Adventures in Cappadocia

As promised!

Oh, what a very fun weekend we all had in Cappadocia! It all started on Thursday, March 12, when a group of about forty students piled onto a very nice charter bus that conveniently parked for us in front of the Superdorm. We left Istanbul around 10pm, everyone chattering gaily away, talking about the upcoming weekend, studying for our Turkish exam, reading, what-have-you. Aside from a couple stops, it took about 10 hours to get to Cappadocia. Folks slept for most of the trip, but it's not easy to sleep on a bus, let me tell you, especially you're sitting in the very back and the seat doesn't recline and you just can't get comfortable no matter what you do. We made a stop for breakfast in the early morning and then continued onto the hotel. There we dropped off our bags, but as our rooms weren't ready, we couldn't get showered or change clothes. Still it didn't seem to matter, because we were quickly on our way into Cappadocia itself.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the region, I guess you could liken it to the Grand Canyon of Turkey, and even that isn't quite right honestly. Between Istanbul and Cappadocia there isn't too much, just meandering fields and hills, with little towns randomly tucked here and there along the main highway. But when you get to Cappadocia, it's different. There are hills and valleys, deep canyons that roll away from you as you drive along their edges, and far below, there are these enchanting structures, towers, pinnacles, cliff sides, all cunningly carved out with doorways and windows, fantastically old and all inviting. The photos speak for themselves truly. "Fairy chimneys" aside, there are high plateaus with variegated lines and stripes of rich colors - clay reds, golden yellows, loamy browns, mottled sands - so beautiful and for me, rather reminiscent of the Painted Desert of the American Southwest. So much of what's historical in Cappadocia dates back thousands of years, including Hittite, early Christian, Persian, Roman, you name it. And the most beautiful thing about Cappadocia is that you can go right out into it and experience it for yourself. There are no red velvet cords, no signs saying "Do not touch", no stern guards frowning at you if you get too close. No, Cappadocia is a glorious hands-on experience.

The first place we went to visit was aptly-named Pigeon Valley or Uçhisar in Turkish, and as you may guess, yes, there are pigeons in said valley. We paused here for a little while, and we got out to look around and take photos. (We did this all throughout the trip. “Okay, we're going to stop, you have x amount of time and then we'll move on.”) The first thing I noticed was a nazarlık tree, which is just what it sounds like: a small tree hung with dozens of nazarlık charms. I'm now very tempted to buy a bunch and make my own nazarlık tree for my ev (home). There is something so simple and pretty about it. There was also a quaint souvenir shop and then the canyon itself. Of course, people immediately flocked (no pigeon pun intended) down into the canyon to explore. At the very bottom, we found some ruins, a dwelling carved out in the rock, with doorways, windows, little shelves, and colored paintings. Getting up into the house was a little difficult, but with a boost from other students, a bunch of us were able to climb inside and look around. Little did we know that it would only be the beginning of such adventures.

After too short a stop, we continued on to the real Uçhisar fortress. It's the highest point in Cappadocia, so after going inside and slowly making our way to the top, we were treated to a fantastic view of the whole valley. Up top there was a Turkish flag flying (you see a lot of Turkish flags flown here honestly – there is a lot of national pride here), and the wind wasn't too strong, so you could just stand and gaze for hours. I only wish that the weather had been better. It wasn't too cold but the sky was grey, so my photos aren't as good as they could have been. I can only wonder how much more beautiful it is in the warmer weather. On the top were carved holes that we had to guess were graves; they were the right size and dimensions. So, of course, that inspired morbid photos. :) (Hey, when you're the girlfriend of a mortician, you like these sorts of things.) But oh,
the view. The view really was amazing. I can't say enough. Even the photos can't say enough.

We made a stop for a buffet lunch at a large restaurant, and on the way out, paused at a souvenir shop where I bought a scarf and an embroidered satchel together for 20 TL. The scarf will be a gift but the satchel I'm keeping. It's a patchwork quilt-type bag, very colorful and quite practical. After lunch, we made another stop, longer this time, to go explore more of the fairy chimneys. A few other students got to experience a camel ride, and the rest of us dashed out like a class of elementary school kids to go climbing on an enormous ancient playground. Everywhere you looked, there was something new to see – a window to peek out of, a hole to crawl into, a doorway to duck through, somewhere always higher and better to climb up and see. We moved from structure to structure, and there was plenty of “Look up here! Look at me! Hey, cool, come here, look at this!” I swear, really, we were just a bunch of kids playing again. It was dusty and dirty, and we came out filthy and scratched-up and bruised, but we had an absolute ball. Lots of oneupmanship (is that really a word?) as we climbed higher and higher, and I'm actually quite surprised that no one got seriously hurt. It was just a delightful challenge – seeing a hole or platform that was just a little higher than we could easily reach, but with a lot of cooperation and helpful boosts, we could able to reach all kinds of nooks and crannies that others that might only be able to see but not climb up into. I have to say that it felt like being on one of those self-esteem exercises – a grand glorious playground that you have to work with your friends to investigate. Stress relief, I tell you.

