Ankara

My sojourn begins in Ankara, the capital of Turkey that is located in the center of the country. I had packed for an extremely warm summer, but it was raining my first day here. I had a day or so to myself, before my supervisor joins me. I spent an afternoon at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemel Ataturk. Ataturk was an Ottoman army officer who lead the Turkish War of Independence and became the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, which was established in 1922.

The architecture is a mixture of ancient and modern influences, with the buildings constructed of travertine and marble. The closed tomb is made of marble (a bit of a disappointment, I was hoping for a Lenin or Mao-style tomb), and the accompanying museum is a collection of Ataturk's belongings, paintings, dioramas, musical scores, sound effects, and photographs, with the primary subject being the War of Independence and Turkish nationalism and cultural reform. Being American, I am always struck by how Europe was affected and shaped by the World Wars. I highly recommend Anitkabir for history buffs.

As for interesting cultural tidbits - I think I really stand out. Perhaps it is my imagination, but I'm pretty sure a whole family (the kids were pretty fresh, the teenage girl had streaks in her hair and one of the boys had a lightening bolt buzzed in his 'do) were staring and pointing at me. The kids kept on surrounding me in the museum, in fact, groups of schoolchildren were continuously surrounding me, smiling and giving me high fives. One Japanese lady, who was married to a Russian, was so excited to see another Asian that she insisted on taking a picture with me. Unfortunately, I do not speak Japanese, Russian, or Turkish, so I have no clue what anyone is saying. People come up to me and our interaction consists of sign language, incomprehension, and confused looks. All is well, I am quite content pretending that only nice thing are being said.

The conservation laboratory at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Angie Elliot, my supervisor, joined me in Ankara for a visit to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, where we visited the conservation laboratories and looked at some wall painting fragments that were being rehoused. The museum is near the old part of Ankara, which is filled with quaint wooden houses with mud plastered walls, cobbled streets, and wonderful little shops and vendors. We came across a cobbler, Sultan El Yapimi Deri Urunler, who makes hand-made, historic Ottoman shoes. I am seriously considering a purchase next week, during my day off.




I will leave you with a picture taken during our exploration of the older part of Ankara, where a street is lined with stalls full of wool. We discovered a surprise on top of a bag of wool!