, “don’t waste your year,” he advised. “Don’t go back the way you came in. Because maybe in 20-35 years, you won’t be able to find this type of country, not even in Turkey.”

He warned us against a small trap: The White Man’s Burden. “It’s fake and looks ridiculous,” he said. Don’t fall victim to the trap that it is your job to come in and “save Turkey” because people will notice it. This is not a place for that type of colonialism. “Problems are universal,” he said, “but they come in different clothes and faces.” They look different because of the different geography and culture. We are all familiar with radicalism, racism, police brutality—we have seen these things in the United States and we shouldn’t be shocked if we see them in Turkey.

Dr. Ersel ended his speech by saying that we should view our experience as a supermarket in which we are entering as a shopper. “Make the most of it, and don’t waste it,” he said. All actors are ready to help and support us 24/7. We should leave Turkey by experiencing to the common values of humanity. “Add to the bucket, fill it with your pebble, so that when the pebbles are dropped in an ocean, the ripple effect is larger,” he said. “Be a part of something bigger.”

Orientation Day 12: Sexual Harassment & Kocatepe Mosque

Friday, September 11, 2015

Orientation is winding down and I’m getting excited to finally move to Antalya tomorrow (Saturday). The past two weeks have been memorable and very informative, but also so exhausting—waking up at 7am every day and participating in non-stop activities for 9 hours straight.

The morning began with two hours of Turkish lessons. My hocam (pronounced ‘hojam’ - “my teacher”) was not present so we merged with another class. We were supposed to write a skit and perform it; however I was unaware of this assignment so I quickly slapped something together with two other girls. We performed a dialogue at the market, in which Lily and I were the customers bargaining for a dress and shoes with Alexis, the storekeeper. Çok pahali! (Very expensive!) was repeated quite often in our dialogue. Our Turkish was definitely not perfect, but at least the assignment was done.

We then had a lady present to us about the “Turkish Education System: Issues and Challenges.” While the content was really interesting, the presenter was not very engaging. The slides were heavy with text and my fellow peers were falling asleep. Despite this, I was able to scribble a few notes in my notebook. I learned that it was only recently, in 2012, that Turkish government expanded compulsory education to 12th grade. Prior to this, education was required up to 8th grade. As of 2015, there are 109 public, 76 non-profit (private), and 8 vocational universities in Turkey. As Professor Ayturk had mentioned earlier in the week, Turkey has taken a huge initiative to expand access to higher education and universities are popping up like mushrooms in every town. As a result, many of these institutions are in their developmental stages. The other cool fact I learned is that women outnumber men in higher educational institutions. Yay for women power!

Sexual Harassment
After lunch, Asistant Professor Yonca Toker of Middle East Technical University spoke to us about “Sexual Harassment in Turkey.” I really liked that she started her presentation with sharing her research methodology with us; from my perspective, it gave her even more credibility as a researcher and a professor. She specializes in sexual harassment in the workplace. She interviewed 353 subjects from different occupations to learn about the different faces of sexual harassment. She asked her subjects to rank their experiences on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “definitely sexual harassment.” There were four major categories that emerged as conclusions of her research:

• sexual physical advances (mean 4.5)
• quid-pro-quo – bribery, power dynamics, blackmail (mean 4.0)
• sexual hostility – unwanted exposure (mean 3.8)
• insinuation of interest – frequent compliments, affectionate terms (mean 3.1)
• sexist hostility – often comes in the form of gender discrimination (mean 3.0)

Women cope with sexual harassment through advocacy seeking (filing a formal legal compliant) or negotiation/confrontation (preferred strategy). Like the United States and most other counties, sexual harassment is outlawed, and definitely taken very seriously in the workplace.

