A Visit to the Village of Hısarlıkaya

We had a most interesting experience at a small, isolated village which is at least an hour outside of Ankara and even 30 minutes from any other village. LDS Charities provided tables, chairs and educational toys for the kindergarten class and also a multi-purpose printer for the office. The school is just two rooms at present: grades 1-3 meet in one room, grades 4-5 in another. Although there is also a kindergarten room, right now the kindergarten students are divided between the other two classes, since the teacher had to leave a couple of months ago and has not been replaced. Each of the classrooms is heated by a wood stove, and the bathroom is a separate, unheated, very dilapidated building.

There are about 40 students in the Hısarlıkaya school, and they are very sweet. The older students wrote us letters to thank us for our donations. They called us “Elizabeth teyze” and “Ron amca” (Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Ron), which is common for younger people to do to show respect for their elders. Practically every letter said, “Sizi çok seviyorum” (I love you very much).

After visiting the school, we went with some Lions Club members to the community building where the women of the village were gathered to have their blood pressure and blood sugar checked by a doctor. What an amazing sight it was to see about 50 village women seated around the room on the traditional carpet-covered benches. They all wore the baggy pants that look like skirts until just above the ankle, where the skirt divides into two legs. They could easily sit cross-legged in such an outfit, and many did. They all wore headscarves and colorful outfits, and we “city women” looked and felt very different from them. Our interpreter said most of them have only the 5th grade education that they got there in the village. Now children must attend more school, but it was not required until several years ago. I wanted to take a picture, but I didn’t want to be offensive; so I admired a baby and asked if I could take a picture of the baby. Of course, I got a few women in the picture, too. The woman was very pleased (and so was I), and when she left, she hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks—even though most people aren’t doing that these days for fear of swine flu.

We talked to the doctor after the village women had left, and she said that they found many women with blood pressure and blood sugar which was too high, but she was convinced that they wouldn’t be able to do much about it. The nearest doctor is at least 30 minutes away, and we saw very few cars in the village. The doctor feared that even if the women got diagnosed and treated once, keeping up on regular visits and prescriptions would probably be too difficult for most of the women.

One of my friends told me that her mother had been "too old" to come to her wedding. I was surprised to find that this OLD mother was several years younger than I. "But village life is very hard," my friend said. It is! We feel very blessed!

Remembering Ataturk

November 10th was the national day of remembrance of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey’s great national hero. He died at 9:05 a.m. on this day in 1938, so everyone stops for a minute of (supposed) silence at that time. We went out on the main street in our district to see what would happen, and sure enough, all traffic stopped and pedestrians stood still for a minute. At 9:05 we heard a siren in the distance, and everyone stood still. Unfortunately, we were by a large number of stopped cars, and some of the drivers observed the minute by sounding their horns for that period. It was deafening. We were impressed that the minute really was observed by everyone in our sight. There was a major ceremony at his huge mausoleum and in other locations, and we saw flowers by his statues. Many buildings featured huge banners with his pictures, many stories in height.

Ataturk is revered by the Turks—and with good reason. His name means, roughly, “father of the Turks.” He was the first president of the Republic, but he also brought sweeping changes to the country, among them changing the alphabet and numbering system to coincide with those of Europe. He changed and westernized the language, calendar, dress, education and social institutions of the country. Before Ataturk, no one used last names, and women had little legal or social standing. He truly was a remarkable man. He faced Turkey toward the West.

Each schoolroom and office has at least one picture of Ataturk, and there are myriad statues of him in every city in the country. We counted four pictures of him in our own apartment, from "thank you" gifts we had received! We visited a school yesterday and saw the “shrine” above in the playground. The slabs in the foreground read “We are following you,” and “We miss you.” "How happy I am to say I am a Turk" is inscribed under the bust of Ataturk and is one of the most common quotes inscribed on his statues.

The school we visited yesterday, by the way, educates only children who have been cured of leukemia and are being monitored. Their immune systems are often weakened, so special care is taken to provide a healthful environment. LDS Charities outfitted a science lab for the school. A special ceremony was held yesterday, where we cut a ribbon in the doorway leading into the classroom. Since it is an elementary school, the scissors were very dull and blunt!

A Village Project - Yeşilöz

This week we were driven to a village about 60 miles outside of Ankara, where we had provided student lockers and classroom bookshelves for an elementary school. It was a lovely fall day, warm and sunny; and it was very pleasant to drive out of Ankara up into the hills where the village is located. Some of the leaves were turning, and it was lovely.

