Here's a little story. Hopefully the hilarity of it translates rather than it seem like I'm complaining. Because I'm really not. I just find this to be funny.
I'm a planner. Honestly, 65% of my thought time is consumed with planning.
I'm talking about planning at ridiculous levels. For me, however, reality unfortunately does not equal what is planned nearly 100% of the time.
Take this past Wednesday, for instance.
I started planning Wednesday on Monday.
The plan:
1. A slight change to my schedule, I'd go for a run on Thursday instead of Wednesday. This way I would be more likely to get out of the house on time.
2. Be out the door by 9 am.
3. By 9:15 be in and out of the post office. By 9:45 be in and out of the bank with all bills paid.
4. Go to the Emniyet to pick-up my residence permit. If all goes well, be done by 11:00.
5. Go to Kizilay. Grab some simit for lunch then hop on the ODTU dolmus.
6. Stop by the MTA to buy a geologic map of Sorgun.
7. Hop on another dolmus and get to campus by 12:30.
8. Get my crate of rocks from the Kerkenes office.
9. Go to class from 1:40-4:00.
10. Home. dinner. work. bed.
Ok, so, that's a pretty ridiculous/boring--but very well-developed--plan, no? I was going to have a really really productive day.
Now let's take a look at what actually happened:
1. Woke up. It was raining--perfect, a bad day for a run. Rain, good omen?
2. Successfully got out the door by 9 am. In fact, I was actually out the door by 8:56.
3. Post office was easy peasy and I was in-and-out like a burger.
Continued on to the bank. At the bank, I was second in line--great! When my number was called, I gave the teller my bills and my money.
plan failure 1: Processing took an abnormally long time...turned out one of the bills wouldn't go through. No explanation. Try again later. So, I managed to get two bills done but I was still gonna have to go back later and probably wait in a long line.
4. Still pretty much on time. Emniyet is a bit of a trek to get to, not something I'm really interested in doing every day. But, I was energized this morning with plan excitement and I made it there by 10:15. It was early enough that there were no crowds to deal with. Huzzah! And then...
plan failure 2: The guy told me I had to come back after 4 o'clock or on another day to pick-up my residence permit because it wasn't ready yet. What?!?! No way in hell I was gonna haul back there after 4 o'clock. Agh, just gonna have to come back another day. [Here is where planning for Friday began]
5. Oh well. It was only 10:45. I was at least not going to be rushed for the rest of my schedule. So, I head back to Kizilay, buy my simit, and hop on the dolmus.
6. Make it to the MTA. I was recognized by the front gate guards as "weren't you here two weeks ago? didn't you not have any ID? didn't we have to pull some strings to get you in? oh, that was you? Well, hosgeldiniz [welcome]!" He remembers me...for embarrassing myself. How sweet!
plan failure 3: I go to the library where the maps are sold. On the door is a little note that says "we are at the seminar." [annual Turkish geologic conference is this week at the MTA]. Umm, ok. Well, how long are you going to be there? Should I stand here for awhile? I have time.
I stand around for a bit, but then I decide that's not gonna work. So, I go into the library and there's a guy there who tells me that I should just go try to find their booth at the seminar. Ok.
I go to the seminar. No idea where to go. Ask the security guards about it and they kindly make some calls. The woman tells me to go downstairs and someone can help me. At least that's what I thought she said.
So, I go downstairs...into a basement...where there is nothing and noone. It's basically behind the scenes. I find a guy and two girls smoking and randomly ask them about it. The guy says "yeah, it's closed for the week. come back next week." Agh...it's a bit of a pain getting to the MTA too! I don't want to have to come back again next week! Oh well. Somewhat disheartened I go back upstairs.
As I'm about to leave, the security guard sees me and stops me. "No, it's over here. That was the wrong place." She was so sweet, brought me around and helped me find the table. Then the people at the table helped me look for my map. I had bought a geologic map of the Yozgat area a few weeks ago, but it was just south of where I want. So, I came back for a different one.
We searched through everything. The woman even went back to the library to bring back some maps they didn't have on the table. Well, as it turns out, the area where I'm working is too gizli [secret]...the public can't buy 1:100,000 maps of the area. WHAT?! There's nothing there! How can it be considered a top secret area?!? I guess they have been on a serious hunt for uranium around there...but still! Many parts of Turkey are that way, though...the military severely controls access to maps. But, it was frustrating because every area north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest of Kerkenes...they all had maps available! Gaaaaaaah!
Despite the disappointment I would like to mention how wonderfully kind and helpful everyone at the MTA has been both times I've been there. It's been a totally stress-free communication and problem-solving experience, for the most part. Much better than other situations, that's for sure. In the end it just proves that geologists are great. I love geologists.
7. Totally disheartened, I leave the MTA, catch the dolmus to ODTU, make it there by noon.
8. Go to the Kerkenes office to get my rocks. They were in the Land Rover and Francoise was going to drop them off at the office for me to pick up.
plan failure 4: As it happens, Francoise didn't drop the rocks off...and she and Geoff are in Istanbul until Tuesday!!
9. I have plenty of time before class. I'll just go up to the geology building and sit in the cafe for awhile. It was nice and warm and out of the rain.
It was also loud and I saw my first relationship fight in Turkey. Can you say incredibly awkward? The girl was being ridiculously melodramatic and the guy kept trying to rest on her shoulder or kiss her or nuzzle her or something. It was so totally not working and the stupidest approach he could have taken...just egged her on more than anything. She was a piece of work, I'll tell ya. Not exactly sure what the fight was about, but it was by no means a secret. In the end they made up. And then it was gross PDAing for the remainder of the time.
plan failure 5: One of the girls from my class comes over to me. "We don't have class today." Now, this class I have--Geology of Turkey--has been canceled a number of times. However, since I'm not a registered student, I'm not on the class listhost...so I never get the emails about class cancellations or field trips. Cool. I didn't need to come all the way out here? Didn't need to walk the 20 minutes up the hill in the freezing cold rain to get to the building? And I have to walk the 20 minutes back down the hill in the now actual freezing rain to get home? Thanks hocam. Thanks a bunch. I'm so thrilled class was canceled...for the 4th time this semester.
10. Came home. Went back to the bank and stood in line for half-an-hour to pay that other bill. At least that went through.
At the end of the day, I seriously thought I had walked halfway around the world. I mean, none of these places were even remotely near each other.
I needed a nap. As Megs once told me, "napping is a skill. a life skill. you really need to practice, Ay." And let me tell you, I tried. Really hard. And failed.
The hilarity of it all is that I had managed to follow my plan...but man, the system just wasn't on my side. It's particularly wonderful how perfectly imperfect the whole day was.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
the ancient site of Kerkenes and the rebirth of a geology dream. [part II]
And continuing...
Day 2--Part II: Saturday April 14th, 2007
Five main rocks were being used in building and ornaments at Kerkenes:
1. granite [gray]
2. granite [red]
3. quartz-tourmaline breccia [black and white]
4. sandstone
5. fossiliferous limestone
Now, the questions are:
1. where the heck did they get the rocks?
2. did they quarry them?
(a) if yes, where are the quarries?
(b) if no, see question 1.
3. how did they get them to the site?
The two granites are pretty easy. They were primarily used for building foundations and walls. Geoff, and I would agree, is pretty sure that these were not taken from any significant distance--not only are they seriously heavy rocks, but they comprise the entire Kerkenes mountaintop. There's no reason to think they would do anything but collect from the area and cut as necessary.
That leaves us with the other rocks. These were generally used in carving, ornamentation, and statuary. However, at the palace complex, it is clear that special care was taken when considering the building. Rocks in this building were layered with regards to color--red granite base to yellow sandstone to bright white fossiliferous limestone. The intent to do this is obvious, both from the physical elements seen in the excavation and ancient writings that discuss the building. Nonetheless, where the significant quantities of these stones came from is still unknown.
Geoff does not believe they were collected from any place much outside a 5 km radius around the site. Furthermore, specific trade and transport roads were most likely used because moving rocks along unestablished roads would be very difficult. We're talking about a really rough climate and terrain here--in all likelihood, they dealt with thick forests and winter conditions for nearly 9 months a year.
