I got up at 6:30 this morning to frantically finish the Turkish homework I hadn't done last night before getting ready for class. We have two different teachers, so I only had time to do the work due for the one we usually see in the mornings. Of course, they switched timeslots today and when I arrived (late), I was completely un(and over)prepared.
I left the house after rushing through my breakfast (forgetting to drink my tea in the process), and was unpleasantly surprised to find I had a blister the size of a nickel forming on the bottom of my foot as I walked down the apartment's staircase. Limping from the pain, I hurried as quickly as I could through my neighborhood, past Kocatepe, and to the bus stop in the center of Ankara. When I entered the underground walkway to cross Ataturk Boulevard, I could already see from afar that it was a busier-than-normal day. Getting on a bus would be a challenge. I exited on the other side, putting away my ipod while pushing my way through crowds of morning commuters into the glare of the already too-hot morning sun.
The bus stop (or rather the stretch of curb alongside which buses occasionally stop but generally just cut off taxis, pedestrians, and other buses) had been moved well into the second lane of the boulevard by the hundreds of Ankara'lis waiting for their ride. In Ankara, the buses come fairly regularly and are quite reliable. They're just not big enough. Nor do they have air conditioning. I looked at my watch, noting that I only had ten minutes left to make it up the hill to the TAA building and make a pitstop at the adjacent market for my morning peach nectar, banana, and large bottle of water.
When the bus stop is this full, I usually wait for the second or third bus to be heading in my direction to let the crowds thin out before trying to fight them for a spot. I decided to try my luck today, though, and started to edge past those standing around me as I saw the 413 approaching. The bus driver stopped the vehicle for a good three minutes, letting the 50 or so people trying to get on at once (through the one entrance) have a go at each other. I was a foot away from the bus, ready to give up, when a large Turkish man behind me started pushing everyone in front of him as hard as he could. I had my arm inside the bus, my other hand on my purse, and one foot on the first step as we began to drive away. Not wanting to be left out by the closing doors, the man pushed us harder and I was smashed into the lower halves of those in front of me. The door began to close, my arm still somewhat in it ... I let out a small cry, managed to readjust, and started to hold my breath against the body odor beginning to rise up from the two Turkish men I'd found myself stuck between. We started up the boulevard, passengers quietly trying to ignore the invasion of personal space that each morning on an Ankara bus so wonderfully brings. As we pulled up to my stop, I gathered my strength for one last pardon, and jumped off the step (I hadn't left the doorway) in relief. In only 10 minutes, I had become drenched in sweat.
I limped into class my usual few minutes late, exhausted, only to see that Nur, the afternoon teacher, had already started the lesson. She, unlike our morning instructor, is a very punctual person. She was asking us to get out the homework she'd assigned, and I let out a sigh. Luckily, no one else had completed it either, so we did it as a class before moving on to the next four hours of Turkish grammar. I started to notice about thirty minutes in that I had forgotten my usual morning caffeine fix, and tried to replace it with a nescafe from the small TAA cafe downstairs. I managed to stay awake for the whole class, but I (and the other students) almost broke down in the last half hour from an overdose of adverbial conjunctions. Nur felt sorry for us and let us listen to some Turkish songs as we finished the last page of exercises.
We had a long lunch period, giving us enough time to leave the neighborhood to eat before coming back for a lecture from the External Affairs Officer at UNHCR's (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) Turkey office. It was a welcome break from our lessons, and I learned quite a bit about Turkey's refugee policies. Afterward, I walked back down to the city center with some friends to hang out in one of Ankara's many cafes before heading home. I made a quick detour to Citibank where I managed (after begging my way into the already closed branch) to get ahold of my new debit card (!). When I got back to the cafe, I was happy to get out of the heat and get my hands on a cheap, cold glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, one of my favorite treats here so far.
When we left, I walked home, crawled into bed to watch some tv on my computer, and waited for my host family to eat dinner. We had a casual meal of lentil soup, salad, stuffed bell peppers and meatballs before I stuffed myself full of watermelon for dessert. It's the first quiet evening I've had in a while, and it's much needed. I've gotten to a point in the trip where I'm very comfortable with my daily routine (barring the short yet extremely unpleasant trips on the bus each morning) and I'm much more at ease when talking to my host family. Daily life in Ankara is treating me very well so far.
In short, Mutluyum. I'm happy.
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