An open letter to the town of Plovdiv

Dear Plovdiv,

You had such potential. Lonely Planet argued that you were perhaps the most enjoyable town in Bulgaria. Your old quarter seemed full of churches, museums, a mosque, and ruins--perfect for the first stop of our trip. Granted, we did arrive at your doorstep at 6am, but that was due to ridiculously fast lines at the border, not our own planning. Thank you for the train station, where we killed time for 2 hours before striking out to see your sights, that was much appreciated.
However, I must say I'm disappointed in you. I can understand the churches being closed during Mass, but locked up immediately after Mass? There are tourist shop windows inside all three churches we attempted to visit, so clearly you accept that tourists visit these places and are used to them coming to the extent that you have various religious tchotchkes available for purchase inside the churches. To lock them up so we can't actually see them is a bit cruel. Same with the mosque--I know once we crossed the border, we switched out major religions, and Muslims are no longer the majority, but you have the oldest mosque in the Balkans right in your downtown, and you keep that locked as well? We were 0-4 for religious building viewings in your town.
And then there are the museums. Not a single one open? The Old Town is pretty much entirely museums, we couldn't even get into the ones that weren't on our itinerary. I know there are fewer visitors in the winter, but most of them had winter hours posted, and were clearly not open during those hours. And you'd think if they're closed for the New Years holiday someone would have the decency to put up a sign, even in Bulgarian. Apparently not. Even the wine museum was closed. It was like negative 10 degrees out, we were really looking forward to that museum and its wine tasting. But no, we had to trudge back to the train station, to board a train to Sofia before noon, when we'd planned on spending the entire day seeing the charms of Plovdiv, freezing and wholly disenfranchised by this allegedly-endearing town.
Your one saving grace, Plovdiv, was your Roman ruins: they were outside and open-air, and thus could not be closed. It was, however, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, so even that, and wandering through your array of modern statues downtown, was not so pleasant and really rather hurried.
Now, I can see the potential, Plovdiv. Had all the museums been open, and the churches and mosques been unlocked, and more of your fine retail and dining establishments been open before we left (I'm as big a fan of a lie-in as anybody, but shops and cafes are normally open before noon, no?), and especially had it been about 30C warmer, you may have been an adorable little town. But it's painfully apparent that winter is just not your forte. At all.
Hugs,
R and Kel



We did make it to Sofia, and are figuring out where our hostel is before heading out for some fantastic-sounding Bulgarian food. We may never take a train again though, after this 4-year-old across the aisle screamed for the entire 2.5 hour ride from Plovdiv to Sofia. We also may never have children. Jury's still out.

Frustrations with individual cities aside, Bulgaria is a great country so far. The Cyrillic alphabet is taking a little getting used to, but we're getting it down slowly but surely, and can say 'yes,' 'no,' 'where is,' and '2 student tickets please' so far, so pretty much we're set. We had breakfast at a great cafe in Plovdiv that had a featured beverage that was half Coca Cola, half coffee. Clearly these are my people, I've been drinking Diet Coke and coffee mixes since high school. The border crossing was decently straightforward, as we were the only non-Turks, non-Bulgarians on the bus. Last night in Istanbul, we got in with enough time to hie to my favorite restaurant, Bodrum Manti, for dinner before heading to buy tickets and get to the bus station. At the bus station in Istanbul, we had some time to kill, so we followed some signs Kel saw to what may be the world's sketchiest Internet cafe. It was in this sub-basement level of the bus station, in this maze of shops and commerce businesses that clearly had been abandoned for quite some time. It looked like the set of a horror movie, and it smelled like one too. When we got back to the main level, we saw a huge, clean, non-sketchy internet cafe literally right in front of our noses, that we somehow had missed entirely in our singleminded determination to choose the least legit business in the entire Istanbul bus station (a difficult task, as those who've spent time there are well aware). So much for an auspicious start to the trip...