So, the goal of the afternoon was to begin investigating these questions a little bit. Nothing formal, just a drive around Kerkenes. Geoff could show me the places where he knew certain rocks could be found and we could take an informal look around.
It was great. We started by checking out this odd black rock up on a hillside. It's this really incredible rock--very hard, black, often in sharp contact with a quartzite. [I had no idea what it was when we were out there, but now I know it's a quartz-tourmaline breccia] It was used very little at Kerkenes, though I can't understand why--it's a striking, handsome stone. However, I suppose, it is a metamorphic rock...which means it's hard as hell and nearly impossible to carve. But, they definitely could have gotten their supply of it from this little hilltop area. Probably didn't need to quarry it.
We kept going a bit and found a modern road quarry, nothing special. But then...Geoff just stopped the Land Rover near a hill and plowed field.
What did I see? Umm...a hill and mushed dirt.
What did he see? A settlement.
Uh huh...yeah. You've got to be kidding me, i thought.
It was all triggered by a change in soil color. The hill is a hoyuk [heuhyeuk; mound]. It's basically a small hill that formed over time as people build-destroy-rebuild mudbrick houses. Hoyuks are all over the Anatolian Plain and this one is a small mound, probably had a few hundred homes. It's associated with a small wadi--a stream--as is typical of most hoyuks. Hey, everybody needs some water some time.
Geoff didn't tell me what it was immediately, just said he saw a change in the soil color. As we walked closer to the mound he started bending down and picking stuff up...by stuff I mean pottery. The change in the soil color was because pottery was being incorporated into the plowing. And that tipped him off! Ha! Pretty cool, huh? But, you know, ignorance is bliss. Now, every time I see color grade in plowed soil next to a hill I'm going to think some ancient civilization lived there. Good thing Chicago has no hills.
It was exciting, a great archeology lesson. Funny, though. Geoff spots pottery right away while I spot rocks and crystals right away, and it's hard for us to find the other person's objects. The eye, it's trained.
But, moving on.
After that we just drove around for awhile--off road, on road, through villages, stopping to look at rocks along the road, inspecting mudbrick houses for pottery fragments, coming upon really strange incredibly red rocks [that you find near the Euphrates, not near Kerkenes], asking villagers where the rocks came from and getting answers like "this is a wall."--it was great.
At one point we came upon the coal quarry which we are going to try to get access to at some point. It's the first place we think we spied the sandstone, but it's much too far from Kerkenes to have been the quarry for them.
Driving around was probably the best thing for us to spend the afternoon doing. The day was perfectly clear [we could Mt. Erciyas, 100 km away, poking out above the clouds!!] and I developed a much better understanding of the area and the radius that I'll be dealing with. I also collected a bunch of stuff that I'm super duper uper excited to start looking at. Overall, I really needed to see this; I think it's going to be really helpful in terms of pre-fieldwork work.
We got back to the Kerkenes village with about an hour before the weather would start getting really cold. So, Geoff and I took a walk around the village. He brought me out to the Organik Bahce [bahchey, garden] that is apparently doing really well. It's part of Francoise's project. The question now is: how do you make it in to something bigger? Sure, some other people have started organic farming in Kerkenes based on the success of this garden. But, how do you go from 5 to 50 to 500 to 5000 to 50,000 farms? Where do you get the funding? I asked Geoff about using the microbank loan system that is being used some in India, but he made a pretty compelling argument for how it wouldn't work in Turkey...at least not yet.
On the way out to the garden we came upon this wheel. It's a stone crusher! You hook a donkey up to the metal bar, put your material in the well, the donkey walks in circles and the wheel crushes. This one is currently not used, but they are still used in the area. Remember, cars had never even been seen here until the 1930s. Shows how much a donkey can really handle, too. [you can see Geoff in the back]
The villagers told the Kerkenes project that they could take it, but it's falling apart and may be quite difficult to move. They are trying to set up a small Kerkenes museum and this village artifact would be a great addition. I'm also going to try to put together a small local geology display for them while I'm here.
After the garden, Geoff took me over to another hoyuk. This one also became the village's first cemetery. The cemetery grew too large, however, and now it's split between two other locations. But, again, there was pottery everywhere on the mound.
Throughout the landscape of the area there are striking arrays of poplar trees. According to Geoff, the story goes:
"When a baby girl is born, her father plants poplars. The poplars are then used to build the roof of her first home when she gets married."
I quite like that. The reality of it now is unclear. But, the trees are everywhere and always arranged in such a picturesque fashion in the middle of fields.
There are also a million gazillion birds. Hoopoes and magpies are my favorites. The hoopoes are a bright yellow with black and white wings, a long beak, and a spiffy crest. The magpies are black with this wonderfully long tail of black and white feathers...and they hop around sometimes, which is hilarious. The storks are quite cool too; on the top of many of the village mosques you can see gigantic nests, which the storks return to every year.
The sun started going down and it was getting on towards dinner, so we headed back. We had quite the view and Kerkenes makes for a beautiful silhouette background as the sun goes down.
We were planning to go to the wedding in the evening, but we wanted to be sure to go after the guests had eaten...otherwise, they'd shove food down our throats. So, we waited until 8 to eat. In the meantime, for the two hours prior, I basically hugged the furnace. Then, unfortunately, during dinner we heard gunshots. It's a big problem here--a number of deaths occurred recently from bullets shot in the air falling back on people's heads. So, we decided to wait until Sunday to go. It was an early night, as a result...and I was thankful for that, since all the wedding dancing occurred outside aaaand I was pretty zonked.
Day 3: Sunday April 15th, 2007
Woke up to...SNOW. ugh. so so so cold. But, it was good for the village. There's going to be a serious water shortage this summer as the entire country has received virtually no rain/snow this winter/spring.
Our original plan was to leave by 4 o'clock, but we decided to leave earlier in case the road conditions were bad. Francoise had some things to do, so Geoff and I went to run errands in Sorgun, which included trying to get money out of the bank machine. Given that it was Sunday in the middle of nowhere, all the banks were closed and there was no cash in the ATM machines. heh. That was pretty unsuccessful.
Then we drove out a bit farther, and saw the Sugar Factory, some quarries, and an entire town that is heated by the local natural hot springs. They're building a whole bunch of new hot spring heated cookie cutter houses and a hot springs resort, though we're not sure how deep the reservoir is. Nonetheless, pretty cool.
Then we went out to "the lake." We checked out some rocks along the way and went through a little village called Peyniryemez Koyu [Cheese is Not Eaten Village]--total B.S., they definitely eat cheese there. But, there's gotta be a story behind the name. Always is, here. That's why I love Turkish place names. They are generally pretty self explanatory, otherwise there's a good story.
Eventually we got to the lake. It's got tons of birds around it, big storks and herons. It reminded me of Kruger watering holes a fair bit.
And there, right next to it: Cadirhoyuk [chaderheuhyeuk]
Cadirhoyuk [the thing on the left] is a pretty famous mound that has had many generations of inhabitants. Honestly, it seems to me that every civilization that ever inhabited the Anatolian Plain since the Calcholithic period probably, at one time or another, had a group living on Cadirhoyuk. A mild exaggeration...but, it really does have a ridiculously rich history of habitation. Mounds like this one are pretty cool because they basically hold a stratigraphic record of civilization. One group builds upon the last and so on. So, the mound has layers corresponding with different groups of inhabitants. Stratigraphy of civilization...hmm, I like that.
Cadirhoyuk is huge and you can see excavation work from quite a distance [note, my picture stinks]. I can also see why it was such a popular location--safety, access to water, access to transport routes...nice view, too. Pretty much a perfect location. Ron Gorny, at the University of Chicago [he's actually a student advisor in Harper], is the project director. He was part of my Fulbright Committee, too. I'm hoping to go see the site close-up sometime this summer, hopefully he'll be there. Geoff doesn't think Cadir will have a long excavation season this year, for some reason or another. Dunno. We'll see.