What was the most thought-provoking during Professor Toker’s presentation, however, was the cultural context of sexual harassment in Turkey. For example, Turkish hospitality and willingness to help others can often blur the lines of incidents. Similarly, the contact culture (physically touching people to comfort and support them) can complicate relations. Waiting until marriage to have sex can lead to higher incidents of sexual harassment. Lastly, the concept “benevolent sexism”—protecting women because they are fragile—was both puzzling and frustrating to me. Puzzling because sexism in any form is never benevolent, and frustrating because it inherently perpetuates gender inequality by promoting men as powerful and superior than women. I believe there are definitely biological differences between men and women, and chivalry can be a romantic, but I refuse to conform to social norms in which my agency as an individual is compromised or diminished simply because I am a female.

This lecture ended with strategies of how to avoid sexual harassment. We were advised to not make eye contact (doing so encourages men), to walk away, don’t tell the time if asked, dress modestly, and scream for help if you are in trouble.

Renewal Grantee Panel

Another panel of renewal grantees spoke to us about teaching and administrative issues they encountered in their first year teaching. There was a lot of good advice; I won’t bore you with all of it, but some of the more resonating wisdom is listed below:

• Don’t marginalize others’ experience by glamorizing your city.
• Be aware of what your contract permits and forbids.
• Don’t talk about the power of dollar and how “cheap” things are.
• Be sensitive to your colleagues’ financial situations – don’t talk about salary or your weekend travels. If you travel, bring gifts as a kind gesture.
• As a Fulbrighter, you are privileged and are being paid quite well compared to locals.
• Don’t gossip.
• Always have games to play on hand in the classroom.
• Names are important, take the effort to learn your students’ names.
• Be realistic. Lower your expectations.

The day ended with one final activity with renewal grantees. A few of them rotated through our tables and we got to ask some more specific questions.

Kocatepe Mosque

Kocatepe Mosque, outside view.

I really wanted to see the famous Kocatepe Mosque before leaving Ankara so my hotel roommate Erika, Alex, and I cabbed to the masjid. It was a 10-minute ride, costing 12TL. Upon arriving, we gaped at the magnificence of the Kocatepe Mosque—pronounced “Kojatepe” because “c” in Turkish sounds like an English “j”.  It was so beautiful. The exterior was light blue and gold, and I could see architectural traces of the Byzantine Empire (from my recollection of photos in history books, of course). The four minarets towered the massive dome and the intricate patterns encompassed the beauty of a masjid.

 

I lent scarves to Erika and Alex so that when we went inside, they can cover their hair. We took off our shoes and left them on a shelf before entering the Kocatepe Mosque. I was awe-struck at the interior beauty of the mosque; calligraphy, geometric shapes, Arabic scriptures, blue and floral Izmit tile designs, and golden sheer everywhere. There was a gigantic, golden, crystal chandelier dangling from the center of the dome and captivated any tourist upon entrance. Even though I knew nothing about the Kocatepe Mosque in specific, I served as a tour guide to Alex and Erika and educated them about mosques in general: where the imam stands, how the Friday is conducted, how prayers are performed, how the Quran is read on a crisscross book stand, the positions of praying, and do’s and don’ts inside a mosque. We walked in the upper levels of the mosque quietly and cautiously, every so often taking a picture or glancing over the edge of what appeared to be a balcony. The higher we went, the bigger the view.

 

Inside the Kocatepe Mosque.

Another view from inside the Kocatepe Mosque.

Then, when the imam recited the azan, I decided to participate in the prayer. It was so uplifting to pray with the company of others. It was so peaceful, and I felt closer to Allah. I am not very religious, but I do take my faith Islam seriously. I enjoy being spiritual—connecting with something bigger and better than myself. I have always enjoyed going to church with my host family in college because religion, no matter which it is, helps keep us humble, hopeful, and loving. The girls and I left the mosque after the prayer, and it was already nightfall. The Mosque looked equally beautiful at nighttime, under the moonlit sky and the additional lights. We taxied back to the hotel, ate dinner, and called it a night.

Alex, Erika, and me outside the Kocatepe Mosque at night.

