Retraction

My friend sent me an email recently about one of my previous blog posts:

I am concerned that having Thanksgiving dinner in
Turkey without turkey may not constitute irony. But,
your claim that it does, may in fact be an ironic one.
I will look into this further for you.

All those years of school, and I ain't learned nothing!

Turkey dinner in Turkey

I just couldn't help the cheesy title. . . anyway, I actually need some help. I am inviting the faculty from my department and the people in my building over for Thanksgiving dinner. The problem is that I don't have an oven, only a stove top, although I may be able to borrow a small oven in which I could cook a pie or something. So I am trying to figure out what I can make (remember that I only have rudimentary cooking skills) that somewhat resembles Thanksgiving dinner. I know I can buy a pre-cooked chicken, but I don't think I can find a Turkey here, so ironically Thanksgiving dinner in Turkey will be sans-Turkey. Send your recipes my way either by mail or by commenting on the blog.

Hamam

Even before I came to Turkey, I had heard about the Turkish “hamam” where Turks traditionally came to bathe when facilities or water was scarce. These days everyone, of course, has private bathing facilities; however, the hamam remains a living tradition.

After much searching, I finally located the bath that was recommended in my guidebook. I started to go into the main entrance, but astutely realized that something was amiss when I looked ahead of me and saw a big man wearing only a small towel. After locating the side-entrance, for women, I walked into a big room with a domed ceilings with small cubby-hole rooms ringing it. Although my Turkish is getting better, I couldn’t understand any of the bathing vocabulary words, so I assented to whatever the woman in charge was offering; she cleaned out one of the side rooms, and gave me the key. I stored my clothes in there and wrapped myself in the cloth provided.

Back in the main waiting room were about 5 women sitting and chatting. I was led through a small door into a steam room with a large marble slab in the middle. The domed ceiling admitted light through small holes in the shapes of stars and moons. The attendant motioned me to a faucet and bucket where I was to wash. As I did so, another bather offered me a piece of fruit she was eating (nar in Turkish, but I don’t know the English equivalent). All communication was done in Turkish, as no one spoke English.

After one of the women there washed my hair (I’m not sure if that was part of the admission price, or just a neighborly thing), I went out into the main room where I was directed to one of the larger cubby-hole rooms. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but the purpose became evident when the attendant showed up with a ball of wax. Let’s just say that Turkish women abhor body hair, and seek to remove it whenever possible. After a couple minutes of gritting my teeth, I finally pleaded “yapma” (a very useful Turkish word that is the negative of the verb “to make” command form, but actually works as “stop” does in English).

Still recovering from my near-death waxing experience, I was motioned back to the steam room where I lay on the slab while the attendant scrubbed me with a coarse sponge for about 15 minutes. That part actually felt good. I never realized how much dead skin was on my body until it was all removed! I was then sent back to my faucet/bucket where I was able to rinse and relax.

Advice for people visiting Turkey: definitely go to a hamam, it is a wonderful experience; however, be sure to brush up on your Turkish bathing vocabulary, especially the words for “no wax”.

Cyclone in Bangladesh

As I rush from to-do task to the next, I pause and click on the story of the destruction in Bangladesh. The photo of the woman who lost her house and presumably everything she owns in the cyclone strikes me and makes me realize for a fleeting moment how vastly different our lives are. And it makes me wonder how we can make sense of this world.

The students I teach in Turkey want to become teachers, to someday own a house and if they are lucky, a car. Many of them speak of dreams of travel abroad, but I know that dream will only be realized by a few of them. As for me, I am among the very few people in the world who have everything we need and much, much more, and yet. . . What does the woman in the picture want? Maybe to know that her family is safe and will have food and clean drinking water in the next few scary weeks.

Tired

Teaching 18 undergraduate credit hours while living in a foreign country is definitely taking its toll on me. By the time Wednesday evening rolls around, I am just hoping I can stay up late enough to read the text that I must lecture on in tomorrow's classes!

In addition to teaching, each fellow is supposed to choose/create a project. I have decided to work with the Access scholarship students. They are low-income students who are going to receive two years of free English lessons through a State Department grant. This project is close to my heart because it helps even the footing between the haves and have-nots. Although education is virtually free in Turkey, students must past a grueling test at the end of high school. Their acceptance to the University is totally dependent on their results. Because of that, many enroll in darsani, or private schools throughout their high school years just to prepare for this three-hour test.

These private darsani courses are very expensive, so the families who are lower income cannot send their children. The students who don't prepare at darsani have a much, much smaller chance of "wining" the exam, as they say, and then will not be able to go to the University.

The student selection process is the first thing I have gotten involved in by preparing a questionaire that should help assess the students' families' economic status. Just asking yearly income wouldn't yield dependable information. Instead, I attempted to get at it by asking about parents foreign langauge skills, if the students has traveled outside of Turkey, if the student currently attends private darsani. . .I am working with the Turkish American Center that has received the grant to carry out these lessons.

