Trip to Ankara and Cappadocia

          Last week, all of the YES Abroad and NSLI-Y kids got to visit Ankara and Cappadocia for orientation and a visit to the US Embassy. The other kids here in Aydin and I took the train to Izmir Tuesday morning and got to the city around 12. We spent a few hours hanging out with the volunteer who met us and then met the NSLI-Y kids and headed to the airport with them. It was a lot of fun getting to talk to the NSLI-Y kids again and here how their experiences have been so far. Unfortunately, our flight got delayed, but it gave us plenty of time to talk even if it did keep us from eating dinner until 10 that night. We arrived in Ankara around 9 and were greeted with miraculously cool air as soon as we stepped out of the airport. After all of us living in cities that are still so hot for so long, we were thrilled with a change in temperature. We drove to the hotel and got dinner and then spent the rest of the evening catching up with the YES kids who we hadn't seen since Istanbul and just hanging out. 

This is actually from the night before we left but my host mom made roasted chestnuts. It was a proper Christmas carol except that it was the middle of October and it was 80 degrees outside. 

          Wednesday was our day to travel around Ankara so we had a fairly early start to the day. Me and my roommates were really hoping there would be American breakfast in the hotel ( I was hoping for some Fruit Loops and maybe a waffle) but there was no such luck, so we stuck to our Turkish breakfast. We hopped on the bus and headed to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which was very cool and had a lot of interesting history about the area. As we were leaving, a huge group of people with a lot of security was arriving and it turned out that it was a very important person from an Asian country ( I'm sorry but I do not remember who they were or where they were from). We then walked to Ankara Castle and got to explore that which was really cool. The view from the top was amazing and the sheer size of Ankara took my breath away. After that, we headed to Atatürk's Mausoleum. The architecture of the whole place was beautiful and we got to look through the museum as well, so I learned a little more about Atatürk. We then headed out to lunch and went to the US Embassy for a security briefing and meeting. The information was received wasn't all that interesting or really anything we hadn't heard before, but it was still cool to go. After we returned to our hotel and spent the rest of the evening hanging out and exploring Ankara some. 

There were a ton of carvings like these all in one room. It was super cool to imagine them as the walls of buildings thousands of years ago and to see them all in one place. 

Another stone carving. So many of them were amazingly detailed and well-preserved. 

The view from the top of Ankara Castle. 

                   The Aydin Girls. 

Me with the other side of Ankara in the background. It was a pretty crazy sight. 

All of the YES kids at the castle. 

The main part of the Mausoleum where lots of important ceremonies are held and where Atatürk's tomb actually is. To tell you how much Turks love Atatürk, I told a girl at school that I really enjoyed the Mausoleum because it was very beautiful and interesting and she responded, "Of course it was. It's Atatürk." That basically sums up their feelings. 

 

          Thursday was mostly spent on a bus as we drove from Ankara to Cappadocia, which is about a 4 hour drive. On our way, we stopped at the Salt Lake, which was incredibly beautiful but really hurt your feet after awhile of walking in it. We had lunch and then headed to our hotel where we had the first of many orientation sessions. After a dinner at the hotel, we hung out for awhile before going to bed because we were all exhausted. 

For some reason, there was this random chair in the middle of the lake. I guess it was for taking pictures like this. 

The whole lake reflected the sky, so it seemed like it went on forever. 

          Friday and Saturday were basically the same with us orientation in the morning and evening and sightseeing in the middle of the day. We went to some really cool places for lunch that served more food than I though possible and got to stop at some really cool places. We also got to go to Uçhisar Castle and to a pottery place where we watched them make some pots. One of my favorite parts of the orientation was them reading us a summary of what they expected had happened in our first 6 weeks here and I got to smile back on all the memories I've already made. We also wrote letters to ourselves which they will mail to us in 6 months. I can't wait to read that when I've been here for almost 8 months and see how far I've come. We also played some pretty fun games and just got to spend a lot of time catching up and talking about various problems we are having and how to solve them. 

Our super cool restaurant from the first day. We were underground which was pretty cool. 

One view from our restaurant the second day. 

Part of our meal the second day. There were a bunch of other courses too. 

Another view. It was really pretty. 

The view from part way up the castle. 

Me and Leah at the top of the castle. It was so windy at the top, it felt like you were going to blow away. 

                      Uçhisar Castle. 

Priya got to try to make a pot at the pottery place. 

The cutest Turkish coffee cups I've ever seen. I really wanted to buy one, but I didn't think it would make it home in one piece in June. 

          Sunday was our biggest sightseeing day, but unfortunately, it was very cold and there was a freezing wind, so it was a bit unpleasant to be outside. We went to one of many underground cities in the area that people would hide in when the area was under attack. The many different a floors and rooms were incredible to me and the different safety precautions they had amazed me since it was built so long ago. We then went to an open air museum with hundreds of churches from hundreds of years ago. We only visited a few, but the art inside was incredible and much of it was still in excellent condition. I had a very good time trying to read the signs in French, but it was really cold so I was ready to be on the bus again. We then got lunch and drove about an hour to Kayseri. We dropped the YES kids who live in Samsun off at the bus station and then headed to the airport. The Kayseri airport is by far the smallest airport I have ever been in (as far as I could tell there were only 2 gates) so security was quick and we got on our flight with no issue. We flew to Izmir and then got on the train back to Aydin. It was super crowded, so we stood the whole 2 hours but it was nice to be back with my host family and back in my new home. It was strange to me that I had missed a place that I had never even been 6 weeks ago, but I did and I think that's the beauty of exchange. 

One of the rooms in the underground city. 

Some of the churches at the museum. 

          Overall, I had a wonderful time at orientation and I loved getting to see some more of this beautiful country I get to live in. It's nice to be home now although I do miss getting to talk to all the other exchange students all the time. I will hopefully post again this Sunday. I hope everyone has a great week! Thanks for reading! Hoşçakal!