Orientation Day 11: Multiple Intelligences & Ambassador's Reception

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Orientation continued again with the three ladies from the State Department. Today we learned about how to engage our students with writing prompts such as sentence starters, prompt starters for stories, and incomplete pictures that students can finish and write about. It’s been kind of exhausting to do every activity, which feels a bit amateur to us since we already speak English. One recommendation I have for next year’s Orientation program would be to shorten the length of these sessions because they are excruciatingly long. Apparently Turkey has the longest Orientation program than any other country hosting Fulbrighters.

We also discussed Howard Gardner’s famous theory of “Multiple Intelligences” from his 1983 book Frames of Mind, in which he proposes the existence of at least eight basic intelligences. Gardner sought to broaden the scope of human potential beyond the confines of the IQ score and suggested that intelligence has more to do with the capacity for (1) problem solving and (2) fashioning products in a context-rich and naturalistic setting. I remember learning about this in Mr. Cabral’s eleventh grade AP English Language class; he made us debate about the existence of these intelligences. I believe I sided on the “YES” team. The point of discussing this theory was to be aware of different learning styles and to incorporate different types of activities into our lesson plans.

For those of you who are curious about Gardener’s 8 intelligences, they are listed below along with activities that help those types of learners learn best. I identify with the logic, visual, and interpersonal intelligences. Which do you identify with?

• Verbal-Linguistic --> capacity to use words effectively; activities = storytelling, writing journals, reading aloud, debating
• Logic-Mathematical --> capacity to use numbers effectively; activities = problem solving, sequencing, puzzles, using money or geometry
• Visual-Spatial --> ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately; activities = graphing, sketching, painting, illustrating, mapping
• Bodily-Kinesthetic --> expertise in using one’s whole body to express ideas and feelings; activities = dancing, crafts, hands-on experiments
• Musical --> capacity to perceive and express in musical forms; activities = rapping, humming, singing, rhyming
• Interpersonal --> ability to perceive and make distinctions in moods, intentions, motivations, and feelings of other people; activities = peer editing, discussing, study group, conflict mediation, social awareness, teaching, cooperative learning
• Intrapersonal --> self-knowledge and ability to act adaptively on the basis of that knowledge; activities = personal response, goal setting, journal log keeping, independent projects
• Naturalistic --> ability to easily recognize and classify plants, animals, and other things in nature; activities = reading outside, bird watching, gardening, dissecting

One lady also walked us through how to resourcefully use the www.AmericanEnglish.state.gov website for teaching materials. The website is filled with books, audio, music, American culture, articles, worksheets, readings, and all sorts of content for both English teachers and English learners. The end of this session was followed by a question that triggered an important discussion. One Fulbrighter asked: how can we make sure that we are not imposing English as an imperialist tool? The State Department representative answered by saying that English is a tool for global communication, not necessarily imperialist values. We have to distinguish between cultural exchange and cultural superiority; I personally believe that our role as “cultural ambassadors” is not to Americanize our students, but rather to teach them English and empower them to partake in the global economy and global communication. While we cannot turn back the clocks, and it is certainly important to acknowledge imperialist history, we must also be practical with the realities of today’s world. English is definitely a tool in my opinion for global exchange of ideas and access to information. At the very least, we are enabling our students to spread their Turkish language by engaging with English speakers.

We received our residency permits today, hooray! This is basically our driver’s license / ID card here in Turkey – we must carry it with us at all times.

Reception at the Ambassador’s Residence

Karlene, myself, Alex, and Erika before the reception.

We had a two-hour break before the fancy reception hosted by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Mr. John Bass, at his residence. We met at the hotel lobby at 6:30p before departing. Everyone looked charming; boys wore suits and ties, and women wore formal dresses. I wore my favorite yellow dress (the last time I wore this was on my last day of work at Liberty Mutual), manila colored pointy heels, and large pearl earring studs. Alex curled my hair and did my eye make-up so I looked even fancier than I intended. We took photos in the lobby while waiting for our buses, and many peers complimented my outfit (I think because I was the only one wearing bright yellow).

