Peace

I got an early start today so I could hit the gym.  I've been having a fantastic time here in Turkey, and that includes enjoying all the wonderful food!  So going for a run and lifting some weights would do me some good to offset some of this guilt!

Yaseen was already down there, and we chatted as we both worked out.  I did a nice brisk run (once I figured out the speed was in kilometers per hour rather than miles per hour!), and it felt pretty good.  I came back up, trimmed the beard, and headed down for breakfast.  The whole group was soon down there, enjoying the breakfast buffet.  We swapped our stories from the past few days, and afterwards, we met as a group to discuss business meetings.  Once done, I raced back up to the room, finished getting ready, and was back down to meet the rest of the group before our first business visit.

We walked to TBMM, which is the Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi, or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.  This is where Parliament meets, and we were to meet with Dr. Ufuk Uras to learn more about Turkish national politics.  Once at the gate, I did my best to communicate our needs with the guards.  It was pretty intense... they had metal detectors, xray machines, and mirrors to check the underside of cars for bombs.  I gotta say, I was a bit nervous.  Not that we'd done anything wrong.  But with the language barrier, I wanted everything to go smoothly.

The guard I was talking to asked me to follow him into the Guard House.  This is where I saw the metal detector and the xray machine.  In our business visit pre-books, I pulled up Dr. Uras' information, as well as the information for his Secretary, and it was this method of communication (pointing to words on a page) that helped get the idea across.  The guard had me go wait with the group, and he went and did some talking.  He then came back and told me that Dr. Uras' secretary was on her way.  So we waited patiently watching the car bomb inspections and talking softly.  The sun was warm, and we all looked smart in our business attire.

Rabiye, Dr. Uras' secretary, came and greeted us, and asked us to follow her.  She led us into the Guard House, and after some comical hand gesturing, had us go through the metal detector.  It beeped for some of us, but the guards didn't react.  Once we had all gone through (mind you none of our bags were run through the xray machine), Rabiye led us across the massive government complex to Dr. Uras' building.  When we reached there, we went through ANOTHER metal detector.  Again, there was beeping, and none of the guards reacted.

When I had asked Wil about it later, he had said that we had observed the power of trust.  The guards trusted that Rabiye and Dr. Uras were dealing with people who were not threats, and therefore, they didn't make us go through stringent Security protocols.  It was convenient for us, but a little disturbing that right next to the bomb checks of the cars, we were being told to go through the motions of a Security Check.

Rabiye let us to Dr. Uras' office, and he greeted us with a smile and a handshake as the twelve of us started to pack into his small office.  He's a kind man with graying hair and a dark moustache, who has gained some weight, but still looks handsome.  He's in his Fifties, and is married.  He is a member of Parliament on Tuesday-Thursday, but is a professor at Istanbul University the other days of the week.  Interesting man.

He spoke to us about the current state of Turkey, and of the various programs that the government has in place, ranging from reforms to the nature of the military.  It was a fascinating discussion, and Dr. Uras was very candid.  He addressed the more controversial topics head on, rather than waiting for us to ask about them.  Halfway through the meeting, we were served tea and coffee.  This is unheard of in the United States, but is everyday business procedure in Turkey!   The hour drained away quickly, and before we knew it, it was nearing time for Dr. Uras' next appointment.  He offered to help us make some last-minute business connections by giving us his wife's cell phone number so that she could call on some people she knew to get us into some better meetings.  It was quite generous of this man to give his wife's cell phone number to a group of strangers he had just met!

After the meeting, we took pictures and then Dr. Uras asked Rabiye to give us a tour of the complex.  Now, in all of my email communications with Rabiye, she seemed to have a good grasp of English.  Apparently, she writes better than she speaks or hears.  She did her best to mime what we were looking at.  We saw the main assembly hall for Parliament, we saw the doors only the President uses, we saw the cocktail reception all, the chambers used by the various political parties when they are not in session, and we saw the main entrance to TBMM.  We all left highly impressed!  The scale of the building is incredible, and there is no description I could provide that would capture the magnitude of the building.