After lots of climbing, sliding, peeking, and thankfully no falling, we headed back to the hotel to much-needed showers and naps before enjoying a buffet supper in the hotel dining room. We then went out to enjoy our “Turkish night”. This was deliciously touristy, but no one really seemed to mind. We went down into the spacious basement of this large restaurant, were served wine, beer, and rakı, and plates of sliced citrus fruit and nuts. The night was quite fun actually. A troupe of dancers first treated us to a performance of the whirling dervishes (not the real thing, but entertaining all the same), and then several traditional dances, including a courting/wedding dance, bellydancing, a display with a horse (!), an elaborate Turkish conga line of sorts which pulled everyone on the floor and right out of the restaurant, into the cold night, and around a large bonfire. Yes, it was a little surreal at times, and yes, quite touristy, but as I said, we had fun. They played a number of Turkish and American pop songs, and everyone got up and danced, so that was silly and fun. Hell, when you're drinking, it's all silly and fun. :)

The next morning we woke up to snow! It's known to snow in Cappadocia during the winter, and I knew that it was going to be cold (which it was), but the snow was still a pleasant surprise. After a hearty traditional Turkish breakfast (sliced meat, cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt, bread, muesli, tea, coffee and sweets), our first stop was Derinkuyu Yeraltı Şehri, one of many underground cities in Cappadocia. Like most everything else in the region, many of them are ancient, dating back thousands of years. People tended to live above land, but in times of attack, they could retreat to the underground cities and hole up for up to six months a time. The one we went had multiple level, with several ventilation shafts and wells, as well as a church, stable, graves, and many little rooms and holes riddling the place like Swiss cheese. As you descended into the city, you could see large (about 3 or 4 feet in diameter) round stone doors which could be rolled across the entrance of a hole to protect the people within. Seeing how narrow the passages were, it would have been very effective.

Now let me tell you – should you ever come to Cappadocia and want to see the underground city, be forewarned: it's more than a little claustrophobic. I didn't know going in how narrow and tight the passages and rooms would be at times. Somehow I was thinking more that it'd been large natural caverns that were converted for human usage, you know, large airy spacious rooms, but it was anything but. I'm a claustrophobe, and there were a number of places that I had to stop and take several deep breaths to keep panic attacks at bay, and no, no, I'm not kidding. The ceiling is quite low in places, and tunnels from one level to another are rather slender in many other places, so I just took a deep breath, and dashed through quickly. I kept reminding myself how unique the place is, and I might never come back, and look, how cool was this, and keep taking pictures, Kristina, you'll be fine. It was a little nerve-racking, more than a little actually. But I really enjoyed it, and I'm glad that I went. There's nothing that I've seen quite like it back in the States, and when you think of how incredibly old the place is, and in still such good condition (Turkey is prone to invaders, earthquakes and tourists, and all of them destructive), it was really staggering. I really wish the photos could tell you it all, but really, if you go to Cappadocia, visit Derinkuyu. You won't be disappointed. It's worth the 15 TL (though if you have a museum pass, it's free!).

After a quick lunch at a local shop, we headed off to a local pottery store. There are many of these in Cappadocia as it's where a lot of the beautiful Turkish pottery is made. After viewing a brief and humorous “this is how we throw pottery” demonstration, we browsed the large shop, and I picked out a couple of little bowls as souvenirs. Aside from tea, rugs, and scarves, Turkey is known for its ceramics, and there are such lovely designs and rich colors incorporated into the pieces. Different regions will have distinctive patterns as well, and many of them date back hundreds, if not thousands of years. So I will definitely be picking up a number of ceramic bowls before I head home. :)

Amid the snow and chill, we went climbing up to another ancient church built into a cliff. Several of the others climbed up higher, but I erred on the side of caution and explored the lower parts. There was plenty to see again – beautiful views, neglected nooks and crannies, forgotten holes and rooms, all of it waiting to be explored. I cannot tell you how many photos I took; too many. I poked around in buildings many times over older than my own country , ducked my head through doorways and windows carved carefully by hand and simple tools, and scrambled over structures that housed people for hundreds of years before being abandoned. And still they draw people. The locals, many of whom live traditional lives, eat and drink the same foods and drinks as their ancestors, farm the same traditional ways, and live their lives in much the same fashion as those who came before them. It may be modern day but they live alongside these ancient ruins as they have all along. It's amazing. We just have nothing like this back home. Amazing.