The security guards at the gate checked our passports to verify our names on the guest list before allowing us to enter Mr. Ambassador’s Residence. The house was beautiful! It reminded me of a Pakistani bungalow, with large lawns, numerous rooms decorated with furniture and collectibles, expensive paintings on the wall, and china in the dining room. The reception was mainly on the lawn, but we were allowed to walk around the lower level and observe the rooms. Ambassadors live quite well when they are abroad.

I mingled with State Department officials and learned about their work at the embassy. One day, inshAllah, I will also be working at a U.S. Embassy and perhaps doing similar public diplomacy work. I also saw my Turkish hocam (pronounced “hojam” which means ‘my teacher’), met two ladies from Antalya, and a few other officials who were affiliated with the embassy.

With U.S. Amb. to Turkey, Mr. John Bass.

Since there was no dinner to be served, I indulged in the various hors d’oeuvres being offered throughout the cocktail-style party. Mr. Ambassador made welcoming remarks and Dr. Professor Ersel Aydinli also addressed the crowd by publicly thanking the State Department for their cooperation and his staff for the hard work in coordinating this program. After these speeches, I greeted the Ambassador, introduced myself, and asked for his advice for my future career in the U.S. Foreign Service. He said to pick an area of regional or functional specialty in graduate school and become an expert in it. I thank him for his time, snagged a photo with him before a long line formed to take selfies with him. I also spoke to his wife, Holly, who is a foreign service officer as well. She, too, had a large crowd of people waiting to ask her questions.


Other than losing my pearl ring on the lawn, the reception was wonderful.

Lesson Learned
Later that night, I decided to go out with my friends because I was in a festive mood. I hung out with Alex and a peer named Casey Mangan. He is a renewing grantee and a very sincere young man. He gave us a lot of good advice about the next 9 months and acted as a brother to many female colleagues. Just as we were about to leave the bar, we saw a few other Fulbrighters hanging out with a young Turkish man. They were about to go dancing and asked if we wanted to join them. We said we would check it out for a few minutes but were very tired and wanted to go back to the hotel soon. We walked for 10 minutes and realized that this mysterious dancing place was not nearby at all, which is what the Turkish man had promised us. Our gut instinct was not to trust him and to return to our hotel. Casey and Jordan also noticed that there were two men following us the entire time. I got a little scared and hoped that nothing bad would happen. Casey’s Turkish and leadership helped us get out of this situation; we simply told the Turkish man we did not want to dance and walked the other way. Tensions ran high amongst our group because some girls wanted to dance and others wanted continue to flirt with their newly acquainted Turkish men. Jordan stepped up and convinced them all to leave immediately and we all hurried back to the hotel.

Alhamdulillah (thank God) we were safe, however, I learned a very important lesson that night: to always trust your gut instincts and to always check your surroundings whenever you are outside, especially at night. I was grateful that Casey and Jordan were the two male, more experienced colleagues in our group to save the evening! Alex and I must be very careful in Antalya.

Güle Güle!

Orientation Days 9 & 10: English Teaching & Learning

Tuesday & Wednesday, September 8-9, 2015

I am going to combine Tuesday's and Wednesday's activities into one blog post because they have the same theme: English teaching training sessions by State Department officials. Three ladies from the U.S. Embassy have come to teach us strategies for effective teaching, classroom management, cooperative learning, and web engagement. For the most part, it’s been really interesting to learn about how Turkish students and classrooms are different from American students and classrooms. Turkish students often show up late and can sometimes be unmotivated; but they also love and respect their American teachers and don’t hesitate to illustrate their affection. For every session, we had to complete activities that at times felt a bit childish to us. For example, the lady conducting the “Cooperative Learning Techniques” training made us complete cross word puzzles, a describe-and-draw activity, and “Find someone who____” activity—all of which would hopefully encourage our students to speak English and practice conversational vocabulary.

