Day Trip to Darende

               As our time here in Malatya slowly trickles to an end, everyone wants to spend time with you, which is a lot of fun, but also makes for a very busy finale.  As classes slowly finish (or quickly as the geniuses in charge have decided that finishing an entire course in a matter of six weeks is a plausible undertaking: spoiler alert- it’s not) work has been surprisingly busy, but so too has our social lives.

               On Friday, once again, Eser picked us up at 11am and we headed out of Malatya to a town about 100 km west, called Darende.  This town is quite famous (as it was a centre of science and culture during the ancient silk road times), and although Joe and I have driven through it many times on our bus journeys elsewhere, we had not yet stopped to visit and it was something we had been meaning to do.  We passed the journey with music and laughter (Eser drove equally as fast as on the road to Nemrut, but it was a far less dangerous road and thus much more relaxing) until we got there.  

                      We headed first to Somuncu Baba a very famous mosque carefully stowed away beside the river amidst the mountains, was named after Somuncu Baba- a grandchild of Muhammed.  As it was namas (prayers)  on the holiest day of the week, we had tea and went for a stroll along the river while we waited for people to finish before heading in to take a look around.  It was a beautiful, marble mosque and made for quite a beautiful sight.  After a quick jaunt around the marketplace, we headed out

                     Next we headed out to Gulpinar Waterfall, not far off, and went exploring.  Again, nestled away it makes for quite the tourist destination.  We enjoyed lunch at the base of the waterfall- fresh fish and bread, and the complimentary salad that I will desperately miss when we leave Turkey, and relaxed for a few hours before our last stop.  

                    We veered off the highway and down a dirt road into the Akcadag Levent Valley.  The valley was stunning- having been formed between 65-3 million years ago, providing valuable information about the region. The many caves also have ‘geotouristic value’ as they have many traces of human life and is Turkey’s most important candidate to be labeled as a Geopark.  

In 2011 the government built an observation terrace at an elevation of 1400m (240m from the base of the valley), complete with a glass floor (highly vertigo inducing) and a wrap-around walkway with a decently low rail.   We had fun wandering around, being slightly overwhelmed by the distance to the earth, and left a half hour or so later,  arriving back in Malatya at about 7 o’clock.

                              On Saturday I wrapped up my class, and then headed for brunch with some students and Elif in Gunduzbey while Joe headed for lunch and bowling with his Speaking Class.  It was a lovely day at my favourite location (a restaurant called Su Sesi- The Sound of Water) as it is made of tree houses and stone stairs and running water.  

It was a pleasant few hours of chatting and Turkish breakfast before calling it a day and heading home to relax.  We are down to our final week in Malatya.

To Mt. Nemrut and Back Again

It took us eleven and a half months but we finally made it to the one tourist attraction within the Malatya region.  After much finagling with Eser on Thursday night, we agreed on a time on Friday to head out.  He picked us up at 10:30am and we drove through the winding roads (with no safety guards) at speeds that Turkish drivers are comfortable with, but had me thinking many a time that all it would take was a skid on the badly paved roads and we would never see another day.  Fortunately that was not the case, and a couple of hours later we arrived at Nemrut National Park.  We hiked up to the top (luckily we could drive most of the way as were 2,134 m above sea level.) and were treated to a truly unique site from which we could view human ability and nature’s destruction.  

Eser, Joe and I

In 62 BC, King Antochus built a tomb-sanctuary with huge statues (8-9 m tall) of himself, two eagles, two lions and various Greek, Armenian and Iranian gods- although the heads fell off the bodies at some point in the future.  Although history prevailed and the site lost its stance as a place of worship it still remains semi intact, and  despite the turmoil of the past, it was excavated in 1881 and in 1987 was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has been on our radius as a place to since our arrival.  

It was an amazing site and after looking around for a while we wandered down the steps on the west side (we had parked on the east) and had a lunch of menemen (which Eser negotiated down the ridiculously high price- 15TL for scrambled eggs essentially) and then figured out what we were going to do.  Eser wanted to stick around until sunset as apparently it is the highlight of Nemrut, and although neither Joe nor I wanted to stick around for the next seven hours, we did exactly that.

