And now, the time has come, to wrap up that incredible journey on the page. Er...well...on the screen. So, let's get to it.
Tuesday morning, Ryan and Annika were a little late getting to breakfast due to the late hours they had spent exploring Antalya's nightlife. However, despite having also been a brave nightlife explorer, Mary managed to join Dan and me to enjoy a wonderful, leisurely meal in the sunlit courtyard of the pensiyon's restaurant/breakfast area, entertaining various ideas for the day. Eventually, Ryan and Annika made it down, though, and we all decided that, rather than trying to do something involved like going to Olympos, we wanted to spend the day on an Antalyan beach, soaking up the sun before returning to our home cities...most of which are rather dreary this time of year. I also added that I had seen a Starbucks (spelled "Starbuces") on the map that the pensiyon had given us of the surrounding area, and would love to stop by, needing a bit of an espresso fix after two months in the land of Nescafe. (On the whole, Turkish people drink either Nescafe--read: instant coffee--or Turkish coffee...no drip coffee, no espresso-based drinks. All right, back to the story.) Everyone agreed that they would accompany me on this quest, particularly as the bus stop that we would use to catch a bus to Lara Beach--the best and most popular of the nearby public beaches--was right near said Starbucks.
I led the way as we left the pensiyon, trying to follow the aforementioned map. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a poor map, and streets aren't always labeled with their names, so the way that I wanted to take us, past St. Paul's Church, didn't end up working out. Instead we just exited through Hadrian's Gate...
..and turned right. Just a few blocks down we saw it...a Starbucks. They're all over Istanbul, and they have them in Ankara, and even in a few other Turkish cities. Trabzon, however, is not one of them. The closest thing to a Starbucks we have is called "Cafe Crown" (which, incidentally, is also the name of a brand of instant coffee) in the big mall, Forum, which is about a ten minute walk from campus. At least there they have an espresso machine!
As soon as I stepped into the Starbucks, I knew that I was supposed to be there; Mumford & Sons' "Winter Winds" was playing in the background. I ordered my 8 TL grande white mocha without hesitation, and it tasted just like I remembered.
We took our coffees (or chai tea, if you were Mary) and went to the bus stop, sitting and waiting for the magical shuttle that would whisk us away to the perfect beach day. Whereupon a woman with dark, leathery skin indicating one too many days in the sun and wearing tiny pink shorts, holding three shopping bags, and stumbling along in wedge flip-flops essentially told Dan to get up from his seat on the bench so that she could sit. Not that he wouldn't have moved anyway, but something about this lady was already rubbing me the wrong way. For starters, she looked like more of a tourist than any of us, but she was undoubtedly a local, as I discovered when she started yammering away to me in Turkish. I did my best to respond to her odd attempts at small talk--mostly recounting her previous night and explaining that she was sooooo tired--but she eventually figured out that I wasn't Turkish. Oh well...I suppose I should be flattered that people don't automatically assume that I'm a Yabanci. Too bad I don't have the mad language skills to back it up yet.
Finally the bus arrived to save me from this bizarre lady, and we all packed like little sardines onto an already overflowing city bus. We stood for probably ten or fifteen minutes, but finally enough people got off that we all landed seats. Then we just sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the ride to Lara Beach.
The beach itself was beautiful and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I didn't think it was warm enough for swimming, but it was heavenly to sit on my sarong and take a nap in the sun...which I did. With nowhere to be, we all were able to completely relax. I even sat up and wrote in my tiny notebook for awhile, working on the young adult novel I'm currently writing. We all ended up having a great conversation about YA books and our different favorites, including Artemis Fowl, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and others. At some point we all slammed Twilight, too, so that was cathartic. Annika, Ryan, and Mary ended up swimming in the sea while Dan and I remained landlubbers...we were truly free to do whatever we wanted with the day, and it was AMAZING.
Later in the afternoon we were approached by a man who explained that his children were learning English, and since he had heard us obviously speaking it, asked if we could talk to his kids a little bit. We all said sure, and ended up having a long discussion with this man and his family, telling them where we were from, what we were doing here, etc. They were on holiday from Istanbul, where they invited all of us to come. Nice people!
Eventually the sun did begin its journey downward, so we packed up our things and caught a bus back into the city during the last hours of daylight. Upon arriving back near the Starbucks, we all ducked into the McDonald's there for a snack. As it turns out, if what we'd been craving was apple pie...we should have just gone there. Womp womp wooooooommmp.
At this point we had to get back to the pensiyon so that Ryan and Dan could check out; they both had buses to catch that evening back to their cities. While waiting in the courtyard for them to collect all of their things, we actually ran into another ETA completely by chance; Erik and Alexandra from Afyon were passing through for the day and just happened to be staying at the same pensiyon! Erik was by himself, indicating that Alexandra had already come, checked in, and disappeared again, but we left her a message about the place where we were going to eat, and then all walked Ryan to the tram stop.
Sadly without Ryan, our group headed to a restaurant known for its special of half of a chicken for 8 TL. So all of us, except Alexandra once she joined us, ordered a half of a chicken and rice. Then we ate them. What up.
Our next move was the sad but inevitable parting with another member of our trusty crew: Dan. Before dropping him off, though, we had some ridiculously overpriced tea that Erik argued with the manager over in order to bring it down from an astoundingly high price of 4 TL per cup to the much more reasonable damage of 1 TL per cup. Go Erik, you haggler you. Dropping off Dan at the tram stop was sad...where was I going to get all my goof with the dynamic duo gone? To take our mind off of things, we made our way to a "lounge" we had been eying all week where we'd seen ice cream advertised. Ladies and gentlemen, I do not exaggerate when I tell you that that ice cream, imported from Switzerland, was the best I have ever tasted. Truly. It was incredible. I could really go for some right now...
Alas, with our sweet teeth fed and transportation to catch in the morning, we all dispersed for the night...but not before playing a few rounds of Bananagrams. Fulbright traditional necessity.
The next morning we were awakened bright and early by Erik and Alexandra, who were off to catch their bus, and then made our own way to breakfast, after which I regretfully packed my backpack and knapsack. Then I said my goodbyes to Annika and Mary before getting into the car the pensiyon arranged to take me to the airport for a taxi-like fee. The airplane flights back were not nearly as exciting as meeting people from the Italian embassy, but I did get more writing done on my novel. Excitement! I don't think I'm going to make the National Novel Writing Month goal of 50,000 words, but I have written a lot this November. At this rate, I will actually have a manuscript by the end of the year. Oh yeah.
And that, friends, is the story of my bayram vacation in Antalya. Thanks so much for sticking with me as I wove this tale. The number of you who have told me that you love to read my blog has really touched me, and it means a lot to me to know that people back home (and here in Turkey!) care about all that's going on. My next adventure will take place this weekend as I head to Amasya for a belated but all-out Thanksgiving celebration with fellow ETAs. Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment