I have to admit that I have been putting off writing this post, since, to be honest, the end of the trip was fairly anti-climactic. It's hard to top flash floods and hellish immigration experiences, I guess? Or, really, any of the weird and cool and interesting and surreal experiences that we had. (The fact that I got to do this with dear friends makes it even more fantastic! Did I ever expect that my Minnesotan self would go to college in Boston, meet great friends from Tennessee and Washington, attend their wedding in San Francisco, watch them move to Tel Aviv, move myself to Zürich, and then meet in Turkey to vacation in Iraq? Life is so interesting.) I was actually just asked about my Easter vacation by my German teacher, and it was pretty entertaining to see her reaction. At the end of class she was still shaking her head, saying she was having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that I went to Turkey and Iraq and that I spoke in German with a taxi driver there.
Saturday went something like this: Woke up at smokey hotel due to construction noise. Checked out. Caught bus up to old Mardin. Had lunch in a fancy restaurant. Somehow got separated from Brian when he was looking for a hotel. Helped by a little boy to catch a bus supposedly to the airport and said goodbye to Jessi who went to look for Brian. Bus didn't move for 10 minutes because a tour bus was stuck in a narrow alley. Got out of the bus to walk. Missed bus. Passed by a donkey or two. Bumped into Brian outside of a hotel. Called a taxi at the hotel. Passed a large parade of young people wearing neon wigs, with faces painted, who were chanting something. They stopped to take my picture. Got into the taxi and made it to the airport in time for my flight. A major portion of the safety information time was dedicated to praising Atatürk, given that Saturday was declared Children's Day by Atatürk. At the end of the flight to Ankara, the flight attendant said something in Turkish and didn't translate it. All I understood was the word "American" and then everyone turned around and looked at me. Caught flight from Ankara to Istanbul. Took a normal, metered taxi to the hotel we stayed at when I arrived. Was recognized by receptionist, who gave me a massive suite with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room and bathroom for the cost of a single. Fell asleep to the thumping base of the club downstairs.
Sunday: Happy Easter! Woke up. Caught a taxi back to airport. Drank the most expensive coffee ever. Made it through immigration. Flew back to Zürich. Everyone clapped when we landed. And we were met at the gate by immigration people, who wouldn't even let us off the plane until we could show that we should be there. Then I really knew that I was back. Of course Swiss immigration would meet a flight from Turkey at the gate, even though there are other immigration stations further in the airport. Welcome home! Took wonderfully on-time public transport back to my flat. Was met by my lovely new roommate, Georgie, who wanted to drink tea and sit on the balcony and chat for hours. The end.
It's not only the anti-climactic nature of the end of the trip, but it's also the summing up that I am struggling with. I feel like I saw and heard and felt and touched and met and learned and experienced so much, and it is hard to divide it into themes or even put it in words. At this point, I'm still mulling and absorbing and thinking and processing, but maybe someday I'll have synthesized this trip into a neat little package.
Really, the point of traveling to this part of the world (for me) was to have a hands-on experience with the people and the culture and the history and the present. The fact that this region is both the cradle of civilization and a focal point of current events makes it rich and layered and interesting and complex, and I wanted to get a feel for it. There are some things that you cannot learn from books and the news- only experience will do. And through all of these experiences, I feel that I have gained an increased appreciation for the complexity of situations (here and elsewhere) and the frequent absence of a right or even a good answer. Not necessarily very satisfying, but I think that reality is layered and complicated and full of snarls, and traveling gives you a glimpse of all of the knots and tangles. And I love it!
**Photo Credit: Brian and Jessica Patton.
Saturday went something like this: Woke up at smokey hotel due to construction noise. Checked out. Caught bus up to old Mardin. Had lunch in a fancy restaurant. Somehow got separated from Brian when he was looking for a hotel. Helped by a little boy to catch a bus supposedly to the airport and said goodbye to Jessi who went to look for Brian. Bus didn't move for 10 minutes because a tour bus was stuck in a narrow alley. Got out of the bus to walk. Missed bus. Passed by a donkey or two. Bumped into Brian outside of a hotel. Called a taxi at the hotel. Passed a large parade of young people wearing neon wigs, with faces painted, who were chanting something. They stopped to take my picture. Got into the taxi and made it to the airport in time for my flight. A major portion of the safety information time was dedicated to praising Atatürk, given that Saturday was declared Children's Day by Atatürk. At the end of the flight to Ankara, the flight attendant said something in Turkish and didn't translate it. All I understood was the word "American" and then everyone turned around and looked at me. Caught flight from Ankara to Istanbul. Took a normal, metered taxi to the hotel we stayed at when I arrived. Was recognized by receptionist, who gave me a massive suite with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room and bathroom for the cost of a single. Fell asleep to the thumping base of the club downstairs.
Sunday: Happy Easter! Woke up. Caught a taxi back to airport. Drank the most expensive coffee ever. Made it through immigration. Flew back to Zürich. Everyone clapped when we landed. And we were met at the gate by immigration people, who wouldn't even let us off the plane until we could show that we should be there. Then I really knew that I was back. Of course Swiss immigration would meet a flight from Turkey at the gate, even though there are other immigration stations further in the airport. Welcome home! Took wonderfully on-time public transport back to my flat. Was met by my lovely new roommate, Georgie, who wanted to drink tea and sit on the balcony and chat for hours. The end.
It's not only the anti-climactic nature of the end of the trip, but it's also the summing up that I am struggling with. I feel like I saw and heard and felt and touched and met and learned and experienced so much, and it is hard to divide it into themes or even put it in words. At this point, I'm still mulling and absorbing and thinking and processing, but maybe someday I'll have synthesized this trip into a neat little package.
Really, the point of traveling to this part of the world (for me) was to have a hands-on experience with the people and the culture and the history and the present. The fact that this region is both the cradle of civilization and a focal point of current events makes it rich and layered and interesting and complex, and I wanted to get a feel for it. There are some things that you cannot learn from books and the news- only experience will do. And through all of these experiences, I feel that I have gained an increased appreciation for the complexity of situations (here and elsewhere) and the frequent absence of a right or even a good answer. Not necessarily very satisfying, but I think that reality is layered and complicated and full of snarls, and traveling gives you a glimpse of all of the knots and tangles. And I love it!
**Photo Credit: Brian and Jessica Patton.
