A Well Deserved Break

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

~ Mark Twain ~

Before the madness that is summer school at UWI and just after the review of that first chapter, I took a little break in Turkey.  Being on this side of the world makes it so much easier to visit all of the places that you hear about and sometimes can only sit and dream about visiting when you live on a tight budget. And although my primary objective is that of this PhD, I LOVE to travel. But let’s face it, traveling does not love me (more on that later).

Now I know what some of you are thinking, Turkey? Of all the places to visit Tara; why Turkey?  Honestly it wasn’t on my original list; my original list had on all the expected places (the ones you always hear about) France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland etc. … but my list is also flexible, and not based on enough research. So when offered the opportunity to visit Turkey, I said yes. From day two of my trip, I never regretted my decision – and please note day 1 is not included only because it was such a long travel day, with flying and then being on the road for about 7 hours.

Day 2, however, was much more relaxed and different. It was the day I spent in the market of Gaziantep (I will try to get all the spellings right). Luckily for me it was a weekday so as much as it was busy, it was not crowded and I got to enjoy a lot of what made it unique and beautiful without butting into too many people. The colour of dried fruits hanging above stalls, the colour and variety of spices and sweets, watching craftsmen create intricate patterns on copper, the friendliness of the shop owners who never hesitated to offer Turkish tea or coffee in addition to visiting the kitchen museum and enjoying my lunch and ice cream made for a great day.

Day 2: Gaziantep 

Day 3, although a relaxing morning, was again lost due to traveling to the next destination. Day 4 was glorious!!! Not the waking up at 3: 30 in the morning and walking up Mount Nemrut… thank goodness that a lot of it was driven and that there was a path for most of the rest of the journey, and certainly not the fact that I was back to wearing a jacket, but watching the sun rise from Mount Nemrut was magnificent. I left singing (as usual but in my head) the India Arie song: God is real, and the negro spiritual My Lawd what a Mawning… you know how you find those songs that just hit all the right notes and resonate with how you are feeling? From there it was the Euphrates River: cold, blue, beautiful and a photo opportunity of the Ataturk Baraji which is a dam based in the same river. Next, Urfa, where I visited the pool of Abraham, where it is believed that Abraham landed in the fire and the flames which turned to water and the wood to fish. The location and fish are still protected to this day and the only thing I regret is how busy it was that day, but I need to accept that it is not all about me and that I am not the only one who wants to enjoy or appreciate such a significant landmark.

Day 4: Nemrut, Ataturk Baraji & Urfa

Day 5 in the late evening, we visited the beautiful area of Cappadocia, where I honestly did not know where to look. Everywhere I turned there was a gorgeous view. Now I know there are a lot of explanations for why the area looks the way it does: volcanic eruptions, erosions of wind and rain etc., but that is not what I thought when I looked at it. The technicalities are definitely not what I saw, just the wonder, the beauty and all of the hotels and houses being made to match the natural layout and look of the area made me feel like I had walked onto the Flintstones set. So you can imagine that I was singing the theme song in my head for hours. It really was a beautiful stop and it definitely was touristy area, with some things, including a church I visited in the Zemi Valley, that are UNESCO heritage sites as well as good hiking areas.

Day 5: Cappadocia

The last few days in Istanbul were a lot quieter, not uneventful, but quiet and please do not think that Istanbul is in anyway a quiet town.  It felt like driving from the country to the city; know the difference? You hear car horns far more often, there are a lot more people, the Burger Kings, Starbucks and McDonalds are more prevalent and goodness knows that taxi drivers the world over just do not change. But those days were quiet largely because I was just tired and I felt like I had already seen so much. The Grand Bazaar, the sweet corn, the fish, the clothes, and the art were all so much to take in and just capped off what was an excellent holiday. I don’t often get to feel like a tourist, and although the country was not on my very poorly defined original list of places to visit, I thoroughly enjoyed that element of my trip.