As it began to grow dark and even colder, we stopped by a local winery for a brief tour and wine tasting. Turkish wine! Quite tasty. We wrapped up with dinner back at the hotel, and while several other students went out to enjoy nargile, Lessa (who shared a room with me) and I retired early. Rock climbing is hard work, you know. :)

We checked out the next morning and braved the cold again after breakfast to slowly make our way out of Cappadocia. Our last stop in the area was Ihlara Valley, which is honeycombed with dwellings carved out of the rock but is especially famous for its many churches. It was a long slow walk to the bottom of the canyon which was wooded and had a rushing river running through it. The stairs down were icy, so I slipped a couple times, adding more bruises to ones that I had already from the weekend, but when I got to the bottom, it was well worth it. Again, the view was so breathtaking, and this time it was almost all looking up. Many of the churches were built underground, so again students ran and played and climbed in the holes. I went off on my own a little to peek in little corners, take yet more photos, and see what I could see. The whole thing was very peaceful and serene. Even though it was a touristy area, it didn't feel like it. As many people as there were in our group, there were plenty of places that you could go and not see anyone. I only wish that we had had more time to see it all. I think you could spend hours and hours there and still not see it all. Before too long, it was time to go, and we piled back on the bus for the long trip home. That in itself wasn't too eventful, but we did get in a lot of reading, studying (especially reviewing our Turkish vocabulary) and napping. All in all, it was a simply fantastic weekend, and given the chance, I definitely think I'd like to go back to Cappadocia. I highly recommend it.

Mail?

Okay, my post about the Cappadocia trip coming up next, but while I'm thinking about it - anyone want a postcard from Istanbul? I just picked up a whole bunch but I know that I don't have a lot of people's snail mail addresses. You can email me at mercurialmagpie at gmail dot com if you don't want to comment with your address. :)

Reaching me

Because a few people have asked, here below is my snail mail address in Istanbul:

Kristina Kellermann
Bogazici Universitesi
Ucaksavar Kultur ve Spor Tesisleri, Superdorm
Cengiz Topel Caddesi
Etiler 34337, Istanbul Turkiye (TURKEY)

I'm also on Skype under mercurialmagpie, and you can reach me by email at kkellermann@gmail.com.

I don't really know how many folks read this blog, but if any of you are inclined to send me mail or care packages from the States, I will very happily reward you with goodies from Turkey in return (read: candy, hazelnuts, nazar, scarves, etc.) Just saying. :) I'll trade requests for requests even. ;)

Cappadocia!

It's about 9pm here in Istanbul, and I'm patiently waiting to get under way for our trip. A group of about 40-50 of American and European exchange students, including a number of Turks as our guides are going to Cappadocia this weekend. We leave at 10pm, so I've just been spending the past couple hours packing and getting ready, including cleaning leftovers out of the fridge as supper, washing dishes, and making sure that I have plenty of reading material for the bus. I have been known to get motion sickness if I read in the car, so we'll see what happens. Worse come to come, I spend the time listening to my ipod, talking to people and practicing Turkish, or looking out the window. (We're coming back Sunday during the day so we'll be able to see a lot of the Turkish countryside this way.) But since we're leaving at 10pm, I imagine that people will only stay up a couple hours and then sleep (hopefully!). I'm bringing my earplugs just in case the youngsters want to stay up late (and yes, I can say that. I think I've figured out by now that I *am* the oldest of the American students here). Very excited! I think that I have everything I need. Thank goodness for backpacks. It's going to be pretty chilly there, so I'm bringing all my long-sleeved shirts, hoodie, coat, gloves, hat, the whole nine yards. And of course, my camera. I want to get lots of photos. :)

Almost time to go to the bus! Have a good weekend, y'all. :)

Turkish Bureaucracy

So I've been politely reminded that I've not written anything in my blog for several days now. It's been a busy past few days, let me say, and as seems to be an on-going theme with my life here in Istanbul, one with many ups and downs, and learning/doing something new every day. That said, I promise from here on out to update on a more regular basis. Except for the next three days or so. And that's because I'm going to Cappadocia for the weekend! But more about that later. Let me bring y'all back to speed.

