updates

Hey everyone!
I figured I'd update this, as it's been nearly two weeks since I last wrote anything. I haven't done anything horribly exciting (no exotic trips or anything...), but I've been settling in and exploring Ankara.
The weekend before this, I spent a lot of time exploring Kizilay (the big, central, shopping district) and Armada (the big, new shopping mall); Armada has one of the two or maybe three Starbucks in Ankara, and I needed some cheering up: As many of you know, Joy (my dog, Evensong Joyfully Singing) died on February 24, of cancer, and it's been really tough being here and not seeing her one last time; it wasn't something I'd prepared myself for or even thought about before coming here. I did make an effort to not cloister myself in my room, though, so I went exploring in Kizilay on Saturday, and bought some cute scarves. I actually bartered, and got the price down from 6 lira each to 5 lira each. The guy was very quick to accept my offer, though, so I think I was still overcharged, but compared to prices in the US, it's cheap and a half. On Sunday, I went to Armada, where I sipped my mocha (it was soooooo good!), and window shopped, as the prices at Armada are pretty astronomical in my book (95 lira for a shirt? it's a shirt! and it's cheaply made! it'll fall apart by the end of summer!), mainly because most of the stores are Western. They have a Marks & Spencer, an American Eagle, a Puma store, and dozens of others. It was my lucky day, because they were having a China exhibition that day at Armada, so I got to browse Chinese handicrafts, look at Chinese art, look at photografs of Chinese culture, and watch a Chinese dance demonstration. It was right up my alley! I went back to Armada Sunday night with some friends to see a movie (there's a cinema inside), and we saw Match Point, which wasn't as much of a chick flick as we'd thought it'd be, but it was really very good.
This weekend, I went to Kizilay on Saturday, to try and find a bazaar that I'd stumbled upon before while slightly lost. I started picking random directions to walk, and lo and behold, I found it again! According to my cell phone locator, I was in Sihiyye, which I'll have to look up at some point. The bazaar was really good; I got 3 kilos of oranges for a lira, and a lemon, half a kilo of strawberries, and a kilo of tomatoes. At the edge of the bazaar, I picked up these Amazing earrings for 2 lira that I've pretty much been wearing ever since. As I left the bazaar, though, I had my first Really Uncomfortable Experience here: this guy started following me and calling out to me, so I ignored him and walked faster, at which point he sped up, caught up with me, and started talking to me. I said "hayir, tesekurler," which means "no, thanks," several times, before he physically leaned into me to try and get me to go somewhere. When I kept saying "hayir," and tried to walk around him, he grabbed my arm and tried to pull me somewhere. At that point, I put my foot down, gave him the nastiest look I've ever given anyone, and said "HAYIR!," then walked quickly away. He didn't bother me after that; I'm just glad there were people around. It was, all in all, an interesting experience, and not one that I'd recommend for anyone.
Today, I headed to Ulus (the "old" part of the city) with a friend: we walked up to the citadel, to watch the city for a bit, and met some really cute kids, who all knew amazing English. Of course, as soon as we got to the citadel, I realized that my camera was still on my desk in my room, so I have no photos of the views or the kids. I bought some jewellery from the vendors who line the entrance to the citadel; I bartered, which was fun, but I may have gone a bit overboard, as I now have 8 bracelets, in an assortment of colors, from the citadel. From the top of the citadel, we spotted the really big mosque in Ankara, and I mentioned that I used the mosque as a directional point to get to the Sihiyye bazaar. Michael (my friend) wanted to buy some fruit and veggies and such, so we set out down the hill to try and find the bazaar. As we were operating from "as the crow flies" directions, our route was definitely not the main tourist path! We passed all kinds of women doing laundry and men washing their cars, and stopped in a cafe for tea where I was the only female, and I think the server asked if we were married. I'm pretty sure it was an all-male cafe (they have quite a few of them here), so I'm sure I provided weeks worth of stories for the 2 dozen-ish Turkish guys there. From there, we zigzagged around before stumbling on the bazaar (I still have no clue how we got there), where I bought a cooking pot. From the bazaar, we tried to get to the Dolmus (shared taxi minibus) stop in Kizilay, but somehow ended up at the huge mosque and then the Belgian Embassy, before finally making it to the Kizilay dolmus stop and back to campus. I was really impressed with how much Turkish I actually knew, as Michael isn't taking Turkish lessons, so I had to translate most things for him. I was able to barter for both of us, talk with storekeepers, ask for directions, talk with the little kids by the citadel, and ask people if Michael could take their photo. I hadn't thought I'd retained that much, but apparently I have :-)
This week looks to be fairly fun; I may get to Safranbolu this weekend, which is known for its Ottoman houses, and I'm planning a trip to Van in a few weeks, which I'm really excited about. Hope you all are doing well!
-R