Well look at that: another post only a day later. BAM! I'm back.

So, at the end of my previous post, I alluded to crazy happenings and good stories from my Kurban Bayram holiday. I thought at first that I would ignore said happenings on this blog, but have been convinced otherwise by my partner in Kurban Bayram Holiday Crime, Carla, to share some stories.

My journey began in Kırrıkale, a city about 1 1/2 from Ankara. Kırrıkale exists...that's about as much as I'm inclined to say about it. I mean, I don't want to knock it too badly because after all, someone out there must love it, but I didn't really find much to interest me. However, I did meet a lot of great people there, and thus will remember it fondly. Life in Amasya is pretty quiet, but life in Kırrıkale is anything but, apparently. In my 48 hours or so there, I saw a lot of stuff happen--went to a lookout point "above" the city at 3 in the morning. Saw some stars. Ate at a Burger King (I've never been to one in America, so it was kind of weird having my first Burger King experience in Turkey). We we

nt to Ankara for half a day and shopped at two HUGE shopping malls that made me feel almost like I was back in America--they had an H&M and a Zaras. Wow. You see, in Amasya I never ever have moments where I just stop and think: "wow, it's almost like I'm back in America." It's just not possible--there are no spaces (restaurants, shops, walkways) that feel like any place but Turkey. Being in Ankara I definitely got that feeling, and it was both alien and comforting. Living abroad can be a real kick in the pants sometimes, so it's nice every once in awhile to have a little slice of America. But, after a day spent shopping, I was ready to return to real Turkey (whatever that means).

After Kırrıkale we continued on to Kapadokya, where we met many Fulbright friends. It was great. We stayed in a very touristy, but interesting, town c

alled Göreme. It has lots of caves and cool rock formations. Here's a pic:

So...in Göreme, we discovered that there is a lot of Marijuana in Kapadokya--who knew? We met these two guys, one of whom turned out to be a bit of a creeper in my opinion and the other who I really don't have an opinion about at all--anyway, they just lit up a joint, right in front of us, and were like, "yeah, lot's of tourists just come here for the marijuana." Go figure. They also said that there are really so few police in the area that the ones who are there don't really care if you smoke it, as long as you don't sell it. Anyway, just to be perfectly clear, I have never and will never smoke marijuana, but it was just such a bizarre experience I had to write about it. Other crazy things happened, like aforementioned creeper saying wildly inappropriate things. I won't go into details, but I will say that though many things are often lost in translation, skease is not--it always comes out loud and clear. Though not all Turkish men are skeasy--many of them are not--many of them are and I feel like I met most of the skeasy ones over this holiday, my first time acting as a real tourist in Turkey. All of have to say to the lady travelers out there is watch yourself because they see that you are foreign and they jump to all kinds of conclusions.

Anyway, apart from some uncomfortable social situations, Göreme and Kapadokya was really really nice. It was great to get away from my daily routine and be with a larger group of Americans--it was really nice to complain together and laugh together and everything else together. However, being away from Amasya also showed me how must I really like Amasya--after a few days I really began to miss my life here, which is an excellent sign, in my opinion.

After our sojourn in Kapadokya, we went on to Antalya, which was warmer and sunnier and just altogether nice. Antalya is on the southern coast of Turkey, right on the Mediterranean. It is beautiful, really beautiful. I actually was not that impressed by the city itself--it just kind of felt like another big city, and it was hard to escape the touristy spots, but the scenery made up for anything that the city itself lacked.

We stayed in a nice pansiyon in the old part of the city, which was quiet and clean and nice after our 12-person dorm room in Kapadokya. We did some shopping--I bought a new hat (it has a flower on it--my favorite kind of hat). Antalya also had it's share of sorely mistaken, skeasy men, but they were pretty easy to shake off. On one occasion we were walking down to the beach at sunset--fully clothed (scarves, jackets, etc), and a car with two young guys pulled up beside us and asked if we would like to "tour Antalya...together." Uh, no. So we walked on down the winding road to the beach and they followed us (car in reverse), "Ladies, maybe we can spend some time together...blah blah blah." So they parked their car and followed us to the beach, and sat down on either side of us. Five minutes later, Lothario (can't remember his real name) turns to me and says: "Mary (because for some odd reason almost all the men in this country under the age of 30 drop the second part of my name. WHY? I AM NOT MARY). Anyway, "Mary," he said, "You will kiss me now?" "No, " said I. "But Mary, today is my tatıl (holiday). Tomorrow work I go to. So we kiss now?" End of the story is that I ended up jumping up and running away and I hear him behind me say (in English) to his friend, "She is crazy." Yes, I'm INSANE for not kissing a man I'd just met who didn't even know my NAME. UGH, the feminist indignation! The absolute feminist INDIGNATION. Too much for words. But a good story, right?

Anyway, by the last day in Antalya, I was pretty ready to go home. Two bus rides later (a total of 14 hours or so on the road), and I was home. Thank goodness. The end...until we see each other so I can tell the REALLY good holiday stories in person :) A hint, potatoes and birds are involved. Cryptic, isn't it?