Hope you all are doing great!
Happy New Year,
-R

Holidays

Well it's quieted down somewhat here in Ankara--I gained 3 houseguests, lost two, and now am gearing up to take off for a jam-packed tour of Eastern Europe with my sister. This week has been mostly settling things up and packing/buying wool socks and other warm things in preparation for the snowy wilds of the Balkans; Lonely Planet casually mentioned that the part of Romania we're passing through gets to -35 Celsius in the winter. Oh boy.
Last week I picked up Kel and her 2 friends in Istanbul, after some miscommunication on meeting points and rain. We headed straight out to Arnavutkoy, to drop my stuff off at my hostel and then to have manti at my favorite Istanbul restaurant, Bodrum manti. They all got different kinds of manti, and we stayed for coffee and got free dessert, so it was a good time. We then headed over to ARIT, where I was staying, because there was a lecture there that night by a professor from Princeton. I'd been told it was going to be about Ataturk, which I was excited about, but when we got there, the guy started talking about 14th century Ottoman expansion into the Balkans, so we were a little bewildered. It was a really interesting lecture though, and we met up with friends and fellow Fulbrighters of mine at the reception afterward. ARIT, incidentally, is the American Research Institute in Turkey, a very awesome organization with offices, libraries, and hostels in Istanbul and Ankara. I stayed at the Ankara hostel when I moved in August.
We took the bus back to Ankara Tuesday, after Kel and her friend Katelyn toured Dolmabahce Palace and the 3 of us headed over to Kadikoy for the Tuesday Bazaar only to be told that the Tuesday Bazaar was "finished". We were a little confused, and later saw a news report of policemen violently suppressing something at the Tuesday Bazaar earlier that day, so I'm not sure what was going on in Asian Istanbul that morning. Our bus back to Ankara was a little interesting: the ticket man called it a 'bistro bus,' because it was 2 levels, and the bottom level had a 20-seat cafe, serving hot snacks. It was pretty darn cool. It also had wireless internet, but I sadly neglected to bring my computer, so couldn't enjoy that.
Wednesday, I sent the three travellers off to Ulus to see the citadel and Museum while I made stew and danced around my apartment to Christmas music. Once they got back, we all headed to the Vatican Embassy for midnight Mass, which was at 7:30. We arrived early enough to snag a pew, but over half of the people who showed up ended up standing in the back, in the aisles, and even behind the altar. It was packed. There also was beefed-up security, as there was at least one Ambassador and his family there (I think it was the French Ambassador). The Papal Nuncio celebrated Mass, which was very cool as I'd never seen him before; the Papal Nuncio is the Vatican's Ambassador, an archbishop in his own right, and usually assigned to a posting for life. They are awesome. Mass was beautiful: all the songs were sung in English, Latin, French, and Turkish, and there were songs in Tagalog and an African language as well. The readings were in Spanish and Portuguese, and the Gospel was in Arabic (and then in English by little kids). After Communion, some of the members of the African community here in Ankara sang 2 songs and danced through the center of the church, which was really lovely. A friend of mine tried her hand at matchmaking and found a Marine to sit next to me for Mass; he was nice but a little confused by all the Latin as he wasn't Catholic. Anyway, he seemed nice and is also here for a year, but I never end up running into the Marines in the city (maybe they go to all the student bars that I never get to). After Mass, there were homemade Christmas cookies and spice cakes and wassail in the church library, and I introduced my posse of houseguests to an Arabic-speaking acquaintance of mine, who proceeded to chat with them for a good while. As we left, he told me Kel's Arabic was "super", so that was nice.
Back at chez moi, we had an enjoyable Christmas Eve of chicken stew, hummus, and Love Actually. Kel and I got to talk with the extended family via Skype, and opened our gifts over video; we both got lefse boards, and were inordinately excited about that. The next day was a bit of a lazy day: my posse went off in search of Anitkabir while I got some work done, and we watched Christmas movies all day. I didn't really want to cook, so we went to my neighborhood traditional Turkish restaurant for guvec and gozleme, which they'd not had before. The next day, Katelyn and Tommy both skipped town, one for the airport and a flight home, the other for Istanbul and a flight to Serbia, so it was a little discombobulated around the old apartment. I had my last Turkish lesson, which was bittersweet, as I really enjoyed those lessons and learned quite a bit.
Friday night Kel and I met up with several of the Ankarali Fulbrighters for dinner at Sedir and dancing at the Turkish American Association's 'Send in the New Year' party. The party was a lot of fun, and we all danced dorkily, as is our wont. It helped that I think we were the only yabancis in the room. Kel wowed the crowd with her snazzy Ecuadorian-night-club dancing, and Joan and George I think were polka-ing it up at one point, so we were an eclecticly fun group of dancers.
The weekend was pretty much given over to working on this round of grad apps, planning out our trip, and watching way too many movies (I have to get my fill of internet before going computerless for the entire length of the Balkans, you know). I stopped by ASTI to see when we could get a bus to Plovdiv, which is our destination in Bulgaria, and was slightly disheartened when, after asking the Varan representative "Bulgaristan'a gidiyor musunuz?", he responded with "I'm sorry, I don't speak English." Fantastic. At least the Metro rep was appreciative of my Turkish and had 6 busses to Bulgaria, to boot.
The whole neighborhood loves Kel; every single checkout girl stopped to ask if we were sisters, and how long she's in town, and such, as well as the corner shop guy next door and the restauranteurs down the street. Today I stopped by one of the grocery stores without Kel, and the checkout girl asked if my sister had left already, in a slightly worried tone; I explained that she'd be in town for a few more days still.
It snowed here for Christmas, which was wonderful, and again on Sunday, which really brought winter to the city. I'd forgotten how much I love taking a walk while the snow falls. We should see plenty of that up north; I'll probably be ready for another trip to Gaziantep or Antakya by the time we get back.
I'm heading out tomorrow for Istanbul, and then on to the shiny metropolis of Plovdiv, and then beyond to the great cold wonders of Eastern Europe. I'll try to keep this updated on the road, and inshallah will be able to upload pictures from larger cities along the way.
Hope your holidays were/are relaxing and wonderful,
kendine iyi bak,
-R