We visited the school along with the mayor of the village and saw the lockers and bookcases in use. The younger students were beautiful in their blue uniforms and were amazingly well-behaved. (They were very proud of their locker keys, as the boy is showing us.) Starting in grade 6 the boys wear suits and ties to school and the girls wear uniforms with skirts, vests and ties. Their behavior in class reflects the formality of their attire, but on the playing field they are probably just like other children! The headmaster gave us a little plaque in front of a large group of students, and we got to say a few words, translated by our trusty interpreter, of encouragement to the kids. The school serves 5 villages, none of which can support the rising generation because of a lack of available land, so the parents and children are highly motivated to make education the path to success. The headmaster said more than 75% of the students go on to higher education after high school. It was very satisfying to be helping a school that is so successful.

The mayor and his wife hosted us for lunch in a little park by the river. We could hear the bells of the sheep grazing across the river – very peaceful and pleasant. The mayor’s wife cooked traditional soup and a kind of vegetable and lamb stew, and they served us fruit from their own garden, which they pointed out to us before we left the village.

After lunch we took a short walk. We visited and walked on a new suspension bridge and then walked closer to the caves in the mountainside across the stream. The mayor said the caves were from the 1st Century but no one knows who lived in them. We wish we had been properly dressed to climb up and go in the caves, but we agreed that next time we’ll bring some other clothes so we can. Everyone was so gracious; we had a wonderful day. We hope to do another project for the school, and maybe one for the village. (If they can find a suitable area, we might be able to provide fruit trees for a source of income to the community.) It is very satisfying to work with a community which works together so well for their common good.

An International Wedding

Last night we went to an international wedding at a fancy hotel. Marina, a Ukrainian girl from our Turkish class, married her Turkish boyfriend. It was great fun, since we were seated with classmates from our last class, whom we really enjoyed. Our teacher, Arzu (Turkish), Selma (Bosnian), Jasmine (Russian) and Karen (German) and their spouses were at our table. It was wonderful to see everyone again.

It was truly an international event. The couple was married while seated at a table with a government official in a red satin coat. She said “Da” and he said “Evet”, both meaning “yes,” of course. Then they signed papers and were officially married. There were both Turkish and Urkainian customs; the parents presented the couple with their first meal of bread and salt. Their table had both their flags on it. The first dance was an old American waltz (“Fascination Waltz”), and one of the first wildly popular dance sets was a medley of 1950s rock and roll—starting with “Rock Around the Clock” and ending with “Blue Suede Shoes.” Dancers loved it and ran to the floor. When the band played an especially rousing version of “House of the Rising Sun,” I turned to my German friend and said I knew the words to that song. “Everyone in the world knows that song,” my friend replied. Later there was Russian and Turkish music, and the dance floor was jammed with happy people dancing wildly.

Although there were elements of tradition at this wedding, it was not a traditional wedding, our Turkish friends told us, but a “rich” wedding. A traditional village wedding will last three or four days and include a drum and pipes and marching from one place to another. There will also be a night when the women henna the bride’s hands. This wedding could have been in the US, except for the table next to us filled with elderly women relatives of the groom, all of whom were completely covered and wore head scarves.

The traditional gift for any major occasion (like a wedding, a baby’s birth or a young boy’s circumcision) is a piece of gold. We purchased one from a jeweler with the help of our interpreter. It looks like a coin with a loop and ribbon on top, and in villages, guests pin it to the bride’s dress. When the bride wears a western-style fancy dress, she carries a little purse, and we put the gold coin in the purse. The groom also wore a sort of bandolier, to which his friends pinned gold pieces. Later, when the young couple needs to buy something big, they may cash in the gold pieces.

We feel very comfortable in this Muslim country where family ties are cherished and where social gatherings are wholesome and family-oriented. Many people do not drink alcohol, and it is never a problem to decline tea or coffee when we say it is a “religious rule.” The people are very warm and hospitable. We are so grateful for our dear friends who are making our experience here so wonderful.

Floods in Istanbul

During the week of September 7 there were flash floods in Istanbul which killed about 40 people, swept about 200 cars and trucks into the sea, and destroyed hundreds of homes. The homes which were destroyed were largely substandard, makeshift housing built by poor immigrants to the area. When the waters subsided and the city began the cleanup, the senior missionary couple in Istanbul began to assess what the Church could do to assist. We joined them in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Istanbul is a huge city of somewhere around 20 million people, but only a small proportion of the population was involved in the flood. Of course, the poor are always the victims in natural disasters.

In the photo on the right you may be able to see the watermark above the second story. The second story balcony was washed away!

It was overwhelming to see such great need, but we worked with the municipal government in two affected areas to determine that blankets and hygiene kits were a top priority. The hygiene kits were far more extensive than the personal ones we’re used to; these were huge family survival kits which filled a 5-gallon garbage bag. The supplies were ordered, and our first assignment was to pay the supplier. Turkey is a cash economy. We had to visit ATMs and withdraw as much cash as we could at each one over a two-day period. At one point we had 35,000 Turkish Lira (about $25,000) on the table in front of us. After making the small down payment, we were able to arrange a wire transfer of the remaining funds. We worked closely with the Europe East Area office in Moscow to accomplish the financing.