After a relaxing 15 minutes at the lake and Cadir it was time to get back. We knew it would probably take a while to get Francoise into the Land Rover, so we thought it best to start goading her early...an hour-and-a-half early. Did it work? No. We still left late. But, we did get her out by 2:30 which, by Geoff and Pam's standards, is pretty good.
It was snowing pretty hard in places. Sometimes, though, there were periods of great light...which I missed, of course, and got some mostly rotten pictures. But, here's some of the landscape. As per usual, I haven't done it justice. But, making the photos bigger helps, especially the fourth one. I spent most of my time drooling on the window. Yes, emphasis is on the rocks, I know. I'm working on it, ok!? Right...we all know that's a lie, too.
We made it back in good time. I came home to leftover icli kofte from Aunt Nurten [mmm], a hot shower [which I didn't take until the next morning], and a warm apartment [so warm I couldn't sleep, actually]. Ah, you win some you lose some.
I admit, even though Ankara is not nearly as scenic and I've gone back to having sleepless nights, it's good to be back. At the same time, I'm stoked to get back to Kerkenes. Does that make sense? No. Did I ever claim to make sense? No. Good.
But yes, this weekend was great. And I'm definitely looking forward to the summer, getting to hop around on those rocks and ruins. yippee skippee.
Day 2--Part II: Saturday April 14th, 2007
Five main rocks were being used in building and ornaments at Kerkenes:
1. granite [gray]
2. granite [red]
3. quartz-tourmaline breccia [black and white]
4. sandstone
5. fossiliferous limestone
Now, the questions are:
1. where the heck did they get the rocks?
2. did they quarry them?
(a) if yes, where are the quarries?
(b) if no, see question 1.
3. how did they get them to the site?
The two granites are pretty easy. They were primarily used for building foundations and walls. Geoff, and I would agree, is pretty sure that these were not taken from any significant distance--not only are they seriously heavy rocks, but they comprise the entire Kerkenes mountaintop. There's no reason to think they would do anything but collect from the area and cut as necessary.
That leaves us with the other rocks. These were generally used in carving, ornamentation, and statuary. However, at the palace complex, it is clear that special care was taken when considering the building. Rocks in this building were layered with regards to color--red granite base to yellow sandstone to bright white fossiliferous limestone. The intent to do this is obvious, both from the physical elements seen in the excavation and ancient writings that discuss the building. Nonetheless, where the significant quantities of these stones came from is still unknown.
Geoff does not believe they were collected from any place much outside a 5 km radius around the site. Furthermore, specific trade and transport roads were most likely used because moving rocks along unestablished roads would be very difficult. We're talking about a really rough climate and terrain here--in all likelihood, they dealt with thick forests and winter conditions for nearly 9 months a year.
So, the goal of the afternoon was to begin investigating these questions a little bit. Nothing formal, just a drive around Kerkenes. Geoff could show me the places where he knew certain rocks could be found and we could take an informal look around.
It was great. We started by checking out this odd black rock up on a hillside. It's this really incredible rock--very hard, black, often in sharp contact with a quartzite. [I had no idea what it was when we were out there, but now I know it's a quartz-tourmaline breccia] It was used very little at Kerkenes, though I can't understand why--it's a striking, handsome stone. However, I suppose, it is a metamorphic rock...which means it's hard as hell and nearly impossible to carve. But, they definitely could have gotten their supply of it from this little hilltop area. Probably didn't need to quarry it.
We kept going a bit and found a modern road quarry, nothing special. But then...Geoff just stopped the Land Rover near a hill and plowed field.
What did I see? Umm...a hill and mushed dirt.
What did he see? A settlement.
Uh huh...yeah. You've got to be kidding me, i thought.
It was all triggered by a change in soil color. The hill is a hoyuk [heuhyeuk; mound]. It's basically a small hill that formed over time as people build-destroy-rebuild mudbrick houses. Hoyuks are all over the Anatolian Plain and this one is a small mound, probably had a few hundred homes. It's associated with a small wadi--a stream--as is typical of most hoyuks. Hey, everybody needs some water some time.
Geoff didn't tell me what it was immediately, just said he saw a change in the soil color. As we walked closer to the mound he started bending down and picking stuff up...by stuff I mean pottery. The change in the soil color was because pottery was being incorporated into the plowing. And that tipped him off! Ha! Pretty cool, huh? But, you know, ignorance is bliss. Now, every time I see color grade in plowed soil next to a hill I'm going to think some ancient civilization lived there. Good thing Chicago has no hills.
It was exciting, a great archeology lesson. Funny, though. Geoff spots pottery right away while I spot rocks and crystals right away, and it's hard for us to find the other person's objects. The eye, it's trained.
But, moving on.
After that we just drove around for awhile--off road, on road, through villages, stopping to look at rocks along the road, inspecting mudbrick houses for pottery fragments, coming upon really strange incredibly red rocks [that you find near the Euphrates, not near Kerkenes], asking villagers where the rocks came from and getting answers like "this is a wall."--it was great.
At one point we came upon the coal quarry which we are going to try to get access to at some point. It's the first place we think we spied the sandstone, but it's much too far from Kerkenes to have been the quarry for them.Driving around was probably the best thing for us to spend the afternoon doing. The day was perfectly clear [we could Mt. Erciyas, 100 km away, poking out above the clouds!!] and I developed a much better understanding of the area and the radius that I'll be dealing with. I also collected a bunch of stuff that I'm super duper uper excited to start looking at. Overall, I really needed to see this; I think it's going to be really helpful in terms of pre-fieldwork work.
We got back to the Kerkenes village with about an hour before the weather would start getting really cold. So, Geoff and I took a walk around the village. He brought me out to the Organik Bahce [bahchey, garden] that is apparently doing really well. It's part of Francoise's project. The question now is: how do you make it in to something bigger? Sure, some other people have started organic farming in Kerkenes based on the success of this garden. But, how do you go from 5 to 50 to 500 to 5000 to 50,000 farms? Where do you get the funding? I asked Geoff about using the microbank loan system that is being used some in India, but he made a pretty compelling argument for how it wouldn't work in Turkey...at least not yet.
On the way out to the garden we came upon this wheel. It's a stone crusher! You hook a donkey up to the metal bar, put your material in the well, the donkey walks in circles and the wheel crushes. This one is currently not used, but they are still used in the area. Remember, cars had never even been seen here until the 1930s. Shows how much a donkey can really handle, too. [you can see Geoff in the back]The villagers told the Kerkenes project that they could take it, but it's falling apart and may be quite difficult to move. They are trying to set up a small Kerkenes museum and this village artifact would be a great addition. I'm also going to try to put together a small local geology display for them while I'm here.
After the garden, Geoff took me over to another hoyuk. This one also became the village's first cemetery. The cemetery grew too large, however, and now it's split between two other locations. But, again, there was pottery everywhere on the mound.
Throughout the landscape of the area there are striking arrays of poplar trees. According to Geoff, the story goes:"When a baby girl is born, her father plants poplars. The poplars are then used to build the roof of her first home when she gets married."
I quite like that. The reality of it now is unclear. But, the trees are everywhere and always arranged in such a picturesque fashion in the middle of fields.
There are also a million gazillion birds. Hoopoes and magpies are my favorites. The hoopoes are a bright yellow with black and white wings, a long beak, and a spiffy crest. The magpies are black with this wonderfully long tail of black and white feathers...and they hop around sometimes, which is hilarious. The storks are quite cool too; on the top of many of the village mosques you can see gigantic nests, which the storks return to every year.
The sun started going down and it was getting on towards dinner, so we headed back. We had quite the view and Kerkenes makes for a beautiful silhouette background as the sun goes down.
We were planning to go to the wedding in the evening, but we wanted to be sure to go after the guests had eaten...otherwise, they'd shove food down our throats. So, we waited until 8 to eat. In the meantime, for the two hours prior, I basically hugged the furnace. Then, unfortunately, during dinner we heard gunshots. It's a big problem here--a number of deaths occurred recently from bullets shot in the air falling back on people's heads. So, we decided to wait until Sunday to go. It was an early night, as a result...and I was thankful for that, since all the wedding dancing occurred outside aaaand I was pretty zonked.