Still no Internet at home. The person downstairs has the Internet, but I can't go ask her to "share" because of cultural issues.

On the bright side, I received three wonderful packages this week:
A huge box from my sister with my warm, warm down comforter. Finally I am warm at night-thank you!
Four pounds of honey from Kirk. I am not sharing with ANYBODY :) Well if you come visit, I will share.
Two cans of cranberry sauce from Craig at the embassy. I am going to attempt to have Thanksgiving dinner at my house, and he has access to the embassy/military shopping center where you can find any American food

Which brings to mind the things that America does best:
Peanut butter - After doing extensive market research, I can safely say that we have the best and the widest selection.
Sponges - the sponges here are crap. Synthetic gross things that don't really clean dishes at all. Beth sent me 20 good sponges, which I will ration.
Garbage disposals - Why doesn't everyone have these? Here we keep little plungers next to the sink which you use invariably, every meal, because the drain is so small.
Washers and Dryers - Our washers are fast and we have dryers. Yes, I know it is a waste of energy, but sometimes it is so nice. There are no dryers here. Really.
Anti-scald valves - You don't truly appreciate these until you don't have one. Ouch!
Unlimited Nights and Weekends - Local mobile calls here cost about 20-40 cents per minute, always

Admittedly, these are all things that one can buy which makes me a crazy consumer, but there it is.

Cairo, here I come!

I just found out that I have been accepted as a presenter for a conference in Cairo in January. Even better news is that it looks as if the embassy is going to pay for my travel and stay in Cairo! Some other English language fellows have been accepted, so we will be traveling and staying together there. Now I just have to convince my audience that I actually know something. . .

I am off to Akyaka this weekend, a beach town south of Izmir. The regional language officer from the American embassy and his wife own a beautiful house there. They have generously offered it to any of the fellows when it is not being rented, so. ..

I know you are thinking that my life is pretty cushy (and I'd have to agree), but remember, 9 days out of 10 I have to bathe from a bucket.

All of my classes are going very well with the exception of my educational theory class. I nearly had a revolt yesterday when I gave out a not-so-pop quiz.

Hagia Sophia

When *not* to practice your Turkish

Today my new neighbor had me over for cay (tea pronounced chai). I was practicing how to say I like something and how to say that I don't like something. After my long dissertation about how I like Turkish coffee and I like cay but that I really dislike Nescafe, I went to sip my cay that was not cay after all. It was Nescafe with milk, the color of which really resembles cay. I realized this uncomfortable fact as I was lifting my glass to take the first sip. I quickly explained to her that I do like Nescafe very much if it is sutlu (with milk). Crisis averted? Maybe.

I told my students that they could come over and trick or treat tonight if they have costumes. I don't think they really know where I live, but I better go buy candy, just in case.

In Istanbul

Just a quick note - I am visiting my friend, Natalie, in İstanbul. It is absolutely beautiful here. Yesterday we went on a Bosphorous cruise. In a few minutes we are going to the Hagia Sophia,(pronounced aeeah Sophia) then the Blue Mosque, then off to eat Kofta and maybe get lost the bazaar. Pictures to follow.

Pictures of Tinaztepe and Efes

Yavrolar, Epheseus

Cute puppies (yavrolar) at my old guest house

The Roman ampitheatre at Ephesues (Efes)

Me singing a round of Frere Jacques with other tourists in the center of the ampitheatre in Efes (good acoustics)

Library at Efes

moving, pidgin French, Turkish military,

Thanks to Craig, the regional language officer from the embassy, and my department head, Guldan hanim, I now have fabulous new digs. I went from a very small one-room studio to a huge three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with two outdoor decks. The apartment is located inside of the gates of the campus where I work, so it is quiet and only 30 seconds from my office. I live on the second (top) floor of a 4-plex. Two families live in the flats below, and the fourth flat is vacant. The father of the family below speaks Turkish and French. I speak some French, so we communicate in some pidgin Turkish/French that would, I think, constitute a crime in France.

Yesterday a group of students was marching just outside the gates of the school. It was an anti-PKK rally. Evidently Turkey is massing troops on the border of Iraq because they think that the Kurdish region of Iraq is harboring terrorists that are threatening Turkey. Even though the Turkish army has far more resources that any PKK faction, there have been a number of losses on both sides. Being one of the few stable areas in Iraq, the U.S. government is trying to prevent Turkey from crossing the border; however, the Turks seem to support an incursion. The more losses Turkey sustains, the more people seem to want to cross the border.

Good News Article

The Armenian Genocide Resolution and its effect on Turkish-American relations has been in the headlines lately. I haven't encountered any people that were hostile to me because of it, but I think it is, nevertheless, on the minds of many Turks.

