Ankara, city of dreams

Ankara has a huge inferiority complex. From the beginning of my knowing anything about Turkey at all, I’ve known that Istanbul is Where It’s At, and basically everyone I’ve met has confirmed this. Even at the program orientation in Washington people were knocking Ankara - the woman who came from the Turkish Embassy, the program alumni panel, teachers on the program. Ankara is boring, Ankara is nothing but the capital, Ankara is ugly and new, blah blah blah. A lot of Ankarans seem to have the same opinion. Often the first question I’m asked (once it’s been established that I can sort of speak Turkish) is whether I’ve been to Istanbul, and my host mom insists that once I go to Istanbul I will probably never even bother to come back to Ankara.

I can sort of understand. If you’re comparing to Istanbul, can you expect Ankara to really compete? I’ve been told even New York can’t compete with Istanbul (but that’s apples and oranges, maybe?). Plus there are lots of other amazing places in Turkey - the group studying in Alanya lives in some kind of Ottoman villa on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, or something like that. I think they all get personal servants to feed them grapes and kebap, too. Ankara just doesn’t have a wow factor about it, unless angora goats are your thing. (We were not issued personal angora goats upon arrival, alas.)

But as it turns out, Ankara is actually pretty nice. I mean, I wouldn’t plan a vacation here, but it’s a livable city, pretty easy to get around, has a happening downtown district, and is situated on the rolling hills of the Anatolian plateau, so you can get nice panoramas from many spots in the city. The big-city issues Istanbul faces, like pickpockets, stray dogs and massive traffic congestion, aren’t a problem here. Overall, I’m finding it to be a very pleasant place to study, made even better by the fact that I get to live with a family.

Plus, there are actually some interesting things to see in Ankara. The second day I was here, as I mentioned, my host siblings took me to Ankara Kalesi, and one day last week all of us Americans went to Anitkabir, Ataturk’s massive mausoleum-cum-Independence War Museum. It was architecturally pretty neat and (of course) Ataturk-tastic, and when I manage to borrow someone‘s camera cord and upload pictures again, I will post some. On the same day, we went to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which houses tons of old pre-Turkic (Neolithic, Phrygian, Hittite, Assyrian, etc.) stuff in a restored 16th-century covered market. There’s apparently a zoo here, too. And, you know, Parliament and stuff. And by my school there is a very nice park with fountains and swans.

Also, the weather is great. A little hot, but almost always dry. It turns out that “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” thing is totally true. When it’s 90 degrees in Washington I want to die anytime I step outside of the air conditioning, but in Ankara I pretty much only want to die when I’m riding a crowded city bus, even though there isn’t much air conditioning to be found here.

AND on Thursday we’re going to Cappadocia and Konya! Underground cities and whirling dervishes, yes please!