One lady told us about the power of nursery rhymes; repetition helps remember phrases and words that can trigger more grammar and vocabulary learning. Everyone recalled their favorite nursery rhyme from kindergarten or pre-school; my favorite rhymes have always been Humpty Dumpty and Mary Had a Little Lamb. In Turkey, kids grow up to “Ali Baba'nın çiftliği” (Ali Baba’s Farm). It’s similar to the American “Ole McDonald Had a Farm” which teaches kids about animals and their sounds. The Ali Baba song was quite catchy, if I must say so myself.

Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM43PcWPXsI.

On Tuesday, September 8th, we were scheduled to learn Turkish folk dancing and have a “Turkish Night” that evening. However, due to news about an attack on a police minibus, in which 14 police officers died, dance activities were cancelled to pay respect to families in mourning. The news about the attack concerned some Fulbrighters and many of them expressed interest in discussing more security measures. The very next day on Wednesday, the Turkish Fulbright Commission invited back the security officials from the State Department to answer any student questions and concerns about security. After 1.5 hours of repetitive advice from the security officials about avoiding rallies, dangerous situations, and eastern parts of the country, executive director Dr. Professor Ersel Aydinli addressed us for 30 minutes. His advice was simple: be prepared, aware, and use common sense. He said our security was their first priority but they can only take so many measures; they’ve done their part in providing us with as much knowledge, phone numbers, and material as they can—it is now up to us to use our common sense and look out for one another. He was right.

Orientation Day 8: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations & Ankara Castle

Monday, September 7, 2015

First things first, happy Labor Day to those back home in America! Hope you are enjoying the long weekend.

On this side of the world, week 2 of Orientation starts today. After a well-rested free day, I woke up refreshed and ready to start. I ate a healthy breakfast  — two boiled eggs, watermelon, wheat bread and butter, simit and Nutella, and orange juice with mint — and  my Turkish homework was completed. I was very awake and made the most of the 3 hours of Turkish lessons this morning. Today, we learned to conjugate verbs and answer questions in proper sentence form. I feel as though I have already mastered half the Turkish vocabulary because Turkish is an agglutinating language, which means letters are added onto root words to form meanings. The books we are using are very comprehensive and do a good job of teaching grammar through lots of visuals and colors. I must say, I am thoroughly impressed by the top-notch materials that the Turkish Fulbright Commission has provided us all, including books, CD's, and a dictionary. I am excited to continue learning Turkish when I get to my host university next week. I hear from former Fulbrighters that Akdeniz University in Antalya provides intensive and comprehensive Turkish lessons that Alex and I can take advantage of.

Baklava, famous Turkish delight.

We went out to lunch this afternoon which was a nice change from the hotel food. Not to sound ungrateful, but I'm getting a bit sick of the hotel selections. We ate inside a museum with food catered from Divan restaurant. I feel like we are being treated like foreign dignitaries with fancy tables and fancy food. The four-course meal; creamy tomato soup with croutons and cheese, spring-roll like delights stuffed with vegetables and pastrami meat, grilled chicken and fried potatoes for the main course, and the famous Turkish sweet, baklava, for dessert. I was stuffed!

We then walked over to the "Museum of Anatolian Civilizations," where I got a deeper understanding of the historical peoples that have preceded the present-day Turks. The museum is built on the historical market where tradesmen and their animals would rest before continuing on their journeys. The Ottoman Empire covered the costs of lodging and food for up to three days, and Angora (former name of Ankara) was a major stop on the trade route from east to west and north to south.

Vase depicting ancient wedding festivities.

Anatolia is a land rich with historical settlements and is therefore a popular archaeological site. The tour guide quickly walked us through the history of different civilizations in 20 minutes using an interactive map on a touch-screen. The geographic maps changed as she clicked on these eras: Paleolithic, Neo-Paleolithic, Chalcolithic (copper age), Hittite Empire (unknown where they came from), Phrygians, Assyrians, Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and of course, Turks. We walked around and marveled at the stone tools and animal paintings made by hunters and gatherers; pottery and statues by sedentary peoples; gold jewelry and coins by civilized communities. Archaeologists and museums around the world envy the vase shown on the left because it pictorially depicts the wedding ceremonies of the ancient peoples.