I've been here for about five weeks now, and sometimes it feels like much longer. It amazes how quickly one can adjust to a new environment, and settle in and fall into a comfortable daily routine. I guess we humans are largely creatures of habit, so no matter where we are, we do what we can to make ourselves comfortable - especially if we're going to be in a place for a long time - and do what we can to muddle through. Now funny I should put it just like that because one recent experience that me and nearly all the rest of the American exchange students have had to deal with is doing just what I said, making ourselves comfortable and muddling through and all that, in of all places, an Istanbul police station.

And no, none of us did anything wrong. Quite the contrary, we were trying to do things *right*, namely obtain residence permits that allow us to live in Turkey and allow us to travel in and out of the country without issues. Because most of us arrived in the country with student visas, within a month we had to apply for resident permits. In theory, this should be quite easy. You fill out a few forms, you go down to the police station, you apply and get the correct paperwork. In execution, however, this was a whole helluva lot more difficult than any of us imagined.

There is a lot I can say about this experience, but a lot of it isn't very pretty and involves quite a few four letter words, so I'll spare you all, and tell you the clean story. But for those of you who may be coming over here in my wake, you should know that dealing with foreign bureaucracy is simply not at all fun. It is at times a necessary evil, but I tell you, nothing makes you realize that you're not in Kansas anymore than to deal with foreign bureaucracy.

Okay, so this is what happened: we international students had until about the first week of March to apply for our resident permits. Shortly before this, the International Relations office sent around emails telling us how to do this. This is the basic rundown of what we needed to have:

"1. Residence Permit Application Form which must be filled in Turkish, typed-written, printed out colored and double-sided.
2. 5 passport-size photos
3. Your passport, as well as a photocopy of the front and student visa pages.
4. “Öğrenci Bilgi Formu” (Student Information Sheet). This form must be filled in Turkish.
5. A Turkish petition form declaring you will apply for residence permit.
6. Student Certificate
7. A statement signed and stamped by our Rector"

The first bit of trouble that I ran into was not having received the email in the first place. I searched through my spam file, my inbox, filter folders, since everyone else seemed to have it, but upon finding nothing, I went down to their office only to find that they had misspelled my name and email. 2 N's. My last name has 2 N's. It's really not that hard. It's the German spelling. 2 N's. Argh! So, anyway, I get that fixed, and then start looking at this list. The last two items we had to wait until the IR office had ready for us, so no matter how quickly we had the rest of the items, we still had to wait. The photos, photocopies, and passport I had easily accessible. Oh, but did you see that part about needing to be filled in Turkish? Yeah... none of us really speak Turkish. And no one in the IR office really offered to help (never mind the fact that only a few people in that office speak English, which is very much the case around the whole university btw - more about that later). So we had to ask Turkish friends for their time to sit and translate for us, and help us fill in these forms.

So we get all the forms all filled out, printed, stamped, all neat and pretty. Katie and I went down to the IR office once again just to have people take a look at them and make sure that we had everything as it should be before we set off for the police station. This was another headache. We were given directions how to get there, but they were more than a little confusing, and we got lost the first time we got there. It takes about an hour and change to travel first via bus, then via tram, and then a half mile walk or so to the station. So already we're sacrificing three hours or so our day just in travel alone. (If you didn't get it before, Istanbul is *huge*). Other students who had gone before us had already shared their horror stories - getting up very early (as the IR office suggested that we do), getting through the crowd, waiting in long lines, and finally emerging some *10* hours later. (No, I'm not kidding.) We listened to the others' stories and crossed our fingers, and thought maybe it was just so busy because they went on Monday. So we headed down last Tuesday afternoon, sailed in and went upstairs only to find that they had given out all their numbers for the day. (It's like the DMV; you come in and take a number and then go up to the counter when they call your number. Except in this case, they only give out a certain number and then they're done for the day).

So, whatever, we come back tomorrow, right? Well, we did. We woke up at 5:45am, were on the bus by 6:20, and arrived to a large group of people waiting to get in. They took our passports as we came in, and we stood over to the side waiting to see what would happen. Well, the small waiting room filled with people, so many that I couldn't see over people's heads, and we were crushed together so tight that I couldn't raise my arms from my sides. They started calling people's names right at 8am, presumably in the order in which they had submitted their passports. Katie and I got stuck on the far side, and when they finally called our names, we struggled through the crush (and I mean that quite literally). When I got to the front, one of the cops told me that he had been calling my name for 10 minutes, and why hadn't I come. At this point, I felt like giving him a little what-for, but I held my tongue in light of the fact that there were cops outside the front door holding machine guns. (And no, I'm really *not* kidding. Istanbul cops carry effing *machine guns*.) Instead I took my passport with a pained shrug, and explained that I had to shoulder past all the rest of the folks waiting, and then I ran. Literally. Katie and I went into the next area, again another crush of people, only to find out that they had already given out their tickets for the day, and it was barely 8:30. Apparently they usually give out more tickets but that day they were limiting it to 100. Needless to say, I was *hot*. We had gotten up very early, traveled over an hour, been shoved and jostled, yelled at in Turkish, couldn't understand a bloody word that people were saying, all that only to find out that we had to come back yet again.