The man who ran the gift shop/café offered us a price to go down and see Arsemia (an ancient city where the tomb of Mithridates, king of Antioches was located and the Cendere Bridge- one of the best examples of ancient Roman architecture in the region.  Eser, again, was not happy with the price offered so bargained him down.  The conflict in Syria has severely depleted tourism in the area this summer as compared to last summer, so I was feeling  a little more sympathetic towards the man, but alas, Eser emerged victorious.  We drove 20km down into the valley, where the heat once more enveloped us, and we melted our way toward the tomb in an overheated state, before heading on to the bridge.  

The tomb of Mithridates

The bridge was apparently a hot spot amongst the locals who had gathered with families, livestock and vehicles to escape the heat in the cool of the river.

As we crossed the bridge, we ran into Kubra and Ali (Buglem’s parents) who were there with friends, which was enjoyable as I haven’t seen them for a month due to their holiday, and then we headed back up the mountain for tea and to kill a couple hours until sunset.  

We goofed around and found a good place to sit for the beauty of sunset and then headed back down before the crowds left- stopping for kavurma (a meat dish) which was a delicious end to the evening.  Somehow the roads were less scary when I couldn’t see the cliff edges, and we arrived back in Malatya quite late but to a wonderful day trip to a truly unique spot.

Kubra and I

Sore Losers

There is a fabulous expression in Turkish that is "Cok ayip".  Roughly translated into English it means, "What shame" or "How shameful."  Parents use it with children when they mess around with their food, strangers use it when they get bumped into in the street, and most recently I used it with one of my classes.  I had been having difficulty 'entertaining' one of my adult classes, with virtually every activity I have tried with them being declared 'boring' and pestering me to play games.  This is behaviour unlike I have ever seen from an adult class- copying answers from the back, copying each others papers from a speaking activity and insisting they had finished, "hiding" their phones under the desk (as though any teacher hasn't clued in to why students are staring at their crotch all class) and the like.  Finally this miserable class was ending on Saturday, so I rushed through the work so I could conclude with a Jeporady style wrap up game.  There were eight students: four boys and four girls, and they asked to be split up by gender.  I said ok, but told the boys they were going to lose to which they agreed and said no problem.  Within two minutes (before I had finished explaining) one of the girls informed me that it was a 'bad game' because 'she didn't understand'.  I pointed to the door and told her she was more than welcome to leave, but she didn't and I finished explaining and we got started. It went well for the first half an hour until the boys started to lose.  After adding up the rest of the numbers on the board and realizing they couldn't win, the boys told me they quit.  They weren't going to finish the game.   I have had this problem before (sorry for the stereotype but in general Turks are sore losers) but with their behaviour over the past few weeks, my patience had run its course.  I simply wrote on the board, "You lose, so you quit?"  Yes, they replied.  "Such shame." I wrote as the class got deathly quiet.  As there were only seven minutes left, I apologized to the girls, wiped the game off the board, bid them good day and good luck on the exam and finished.  Perhaps not my most professional moment as a teacher but I strongly feel that there are lessons more important than grammar that need to be taught and I cannot abide people who quit because they are losing. 

Women and children only day at the pool.

A busy two weeks finally wrapped up as our kid’s classes at the school finished (thank God!) as did a few other classes, so now we are back down to a manageable twenty hour week which is a pleasant change.  Our countdown has begun- and suddenly the six weeks that seemed as though they would last forever have whittled down to under four and I have no idea how that happened. 

Ms, Gulay, Aydan and I

  We have had fun- I went swimming with the girls again (although I baked brownies for the picnic this time) and that evening Gungor called and said he was bored and wanted to kill some time with some beers and didn’t want to drink alone.  Normally I don’t go out when I have to work the next day, but when you are running out of time to see people whose company you thoroughly enjoy, you do it.  I whipped in the shower and we grabbed some money and whisked back out the door for a thoroughly enjoyable evening despite the fact that Gungor can easily drink us under the table.   Joe and I had made plans with Eser to go to Mt. Nemrut last Friday as we had a rare day off together, but unfortunately his father was in the hospital (he has been battling cancer for the past year) so we postponed it a week in hopes that he would be doing better by then, but we will see.  Instead I gave Gungor and Tevfik a shout as we had been trying to organize a bbq in Gungor’s garden for a couple weeks, and they were both free.

Joe and I finished cleaning and headed into town to pick up some beer and chips (our contribution as the short notice didn't give me time to cook) and then we all headed out to the garden.  It is located about 30km north of Malatya and he is growing apricot trees that will be ready in a couple years.  He has built a little shed and it is a beautiful, peaceful- albeit stiflingly hot- 11 acres of land in the middle of nowhere.  We picked up oil and water on the way, and the oil managed to leak all over the trunk of the car and the vegetables.  We washed them in water and then mud and then more water, and then figured they would be fine.  

