A Presidential Visit

         Spring is in the air!  Or, it was.  Last week the weather became sunny and crisp, with that nip in the air and the smell of freshness everywhere.  It was invigorating.  I began my spring cleaning (scrubbing my floors, etc.) when spring betrayed me, only a false alarm.  Winter returned, with below freezing temperatures and snow to boot!  Apparently this is a good thing, as summer tends to get quite hot here and the longer the winter lasts, the more bearable it is, but to be honest, I was ready for a change of season.

Fresh snow on the mountains

                One of these snowfalls occurred last night as I was getting ready for my class.  Although giant posters had been up all over town, and I knew some event was occurring, I was unsure of what it was until my students informed me that the President of Turkey (Erdogan) was to give a speech in Malatya the following day.  Now, although I do not know much about Erdogan, I know enough to know that we would not be friends and that he is a power hungry man who is trying to change the Turkish parliamentary system to give him more powers.  That attached to his views on women and the fact that he imprisoned a 16 year old for criticizing him, makes me feel like I have enough information not to think he is a fantastic leader, but alas.  

           The snow was still falling as I left work and headed to the bus stop.  The problem was that that were in the process of setting up for the President’s speech, so my bus was taking a different route and I didn’t know where that was.  This meant that I ended up walking 3km out of the city centre to where I figured the bus would stop.  Normally I don’t mind walking three kilometers, but at the end of the day, in snow, negative temperatures and heeled boots (which I would not have worn had I known I would be walking) it is not my idea of a good time.  I finally made it to the bus stop just as the President’s motorcade was coming in from the airport, meaning they shut the road for a good twenty minutes so he could get through, and again, waiting in the cold and snow (without my toque which I had forgotten) was not ideal.  It ended up taking me an hour and a half to get home, and I took off my boots in the elevator and walked in my socks to the apartment.

                The next day, I had a rough idea of where the bus would go, but left a little early just in case, and ended up behind the big mosque in the centre, instead of in front of it, but that wasn’t too bad.  Even though it was early, the city was a buzz in preparations, red and white balloons, and giant banners of Erdogan were everywhere.  I made it through my first four classes before the celebrations got under way, and then ran upstairs to the balcony to watch (snipers on the roof tops) as an old folk song that had been redone to chant his name blasted throughout the city (the whole thing felt very cult-ish) and watched as the President began his speech before my next class started. 

Snipers on the roof!

Giant banners adorned the streets.

                This following a week of protests after a young university student was murdered on her way home from school in Mersin (she was brutally attacked on a mini bus after fending off her rapist with pepper spray) has made for an interesting week of street viewing in Malatya.