I didn't take my camera, so unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this.  Dyonne brought her point and shoot, and hopefully at a later point I'll be able to share some of those pictures with you.

We said our goodbyes in our broken Turkish, and we then went in search for lunch.  We made a pit stop at vodafone so that I could get more calling credits on my Turkish cell phone, and so that Scilla could buy herself a phone.  Then it was time to find a place to eat, and seeing as we didn't have much time left, we stopped at a Turkish fast food joint and got some great food to eat.  I had a pida, which is similar to the lunch I ate in Cappadocia yesterday.  After wolfing down our food, we went back to the hotel so that we would be ready to jump into the minibus that would take us to our next meeting.

The woman at the front desk was kind enough to translate for us, and I made the driving arrangements with the driver.  Soon we were battling traffic to Bilkent University, which is an English-speaking University about 20 minutes away from our hotel.  We made good time and got there early.  We debriefed our morning meeting, got prepped for our second meeting, and had some time left over before our meeting.

We decided to split up and take a look around campus, and Yaseen, Spencer, and I took off in one direction to go see what we could see.  It felt like any University, and the students could have been any students.  It was a neat to see the universal feel of educational institutions.  We checked out the book store, walked through the Architecture building, and then headed back.

The meeting was with the International Children's Center, which is a Non Governmental Organization with the objective of helping children.  The topic was interesting, but the warmth of the room, the monotone drone of our host's voice, and the fact that I'm still trying to get my body on Turkish time were a deadly combination.  I was having a tough time staying awake, even after we were served tea!  I tried to stay awake by focusing on what our guest was saying, by eating the pretzels that were served with the tea, sucking down the bottle of water on the table reserved for us, and slamming sourball candy after sourball candy in an attempt to give myself a sugar high to stay awake during the meeting!  It was rough, y'all, but I wasn't alone.  Spencer was having a tough time keeping his eyes open, and afterwards, Yaseen said he was, too (although he hid it well!)!

The meeting drew to a close, and we took our leave.  I called our driver, and somehow communicated that we were ready to head back to the hotel.  He pulled the VW minibus (not *THAT* kind, folks!) up, and we back in traffic in no time!  Once back to the hotel, we had about 2 hours before our next dinner meeting.  Some of the folks decided to go find a bar and take in some local flavor.  Others chose to take a nap.  Wil and I decided to go adventuring and find the mosque that we've been watching from our hotel windows!

After getting walking directions from the concierge, Wil and I were hitting the pavement, cameras in hand, chatting and weaving through the thick evening traffic.  The conversation was pleasant, the evening was cool, and the heart of Ankara was beating all around us.  We walked passed shops and street carts, apartments and people on foot.  This is the life that exists around us when we are in our hotel room, and this life was here before we came, and will still be here after we leave.  This is the true nature of Ankara, and I'm thankful I was able to see it.  And walk through it with eyes and mind open.

After about a mile of walking, Wil and I started to see the now-familiar minarets of Ankara's largest mosque poking out from over the rooftops.  We turned down a few streets, and then after one last right turn, we saw it.  The Kocatepe Mosque is magnificent to behold.  We snuck up on the marble giant from behind, and snapping pictures and avoiding loose sidewalk tiles, we slowly approached.  We didn't see a clear entrance, so we walked around the building and up a flight of marble stairs.  We were level now with the second floor, and this is where it appears the mosque really starts.  We snapped pictures, and looked around.  There weren't too many people around.

I knew I wanted to go inside.  But I wasn't sure if I was welcome.  I've never been in a mosque before, and I wasn't entirely sure of the etiquette.  Right then, two men were walking up the marble steps to the mosque entrance.  I got their attention, and asked (mostly through miming) if Wil and I could go inside.  They said yes, and we started to follow them.  I also asked if I could take pictures, and one of the men smiled and nodded his head.

