Day 5

Another great day even though it rained off and on – they tell us it’s unusual for it to rain in June but it’s rained every day we’ve been here. The forecast for tomorrow in Izmir is looking sunny and hot, now that’s what I was expecting. Today was also the start of the World Cup so my mind's there as well – I caught the end of the South Africa v. Mexico game and I’m watching Uruguay v. France while I write this message. Imagine that Turkey has a public station dedicated just to football/soccer.

Today started with a nearly five-hour bus ride which could have been pretty unpleasant but we had some wonderful bus conversations and the countryside was beautiful - reminded me a lot of Montana. We were able to check into the hotel and because it was right at 1:00 on Friday we had a break for an hour as most people go to services on Friday. I went for about a two-mile walk. It was good to see part of the city on my own and just walk the downtown business district. I have to say that for the most part people on the street here are perhaps a little more like New York or LA in that they don’t generally smile at you or greet you. When you do interact with them, however, all of the people I’ve met have greeted us with great hospitality.

Our first visit was to the Parliament where we had lunch with the Deputy Director for Press and Public Relations Dr. Muhammed Bozdag (sorry the g should have a little u-shaped mark on top of it but I can’t find that). Wow, this man was amazing. In addition to serving in government for 16 years he has written several books including one that has been reprinted more than 200 times and sold more than 5 million copies and he was host of a top 10 TV show for many years. He was so honest, full of positive energy, I was just as curious to learn as he was to talk. While understanding the balance and conflict between freedoms and control in the government is complex, he clarified a few things for me personally. Generally the Parliament is only in session Tuesday through Thursday but today they had called a special session so we actually got to watch them for few minutes. Like our congress most of the members weren’t there for the speeches/readings and members seems to vote along party lines (except one guy who proudly raised his hand in the sea of dissenters).


From there we went to the Ataturk Mausoleum (the founding president of Turkey) and then to the Anadolu Museum which has some relics uncovered in modern Turkey dating back to the Neolithic period. They also had lots of stuff from the Hittites from around 900 BC. I was amazed at some of the similarities to ancients artifacts I’ve seen of Native Americans in terms of patterns and other imagines.


We finished the day with a meal at a restaurant which is from Turkey but has locations in other parts of the world including Houston where it goes by the name DNR (short for Doner). They are known all over Turkey for their baklava and it was all that hype and more. At dinner I got to talk with a local educator who helped me understand the role (or ultimate control) of the Minister of Education who oversees literally every aspect of schooling through high school – another office handles universities. Speaking to two former students I think we all agreed that the tracking of students just wasn’t very effective – both realized pretty quickly that they were in the wrong areas but once you’ve started you cannot easily transfer to a different program.

Okay, that’s it was tonight as I have a 7:00 AM bus call and a flight to Izmir.