Ankara!

Hello all!
Well, I'm back. In Turkey that is. If you read any of the blog last summer, I guess it shouldn't come as much of surprise; I'm kind of into this country. But this summer is much different from last year and I'll try briefly to explain what I'm doing in Ankara for the next eight weeks.
I'm here on a Critical Languages Scholarship, or CLS, a program run by the State Department. Basically, they oversee intensive language institutes in a number of countries, teaching languages that no one knows that they need people to know. There are currently 7 programs: Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Indic (Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu), Turkic (Turkish and Azeri), and Persian (in Tajikistan) (not enough info for you? FINE: https://clscholarship.org/home.php). There are 5 locations in Turkey: Izmir, Alanya, Istanbul (one at Yildiz University and one at Bogazici University), and Ankara. I'm in the last, obviously, and I'm here for 8 weeks, taking intensive language classes 5 days a week and going on various trips on the weekends.
Before we came to Ankara, the whole Turkey group (52 of us) was in Washington for a 2-day long pre-departure session. It's a pretty diverse group; about half undergrads, half Master's students and PhDs. Not too many rising Juniors. 2, in fact, and we're both in Ankara. On Friday, we flew to Ankara, the Ankara group (there are 12 of us) separating from the rest in Munich. Here's some views of the city coming in:

The first shows the city proper, I think; the second shows a kind of typical suburb, with lots of high-rise apartments centered around modernish, mass-produced mosques (McMosques?). Anyways, if you can't tell, Ankara is a HUGE city, with a population of about 5 million. It's the capital of Turkey, and has been so since 1923, when Ataturk (if you want to know about him, read my old posts) made it the capital to move the new Turkish Republic closer to its Anatolian roots and further from the imperial excesses of Istanbul. In 1927, it had a population of 35,000. Basically, this place has sprung up overnight, and there is very little history here, a big departure from life in Istanbul. Ankara is pretty dry and hot (you can probably tell?) and mountainous. I think a good way of conceptualizing Ankara is by comparing it to Washington, DC. Like DC, Ankara was a small town chosen to be a national capital chosen for political reasons; they have roughly similiar populations; and culture is dominated by government and the civil service. Istanbul, in this analogy, is New York: huge coastal metropolises that attract millions of visitors and have vibrant cultures. But enough about the city itself; I've only been in it one day.
The best part of the Ankara CLS program is that it's the only one in Turkey with homestays. I'm staying with a family in Batikent, a suburb about 10 miles west of the city (for some really interesting information on Batikent, which evidently is the world's largest coop-based mass housing project, go here: http://www.unesco.org/most/easteur1.htm- thanks Sarah!). I wish I could post pictures of my family, but it seems to early to be creepily asking them to pose for pictures. Soon though, I promise. For now, here's the deal:
-mom, Fatma, stay-at-home-mom
-dad, Kadir, "social service" worker?? (I think that's what he said)
-son, Orun, 25; unemployed?
-daughter, Yasemin, 18, just graduated from high school
They're really nice, but, I have to admit, not quite as overwhelmingly hospitable as I was anticipating. I think our Bursa trip last summer may have spoiled me. I really like them though, and, though the dad and sister speak a fair amount of English, I think my Turkish is better already. For example, the first day, I wasn't able to talk to the mom at all, but after dinner tonight, we had a pretty fair conversation, without her 'dictionaries' as she calls Kadir and Yasemin. Overall, it's a great set-up, and I'm really enjoying it here. I love the neighborhood too. Here are some pics:

The mosque next door that wakes me up at 5am every day.

Looking away from the city; this is alllllllll Batikent.

Just because its too early to take creepy pics of my host family doesn't mean it's too early to creep on the neighbors!! This is from my bedroom window looking into the next yard. Basically, these people sit outside all day long eating, drinking, playing cards (they play CONSTANTLY), telling jokes, and yelling at each other and their other neighbors. I love them.

Our street.

This is the house! We've eaten all our meals at a little plastic table that they put in front of the door, at the end of the walk that you see (the gate is right on the street); I don't think it was out when I took this. Actually yeah it is, you can barely see it on the left there. The weather's been beautiful the whole time, with really gorgeous sunsets every night.

Kitchen
My room! Small, as you can tell, but it's cozy; I really like it. I'm upstairs, and they have a basement as well, so it's a pretty big house by Turkish city standards.

I'm not sure how often I'll be updating the blog; it's not going to be like last summer where every single day was a completely new experience filled with so many great adventures and stories. Like I said I have class every day, usually for about 5 or 6 hours. The weekend trips should yield some good stories and pictures, so look out for those at least. If you are wondering about anything (my living situation, the family, Ankara, the Turkish language, etc.), PLEASE send an email; I can't tell you how much I enjoy getting them, even if I don't respond immediately. Hope all is well back home, and I love and miss you all!
Clayton