First Impressions

First impressions from Ankara

Merhaba! This is the first (and hopefully not the last) word I have learned so far in this new and exciting experience in Turkey. I left Rome on Saturday afternoon and took a short and surprisingly relaxing flight to Ankara. Once I got in, I hailed a cab and went to the Niza Park Hotel, watching the incredible amount of lights which illuminated the trees as we drove down the street. There were so many that it almost felt like being at home during Christmas time. And so arose my first thought in this beautiful country, as trivial as it was: Turkish people must really people love lights.

During the first four days in Ankara I walked around the city and tried to learn some basic Turkish, which was a complete disaster, or as we say in Italian, "una Caporetto!" The Turkish language is by far the hardest obstacle I have met in some time but luckily through body language and a sense of humor I have been able to make up for my complete lack of linguistic knowledge.

The second impression I had about Turkey was how friendly and warm the local people have been to me. The hospitality and courtesy again reminded me of home, specifically Southern Italy and its lovely people. I would argue that this immense hospitality must somehow be related to the Mediterranean culture because I experienced something similar during my trips to Greece and Spain. Food, too, is another common element that seems to connect these Mediterranean societies. Delicious meat and fresh vegetables definitively represent the cornerstone of Southern European cuisine and Turkey deserves its place within this category. Other great culinary surprises were the flavorful fruits and desserts, especially since the only Turkish dish I knew before coming here was the stereotypical “kebab”.

The last thing I have realized in the few days I have been here is just how little knew about Turkey before coming. Like many I viewed it as a society pervaded by strong religious practices and traditions. I was aware of Ataturk and his reforms but was unaware of the extent to which they impacted the country and its people. Walking along the bustling streets of Ankara you hear both traditional Turkish music and contemporary American music booming from car stereos and store fronts. You see women with veils walking arm in arm with women dressed in the latest Western fashions. You can hear daily prayers coming from university mosques and see students dancing until 2am, just like any college town in the US. These unique peaceful contradictions between tradition and modernity are proof that in order to fully understand Turkey and its role as a bridge between the so called West and East, the country must not only be explored or examined, but lived in, so here I go.