It was interesting to learn how the ancient people's belief system changed over time. For example, hunters and gatherers worshiped animals because animals were different and stronger than humans. In all the cave paintings that have been discovered, archaeologists found animals to be drawn much, much larger than humans, symbolizing animal superiority. The belief system changed when nomadic tribes began to settle down. The sedentary people idolized plump women statues because they symbolized fertility and prosperity, which was important for the survival of a settled community. This symbol evolved once again, when developed communities worshiped skinny women, and the idea of beauty changed. I find it interesting that women, not men, were worshiped. In today’s patriarchal religions, God, gods, and other idols are often men. I am not sure when that switch happened, but I am curious.

Alex, Amer, and I in front of a souvenir shop.

After a group photo outside the museum, we were given two options; to board the bus and head back to the hotel or tour the citadel (Ankara Castle) and find our own transportation back to the hotel. I’m an adventurous person and I like to seize the moment, so I decided to stay behind with the crowd that wanted to climb to the castle. The path to the Ankara Castle was steep and hilly, but so very beautiful. Along the way, there were houses and souvenir shops, children running up and down the alleys, and astray cats meow-ing at the tourists.

When I finally got to the top of the Castle, I was blown away. It was so breathtaking! I don’t know how to describe in words the feeling I had when I saw the entire city of Ankara below me. I was hundreds of feet above ground. I felt like I was on top of the world. And I felt so liberated, free, and happy. In the United States and Guatemala, I have been to really high places, such as monuments and structures that give a fantastic city view, but all of those structures have some sort of protection, either metal bars or glass windows. But on this castle, there was nothing guarding me from the edge. I could take the leap and fall, if I wanted. I could just sit and stare at the red roofs below me. I could stand and stare at the depths of the landscape in front of me. I could do anything a free spirit desired. There was a beautiful breeze that not only weaved through my hair, but also filled my soul like air filling a balloon. I felt at ease.

Here is a short video and some photos I took so you can vicariously experience what I saw on top of the Ankara Castle.

Fulbrighters sitting and enjoying the beautiful city view of Ankara.

With Michael and Alex on top of the Castle with city view in the back.

I was brave enough to sit on the edge of the Castle for this picture.

I felt like I was on top of the world.

Turkish hospitality: çai with two random Turkish ladies.

We then ran into two lovely ladies, with whom we experienced our first Turkish hospitality. They invited us to çai and we practiced our what little Turkish we had learned from our lessons. Despite not being able to understand every Turkish word they were saying, we could understand what they were trying to convey through their body language and facial expressions. The language of humanity is so beautiful—who needs words when you can survive on sounds and gestures? I learned that one lady was from Germany visiting her Turkish friend in Ankara. They showed us photos of their family on their phones, and asked about each of us—where we came from, how old we were, what we were doing in Turkey, how we liked Turkey, etc. As the sun began to set, we attempted once again to walk down the alleyway toward the taxis.

Four girls and I shared a taxi back to the hotel, which means Alex was sitting on the lap of one of the girls sitting in the back. I called the front seat first so I had the pleasure of buckling up my seat belt. Regardless of the seating arrangement, however, all of us engaged with the taxi driver and we experienced our second hospitality of the day. The man was probably in his late 30s or early 40s, very warm, and made all of us laugh. We used the same phrases we had used earlier. When he asked where we needed to go, Alex blurted out “Gule Gule Park” and the man broke out into laughter because “Güle Güle” in Turkish means ‘Goodbye’ and the park near our hotel is actually called Kuğulu Park. Before reaching the hotel, the man placed his right hand over his heart and said in Turkish which I believe was something to this extent of: “No matter where you are from, what is in the heart matters the most.”