Day 3: Sunday April 15th, 2007
Woke up to...SNOW. ugh. so so so cold. But, it was good for the village. There's going to be a serious water shortage this summer as the entire country has received virtually no rain/snow this winter/spring.Our original plan was to leave by 4 o'clock, but we decided to leave earlier in case the road conditions were bad. Francoise had some things to do, so Geoff and I went to run errands in Sorgun, which included trying to get money out of the bank machine. Given that it was Sunday in the middle of nowhere, all the banks were closed and there was no cash in the ATM machines. heh. That was pretty unsuccessful.
Then we drove out a bit farther, and saw the Sugar Factory, some quarries, and an entire town that is heated by the local natural hot springs. They're building a whole bunch of new hot spring heated cookie cutter houses and a hot springs resort, though we're not sure how deep the reservoir is. Nonetheless, pretty cool.Then we went out to "the lake." We checked out some rocks along the way and went through a little village called Peyniryemez Koyu [Cheese is Not Eaten Village]--total B.S., they definitely eat cheese there. But, there's gotta be a story behind the name. Always is, here. That's why I love Turkish place names. They are generally pretty self explanatory, otherwise there's a good story.
Eventually we got to the lake. It's got tons of birds around it, big storks and herons. It reminded me of Kruger watering holes a fair bit.
And there, right next to it: Cadirhoyuk [chaderheuhyeuk]Cadirhoyuk [the thing on the left] is a pretty famous mound that has had many generations of inhabitants. Honestly, it seems to me that every civilization that ever inhabited the Anatolian Plain since the Calcholithic period probably, at one time or another, had a group living on Cadirhoyuk. A mild exaggeration...but, it really does have a ridiculously rich history of habitation. Mounds like this one are pretty cool because they basically hold a stratigraphic record of civilization. One group builds upon the last and so on. So, the mound has layers corresponding with different groups of inhabitants. Stratigraphy of civilization...hmm, I like that.
Cadirhoyuk is huge and you can see excavation work from quite a distance [note, my picture stinks]. I can also see why it was such a popular location--safety, access to water, access to transport routes...nice view, too. Pretty much a perfect location. Ron Gorny, at the University of Chicago [he's actually a student advisor in Harper], is the project director. He was part of my Fulbright Committee, too. I'm hoping to go see the site close-up sometime this summer, hopefully he'll be there. Geoff doesn't think Cadir will have a long excavation season this year, for some reason or another. Dunno. We'll see.
After a relaxing 15 minutes at the lake and Cadir it was time to get back. We knew it would probably take a while to get Francoise into the Land Rover, so we thought it best to start goading her early...an hour-and-a-half early. Did it work? No. We still left late. But, we did get her out by 2:30 which, by Geoff and Pam's standards, is pretty good.
It was snowing pretty hard in places. Sometimes, though, there were periods of great light...which I missed, of course, and got some mostly rotten pictures. But, here's some of the landscape. As per usual, I haven't done it justice. But, making the photos bigger helps, especially the fourth one. I spent most of my time drooling on the window. Yes, emphasis is on the rocks, I know. I'm working on it, ok!? Right...we all know that's a lie, too.
We made it back in good time. I came home to leftover icli kofte from Aunt Nurten [mmm], a hot shower [which I didn't take until the next morning], and a warm apartment [so warm I couldn't sleep, actually]. Ah, you win some you lose some.
I admit, even though Ankara is not nearly as scenic and I've gone back to having sleepless nights, it's good to be back. At the same time, I'm stoked to get back to Kerkenes. Does that make sense? No. Did I ever claim to make sense? No. Good.
But yes, this weekend was great. And I'm definitely looking forward to the summer, getting to hop around on those rocks and ruins. yippee skippee.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
the ancient site of Kerkenes and the rebirth of a geology dream. [part I]
Damn you, rocks!
Or, rather, damn you people who can be enthused and curious about rocks and introduce me to things i've never seen before!
Or, perhaps, just damn you rocks and interesting people and interesting places.
This weekend I had the chance to go out and see the site where I'll be working this summer--Kerkenes Dag [kerkenes daah; Kerkenes Mountain]. Kerkenes is located just outside the town of Sorgun, about 4 hours drive east of Ankara, and is associated with a small village of approximately 200 families. Kerkenes Dag is yet another Hittite site [and quite an important one at that] and has been under excavation for approximately 15 years. The project is currently headed by METU Professor of Settlement Archaeology Geoff Summers and will eventually be taken over by the Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago.
Geoff's wife, Francoise [a METU professor in Archaeology], is also involved with Kerkenes but from a different perspective--she is interested in energy efficient housing and about 3 years ago began the Kerkenes EcoCenter. Consequently, current building at the Kerkenes field station is an energy experiment--running on solar; organic gardens; solar cooking; energy efficient building materials, etc. It's an interesting and quite successful project that has incorporated many village residents. She also runs architecture "field camps," bringing in students from METU. One of her students, Mustafa [a very dedicated student--doesn't talk much, is very serious, quite different from a lot of the kids here...then again, he's actually from Cyprus], came with us this weekend and next weekend she'll be bringing 35 students to investigate and work on the current building projects--a new sample depot and research center; additional housing.
Geoff is British and Francoise is Mauritian. They have two daughters who each speak at least three languages perfectly--Turkish, English, and French. This weekend his youngest daughter [who will be starting at a French university in the autumn], Pamela, came out to the site as well because her childhood friend in the village was getting married. Their lives have drifted apart significantly in content but they've remained good friends. I mean, Pam is going to university next year and her friend...she'll probably have a kid or two. It'll be interesting to see what happens to them in the future.
Well, ok, that's a little superfluous background. Not what we're here for. So, on to the trip! [Just a warning...it's gonna be a long and relatively boring entry, which will be followed by the second half on some other day.]
DAY 1: Friday April 13th, 2007
Geoff and Francoise had room in the Land Rover for the ride up, so I didn't have to catch the bus. That was cool, saved me 18YTL and got me a nice basic geology/archeology lesson from Geoff on the way up [he's archeology, but knows some geology of the region]. We left around 1:30; departure was supposed to be at 12:30 but the late start gave me the opportunity to see Geoff and Francoise's house on campus. It's a mess with all sorts of stuff they've picked up on their travels, plants, and 5 massive guinea pigs. The guinea pigs belong to their older daughter, but she's gone to university so Geoff's taken over. They have all these pipes set up so the guinea pigs can go to different cages both inside and outside the house. I can't tell you how shocked I was when I saw it...it was pretty intricate and the guinea pigs were seriously huge. The Summers are a much too interesting people!
The ride up was relatively nondescript, other than the super cool rocks. At some point we stopped at the Yebitas cement factory. Yebitas used to be a big funding source for the Kerkenes projects, but the state of that funding is in question now that the company was sold to the Portugese. At Yebitas we met with a young fella who, let me tell you, had to have been on speed. He talked so fast, smiled so much, ran around like a crazy goose, and flipped his pencil maniacally...when he was talking to people on the phone that pencil went flying all over the room. But, he was nice and quite helpful, getting Francoise some donated cement. We'll see what happens with the bigger funding issue sometime later. It was interesting sitting in on the transaction and conversation, though. No skirting the issues here, that's for sure!
Yebitas was about an hour outside of Sorgun and it was 4:30 by the time we got back on the road. Unfortunately, as per usual, I really had to pee at that point. And then the brake light started flashing. That was...not so cool. But, we made it ok...even stopping in Sorgun for bread after some hilarious quibbling between the drivers.
sidenote #1: I've never seen such quibbling in my life! Not even in my family of professional quarrelers. Geoff and Francoise are champions! It's funny but also generally constructive, I think.
When we arrived in Kerkenes, village people [ha. ha.] came to meet us...and Francoise went straight to work. [She's crazy! Works constantly, juggles forty-five things at once, speaks three languages, and is really absorbed/in love with what she does. I have a lot of respect for her.] Geoff and I looked on as she directed her companions and he gave me a little background on the EcoCenter project.