I think the following article sums up the issue pretty well without taking sides: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15271077
Click on the "Listen" button on top.

I'm an "elder" now!

Today I decided that I'd make my way to Ikea via public transportation. As usual, I didn't know where I was going. I knew I'd be going to the neighborhood of Balçova; unfortunately my map of Izmir cuts off just before it.

Again, I was saved by the help of strangers. I managed to let the bus driver know that I wanted to go to Ikea (pronounced ee, kay, ay, ah). He motioned for me to stay on the bus, and at the end of the line, he showed me the next bus to take. He then conferred with my new bus driver and pointing at me, in case I didn't stand out enough, made sure the new bus driver would help me find my way. At the end of the line, I trundled off in the direction he pointed.

On the way I ran into a group of four young teenagers. The first boy came up to me and pressed my hand to his chin, then to his forehead, a sign of respect for elders. The other boys followed suit, wished me iyim Bayramlar ("happy holidays"), and passed on. The next group of children did the same thing and via sign-language notified me that Ikea was closed. Undeterred because I had glimpsed the fluttering flags of Ikea, I continued on. Although it was closed, I happily waited the hour for it to open.

Arriving at the outdoor walking mall was like being back in the U.S. - everything was clean, predictable, there was a Ralph Lauren, a Starbucks, . . .places I wouldn't usually go, but in the middle of Izmir, somehow eerily comforting. (Starbucks coffee costs even more here than in the U.S.)

Classes, Turkish bus driver

Adapting to being a teacher in a real class room is tough. For linguistics, I just have to read the text well and find relevant examples for lecture. In some ways, this is my easiest class because I know it fairly well, and I don’t have to be too creative.

Approaches to Education is, perhaps, my worst class. Honestly, I am not really qualified to teach it. My exposure to the different teaching methodologies consists of a cursory review in one education course a few summers ago. I think I also don’t see the benefit of a lot of these methods, so it is hard to get really excited about them; however, I think it will be good for me to have a better background in the history of language teaching.

Conversation classes are good. I have three sections, and I like that I can be as creative as I want. I am planning on doing a few large projects that can be recorded or filmed. The first is adapting the “This I Believe” curriculum from NPR. We will have small-group discussions based on questions made to help students’ evaluate their world views, values, etc. that will (hopefully) culminate in a 1-2 minute speech on what they believe to be true about the world.

Last week I had every conversation class do activities discussing what rules they will have when they have their own classrooms. The groups presented their rules to the class, and then we came together to form our own classes rules. It worked pretty well, and I think there will be higher student buy-in because they created and committed to the norms of the classroom.

Grammar class is the biggest struggle – how do you teach grammar in an engaging and communicative way?

Yesterday and today were a little disheartening. I had been warned that many students might not show up to class on Wednesday and Thursday because Bayram has begun, a holiday that marks the end of Ramazan. On Wednesday morning two of my 30 students showed up to tell me that the class had decided not to come to my class (or the other teacher’s) that day. They also told me, “we are not here”. It was kind of funny, but I wasn’t sure if there was a cultural misunderstanding, if this is normal, or what. . .asking my co-workers didn’t exactly shed light on the situation. The two students that "weren't there" did stick around to chat with me. They gave me the low-down on the soccer teams, and a mini-lesson in Turkish verb structure.

On Sunday my go-to guy at the embassy, Dr. Craig Dicker, English Language Officer, will be coming to Izmir. We will have dinner/lunch on Sunday, and then on Monday we’ll tour the Turkish American Centers and American Corner with which I am supposed to liaison this year. Naively (you think I’d learn), I asked my co-worker Feryal if she could recommend a restaurant. Not only could she recommend one, but insisted on walking me there, which turned into lunch, which turned into her treating, which turned into the restaurant owner treating, ah Turkey!

On the bus ride home today, the bus driver said something to me in Turkish. Although I rarely understand the questions posed to me, usually I answer by telling them I am an American, as that tends to be the first question posed to me. After I told this to my bus driver, he happily spoke to me on fluent and fast Turkish. I smiled. Then he stopped the bus in the middle of traffic, opened the door, and yelled to his friends inside the Kabop restaurant. What I understood was, “. . . . Amerikan . . . . “ His friends smiled and waved, and we drove on. People in the back of the bus were giggling by this time. Next we stopped at the guard gate where he introduced me to the "chef". Why he was introducing me to a cook was beyond me, but again, I smiled and waved. As we went on, I realized he had just introduced me to the chief – maybe of police, maybe of the bus company, not sure, but a big wig. All this royal treatment AND he dropped me off right in front of my guest house.

Rumi Statue, View of Izmir

Tonight my co-worker Ahmet invited me over for dinner then took me up to see the huge Rumi statue. On the way to his place we passed a mosque that had just been built by an ex-prime minister sort of person for her father. There is a nice little tea house at the base of the statue where we sipped chai and looked out over Izmir.