Tevfik starting to wash vegetables.

Gungor grilled the peppers and I peeled the cucumbers and tomatoes (nicking my fingers multiple times in the process) for a salad, and along with the kofte (meatballs) that we grilled it turned into quite a nice spread.  Afterwards, we pulled out the backgammon board and Joe and I got a thorough whooping from Tevfik who then lost to Gungor, but it was a nice change and a good way of learning new strategies for playing.  The mosquitos came out and so we headed home (I managed to only get a few bites) and then went back to Gungor’s house for Turkish coffee and conversation before Tevfik gave us a lift home as he had to pick up his wife and son in the same area.   A perfect bbq and alternative to Nemrut.

Men making fire

Heatwave

The heat has been borderline unbearable.  It is 40 degrees, plus a titch of humidity and no air conditioning.  I have never had to live this kind of heat before (as Indonesia averaged about 33-35 degrees) and the pain of the extra five and the sweating that comes with it is highly uncomfortable.  It means you barely sleep at night and then barely function throughout the day.  It makes wanting to exercise or be productive a remote possibility.  However, Joe and I had made plans on Friday to meet up with Eser (as we hadn’t seen him since before Ramadhan started) so we headed for lunch and then to meet him at the pub.  I messaged him when we got there, but by the time we had finished our first beer, he had messaged back to inform us he was in Darende (a couple of hours away) because he had gotten the time wrong.  That was a bit of a bummer, as the pub is not cheap, but we had a couple beers and played backgammon before heading home.

After a long work day on Saturday, I enjoyed two days off.  As I went for a walk on Sunday evening, I ran into one of my old students, who along with her mother and neighbours, was busy de-pitting apricots. 

The neighbours and the apricots.

  I went and sat and chatted for a bit (being sent home with many many apricots) and promised to come back the next day to help- it seemed like an authentic Malatya experience, and I didn’t have anything else to do, so Monday at noon, I headed over and spent a pleasant few hours eating, drinking tea, and de-pitting apricots.  

Nazli and I, doing our work.

After a couple of hours, I had a wicked backache and sore fingers and these women had been working since 7am and would continue until sunset at 8pm, and they had been doing this for a week and had another week to go.  For each crate they finished they earned 5TL (about $2.50) and could each average between 4-9 crates a day.  It seemed like a lot of work.  I learned a lot about apricots- the size, colour (dark ones are expensive) and watched them crack open the pits to get nuts out.  I could have sworn they were almonds (they look and taste like almonds) but they are not- and in large quantities can be quite harmful as they contain cyanide (fun fact),  however eating a few a day won’t hurt you.  I never knew there were nuts inside pits, so that was a very interesting discovery.  All in all, it was an interesting experience that was considerably more tiring than I had anticipated, but was a great way to get to know some of the women in the neighbourhood.

Apricot pits.  This is how many they had done so far.

Drama Drama Drama

Our arrival back in Malatya was stressful to say the least.  I received an email from Onder on Monday saying that despite our warnings, A kept (unknowingly) revealing himself to the neighbours.  This is not something you do in Turkey and they were terminating his contract.  I felt bad for him, but was also relieved he would be gone.  When A got home from work that day, he showed me the email he received from Mr. Yalcin (apparently it was beneath Onder to fire him himself) and so I helped him out a bit, emailing Mr. Yalcin and saying that he would leave but expected to be compensated.  There was much drama, as they initially refused to pay him- slowly relenting, but even then, unwilling to pay him the full amount he was due.  I told A to be firm, and he arranged a meeting with Onder for the next day at 6pm and asked me if I would sit in on the meeting, which I agreed to.  Tuesday rolled around, bringing many classes for me (as I now had to cover A’s classes) that I had no time to prepare for- not my favourite way to teach, but alas.  I hung around the school when they finished and tried to figure out how to ‘apostille’ a document for my upcoming job in Kazakhstan.  I got Ali to call around Malatya, but learned they would only apostille it if it was translated into Turkish- which was of course no use to me.  I called the Canadian Embassy in Ankara, but as Canada is not a member of the Hague convention, they don’t apostille but rather use a different process, which I was unsure would work.  I emailed the school in Kazakhstan and awaited a response.