The next day the supplies were delivered, assembled by city volunteers, and we took a few hundred kits and blankets for distribution. We visited only a few streets, and the remaining kits and blankets were distributed by city employees and other volunteers that night and into the next few days. It was devastating to see such destruction of people’s lives.

Above you see a little boy (without full arms) sitting on raw wool. It was washed and used as mattresses.

There will be other projects to follow, and we have been asked to return to Istanbul to help in the future. The Church membership in the area is small, with only about 50 people attending meetings, and there is only a single senior missionary couple assigned to the city. But we were able to work with the government to provide immediate assistance worth a great deal. It was very gratifying to be able to be a part of the Church’s response to the floods!

Ramadan

Ramadan is now about half over. It started on August 21 and will end on September 19. This is the Muslim holy month, when almost all Muslim adults fast from dawn (about an hour before sunrise) until the evening call to prayer, just after sunset. Ramadan is based on the lunar calendar; this year, the fast is for a 14-hour period.

We're greatly impressed with the Turks! Would we Americans be able to show such control? We have seen very few people eating or drinking during the day and only one or two people smoking—and that’s amazing, since not only do nearly half the Turks smoke, but they are heavy smokers. I’m sure there are some cranky people out there, but by and large, there is a festive feeling in the stores and in the streets.

The grocery stores are jammed with people, because after the evening call to prayer, families and friends gather for very festive dinners. There are special foods in the stores just for this time of year. We buy the fresh bread (Ramazan Pide) every day, and it’s so delicious that we often eat the whole loaf with dinner. There are also special desserts. I bought the ingredients for gullaç and made it, because the directions on the package were in English. It was easy—just boil milk and sugar and then pour it over thin sheets of, well, starch that are thinner than paper. I’m not sure I’ll ever make it again because it tasted sort of like sweet milk poured over paper, but it was a fun cultural experience. The restaurants are full of large tables of happy people in the evenings.

We were invited to one Iftar (festive meal after the fast), to be honored guests at a nursing home where we had donated some beds. We started with dates, then had a dinner of soup, chicken, rice, tomatoes, bread and watermellon. Everyone else ended with tea.

Burger King and McDonalds even have special Ramadan menus. The McDonalds’ hamburgers have turned into meatballs with Turkish spices, served on flat bread. Burger King still offers burgers—but they feature a Sultan, not a King. Both places serve ayran (a yogurt drink) with their combos instead of soft drinks. Both restaurants deliver here.

The only thing we haven’t enjoyed much about Ramadan so far is that our sleep has been a little disturbed. We think they have cranked up the volume for the 4:30 a.m. (pre-dawn) call to prayer. It is loud enough to wake us. At least we don’t have the neighborhood drummer who bangs a drum at 3:30 a.m. to awaken people for the early morning meal before the fast. Our neighborhood is sort of downtown, and the people in it aren’t as interested in keeping up that old tradition.

After Ramadan. the Muslims celebrate for four days called Seker Bayram, or Holidays of Sweets. Families exchange visits and give the children candy. Holidays here are very family-oriented, which is a wonderful aspect of Turkish culture.

The Gordion Knot and King Midas

History and legend came to life for us yesterday as we visited a little village, Gordion, about an hour and a half outside Ankara. It now has only about 500 inhabitants, but it has been continuously inhabited since the Bronze Age (3000 BC). One of the earliest Phrygian kings, Gordios, tied his ox cart with such an elaborate knot that it became legend that whoever could untie the knot would become master of Asia. The knot was kept on display in the temple, and when Alexander the Great and his armies marched across the Anatolian steppe in 334 BC, he went to the temple to untie the knot. He attempted to untie the knot but was unsuccessful. In an impatient rage, he took his sword and slashed the knot. He did go on to conquer the Persian Empire and become master of Asia, but sages considered that his untimely death at age 33 was his fate for his impatience with the knot.

The burial mound of King Midas is also in Gordion. He was a true historical Phrygian king who reigned during the 8th century BC, but there are legends associated with his name, including "the golden touch." We are pictured here with our Turkish friend, Meric, in front of his burial mound. There is a fine museum with Assyrian, Hittite, Phrygian, Lydian, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman and Slejik Turk treasures from nearby excavations. The coins found here indicate this was an important commercial and military center for many centuries.

Now the area is surrounded by grassy plains on which hay, melons and sunflowers are grown. Gypsies work as seasonal laborers and are camped near the village.

On the way home we visited Polatli, site of an important military battle in the Turkish War of Independence. The Greeks had captured the city, only an hour from Turkey's capital, Ankara. Ataturk commanded his troops not just to fight but to die for their country, and they were able to turn the Greeks back. There is a dramatic monument on a hilltop with a moving museum.

What a great outing!