Don't Worry

Just wanted to jot a quick note. I don't know if it will make international news or not, but just in case it does. . . There was a bombing in Izmir today, but I am fine.

More later.

Melanie

First Day Teaching

Today I met my students and taught my first linguistics and conversation classes. All of my students are undergraduates, and I am teaching just the freshmen and sophmores. The first years were very timid. As they sat down, they filled up only the very back chairs of the classroom, leaving the two front rows completely empty.

Although their grammar skills are excellent, they have never spoken with a native speaker of English; most have only studied with Turkish-born speakers. So to them, my accent was quite difficult to understand. They seem to be very bright and eager - the girls especially. Some of the boys I can already tell are going to be a challenge. I've already found the "joker" - I think there is one in every class.

Speaking of challenging, the linguistics class is going to stretch my abilities. We are covering all of the major branches of linguistics from phonetics to phonology to semantics to tree structure diagrams. A dirty little secret is that I've never really done a tree structure diagram, because my linguistics department wasn't exaclty Chomskyesque (new word). I keep telling myself that I just need to say one chapter ahead and at least act confident.

As I mentioned earlier, the students' grammar skills are incredible. I was corrected today by Okan when I called a verb past tense, but it was really progressive something, something. Note to self: learn English verbs inflections before next Monday.

As native speakers, we just *know* how to use all of the simple, progressive, perfect, perfect progressive aspects and how to pair them with the present, future, and past tenses. But to explain that is another matter entirely. . . Do you know how to explain difference between these three sentences and when to use each?

She has been studying.
She had been studying.
She will have been studying.

Me neither; I will be learning A LOT this semester.

As I have been able to talk to family and friends on Skype during the last few days, I realize how easy technology has made going abroad. I remember just 12 years ago when I spent four months in Kenya. Letters and the occasional phone call (when you could find a working phone and figure out how to use it) were the only communication I had. Now I have email, a cell phone, a land line, and Skype. I guess it is kind of the best of both worlds: experiencing a new culture with the ability to stay in touch with the people you love.

Tavla, Mildew, Community

During the last few days I have visited downtown Izmir, tried (in vain) to figure out the bus system, and spent some time trying to renegotiate my housing. Today I have about 16 hours before I sleep again to plan develop the curriculum and write up the syllabi for the four college courses I will be teaching starting Monday.

First, the fun stuff: Ahmet took me on a city tour on Friday after work. We went down to the main downtown area along the sea. There is one main walking mall with no cars. There are lots of stores, bars, and cafes along the pedestrian mall. The narrow alleyways that lead to it are often narrow and dotted with cafes where people sip strong tea or Turkish coffee and play backgammon, known here as tavla. Ahmet taught me how to play Tavla and was very patient as I picked my way around the game board.

I played again last night when a group of six of us gathered around Esin's table for dinner. Okan wasn't as patient with my speed. His friends laughed from the sidelines and supplied me with the words for Turkish equivalent of "be patient". Whether it be pool in the U.S. or tavla in Turkey, there is a certain type of guy that feels that it is his duty to show you (women particularly) the errors you made, and what would have been a better strategy. During the game Mustafa told me not to worry, that, "everybody who plays Okan wins".

The day before I had asked Ferayal if she could intervene and get me a room that was farther from the street (and the very noisy buses). She talked to the manager but warned me the one remaining room was very dirty and would need cleaning. She wasn't kidding. Every surface was filthy. Okan, Esin, and Adim , the manager, all helped me scrub everything in the room. While I was at the market, Esin attcked the bathroom with a vigor rivaling that of a German mother. Despite our work and copious amounts of bleach the smell of mildew is still overpowering two days later.

I retired to my room yesterday afternoon feeling overwhelmed with my inability to communicate or use the bus system, missing my family, frustrated that I can't figure out how to solve the simplest problems myself because of the language barrier, and upset about the disgusting mildew. Okan came by to invite me to dinner, and he could tell that I had been crying. Minutes later his mother came down. Although she can only count to ten in English, and my Turkish skills are lesser still, I could understand very clearly what she was saying. She saw that I had been upset, and then started crying herself. Although she was speaking only Turkish, her message transcended language. She wanted to know why I was spending time alone when I was unhappy and that I should always come knock on her door, anytime. She made it clear that I was to come with her where she could keep an eye on me while she cooked dinner.

Later during dinner, their friends came by one by one until there were six of us around the small table. We ate more good food, though I don't know what it was and, of course, drank tea. My colleague, Ferayal called to see if I needed anything or for her to take me anywhere. The funny thing is that she called Esin and Okan's room. Evidently she had called the manager who knew I was up in that room, and he forwarded the call. Small world.