By about 5 o’clock, A showed up and we waited for Onder.  He showed up at 6 on the dot, and the two of us went into his office.  He asked me to leave, but I stood my ground and eventually he relented- very unhappy about it.  He yelled at A for a good fifteen minutes- repeating his infractions, informing us that the neighbour had pulled out a gun and threatened to kill him (apparently his wife stopped him), that the neighbours had instead called the police and signed a petition to get him out, occasionally lying a little, bringing up Joe and myself more frequently than I would have thought necessary, and being highly unprofessional about the entire situation.  Despite his temper, A did very well, barely speaking (he was barely given the opportunity to) and it ended uncomfortably with Onder giving him the full amount he was due, and then saying he never wanted to see him again.  He also told me that I was very impolite and that this was none of my business, to which I responded that it most certainly was my business as Onder had made it my business by telling me A was fired before a knew.  He said he would not make that mistake again, and I shrugged and left.  There was no use in explaining while he was this angry, but nothing he could threaten me with as I hadn’t done anything wrong.

Some of the mess- note the banana peel.

We made it home (A cursing him and saying he would “f**ing kill him,” to which I responded firmly that he most certainly would not.  I booked him a ticket on my credit card (as he had no way of getting a ticket), asked him to clean his room before he left, and telling him to be ready by 8am the next day so I could show him where the bus left from.  Joe was also not pleased, genuinely concerned by the knowledge that our neighbour had a gun and would shoot if offended, and resolved to mention this to Onder upon first sight.  I thought it best to avoid him for awhile, yet act as though nothing had happened.

Watermelon juice caked on the floor.

A was ready by 8:15 the next morning- his room uncleaned and disgusting, but I didn’t make a fuss, rather walked him out.   The security guard  politely addressed me as we left, asking me (in Turkish) if he was gone, to which I answered yes and that was the last we saw of him.  Joe, true to his word, brought up the neighbour to Onder, who responded that the neighbours had no problem with us and that everything was fine.  Later on in the day, we both stopped in to talk to him.  He again said that he had been surprised by my behaviour, but as he was now calm, I informed him that I had done him many favours.  I had a key made, the sheets washed, the room cleaned, put money on the bus card, showed him around town and explained the teaching style at the school, all for the school and A’s comfort.  That Joe and I were equally displeased by the situation, but as we had had to live with him, we didn’t understand why he was more upset than us.    That after all those favours, when A asked me to do him one (so he wouldn’t lose his temper) I obliged, and that while I hadn’t meant to offend him, I wouldn’t have changed my actions.  Onder both thanked me and apologized (both shocked me beyond words) and all was back to normal.

He offered to have Dogan and Wakas (whose name he forget, pissing off both Joe and I, as Wakas has been their errand man for three years) to help me clean, but the thought of having two men in their fifties scrubbing my floors while I watched sickened me, and I declined saying I would buy some beer and do it myself.

Thursday, I did just that- finishing my classes and scrubbing floor, washing sheets, and wiping the muddy footprints off the floor (only just realizing that they were urine infused as he didn’t wear the special shoes when he used the squat toilet) and a good three hours later, managed to make the house liveable again.  Yasar (a lovely boss) didn’t need to be asked, simply arranged for all our carpets to be washed professionally (which I am currently waiting for their pick up as I type this). 

In regards to the apostille, upon calling companies in the UK (they won’t do it) BC (they charge $850 which was a stressful number) and a company in Ottawa ($250), I have sent off my documents (with the lovely help of Dogan who accompanied me to the post office- it is easier to understand him as he uses simple language for me and most Turks don’t know how to talk to foreigners, yelling at them rather than simplifying their speech) and eagerly await the next step in the process.  A long week.

A Quick Trip to Trabzon Pt. 2

Uzungol- which translates to Long Lake- is about 100km south of Trabzon.  We awoke and went for our complimentary breakfast (which was actually quite good) and then relaxed, read and waited for our tour van to show up at 10am. 