I have to admit that I solidly lost my temper. I have German and Irish blood and I am not always a patient person, but this incident really made me angry. It's probably a good thing that people around me couldn't understand me because I was swearing up a blue streak. I apologized to the students nearby me later, but at that moment, I was not feeling very civil at all. The whole thing just felt very unfair. We were wasting our time, our money, we were going to miss classes, just to end up paying 90 TL for the privilege of living in Turkey for a few months. I just felt very annoyed that the IR office hadn't really prepared us for this. I think that the whole thing could have been better handled; clearer communication, more assistance, anything. If it's one thing that I really can't stand, it's poor communication and even poorer organization. And this incident had both in droves.

Katie and I went back this Monday with a few other students, and this time, we were a little wiser. We got there even earlier, we stood on the other side of the room so we wouldn't have to get through such a big crowd as before, and we ran in immediately to where we had to go to get the tickets. Luckily, this time we got tickets, and they seemed to be processing fairly quickly. We went downstairs to the cafeteria to have breakfast (a lira for soup and all the bread you could eat, not bad), and then all of us again wisely decided to make up for lost time by bringing reading for our classes. I had a bit of a panic though when I realized that when I was sitting in the cafeteria, cleaning receipts out of my pocket, that I had accidentally thrown out my ticket. I was very afraid that I was going to be turned away and have to come back yet again, but apparently Someone was watching out for me. When my number was called (we figured out that I was 171 - a note for others: do not lose your ticket!), I went up to the counter, and gave the guy my paperwork right away. I said hello, how are you to him in Turkish, and smiled, and tried not to look guilty. He seemed a little surprised - maybe because I spoke in Turkish when I am clearly not a Turk or maybe because I was polite and folks don't usually say hi, how are ya - who knows? In any case, when he asked me for my bileti (ticket), I nearly panicked. I started pantomining and stringing words together in a fluster: çöp, kaza, kafeterya, lütfen, Ben gelmek üç günlar, öğrenci (literally: trash, accident, cafeteria, please, I to come 3 days [not conjugated correctly btw], student). Luckily, he seemed to understand, and I must have looked desperate enough, because he accepted the paperwork and just gave me another number. He had a friend standing nearby, a former coworker who had come back that day to say hi. The guy had left his job at the police station to go to Ankara to learn English, and he translated a little for me. So my guy must have been in a good mood. When all was said and done, I got my paperwork processed, I paid my 90 TL, and then we were all done, 4 hours later.

Yesterday I again braved the Turkish public transportation system to travel alone down to the station to pick up my residence permit booklet. The whole experience cost me about 15 hours of time, 90 TL for the permit, about 23 TL for transportation costs, and caused me a lot of stress, anxiety, and my losing my temper. So that would make the experience about the single worst one that I've had not only here in Turkey, but just in a long time. I truly hope that those of you who come after me do not have to go through this. In fact, if you can, just pick up a tourist visa at the airport when you arrive, and save yourself all this hassle. (There are pros and cons to tourist visas though - they're cheaper in the short run, but if you get one, you have to leave the country after 90 days and buy another one when you come back. So if you do get one, just be prepared to make a trip to Bulgaria or Greece or somewhere else at some point in the middle of the semester. It might end up being more expensive in the long run, but it's up to you.)

Now apparently this isn't typical, or so we've been told. One thing that's going on right now in Istanbul is that it's election time. There are political banners and signs everywhere you go. Trucks drive the streets blaring music and excerpts of speech. Everyone's got an opinion. The elections are at the end of the month, so supposedly, many more people than usual are applying for resident permits. I don't know if this is because it allows them to vote, or laws will change shortly regarding permits, I don't know. But supposedly, just supposedly, what we went through isn't usually the case. Whatever it was, however, it was still absolutely miserable.

So! That all being said, I am now officially a resident of Istanbul, and will be able to travel in and out of the country freely from now until October 30 if I should choose. Happier topics in my next entry, I promise. :)