A Few Pics from Bursa

Ceylan and me in our headscarves outside the Yesil Cami, so named because of its green-tiled interior.


Minarets at Yesil Cami; I really love minarets, they're so beautiful, and generally pretty well-designed and unique.


Part of the tomb complex at Muradiye Cami; there are about a dozen buildings, each with several-to-quite-a-few people buried inside, mostly royal. Apparently, every single imperial son buried there was murdered by a member of their immediate family for succession reasons.


Kebabci Iskender's crack doner-shaving team; serving up portions of the original Iskender Kebap. Also note how ridiculously bundled-up I am--I think I'm wearing 4 layers in this photo because like an idiot I went on vacation in December in the mountains with sweaters but not a coat. Also notice how fast that guy's hands are moving, he is a meat-shaving master.

It's been a quiet few days here in Ankara; pretty much I've just been cooking, shopping, and catching up with folks here there and everywhere. Kelly landed this morning in Istanbul, where she's doing the tourist thing in Sultanahmet for the weekend, and where I'll pick her up on Monday as long as she doesn't get horribly lost in Besiktas.
I also have apparently become one of the identifying characters of my neighborhood, the old men at the kuruyemis/corner store next to my building notice when I'm gone for a few days, and love telling me how great my Turkish is (unfortunately, it's entirely hyperbole, but I appreciate it), and the checkout people at the grocery store half a block down the street compete to get me in their line. I'm hoping it's because I'm an endearingly odd yabanci, but who knows...
On that note,
kendine iyi bak,
and hope all you-all are having a great holiday season!
-R

