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Despite both the web address and title of this blog, thus far it must look a lot like I'm in Greece rather than Turkey.  That was true for the first few days of my trip, but for the last ~13 days I've been in various parts of Turkey, the happenings of which I will attempt to recap here over the next few days, particularly as the University group leaves on Monday morning and I strike out independently.  More on that as it occurs.

To give a very, very brief recap of the last ~2 weeks, we spent 3 nights in Kahramanmaraş, 2 in Göreme, 3 in Ankara, and now 4 in İstanbul.

Kahramanmaraş is located at the point I would call "exactly South Central," although I suppose the province itself leans a little East.  Regardless, it sits only around 100 miles from the Syrian border, a fact which probably makes Mom a little uncomfortable but never seems to register on the minds of the people living there.  The city and province are known for their ice cream, a distinctive product made from goat's milk and flavored with salep, the flour of ground orchid root.  The town itself has very few foreign visitors, at least of the touristic variety, and is a great example of the progress Turkey has made in the last two decades-- new buildings are going up at a pace rivaled in my memory only by Beijing, and there is a clear emphasis on education.  We visited three brand new school facilities--two elementary schools and one University.  Both of the elementary schools put every American primary school I've ever seen to shame with the quality of the facilities, and the teachers seemed very enthusiastic.  Clearly I can't speak for the quality of the education, but if it is anything but first class it's not because they are afraid to spend money on it.

Göreme is a town located approximately "Central Central," tending a little southward, located right in the middle of Turkey's Cappadocia (pronounced "Kapadokya" in Turkish, Cap-a-doeshya in English) region.  For those who haven't heard of it before, this area is famous for its strange geological formations that resemble fairy chimneys (giving the region it's nickname).  These pointy protrusions are made of volcanic tuff, a porous and easy to carve stone, lending itself to digging and tunneling.  Thus the cliffs and chimneys alike are pocked with the remains of thousands of dwellings, churches, mosques, etc, and a few are still being used for each of these purposes.  Additionally, Iznik ceramics, hand woven rugs, and gemstones are produced here--each of which we got ample opportunity to witness (and naturally, to purchase).

Ankara, Turkey's capital city, gets a bad rap from most lovers of Turkey.  Someone once told me that Atatürk's only mistake was moving the capital from İstanbul to Ankara.  Clearly this is an oversimplification, as Ankara has a much better strategic and organizational position, etc--but the point was clear-- there is nothing in Ankara worth visiting.  Thankfully this impression is sadly mistaken.  While Ankara lacks İstanbul's flair and historical importance, it is no slouch from the perspective of modern cities, and the fact that Atatürk himself is buried there in a grand mausoleum is enough to make it worth at least a side trip for anyone visiting Turkey.  I was really impressed with the cleanliness of the city, as well as its amazing level of "European-ness" if you will excuse a terrible platitude for a moment. In reminded me of Washington DC without so much crime and grime.  Scratch that, it is nothing like DC.  It actually isn't a bad city..

Our last (group) destination and current location is İstanbul, the jewel in Turkey's Anatolian crown.  I've been reading a lot about İstanbul throughout the semester, and all of the gushing praise it receives from authors, poets, artists, and even television personalities (Anthony Bourdain-- check out his İstanbul episode of "No Reservations" for a lot more food info than I can provide!) seems entirely justified.  I've never liked cities much, and even Athens began to grate on my nerves after a little while.  The dirt and chaos of that city is toxic in the medium to long term-- İstanbul, on the other hand, is certainly chaotic, but it has a much higher degree of cleanliness than Athens, New York, Washington, or Louisville ever dreamed of having.  I am sure at least part of this is due to the fact that we are in the historical district, etc--but even those areas in Athens and Thessaloniki are dirty.  We have visited the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia, and Topkapı Palace today, and will be visiting Dolmabahçe Palace tomorrow.

Pictures of all of the above adventures, as well as detailed explanations, will be forthcoming.  For the next couple of days I will be focusing on maximizing my time with the group, so don't expect too much until Monday or Tuesday.