Then it was just too cold and I had to wait inside.
sidenote #2: It's too bad it was so cold...can I tell you how cold it was? No, I can't. It was that cold. So cold that every unoccupied moment was spent surrounding a small, but remarkable, wood-burning furnace. I had to sleep in long-underwear, sweatpants, three layers of top + sweatshirt, and gloves. And, unfortunately, it appears I lost my fleece headband sometime last week, so I had to wear my fuzzy Siberia hat around...which generally scared most of the villagers half to death. A reasonable reaction, I'd say. Heck, if I saw my face in a fuzzy crazy hat like that I'd want to run and bury myself under my bed, too! Plus, we're talking about a group of people who hadn't seen a car until, what was it? 1930s?, when a German fellow drove in. But, who cares about the cold, right? To everyone's surprise, especially my own, I somehow managed to survive it.
Eventually, we had dinner--it's hard to pull Francoise away from her work--and then we sat around the furnace and talked awhile until Pamela and her friends arrived. Geoff has had such an amazing run of field work--hiking around Iran, Ethiopia, Kenya, living in the middle of nowhere. He's got such interesting stories. In Kenya, he worked in the Bush...with no rangers! Just walked out there and made lots of noise hoping that it would dispel any creatures from gobbling him up. In Kruger you'd be shot (probably by a ranger for that matter), or perhaps consumed, if you got out of the car and walked into the Bush alone! Heck man, I can't even imagine doing that...since the walk we took with the ranger in Kruger there's no way in hell mizell you'd catch me hanging out in the Bush looking at ancient human relics. Ok, that's a big fat lie--I'd totally go for that thrill. But, I'd still be scared.
So, basically, he's one pretty cool guy.
Pamela et al. arrived--bright eyed, bushy tailed, wearing sandals and no coats--around 11 o'clock. The wedding they were going to was a village wedding...which means it started on Thursday and lasted until Sunday, so they went for an hour after getting to the site. The wedding had a small band whose drummer was particularly excited to be alive and let us know, making the entire valley ring with bangs and booms for the entirety of the weekend. It was...hard to read. ha. No, it was nice and seemed like a lot of fun...though I can imagine the bride and groom probably died of fatigue by the end of it all. That's a shame.
After the clan of lively 19-somethings left, Geoff and I talked for about an hour more before hitting the sack. It was freezing buuuuut...I slept for the first time in 3 months!!!! It was fantastic.
Day Two--Part I: Saturday April 14th, 2007
The plan was to start early. Of course, the plan never works out. I was up at 6:45 and sat beside the now cold furnace, reading and grumbling about the cold. Let me say, until that moment when Karamehmet relit the furnace I don't think I ever really knew what being thankful meant.
Mustafa got up soon after me and immediately got to work...bloody dedicated kid, that one is. Eventually Geoff and Francoise got up. The plan was to head up to the site, but Francoise had to pick up the demirci [daymeerjee, steel worker] so Geoff took me around his gardens and showed me the rocks he picked up in and around the site. When Francoise got back breakfast was had and the day really began...
It was a beautiful morning--chilly but sunny--and a perfect day for walking around Kerkenes. Geoff drove us kids up to the site in the Land Rover [the thing's a beast] and Pam et al. took off. Geoff gave me a nice personalized tour of the site, outlining what he believed about the site/story/geologic possibilities and pointing out all sorts of different archaeological and geological aspects.
We started at the walls--made of lichen covered granite that forms the primary building foundations of the site. Like Hattusa, buildings were made of wood [Black Pine]. In fact, Geoff believes the site was burned--on purpose--to stop enemies from gaining a useful site. Evidence of this is pretty prolific, from burned wood to ash-stained rocks to actual melted rocks.
We walked up to the Kale [kaalay, castle]--a relic of later Byzantine occupation of the site--and Geoff found some pottery. He said that pottery is everywhere but decorated pottery was harder to find. To our amazement, just after he said that, I looked down and found a piece of pottery [about 3in x 2in], decorated with blue, yellow, and green images. Talk about thrilling! I expect it will never happen again. Granted, there is pottery absolutely everywhere in Kerkenes and surrounding areas. Big place for the Hittites and Byzantines, you know.
As we walked around the kale, Geoff pointed out some features and we looked at the landscape. He outlined the geology of the area and spoke an epic image for me of what the place likely looked/how it was traversed.
We then walked down to the gate. We walked through and I saw a number of well-rounded rocks, which I commented on. Geoff chuckled and then I turned around. O.M.G.
My pictures don't do the wall justice. I'll take better one's later in the season. But, my goodness. They are tall--and were likely much taller before--and beautiful. The rocks were beautifully carved and fitted [the tool marks are pretty obvious on the refuse], and the walls were beautifully excavated. When they found the wall they never expected it to be as tall as it is. They had no idea what they were getting themselves in to. The gray line you see--that's ash staining, indication of burning--and there was a lot more when they started the excavation. It's mostly been cleaned now. The building rocks themselves were pretty cool, too...filled with all sorts of weird fossils. [left, toolmarks; right, fossils]
Then we moved to the palace complex where the current excavation is focused. Again, gorgeous. The stonework was just outstanding. And this big circle? There was a huge tree trunk here, acting as a support pillar and holding things up. Geoff says that they've found so much more than they ever expected--the walls, statuary, ornaments, pottery. It's a much different place than Hattusa...but I can see why Geoff and Francoise and everyone else love it and work so hard to get the funding to keep at it.
An interesting/funny/gross story: On the way to the palace complex, we stopped by a water reservoir. Here, I was given this little gem from Geoff...
"That's what all the blood stains in the back of the Land Rover are from. I came up here one time and there were a couple of men and some women bleeding themselves, with leeches all over their bodies. They asked if I could give them a drive back down to the village because they were weak from the blood loss and couldn't walk. We had to lay the women in the back. They couldn't even sit up. When we got down to the village they got out of the car. The trunk was covered in blood."
He's talking about the same leeches that they sell in Ankara and Istanbul for $1.25 million.
Aaaand moving on...
Pam et al. were ready to go, so we began our trek back down. Geoff drove the Land Rover in to Sorgun so he could get the brakes checked. It was a nice day, so the other kids and I opted to hike back down the hill. The wedding was in full swing, the valley was ringing as we walked. [pictures are too small to be particularly nice, but they are quite nice if you click on them]
When we got back down it was still early and a bit cold, so we spent the rest of the time before lunch wrapped around cups of coffee soaking in the sun and watching the cows come back in from the fields. Most families in the village have one or two cows, for milk, and they are herded as a community. So, they all come in to the village and boys set themselves up to herd them down the road. The noise of the event is a very bizarre, but great, sound.
And here you go, a little gift for you champs that made it this far: that's me, in our coffee drinking phase--cold, unshowered, overall nasty. And, next to it, just a picture I happen to like. The conclusion to the weekend will come soon enough...bum bum buuuuuum. Hang in there kids.
Or, rather, damn you people who can be enthused and curious about rocks and introduce me to things i've never seen before!
Or, perhaps, just damn you rocks and interesting people and interesting places.
This weekend I had the chance to go out and see the site where I'll be working this summer--Kerkenes Dag [kerkenes daah; Kerkenes Mountain]. Kerkenes is located just outside the town of Sorgun, about 4 hours drive east of Ankara, and is associated with a small village of approximately 200 families. Kerkenes Dag is yet another Hittite site [and quite an important one at that] and has been under excavation for approximately 15 years. The project is currently headed by METU Professor of Settlement Archaeology Geoff Summers and will eventually be taken over by the Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago.
Geoff's wife, Francoise [a METU professor in Archaeology], is also involved with Kerkenes but from a different perspective--she is interested in energy efficient housing and about 3 years ago began the Kerkenes EcoCenter. Consequently, current building at the Kerkenes field station is an energy experiment--running on solar; organic gardens; solar cooking; energy efficient building materials, etc. It's an interesting and quite successful project that has incorporated many village residents. She also runs architecture "field camps," bringing in students from METU. One of her students, Mustafa [a very dedicated student--doesn't talk much, is very serious, quite different from a lot of the kids here...then again, he's actually from Cyprus], came with us this weekend and next weekend she'll be bringing 35 students to investigate and work on the current building projects--a new sample depot and research center; additional housing.
