I spent some time one day just watching the early morning traffic.

Aydın, city of light

Uplifted by having had a few marvelous days in Antalya, I thanked and said my goodbyes to the Karakoyunlus who had so graciously hosted me and climbed onto a bus to Aydın. Thanks to a special promotion, I got to ride a very luxurious bus at no extra cost. When I got to Aydın, I felt a great joy. I came last year from Ankara by way of the night bus, but this time I came during the day from the south. Regardless, the experience was just as relaxing and wonderful as the first time, and this time I was awake for most of it.

My friend Kahraman's sister, Burcu, came to get me from the bus station and took me back to their house. Unfortunately, Kahraman had left the day before because he needed to get back to the States. However, I had already met his father last year and his mother on more than one other occasion. In the last year, they had moved across town to a new apartment that still retained the comfort and charm of the old one. I looked out over Aydın from my bedroom window shortly before falling into a deep and rejuvenating sleep.

The next morning I shook away the remnants of sleepiness more quickly than usual. I was very excited to visit the elementary in Sultan Hısar again. Last year, I was shocked by the enthusiasm the children were instilled with from seeing me. Even with their uncontrollable excitement, they were very respectful and very hardworking. This year I would visit them again but without warning. I stayed the whole day this time and even taught one the English classes. The students and I shared facts and interests with each other in English and they performed very well.

That evening, I went out with Burcu to a nice little club where we met up with a few of her friends and enjoyed a late night out together. Burcu and her friends talked about many things, which at first I tried to understand. After a short time I realized that it was mostly on topics that do not generally interest me. Unsurprising I suppose, but the conversation sounded so interesting when I did not understand it.

Apart from the Efes and the music, I also enjoyed taking some pictures without the flash, producing shots like the one left of Burcu and her friends.

Some conclusions from my time in Aydın:

- Kahraman's mother cooks the most amazing food
- Aydın isnt the same without Kahraman there but it still rocks
- I will totally miss those kids from Sultan Hısar

Antalya'da

After leaving Misa and Robin in Manavgat, I went to Antalya and from there took a bus to Kumluca in the southwest of the Antalya region. The bus ride there was absolutely amazing. There were mountains that ran right into the sea. However, I did not want to be that guy who just takes tons of pictures of everything so I just enjoyed it. When I got to Kumluca I met up with my friends Deniz and Cengiz. They were visiting relatives. They have a lot of uncles and we were visiting them one or two at a time.

Something about Kumluca... It is a city filled with farmers because it is where a lot of the fruit in Turkey is grown. We stayed for a short while at one uncle's house, which was a small farmhouse. I found it to be very cozy. Sure it was a simple place but it had its charm and was to me very comfortable. I found myself thinking it was the kind of house that I would like to live in one day. Anyway, since I was a guest, my friends' relatives constantly wanted me to sample various fruits, which by the way were all delicious. I was only in Kumluca at nighttime, but I could tell that it was a lively place; it was southerly, but with almost no tourists in the summertime for lack of a good beach. Anyway, it is definitely a place I would like to see again.

When we returned to Antalya, I met more relatives of Deniz and Cengiz, including their eight year old cousin, Alp. He was shy at first but then he went and got his English practice booklet and I helped him with some of the word games and exercises in it. The next day, Alp had soccer practice at the local Antalyaspor training ground. In the picture, Alp is the goal keeper. While he was playing, I was on the sideline where there was a small practice goal. A little boy named Berke asked if I would play with him. We played several mini soccer matches. He was really cute and called me Abi. Also, as a way of passing the time at the soccer place, Deniz and I made up a chant to show our support for Alp. It went like "Alp!.....Kalk!.....Oyna!...Kurtar!, senin için atar.... bu kalp!....Alp!...." Of course we were the only passionate supporters present at these scrimmages between different teams of single-digit-aged kids.

I met many of my friends' relatives and friends. In fact, I even met the father of one of Deniz's friends, Zafer. I had met Zafer maybe a month or two earlier and I never thought I would meet his dad in Antalya, but that happened.

My days in Antalya were days that I heard more Turkish than any other time in my life. For a couple of days I was tagging along to family reunions of sorts and I tried to maintain a low profile by not trying to find a place in the conversation and just listening. I mention this though because the feeling of hearing a different language all day long was sort of eerie at times. Don't misunderstand me, I enjoyed it very much. In many ways it was comfortable as well because I was not expected to follow along or contribute. At no moment would someone ask me a question with the expectation that I knew anything relevent to the conversation leading up to the question. I found relaxation in hearing Turkish around me but just being able to listen. These days while I sit at my apartment back in the states and recall all of this I find myself seeking refuge from the monotony by playing Turkish music and occasionly television shows in the background to help recreate the comfort of that environment.

One other thing that I want to address here is something that people have asked me a lot about since my return, which is how I was received abroad as an American. Really, it was no different this time (with Obama about to take office) than last time (when America's reputation abroad was probably at an all-time low). People treated me the same, but I have to mention that people were interested in my opinion of Obama. One of Deniz's uncles (the one in the photo on the left) asked me if I voted for Obama. I said "of course", to which he was very pleased. Then I thought, any American that you meet at a family reunion dinner at your brother-in-law's house in the south of Turkey in the winter who was born before 1990 will have voted for Obama. Anyway, I found myself wishing I had made the shirt I thought to make before my trip. I wanted to sew a shirt that said "Obama'ya oy verdim." ...which of course means "I voted for Obama." It would have told anybody in Turkey who saw me wearing it just about everything they might want to know about me (that I'm American, and that I voted the way they would have voted if they could have).

After a few days in Antalya, I said goodbye to Deniz, Cengiz, and their family and took a bus northward through the mountains to Aydın, one of my favorite cities from the trip last year.

Another Unexpected Encounter

I had been in the mall for about an hour and a half, an hour of which was spent in the bookstore. After perusing the shelves for a long while I had bought: a Turkish-English dictionary (you'd think I would have picked up one of those by now) and a children's book called Sihirli Kitap (I thought the title of "The Magic Book" was a good sign that it was the right one to buy). Anyway, I was going to meet Pınar's mom, Berrin, in the Starbucks where she was going to pick me up. So I was in the Starbucks, in the mall, and I was reading my new book with some help from the dictionary when I looked up to see a familiar face that was not that of Berrin. In fact it was İpek. 

I think her surprise was greater than mine. İpek graduated WPI and went on to graduate school at Cornell last year. I had seen her once or twice since. If I was going to run into her by chance somewhere it would have been inside a coffee shop of one of about 3 malls in this city of İstanbul. She of course asked what on Earth I was doing here, etc. We conversed for a little bit. I was calmer when this surprise happened compared to the one 2 weeks ago. Am I getting lulled into thinking that these things are no longer as special? Just then, Berrin arrived. I thought this is an introduction I never thought I'd make, as I introduced them.

When we got home, Berrin jokingly asked how long it takes for me to be out and about in İstanbul before I see someone I know. So far this trip, the average time has been about 2 hours, but that doesn't mean I'm going to keep myself cooped up inside the house for the sake of the numbers. Who knows, I might just run into somebody else today.