Uzungol

  We stopped at a few hotels to pick up some Dutch and Turkish tourists and we were off.  First was a quick stop at a tea factory (the Black Sea region is famous for their tea, and indeed it was delicious) and small talk with the Dutch tourists (a family working in Ankara, and an older couple cycling their way through Greece and Turkey) before heading on.  Uzungol is famous for its natural beauty- the lake was created by a landslide and has recently become very popular with tourists, causing hotels and souvenir shops to pop up everywhere.  We hadn’t expected it to be so cold- the mist and overcast sky (eventually turning into rain in the afternoon) made for a beautiful atmosphere, but both Joe and I wish we had brought warmer clothes yet agreeing it was a nice change not to sweat.  We had lunch, and strolled pleasantly around the lake, popping in some shops and eventually having a nice warming cup of tea before the tour ended.

By the time we had driven back to Trabzon, the sun was shining and the temperature contrast was a pleasant shock.  We decided to go to the pub, but alas it was closed, so we went for a walk along the shoreline, picking up beer and lahmacun for the hotel room.

Friday shone beautifully again, and Joe and I grabbed breakfast and packed before playing backgammon and heading off to Sumela.  The Sumela Monastery is a Greek Orthodox monastery, first founded in AD386, but not gaining its present form until the 13^th century.  It is nestled in a steep cliff at an altitude of 1,200 metres facing the Altndere valley.  Even despite its fascinating history, it is a stunning sight and the most popular tourist destination near Trabzon.  

We picked up the rest of our tour group and headed into the mountains.  Once again it was quite cold, but fortunately we had come prepared this time.  We drove up a winding road (extremely thankful we weren’t walking) and got dropped off a short distance from the monastery.  We walked along with the throngs of tourists (this is really the first time we have travelled Turkey at the height of tourist season and it was a very different experience- not one we particularly enjoyed.  That being said- hoards of people aside- it was amazing to see, to try and think of how they managed to build it and get the supplies up there in the first place, or to think of how they decided that this would be the spot to build.  

Anyways, we wandered around for about an hour and then walked the 1.2km back down the mountain (again- extremely thankful we didn’t have to walk up, as we saw many people doing it and it looked tedious).  We stopped for lunch and then made small talk with the others on our tour- an Australian couple, a French girl and a girl from Hong Kong- all were pleasant enough although the French girl was pissed that she had to walk down- she has bad knees.

We rode back into town, picked up our stuff and made our way over to the bus station to catch our final long haul bus in Turkey back to Malatya.

A Quick Trip to Trabzon Pt. 1

On Tuesday night, Gungor took us for tea with his nephew.  His nephew is looking to study in Ireland in September to improve his English so we were there to help.  He took us to a beautiful café in Gunduzbey- stone walls, tunnels and bridges and the like.  It looked very authentically Turkish (unfortunately I don’t have pictures) and Gungor is an excellent conversationalist so we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening- even though it concluded quite late.  We had already packed, so the next morning, I finished cleaning and wrote A a note about making sure he remembered to turn everything off and to let him know that he needed to keep the house clean, and his clothes on.  I stuck it to his door, so we will see what happens.

Back to the sea

The day passed uneventfully, busily as Onder had received a phone call from security (apparently the naked incidences hadn’t stopped) and I had a job interview, but eventually the day ended, and Joe and I went for a couple of beers to kill time before our bus and we were off.  The trip passed uneventfully, dozing on and off, making faces at the baby in front of us, and being awoken suddenly to find the brakes slamming and cows frantically running out of the way.  As unpleasant a wake up as that was, Joe and I agreed that it was better than actually hitting them.

Bus views

We made it to Trabzon by about 9am, found a dolmus (mini bus) that took us to the hotel and chatted with the owner and they let us in early.  We had decided to go to Sumela Monastery the next day, so we booked our tour and then showered and went to find something to eat.  We wandered through the market and the square, and finally found a restaurant that was suitable- this was still a bit tricky as it was the final day of fasting, but we prevailed.  We left and wandered for a long while to the Hagia Sophia museum- a mini version of the original in Istanbul and it was pretty good, very beautifully maintained overlooking the sea.  Like its namesake it was also a church before it was a mosque, and the depiction of culture preserved in its walls was fascinating. 

Trabzon Aya Sofia

We were completely knackered by the time we got back (buses are not my favourite place to sleep), so we napped, and then I went to the Haman as I absolutely adore Turkish baths, and  I passed a blissful hour being exfoliating, massaged and cleansed.  When I returned to the hotel, the receptionist stopped me and told me that Sumela was closed the next day- due to Ramadhan finishing- so I talked to Joe and we decided to do it the day after, and go to Uzungol instead.  We found dinner and then called it a day.