Free Day: The Hamam Experience

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Finally, our first free day! Nothing scheduled on the agenda, we can do what we want, roam as we please. The program advisers created a fun scavenger hunt that we could do around the city, but most people just made their own plans.

I decided to sleep until noon, take lunch at the hotel, and then join the group of about 20 students who were leaving for the hamam. Turks go to the hamam once a week or once a month to bathe and socialize with friends. Men and women sections are separated. After a long week, I knew I could use a massage and a good cleaning, but little did I know what was in store for me.

Three girls and I carpooled a taxi to the hamam, which cost all of us 5TL. I’m learning that carpooling is an efficient and cheap way to get around. When we arrived, we met up with the other 8 or so girls. Everyone paid for the package they wanted—majority of us selected the scrub, coffee bean cleansing, a soupy massage cleansing, and a pedicure, costing 72 TL (~$25, pretty cheap by U.S. standards). We were directed to changing rooms, where we took off our clothes and emerged in towels. Then we entered the “bathing section”—the hamam where the magic happens. At first, I was really uncomfortable at the sight of topless women having a good time, chatting about, and casually cleaning themselves and others. I didn’t know what to do, so I followed the lead of Bianca, a returning grantee. When she took off her towel, my jaw dropped. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do the same. But then, after a few moments of thinking, I thought to myself: when in Turkey, do as Turks do.

There was a hexagon-shaped pedestal in the center of the hamam. Along the walls, there were mini stone bathtubs holding lukewarm water. I copied what other women were doing, and began to wash myself with soap and warm water. There was a sense of discomfort and excitement on all of our faces; and I must admit, this was quite an intimate way of getting to know my fellow peers. Then, the cleaning ladies dressed in black bathing suits came and grabbed us one by one. They asked us to lie down on our stomachs, each of taking one side of the hexagonal centerpiece. Once the magic started, people were no longer staring at one another.

People are washed on the hexagonal center of the hamam.

First, the lady scrubbed me with a special glove, which peeled off my dead skin cells. I could see black dirt-like pieces falling to the ground. It was utterly gross. I then took a warm shower to wash it all away. Second, she used crushed coffee beans to exfoliate my skin. It felt like I was covered in mud, both on the back and the front. As she scrubbed me all over my body, she also massaged me and took out some knots from my shoulder muscles which had become tense from the travels and the long Orientation sessions. Again, I washed away the coffee with a quick warm shower. My third cleansing was with a soft soap that felt like silk and smelled like roses. Once again, the lady massaged me and I felt at ease. I showered off the bubbles, and sat in the steaming room for a few minutes to soften my skin. I grabbed my towel, and left the hamam for the upstairs spa where I got a pedicure. I was feeling Turkish so I asked that my toes be painted in red. My toes smiled to thank me.

By the end of the experience, I felt clean, happy, relaxed, and also empowered. I embraced my femininity, celebrated my womanhood with other women, and appreciated my female body. I saw women of all ages, shapes, and sizes, and it was beautiful. I expected to form many friendships during my Fulbright experience, but I had underestimated the depth of those bonds. The intimate experience at the hamam will be one that will be remembered forever.

The beautiful Luna Park.

The group broke up and everyone pursued different activities. I spent the rest of the day walking around with Alex and Karlene. We practiced our limited Turkish when purchasing a simits, buying ice cream, and traveling on the bus. We strolled through the beautiful Luna Park, which is split into a scenic picnic spot and an amusement park (which only cost 25 kuruş to enter). We watched families having a good time at the rides or relaxing under trees. Friends were taking pictures and young couples held hands. Ankara appears to be more liberal than the eastern part of Turkey. Thanks to Karlene’s intermediate Turkish, we were able to find the correct bus back to the hotel, where we exchanged stories with our peers about today’s exciting events as we ate dinner. 

Karlene, Alex, and myself at the Luna Park (amusement park).