Geoff is British and Francoise is Mauritian. They have two daughters who each speak at least three languages perfectly--Turkish, English, and French. This weekend his youngest daughter [who will be starting at a French university in the autumn], Pamela, came out to the site as well because her childhood friend in the village was getting married. Their lives have drifted apart significantly in content but they've remained good friends. I mean, Pam is going to university next year and her friend...she'll probably have a kid or two. It'll be interesting to see what happens to them in the future.
Well, ok, that's a little superfluous background. Not what we're here for. So, on to the trip! [Just a warning...it's gonna be a long and relatively boring entry, which will be followed by the second half on some other day.]
DAY 1: Friday April 13th, 2007
Geoff and Francoise had room in the Land Rover for the ride up, so I didn't have to catch the bus. That was cool, saved me 18YTL and got me a nice basic geology/archeology lesson from Geoff on the way up [he's archeology, but knows some geology of the region]. We left around 1:30; departure was supposed to be at 12:30 but the late start gave me the opportunity to see Geoff and Francoise's house on campus. It's a mess with all sorts of stuff they've picked up on their travels, plants, and 5 massive guinea pigs. The guinea pigs belong to their older daughter, but she's gone to university so Geoff's taken over. They have all these pipes set up so the guinea pigs can go to different cages both inside and outside the house. I can't tell you how shocked I was when I saw it...it was pretty intricate and the guinea pigs were seriously huge. The Summers are a much too interesting people!
The ride up was relatively nondescript, other than the super cool rocks. At some point we stopped at the Yebitas cement factory. Yebitas used to be a big funding source for the Kerkenes projects, but the state of that funding is in question now that the company was sold to the Portugese. At Yebitas we met with a young fella who, let me tell you, had to have been on speed. He talked so fast, smiled so much, ran around like a crazy goose, and flipped his pencil maniacally...when he was talking to people on the phone that pencil went flying all over the room. But, he was nice and quite helpful, getting Francoise some donated cement. We'll see what happens with the bigger funding issue sometime later. It was interesting sitting in on the transaction and conversation, though. No skirting the issues here, that's for sure!
Yebitas was about an hour outside of Sorgun and it was 4:30 by the time we got back on the road. Unfortunately, as per usual, I really had to pee at that point. And then the brake light started flashing. That was...not so cool. But, we made it ok...even stopping in Sorgun for bread after some hilarious quibbling between the drivers.
sidenote #1: I've never seen such quibbling in my life! Not even in my family of professional quarrelers. Geoff and Francoise are champions! It's funny but also generally constructive, I think.
When we arrived in Kerkenes, village people [ha. ha.] came to meet us...and Francoise went straight to work. [She's crazy! Works constantly, juggles forty-five things at once, speaks three languages, and is really absorbed/in love with what she does. I have a lot of respect for her.] Geoff and I looked on as she directed her companions and he gave me a little background on the EcoCenter project.
Then it was just too cold and I had to wait inside.
sidenote #2: It's too bad it was so cold...can I tell you how cold it was? No, I can't. It was that cold. So cold that every unoccupied moment was spent surrounding a small, but remarkable, wood-burning furnace. I had to sleep in long-underwear, sweatpants, three layers of top + sweatshirt, and gloves. And, unfortunately, it appears I lost my fleece headband sometime last week, so I had to wear my fuzzy Siberia hat around...which generally scared most of the villagers half to death. A reasonable reaction, I'd say. Heck, if I saw my face in a fuzzy crazy hat like that I'd want to run and bury myself under my bed, too! Plus, we're talking about a group of people who hadn't seen a car until, what was it? 1930s?, when a German fellow drove in. But, who cares about the cold, right? To everyone's surprise, especially my own, I somehow managed to survive it.
Eventually, we had dinner--it's hard to pull Francoise away from her work--and then we sat around the furnace and talked awhile until Pamela and her friends arrived. Geoff has had such an amazing run of field work--hiking around Iran, Ethiopia, Kenya, living in the middle of nowhere. He's got such interesting stories. In Kenya, he worked in the Bush...with no rangers! Just walked out there and made lots of noise hoping that it would dispel any creatures from gobbling him up. In Kruger you'd be shot (probably by a ranger for that matter), or perhaps consumed, if you got out of the car and walked into the Bush alone! Heck man, I can't even imagine doing that...since the walk we took with the ranger in Kruger there's no way in hell mizell you'd catch me hanging out in the Bush looking at ancient human relics. Ok, that's a big fat lie--I'd totally go for that thrill. But, I'd still be scared.
So, basically, he's one pretty cool guy.
Pamela et al. arrived--bright eyed, bushy tailed, wearing sandals and no coats--around 11 o'clock. The wedding they were going to was a village wedding...which means it started on Thursday and lasted until Sunday, so they went for an hour after getting to the site. The wedding had a small band whose drummer was particularly excited to be alive and let us know, making the entire valley ring with bangs and booms for the entirety of the weekend. It was...hard to read. ha. No, it was nice and seemed like a lot of fun...though I can imagine the bride and groom probably died of fatigue by the end of it all. That's a shame.
After the clan of lively 19-somethings left, Geoff and I talked for about an hour more before hitting the sack. It was freezing buuuuut...I slept for the first time in 3 months!!!! It was fantastic.
Day Two--Part I: Saturday April 14th, 2007
The plan was to start early. Of course, the plan never works out. I was up at 6:45 and sat beside the now cold furnace, reading and grumbling about the cold. Let me say, until that moment when Karamehmet relit the furnace I don't think I ever really knew what being thankful meant.
Mustafa got up soon after me and immediately got to work...bloody dedicated kid, that one is. Eventually Geoff and Francoise got up. The plan was to head up to the site, but Francoise had to pick up the demirci [daymeerjee, steel worker] so Geoff took me around his gardens and showed me the rocks he picked up in and around the site. When Francoise got back breakfast was had and the day really began...
It was a beautiful morning--chilly but sunny--and a perfect day for walking around Kerkenes. Geoff drove us kids up to the site in the Land Rover [the thing's a beast] and Pam et al. took off. Geoff gave me a nice personalized tour of the site, outlining what he believed about the site/story/geologic possibilities and pointing out all sorts of different archaeological and geological aspects.
We started at the walls--made of lichen covered granite that forms the primary building foundations of the site. Like Hattusa, buildings were made of wood [Black Pine]. In fact, Geoff believes the site was burned--on purpose--to stop enemies from gaining a useful site. Evidence of this is pretty prolific, from burned wood to ash-stained rocks to actual melted rocks.
We walked up to the Kale [kaalay, castle]--a relic of later Byzantine occupation of the site--and Geoff found some pottery. He said that pottery is everywhere but decorated pottery was harder to find. To our amazement, just after he said that, I looked down and found a piece of pottery [about 3in x 2in], decorated with blue, yellow, and green images. Talk about thrilling! I expect it will never happen again. Granted, there is pottery absolutely everywhere in Kerkenes and surrounding areas. Big place for the Hittites and Byzantines, you know.As we walked around the kale, Geoff pointed out some features and we looked at the landscape. He outlined the geology of the area and spoke an epic image for me of what the place likely looked/how it was traversed.
We then walked down to the gate. We walked through and I saw a number of well-rounded rocks, which I commented on. Geoff chuckled and then I turned around. O.M.G.
My pictures don't do the wall justice. I'll take better one's later in the season. But, my goodness. They are tall--and were likely much taller before--and beautiful. The rocks were beautifully carved and fitted [the tool marks are pretty obvious on the refuse], and the walls were beautifully excavated. When they found the wall they never expected it to be as tall as it is. They had no idea what they were getting themselves in to. The gray line you see--that's ash staining, indication of burning--and there was a lot more when they started the excavation. It's mostly been cleaned now. The building rocks themselves were pretty cool, too...filled with all sorts of weird fossils. [left, toolmarks; right, fossils]
Then we moved to the palace complex where the current excavation is focused. Again, gorgeous. The stonework was just outstanding. And this big circle? There was a huge tree trunk here, acting as a support pillar and holding things up. Geoff says that they've found so much more than they ever expected--the walls, statuary, ornaments, pottery. It's a much different place than Hattusa...but I can see why Geoff and Francoise and everyone else love it and work so hard to get the funding to keep at it.An interesting/funny/gross story: On the way to the palace complex, we stopped by a water reservoir. Here, I was given this little gem from Geoff...
