My first two days in Ankara

TOBB ETU, my new employer, has kindly provided the incoming American teachers with housing. Granted, it’s in the dorm but I prefer it for several reasons. First, it’s free and each teacher gets a room with a private bathroom to him/herself. Second, housekeeping comes twice a week to clean our rooms; that is also free. Third, it’s a five minute walk to work from the dorm. If I stand on the balcony of the kitchen and look to my right, I can see the building where I work. And last, but not least, at this point, I’m trying to adjust to living in a new country, a new culture, and a new job. I don’t want the added stress of trying to find an apartment that’s affordable and close to campus. In addition, I would have to figure out how to get to work from the new apartment. On top of that, once I got an apartment, I’d have to figure out how to get furniture. So, yeah, I think I’ll stay here for the time being.

There was one glaring disadvantage to staying on campus. Right now, none of the students are here, and therefore the air conditioning hasn’t been turned on. The first night’s sleep in the dorm was unbearably hot to the point that I couldn’t even sleep with any covers on. I woke up at 3 am, too hot to sleep. I wandered out to the kitchen where I heard a noise, and I saw someone sitting there. Her name is Nehal and she’s a Turkish graduate student at TOBB, who also happens to be an insomniac. We chatted for awhile then I went back to my room, wet the tip of my hair towel, and kept it on my face in an attempt to keep cool.

I continued to be nauseatingly hot through the next day, which was compounded by a brief 15-minute walk to Armada mall with Carly and Jacob (fellow teachers.) Little known fact: I’m extremely sensitive to heat. So after being hot in my sleep on Thursday night, hot all day Friday, then taking a hot walk later that night, the events culminated with me vomiting twice at the public restrooms at the mall. That’s okay, though; in between my war with my body where it was trying to purge and I was trying to force it the other way, I bought an oscillating fan at Tesco Kipa. Carly refers to it as “the Turkish Wal-mart.” My second night here, then, was much more bearable and all was right in Whoville.

On Saturday, I went back to the Turkish Wal-mart (TW) for a few more things. I hadn’t thrown up anymore and I was feeling closer to normal again, though I hadn’t completely said my final sayonara to Mr. Jetlag. I first went to the bookstore to buy the Lonely Planet Turkish phrasebook. At some point during checkout at TW, I lost my phrasebook, so that was 20 Turkish lira down the drain. I don’t have enough Turkish to have been able to insist to the cashier “no, I’m sure I left my phrasebook here in a small bag; please look under your counter.” In fact, this experience marked the eighth time in two days that I thought to myself “My god, I really need to learn Turkish or I won’t survive.”

When I got back to the dorm, I made myself an omelet. I think that may have been the first time I cooked since my arrival in Turkey. There’s something about being able to cook that makes me feel more at home, so it definitely contributed to settling in and feeling distance from the gross crustiness of my travels on Thursday.
Stay tuned for more of my adventures and griping!