This Ankarali Life

Lots has happened since my last blog update (I know, I've been remiss): I finished my language grant, went on vacation, and had the usual motley adventures that seem to spring up when one lives in this city. I sadly can't go into too much detail without taking up way too many paragraphs, so I'll give the Cliffs Notes version:
Met up with my friend Jim for Thanksgiving, which was really fun; it was good to see someone I've known longer than 4 months, and adventures ensued. Came back to a crazy few days of grad school applications and last-minute Turkish lessons before the language part of my grant officially ended and Kurban Bayram began. Kurban Bayram (or Eid, if you're an Arabic speaker, or Tabasky if you're from Niger) is the sacrifice holiday, and every family slaughtered a sheep. I did not; what would I do with a sheep? I did venture out that evening to go grocery shopping, only to find every single shop on my street other than the bakery closed. So I had pogaca and chocolate-chip cookies for dinner. So traditional, and so healthy. I was really relieved to see the stores reopen slowly over the rest of the week, so I could buy some pomegranates and vegetables. At the end of the week, I hopped a bus to Bursa, which is a bit south and east of Istanbul, to meet up with 2 Istanbullu Fulbrighters for a whirlwind vacation. Bursa is famous for its silk market, its textile industry, being the birthplace of Iskender kebap, and the Yesil Cami, or Green Mosque. To gloss over a lot of history, the Ottomans kind of hung tight there for a bit before conquering Constantinople. Ceylan, Emily and I had Iskender kebap at the restaurant that invented the dish: there is a line out the front of the restaurant all day long, and when you enter they ask you how much Iskender kebap you'd like. There's nothing else on the menu. Once you're seated with your kebap, they have waiters walking around with pitchers of hot melted butter to pour over the kebap.
A side note: Iskender kebap is kebap meat (so, usually beef, lamb, or a combination of the 2), shaved doner-style onto a plate with chucks of bread lining the bottom. The meat is then smothered in yogurt and usually something tomatoey as well. It's wildly unhealthy, but delicious, and is named after Alexander the Great. It's said to have been his favorite dish, but then again the Turks say a lot of things.
Anyway, in Bursa we also went through the silk han (marketplace), spent a lot of quality time in the bazaar, had some pretty excellent salep (it was pretty darn cold out). We also spent a lot of quality time in mosques: Bursa has 3 decent-sized and historic mosques, and Emily and Ceylan both are studying Islamic art. Our first mosque was the Yesil Cami, which was gorgeous. The caretaker turned on the lights just for us (after we spent a lot of time trying to see green tile patterns in the semidarkness), and even let us go up and explore the Sultan's Loge, where the Sultan's family prayed. It's on the second level, so the royal family didn't have to brush up with the ordinary people, and was pretty cool. The other two mosques had some interesting parts, but had both been extensively damaged and restored on the interior, and really not very well. The Ulu Cami in particular was this huge gorgeous old building pretty much whitewashed on the inside and decorated with Arabic script, which I think normally looks beautiful but which was really overdone there.
I got back to Ankara late, and spent the rest of the weekend unpacking, before my next houseguest showed up: Kirk, another Fulbrighter from Istanbul in town for a few days to meet with professors and such in Ankara. I spent some quality time shopping for warm clothes for my sister when she shows up fresh from Cairo's warm climate, had a fantastic lasagna with some Fulbright friends, and have been working on the odds and ends that invariably clutter life for most of this week. Next week, I'm heading to Istanbul to catch a lecture on Ataturk, which promises to be interesting, and to pick up Kelly and her 2 friends from Cairo and shepherd them back to Ankara just in time for Christmas (with a stop at the best restaurant in Istanbul and one of the 3 best in Turkey en route. Gotta get my manti fix).
I'm looking forward to Christmas, although it'll be a little weird being the only ones celebrating. There are decorations up all over the city, particularly in the shopping malls, but they're for New Years. They have New Years trees, decorated in red and green, with New Years presents underneath. New Years lights are everywhere. And there are even New Years Santas. It's a little bizarre, but definitely appreciated.
That's about it for the time being; I'm slowly uploading more photos to Flickr, and have part of my Bursa trip up so far. I'll try to post some highlights here later.
Kendine iyi bak,
-R