"That's what all the blood stains in the back of the Land Rover are from. I came up here one time and there were a couple of men and some women bleeding themselves, with leeches all over their bodies. They asked if I could give them a drive back down to the village because they were weak from the blood loss and couldn't walk. We had to lay the women in the back. They couldn't even sit up. When we got down to the village they got out of the car. The trunk was covered in blood."He's talking about the same leeches that they sell in Ankara and Istanbul for $1.25 million.
Aaaand moving on...
Pam et al. were ready to go, so we began our trek back down. Geoff drove the Land Rover in to Sorgun so he could get the brakes checked. It was a nice day, so the other kids and I opted to hike back down the hill. The wedding was in full swing, the valley was ringing as we walked. [pictures are too small to be particularly nice, but they are quite nice if you click on them]
When we got back down it was still early and a bit cold, so we spent the rest of the time before lunch wrapped around cups of coffee soaking in the sun and watching the cows come back in from the fields. Most families in the village have one or two cows, for milk, and they are herded as a community. So, they all come in to the village and boys set themselves up to herd them down the road. The noise of the event is a very bizarre, but great, sound.And here you go, a little gift for you champs that made it this far: that's me, in our coffee drinking phase--cold, unshowered, overall nasty. And, next to it, just a picture I happen to like. The conclusion to the weekend will come soon enough...bum bum buuuuuum. Hang in there kids.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
goo-moosh is good mush.
As an apology for dedicating an entire excessively long post to chicken, I present you with:
Carrots aka A Beypazari Day
A trip to the town of Beypazari [baypazar-euh] has been in the works for awhile. Finally, on Sunday, Candas [jahn-dahsh] and I got our acts together and finally went. It was beautiful weather--70s, sunny--and a wonderfully relaxing day trip [especially after the intensity of Hattusa].
Getting to Beypazari from Ankara is easy...if you know how. Transportation is such a secret here! People just seem to know how to get everywhere, as if they are born knowing, but oftentimes they still can't tell you how to do it! It doesn't make any sense...and generally means I'm left in the dark.
I knew there was a special bus terminal to get to Beypazari, but I didn't where it was. A few weeks ago I spent way too much time on Google trying to find out, and it was not a rewarding use of time. Then, for some reason, when I tried again on Thursday I found a wealth of information. For those of you who would consider going, it turns out you can get there from two places: Etlik (Eski) Garajlar [buses leave every hour on the hour] or across the street from the Akkopru Metro Stop [long distance dolmuslar come about every half-hour].
This second option is significantly easier and was a godsend for Candas and I. We met at Akkopru and kind of guessed as to where to catch the dolmus, which entailed standing on the wrong side of the road for the first 15 minutes. We didn't really believe it could be so easy, especially because the Lonely Planet made no mention of this option, but another dolmus driver confirmed we were in the right place [phew!].
These long-distance dolmuslar are only 5YTL and in 1.5hours you're in Beypazari. It was a great ride--there's some really outstanding geology to see along the way [I'm talking textbook stratigraphy lessons here]. When we got there, Candas and I didn't really know where to get off...and apparently we don't know what "city centruum" indicates.
note: ok, our idiocy here was somewhat legit. see, we stopped at a stoplight and people got off. in front of the light was a sign for the city centruum. we thought we should get off there, but then someone asked if we would stop at the market center. the answer was yes. then, we drove across the street and the bus stopped. we kind of expected it to be a little farther away than across the street from where we had just stopped!
Luckily, the driver was nice enough to turn around and drop us off back at the city centruum. The elongated ride also gave us the opportunity to see the rest of not-so-scenic Beypazari and pass by the Hipermarket. [i love that name]
Now Beypazari, located just west of Ankara [not South or East as Candas and adamantly believed] is known primarily for...carrots. They are the main distributors of carrots to the rest of the country and manage to make carrot everything--Turkish delight, fruit leather, ice cream, juice. Candas and I bought a bag of carrots near the end of the trip and I munched on one as we waited for the bus. I admit, they were really really good carrots. The carrot lokum, however, left much to be desired...although it was better than the saffron lokum from Safranbolu. The carrot durum [a sweet carrot fruit leather with nuts and coconut], on the other hand, was quite delicious.
Beypazari is not really on the radar of most foreigners but there are insane numbers of Turkish tourists. It's not a very picturesque place and is largely a pazar where you can find all sorts of wheat products, spices, dried fruits and veggies, kuru [their famous "hardtack"], and headscarves. But, on a nice day, it's a good place to just hang around.
As you'll begin to notice, food products are a big deal with Beypazari. They are quite famous for a few dishes, as well--yaprak sarmasi [stuffed grape leaves] that are rolled as thin as my pinky finger, etli guvec [meat stew], and 80 layer baklava [really only has 40 layers]. Candas's uncle suggested a specific restaurant, so we tried it. Luckily, this restaurant didn't have a hostess dressed up in Ottoman costume...for some reason the tourists seem to love the ridiculous kitschy displays of old Turkey. It's like going to the different Epcot countries, but a bit worse.
As for the meal...Oy vey, is all I can say...
We decided to get the veggie guvec, yaprak sarmasi, and baklava.
Results:
1. Veggie Guvec = gross! Okra and peppers and fat with a little lamb. When we ordered the veggie guvec we expected it to be lamb free. We thought they gave us the wrong thing by mistake, but apparently not. All the guvec varieties have meat. When the waiter came to take it away and saw we hadn't eaten it he asked why. Candas's great response? "It was too meaty." Later we caught a glimpse of the regular Beypazari Guvec...looked a lot better.
2. Yaprak Sarmasi = really really good.
3. 80 Kagit Baklava = totally underwhelming. Maybe this just wasn't the place to get it.
4. Maden Suyu [the famous Beypazari mineral water] = same as every other bubbly water...really bubbly.
Bonus result: They gave us a dessert we didn't order--Hosmelin--and it was seriously awesome.
When we were done our meal they would not stop giving us tea and the waiter decided to give us a huge speech on all the things to do in Beypazari, inviting us to stay at his Pensiyon if we'd be spending the night. Alas, we declined.
Our table was also in a nice location, on the upper deck outside, so we managed to do some pretty significant people watching...especially of the women trying on ubersparkly headscarves and marveling at themselves in the mirror. It was hi-larious.
Now, I must tell you, the real reason Candas and I went to Beypazari was to do some shopping...specifically silver shopping [look, Beypazari is famous for pretty much every product in the world]. I really wanted to buy some silverware, but I didn't find any. I didn't really have a problem settling for jewelery, though.
Before lunch we stopped in a few silver stores and eventually decided that our first stop, a nice little shop in the backstreets called Sarimenler Gumus Evi, was the best place to do our money dropping deeds.
Let me tell you, we spent an hour+ in that place. The woman who worked there was incredibly sweet, as was her son who got a kick out of speaking English with us. Some other young fella was working there too and was quite helpful...perhaps a little too helpful--each time we thought we had made a decision he showed us more! If you know me you'll know that that causes nothing but problems for me. Decision making and I are not friends.
Prices of gold and silver items are based on two things. First, there is a cost based on the general weight of the piece. Second, there is a cost for workmanship. Silver, at least Beypazari silver, is very reasonably priced and little haggling is done. The people at this store took a particular liking to us and gave us a nice "student discount." As a general rule, paying with cash rather than credit card also gets you a much better price.
In the end, I bought 4 rings and a pair of earrings for 50YTL [~$30]. I'd say that's a pretty good deal! Added bonus: it was all real Beypazari silver.
Now, Candas's purchase has a bit of a funny side to it. We looked at a lot of stuff, focusing primarily on Beypazari specific silver. She fell in love with two beautiful silver+marcasite rings and a pair of earrings. After getting price checks she finally decided to just get the rings. At the last minute she asked, just to make sure, if they were Beypazari silver...
