My 21st

Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Orientation week was crazy busy, so between the lack of free time and the spotty wifi, blogging has been near impossible. Now that school has started and I'm getting into a routine, I'll be able to post more frequently. Since it's been a full week, and a lot has happened, I'm going to break it up into a few posts.

Sunday, my second day in Turkey and the day before the official start of orientation was my 21st birthday. When I first found out that I was going to be spending my 21st in Turkey I was wicked bummed. I felt like I would miss out on the big celebration that usually accompanies your 21st, especially since turning 21 has no special significance in Turkey. I couldn't have been more wrong.

In the morning I met up with some girls I had met the day before to catch the bus into Ankara. Unfortunately, not knowing the bus schedule, we missed the bus by about ten minutes (they come every hour), so we headed back to the dorm to wait for the next bus inside. We made it out to the bus stop on time for the next bus, but it never came, and as we saw it drive off down the hill we realized we were in the wrong place. Since we now had another hour to kill, we went to the International Programs Office to get some food and figure out exactly where to go so that we wouldn't miss yet another bus. Apparently many of the other exchange students had the same idea. At the office I met a few people that had arrived later than me on Saturday, so we decided to go into the city in a big group.

Once we finally made it into Ankara, we spent about three hours just walking around and getting a feel for the layout of the city. We found a little park with a duck pond that proved to be an excellent photo op, so we took the first of many group photos.

Left to right: Baha (Pakistan), Dani (Germany), Kasia (Poland), Me, Caitie (UCSC)

Left to right: Leigh (Georgia), Taylor (Georgia), Taj (Pakistan), Baha, Sam (UC Davis), Caitie, Shira (UCSD)

That night, one of the Turkish students leading orientation organized a birthday celebration for me. We went to the kebob place on campus for dinner, where I had Ali Nazik. Ali Nazik is roasted eggplant mixed into a yogurt with a spicy meat on top. It was delicious. Afterwards we went to a bar in Ankara called Korvis. We all tried the local beer, Efes.

My birthday turned out to the be the perfect ice-breaker for everyone. It gave us all an excuse to go out together and get to know each other. If not for my birthday, I'm sure most people would have stayed in their rooms and unpacked or caught up on sleep. So, I take back everything I said about being upset that my 21st would be in Turkey. I'm so glad that it was.