The men removed their shoes outside the threshold of the entrance, and a sign clearly stated to remove shoes before stepping on the carpet.  I started unlacing my hiking boots, and once I had them off, I looked up and noticed that the two men and Wil were waiting for me!  I followed the men in, and saw a wooden shelf that already had a pair of shoes on it.  I went to put my boots down next to those shoes, when the men told us to bring follow them with our shoes.  Apparently, I was putting my boots in the section of bench that is most likely to get stolen!  We dropped off our shoes in a more secure location, and then turned around and took in the beauty of the mosque.

Before the sight of what I was looking at registered in my brain, I noticed something highly unusual about the environment around me.

Silence.

We had just come from outside, where the hustle and bustle of daily life in Ankara seemed to permeate everything in the city.  But somehow, this mosque provided Sanctuary from all the noise.  The marble walls took the brunt of the audible assault and protected its inhabitants.  The people inside were quietly giving their prayers.  It made me feel very conspicuous with the shutter noise from my camera.

The first thing you notice is the chandelier.  It is a gigantic round ball of glass and light surrounded by 32 smaller spheres.  It's connected to the ceiling, which provided such pleasure to look at, I could have stayed there for hours.  The smaller side domes, the four massive beams, and the walls were all decorated intricately.  But none of these compared to the dome.  The inside of the main dome was breathtaking.  I sat with my head tilted back staring at the patterns there (refer to the blog title picture) for minutes.  I felt a sense of peace brought to my heart by the beauty I was seeing.  And as I sat there with widened eyes and peaceful heart, I felt like I was staring into infinity.

More men were arriving, and they went to the front of the Sanctuary and knelt.  Wil and I figured that evening prayer was coming, and we weren't sure if we had to leave.  Only men were on the floor, and I was wondering where the women were.  As I looked around the mosque, trying to take as much of it in as possible, I saw some women praying on the balcony overlooking the Sancturary.  We stayed for a little while, watching the men pray and listening to the man sing praises to Allah.

Wil and I snapped a few last-minute pictures, got our shoes, and quietly left the building.  It was an amazing experience to watch people demonstrate their faith to God.  Whether it's a Sikh Ardas, a Catholic Mass, or a Muslim Call to Prayer, it is a manifestation of these good people's belief, trust, and faith in a higher being.  And that is a beautiful thing.

We descended the stairs and walked back to the hotel.  Traffic seemed to be getting worse, and we were moving much faster on foot than may of the taxis.  Back at the hotel, we met Becca and walked to the restaurant.  Here, we were meeting Rick and his wife, who are two American expatriots living in Turkey.  Rick was brought to Turkey on assignment from work.  He eventually was replaced by a local, and was free to come back to the United States, but chose to stay and raise his family in Ankara.  It was fascinating to hear him talk of Turkey, comparing it to the United States and other parts of the world.  He was very open, very frank, and gave us all kinds of wonderful tips for our stay in Turkey.

After a delicious dinner and spirited conversation, I headed back to the hotel.  After a brief meeting in the lobby, I was up in my room trying to find a way to get LOST to stream outside the United States.  It wasn't easy, but with some help, Spencer and I were able to watch yesterday's episode!  The internet connection here is slow, and it took us a few hours, but we got it!  I won't say anything else about LOST in case you haven't watched it yet!

Today was busy.  It was a little stressful from the pressure of getting the trip off to a good start with an excellent first meeting.  It was hard to stay awake, leaving me feeling embarrassed towards our speaker.  However, in the evening, the visit to the mosque helped temper that stress with a sense of peace and contentment.  I only hope I can find a Sikh Temple somewhere in this country to visit before I leave.

Tomorrow will be very busy.  We meet the Ministry of Industry and Trade, visit a Turkish winery, visit a museum, and have dinner with Undergraduate Students from Middle East Technical University.  It should be busy, but fun.

I hope you've enjoyed today's blog.  Be safe and be kind.

With Love,

SoJo