Answer: "oh no! these are from Thailand! aren't they beautiful?!" heh.
Despite that shocker Candas held her ground and bought the rings. They are beautiful and i'd say a great choice. Plus, it's great that she can say "I went to Beypazari and came back with Thai silver" [smile candas!].
Overall, it was quite a fun [and not so overwhelming] purchasing process. I'm so glad that we didn't choose to go to the Gumus Sarayi [Silver Palace]...that would have killed us. And hey, can you believe I made a decision!? And before Candas! That's gotta be a first for me.
Other than silver, I ended up with a nice rolling stick for 2YTL...great for borek making and people poking.
It was a really wonderful trip and I was glad to have such good company. We laughed a lot, although the gun store kinda freaked us out. Also, this time, we didn't miss our bus back. We were tired by the end, the C had a nice nap on the way back. All in all a great day, I must say.
Carrots aka A Beypazari Day
A trip to the town of Beypazari [baypazar-euh] has been in the works for awhile. Finally, on Sunday, Candas [jahn-dahsh] and I got our acts together and finally went. It was beautiful weather--70s, sunny--and a wonderfully relaxing day trip [especially after the intensity of Hattusa].
Getting to Beypazari from Ankara is easy...if you know how. Transportation is such a secret here! People just seem to know how to get everywhere, as if they are born knowing, but oftentimes they still can't tell you how to do it! It doesn't make any sense...and generally means I'm left in the dark.
I knew there was a special bus terminal to get to Beypazari, but I didn't where it was. A few weeks ago I spent way too much time on Google trying to find out, and it was not a rewarding use of time. Then, for some reason, when I tried again on Thursday I found a wealth of information. For those of you who would consider going, it turns out you can get there from two places: Etlik (Eski) Garajlar [buses leave every hour on the hour] or across the street from the Akkopru Metro Stop [long distance dolmuslar come about every half-hour].
This second option is significantly easier and was a godsend for Candas and I. We met at Akkopru and kind of guessed as to where to catch the dolmus, which entailed standing on the wrong side of the road for the first 15 minutes. We didn't really believe it could be so easy, especially because the Lonely Planet made no mention of this option, but another dolmus driver confirmed we were in the right place [phew!].
These long-distance dolmuslar are only 5YTL and in 1.5hours you're in Beypazari. It was a great ride--there's some really outstanding geology to see along the way [I'm talking textbook stratigraphy lessons here]. When we got there, Candas and I didn't really know where to get off...and apparently we don't know what "city centruum" indicates.
note: ok, our idiocy here was somewhat legit. see, we stopped at a stoplight and people got off. in front of the light was a sign for the city centruum. we thought we should get off there, but then someone asked if we would stop at the market center. the answer was yes. then, we drove across the street and the bus stopped. we kind of expected it to be a little farther away than across the street from where we had just stopped!
Luckily, the driver was nice enough to turn around and drop us off back at the city centruum. The elongated ride also gave us the opportunity to see the rest of not-so-scenic Beypazari and pass by the Hipermarket. [i love that name]
Now Beypazari, located just west of Ankara [not South or East as Candas and adamantly believed] is known primarily for...carrots. They are the main distributors of carrots to the rest of the country and manage to make carrot everything--Turkish delight, fruit leather, ice cream, juice. Candas and I bought a bag of carrots near the end of the trip and I munched on one as we waited for the bus. I admit, they were really really good carrots. The carrot lokum, however, left much to be desired...although it was better than the saffron lokum from Safranbolu. The carrot durum [a sweet carrot fruit leather with nuts and coconut], on the other hand, was quite delicious.
Beypazari is not really on the radar of most foreigners but there are insane numbers of Turkish tourists. It's not a very picturesque place and is largely a pazar where you can find all sorts of wheat products, spices, dried fruits and veggies, kuru [their famous "hardtack"], and headscarves. But, on a nice day, it's a good place to just hang around.
As you'll begin to notice, food products are a big deal with Beypazari. They are quite famous for a few dishes, as well--yaprak sarmasi [stuffed grape leaves] that are rolled as thin as my pinky finger, etli guvec [meat stew], and 80 layer baklava [really only has 40 layers]. Candas's uncle suggested a specific restaurant, so we tried it. Luckily, this restaurant didn't have a hostess dressed up in Ottoman costume...for some reason the tourists seem to love the ridiculous kitschy displays of old Turkey. It's like going to the different Epcot countries, but a bit worse.As for the meal...Oy vey, is all I can say...
We decided to get the veggie guvec, yaprak sarmasi, and baklava.
Results:
1. Veggie Guvec = gross! Okra and peppers and fat with a little lamb. When we ordered the veggie guvec we expected it to be lamb free. We thought they gave us the wrong thing by mistake, but apparently not. All the guvec varieties have meat. When the waiter came to take it away and saw we hadn't eaten it he asked why. Candas's great response? "It was too meaty." Later we caught a glimpse of the regular Beypazari Guvec...looked a lot better.
2. Yaprak Sarmasi = really really good.
3. 80 Kagit Baklava = totally underwhelming. Maybe this just wasn't the place to get it.
4. Maden Suyu [the famous Beypazari mineral water] = same as every other bubbly water...really bubbly.
Bonus result: They gave us a dessert we didn't order--Hosmelin--and it was seriously awesome.
When we were done our meal they would not stop giving us tea and the waiter decided to give us a huge speech on all the things to do in Beypazari, inviting us to stay at his Pensiyon if we'd be spending the night. Alas, we declined.
Our table was also in a nice location, on the upper deck outside, so we managed to do some pretty significant people watching...especially of the women trying on ubersparkly headscarves and marveling at themselves in the mirror. It was hi-larious.
Now, I must tell you, the real reason Candas and I went to Beypazari was to do some shopping...specifically silver shopping [look, Beypazari is famous for pretty much every product in the world]. I really wanted to buy some silverware, but I didn't find any. I didn't really have a problem settling for jewelery, though.
Before lunch we stopped in a few silver stores and eventually decided that our first stop, a nice little shop in the backstreets called Sarimenler Gumus Evi, was the best place to do our money dropping deeds.
Let me tell you, we spent an hour+ in that place. The woman who worked there was incredibly sweet, as was her son who got a kick out of speaking English with us. Some other young fella was working there too and was quite helpful...perhaps a little too helpful--each time we thought we had made a decision he showed us more! If you know me you'll know that that causes nothing but problems for me. Decision making and I are not friends.
Prices of gold and silver items are based on two things. First, there is a cost based on the general weight of the piece. Second, there is a cost for workmanship. Silver, at least Beypazari silver, is very reasonably priced and little haggling is done. The people at this store took a particular liking to us and gave us a nice "student discount." As a general rule, paying with cash rather than credit card also gets you a much better price.
In the end, I bought 4 rings and a pair of earrings for 50YTL [~$30]. I'd say that's a pretty good deal! Added bonus: it was all real Beypazari silver.
Now, Candas's purchase has a bit of a funny side to it. We looked at a lot of stuff, focusing primarily on Beypazari specific silver. She fell in love with two beautiful silver+marcasite rings and a pair of earrings. After getting price checks she finally decided to just get the rings. At the last minute she asked, just to make sure, if they were Beypazari silver...
Answer: "oh no! these are from Thailand! aren't they beautiful?!" heh.
Despite that shocker Candas held her ground and bought the rings. They are beautiful and i'd say a great choice. Plus, it's great that she can say "I went to Beypazari and came back with Thai silver" [smile candas!].
Overall, it was quite a fun [and not so overwhelming] purchasing process. I'm so glad that we didn't choose to go to the Gumus Sarayi [Silver Palace]...that would have killed us. And hey, can you believe I made a decision!? And before Candas! That's gotta be a first for me.
Other than silver, I ended up with a nice rolling stick for 2YTL...great for borek making and people poking.
It was a really wonderful trip and I was glad to have such good company. We laughed a lot, although the gun store kinda freaked us out. Also, this time, we didn't miss our bus back. We were tired by the end, the C had a nice nap on the way back. All in all a great day, I must say.
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